POND ISLAND — During the council of Ministers’ press briefing of Wednesday March 27th, Minister Lee outlined several examples of groups of persons who fall in between the cracks of the current health insurance system, facing challenges in accessing health insurance. These groups include sole proprietors, persons working less than 5 days, persons earning above the ZV wage limit, persons who are under insured via private insurance, persons who do not qualify for private insurance based on age or pre-existing conditions etc. At present, persons who cannot access health insurance become reliant on the Government. “This might not show up…
Author: The Publisher
WILLEMSTAD — A press release from the Ministry of Traffic, Transportation and Spatial Planning (VVRP) in Curacao on March 26, 2019, contained a letter from the Minister of VVRP, Zita Jeus-Leito, to Liberty Latin America (LLA) on the sale of United Telecommunication Services (UTS). Entire letter reads as follows: Dear Chairman, As a shareholder, the Country Curacao has an interest in the continuity of its companies. The financial challenges facing UTS and its subsidiaries are not unknown. Measures have been taken by the board to reduce costs. Also, the current financial situation of the company is such that capital from…
PHILIPSBURG — Insel Air may be bankrupt but its successor is almost ready to take to the skies. JetAir Caribbean a company owned by Antonio Ribeiro (Tony), who with his CEO Robert Maas, has already brought the first Fokker-70 plane to Hato airport in Curacao. A second plane, that will mainly function as a backup to safeguard on-time performance will follow in April. For now, JetAir Caribbean keeps the lid on the exact destinations it will service, but according to the Antilliaans Dagblad the focus will be on mid-range distant flights to places like Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti and Medellin in…
By Hilbert Haar The story that I am hearing now is that suspended MP Theo Heyliger is done with politics. It tallies with a statement he made to me earlier last year when he wrote me a message saying that the 2018 election had been his last one. His arrest on February 19 and his continued incarceration may have sped up the decision, though I have no way of knowing whether Heyliger is really going to disappear from the political arena. If he does not reclaim his seat after his release, the coalition does not have much to worry about…
PHILIPSBURG/THE HAGUE — During a reception party hosted by the St. Maarten House in The Hague, Governor Eugene Holiday gave the following speech under the theme “Building partnerships of cooperation for socio-economic susttainability”. ### BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS OF COOPERATION FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY by H.E. drs. Eugene B. Holiday Governor of Sint Maarten Domo Electica, The Hague, March 26, 2019 Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good evening, I bring you warm greetings from Sint Maarten. It is truly good to see and welcome all of you for this reception. And particularly, to see several persons and representatives of organizations who, over…
PHILIPSBURG — Guyanese Nationals will no longer need to have their documents stamped with the Apostille to ensure that it is authentic. This was brought to the attention of the Guyanese diaspora through a recent publication which was issued by the Guyana government. According to the publication on August 16, 2018, the Permanent Bureau was informed that the Cooperative Republic of Guyana had deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, abolishing the legislation for foreign documents (Apostille Convention) on July 19, 2018. With the accession of Guyana, the Apostille Convention now has 116 contracting…
PHILIPSBURG – On March 22nd, the newly formed workgroup on electoral reform met for the first time led by Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin. As outlined in the Governing Program “Building a Sustainable Sint Maarten”, any reform on election procedures can be viewed as political but we must consider that there is a fundamental public lack of trust. We believe that both constitutional and electoral reform can contribute to the restoration of trust. While it is clear that Sint Maarten enjoys free and fair elections, an increasing concern is that there is still a need to educate the community of…
PHILIPSBURG — National Alliance MP Ardwell Irion queried Education Minister Wycliffe Smith on Monday about a seemingly reasonable issue: why had the ministry not done anything with a motion Parliament passed on November 9 of 2018, asking to address bullying in schools? The motion in question asked the minister of education to present a safe school plan within sixty days and to give Parliament an update on the progress of this plan within thirty days. The plan had to include elements of parental support, positive peer pressure, parental responsibility, school safety plans, a school transportation policy, a rehabilitation program catered…
SINT MAARTEN (POINT BLANCHE) – Repair works at the Point Blanche Prison is steadily progressing with the security installations presently taking place. Caribbean Engineering & Consultancy Company (CECC), Chubb and Ecotax are assisting the Ministry of Justice with the repair works of the security installations at the Point Blanche Prison. The Point Blanche Prison was severely destroyed by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017, which left the facilities with many structural damages, which is currently being repaired along with the security system. Chubb and Ecotax will be working on the following security installations: Fire Alarm System, Intercom System, CCTV…
GREAT BAY — The St. Maarten Insurance Association (SMIA) have elected a new board following their recent elections last week. The incoming board is now headed by President Eric Ellis, Managing Director of NAGICO Insurances; Secretary Cynthia Rotsburg, Branch Manager of Caribbean Alliance and Treasurer Robert De Vries. According to the incoming president, the objective and the responsibility of the SMIA is the promotion of the general interest of the insurance business and its members on St. Maarten. Ellis, who is no stranger to the board of SMIA, is one of the co-founding members, a past Chairman and he also…
