That human behavior is unpredictable is a fact. With all the smart inventions predicted in Star Trek – from the Universal Translator, to the Medical Tricorder and the Communicator – all nicely wrapped up today into one device called the Smartphone – successfully predicting human behavior remains a challenge. Don’t believe me? Answer me this: has anybody ever seen anyone taking a selfie in Star Trek? Who could have predicted that human behavior. Also, who could have ever predicted with all the commotion leading up to his successful election campaign result in 2016 and the turbulent track record of having…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar Politics is a dirty game and everybody and his uncle knows it. So when somebody gets in the way of a hidden agenda, the spin doctors and people who are ready to do their bidding come out of the woodwork. In St. Maarten, the vehicle of choice for slander and backstabbing has always been the SMN-News blog. Feed the blog a story with scandal written all over it and you are in business. Recently, the radio show of Fernando Clark has fallen into the same trap. Radio shows and blogs are no longer about truth and transparency…
PHILIPSBURG – “The Ministry of VSA rocks and I am very proud of my staff,” caretaker Minister Emil Lee said at the end of his candid interview with Andrew Dick. Lee dismissed allegations made against him and others on Bibi Shaw’s notorious blog SMN-News as ‘nonsense.’ The stories that appeared on the blog seem to be part of an orchestrated smear campaign against Lee that erupted after Parliament passed a motion of no confidence against him – presented by his coalition partner MP Luc Mercelina – with an 8 to 7 vote. “Seven out of eight coalition members were happy…
PHILIPSBURG – The court case against country St. Maarten and the manager of the landfill, Robelto&Son is near its conclusion. The plaintiffs, Barbara Cannegieter, attorney Camiel Koster and his law office BZSE have asked the court for a ruling that is now expected to be delivered in two weeks time, on July 26. The plaintiffs filed an injunction against country St. Maarten and Robelto&Son, the company that managed the dump, in July 2018, demanding measures within three months. The centerpiece of the injunction is an article in the civil code (5:31 BW); it stipulates that the owner of a parcel…
PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament for the United Democrats UD party, Tamara Leonard, recently saw her first amendment law being passed in Parliament during the budget debate on Tuesday, July 2, 2019. On the night of the aforementioned date, chairman at the time, MP Claude “Chacho” Peterson, tabled the amendment motion submitted by MP Tamara Leonard. This happened just before the voting on the 2019 budget. Leonard, who took the opportunity to motivate her vote on the motion, explained that the submitted law amendment called for funds to be reserved to provide public schools with a pilot project with a…
ST. PETERS — KPSM Detectives are at this time investigating another robbery with the use of violence which took place on Monday July 8th after 8 p.m. in the Retreat Estate and St. Peters area. According to reports the incident took place while the victim who is a Venezuelan national was on his way home riding his scooter with groceries from a supermarket in the area. He was suddenly attacked by an unknown person who ran out of the dark, wearing black clothing and a hoodie over his head. This person struck the victim to the side of his head…
ST. PETERS — Reports coming out of St. Peters indicate that criminal elements in the community are systematically targeting illegal Venezuelans living and working in the district of St. Peters. The St. Maarten Police Force, KPSM, reports that detectives from the Special Unit Robbery and the Homicide Department are presently investigating at least three armed robberies involving several Venezuelans which took place over the weekend of July 6th and 7th. These armed robberies all took place in St. Peters on St. Peters Road, Soursap Road and Marigot Hill Road where the victims are living or were simply walking on the…
PHILIPSBURG — Invited to comment on the clean up campaign the ministry of VROMI is currently undertaking in Pointe Blanche, head of Public Works Claudius Buncamper stated that immediate action had to be taken as the amount of Sargassum that had washed ashore was no longer at a controllable level. The ministry responsible for environment and infrastructure, VROMI, was forced to take action as the health aspect became urgent with residents complaining about the side effects from the stench of the decaying seaweed. According to reports, complaints centered around breathing issues and allergies. Asked as to the costs involved and…
PHILIPSBURG – Dr. Michel Petit, the former chairman of the supervisory board of Social and Health Insurance SZV, launched what can be considered an unprecedented attack against caretaker Public Health Minister Emil Lee and SZV manager Glen Carty during a radio interview with Fernando Clark on Friday, July 5, 2019. Petit said in the interview that every account SZV manages – among them the funds for old age pension (AOV), cessantia, sickness and accidents – has to be managed separately. SZV has however established a Swingfund that enables it to use surpluses from one fund to support funds with a…
By Hilbert Haar MP Luc Mercelina finds himself in an awkward position after the 2019 budget debate. To outsiders, it seems like he is standing with one foot in the opposition due to his motion that sent Public Health Minister Emil Lee home but on the other hand he is with the coalition, by voting against a motion that demanded the departure of Finance Minister Perry Geerlings. So the logical question is: what is the real reason for Mercelina’s motion of no confidence against Minister Lee?
