~ Student will have his day in court ~ PHILIPSBURG — The recent theft of a teachers’ vehicle still has the teacher in question traumatized. The fact that the teacher had left her vehicle keys on her desk in front of the entire class and a student that she is teaching picks up the keys and steals the vehicle is much to be concerned over. Speaking with the school manager, she said that although this incident has the teachers on what could be considered as “high alert” there are still some 80% of the students who are still interested in…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – The Central Bank will “do its utmost” to protect the interests of policyholders at troubled insurance company ENNIA, but there are no guarantees. That is the message members of the parliamentary finance committee received on Tuesday afternoon from the Central Bank’s financial and economic director José Jardim. The opposition asked for the meeting approximately seven months ago but for unexplained reasons it only took place on Tuesday. MPs Frans Richardson (USp) and Christophe Emmanuel (NA) focused in the first round of questions on the value and status of Mullet Bay, an ENNIA-asset currently valued at $49.7 million that…
GREAT BAY — Suspect T.H. (48) was arrested by the Anti corruption Taskforce (TBO) this morning, February 19, 2019. The suspect has been placed in pre-trial detention. More information will provided later today. Update from the spokesperson of the TBO team: In connection to an ongoing criminal investigation, suspect T.H. (48) was arrested on Tuesday, February 19, 2019. Additionally the suspect’s home was searched. The arrest derives from the investigation “Larimar”, which delves into corruption, money laundering and the acceptance and payment of bribes in the construction sector on Sint Maarten. Several arrests and house searches have been conducted in…
SINT MAARTEN (POND ISLAND) – Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever took note of media reporting regarding the status of the Prison in Point Blanche and was baffled by the recent story that was published based on outdated information. Information about the progress being made at the Prison was published in the media mid-December under the headline, “Minister inspects repairs at prison.” At that time urgent repairs were being made to the roof, corridor walls and courtyard walls. These works including project management and site supervision were being carried out by Independent Consulting Engineers (ICE). References made to the St.…
By Hilbert Haar St. Maarten’s parliamentarians do not have a strong record when it comes to appreciating the contents of critical reports about the functioning of the government or about the dire straits the country finds itself in after Hurricane Irma. Just ask the guys who work at the General Audit Chamber. The 2018 Article IV consultation report from the International Monetary Fund is probably in for the same treatment that has befallen all those reports from the General Audit Chamber. That is to say, if anybody is going to say anything at all about this report, it will most…
PHILIPSBURG – Cumbersome regulations, red tape, weak governance, antiquated tax and labor laws, skill mismatches, restrictive labor markets, high energy costs, infrastructure bottlenecks and political volatility are structural impediments to St. Maarten’s economic growth. This appears from the Article IV annual bilateral consultations between a team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and St. Maarten. The IMF Executive Board endorsed the staff appraisal of this consultation in its meeting of January 15, 2019. Enhancing growth, productivity and competitiveness requires reducing the costs of business, streamlining and modernizing regulations, facilitating economic adjustments, attracting investments through an improved business environment, a resilient…
Seasonal Service from Boston Also Set to Resume, with New Saturday Mint Flights Debuting on the Route. Saturday Mint Flights to St. Maarten Resume From New York-JFK. ST. MAARTEN – Feb. 14, 2019 – JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) is set to launch new daily service from its Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) focus city to St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) on Thursday, Feb. 14, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The new service will connect more customers from destinations across JetBlue’s route map. In Fort Lauderdale, JetBlue’s South Florida focus city plays a key role in supporting the airline’s…
By Hilbert Haar Not for the first time, the Progress Committee – the club that monitors how St. Maarten is doing with the execution of Plans of Approach for the police force and the prison – has sounded the alarm over the situation at both the police force and the Pointe Blanche prison. This time however, the committee also trained its guns on the Ministry of Justice and by extension – without calling his name – Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever. These Plans of Approach have been in place since 10-10-10, the day St. Maarten became a constituent state…
WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG – On February 13, 2019, Mrs. Leila Matroos-Lasten and Mr. José Jardim were sworn in as Executive Directors of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) as they took the oath of office before the Governor of Curaçao, Mrs. Lucille George-Wout. On Wednesday, February 20, 2019, both members of the CBCS Executive Board will take the oath of office before the Governor of Sint Maarten, Mr. Eugene Holiday, and are then formally appointed as Members of the Executive Board of the CBCS. Both Mrs. Leila Matroos-Lasten and Mr. José Jardim have been interim directors since November 2017.…
PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten’s Plans of Approach for the police and the prison – dating back to 2010 – have not been realized by a long shot and the situation at the Pointe Blanche prison is so bad that it puts the safety of the population at risk. This appears from the 31st report by the Progress Committee. The report contains explicit criticism of the Ministry of Justice and, by extension, of Justice Minister Cornelius de Weever. The Progress Committee consists of chairman Nico Schoof and members Michel Marijnen and local attorney Jason Rogers. Gert Jan Stortelers , former Dutch…
