At the dawn of the internet it was seen as the cusp of the information age and was dubbed the information superhighway. The internet became the great equalizer where everyone, no matter color, race or creed, could become wealthy beyond anyone’s imagination. The internet was also the inspiration for democratization processes around the world in many countries. The internet gave rise to all sorts of movements such as The Tea Party Movement, Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, culminating with many hashtag movements such as #mgtow, #metoo, #shetoo, #hetoo and #ustoo. The internet has given a platform for many…
Author: The Publisher
CUPECOY — The AUC campus in Cupecoy was the location of an interesting gathering this past week. The medical university saw a group of media professionals from different backgrounds in St. Maarten coming together to participate in a series of workshops organized by Press Center Nieuwspoort and the Rotary Club Nieuwspoort in The Netherlands. The masterclass sessions were financed through funding raised in the Netherlands after the passing of hurricane Irma in 2017 in support of the media on St. Maarten. The series of workshops were held under the banner ‘MasterClass Media St. Maarten’ and took place from Monday, May…
PHILIPSBURG – Following the completion of the first phase of works at the Philipsburg and Simpson Bay police stations, both are now better able to withstand any major storms as the buildings have been deemed ‘water and wind tight’. This is the consensus of the small group of representatives that participated in the official walkthrough and handover on Wednesday, May 29th. The project , which falls under the Emergency Recovery Project 1 of the Sint Maarten Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience Trust Fund, comprises of repairs including window repairs, doors, shutters and roof sealing to improve working conditions at the police…
Dear Editor, Well. Just when you think you’ve seen it all in St. Maarten politics you learn something new every day. And every day there is somebody from the old guard getting exposed about how they built their wealth on the backs of the people of St. Maarten. Years and years of self-enrichment allowed by people who kept voting them back into office over and over again. The latest hypocrite is former Commissioner and Former Minister of Finance Michael Ferrier. Mr. Do No Wrong, Mr. Holier-Than-Thou, Mr. Clean…yea right. Michael Ferrier, if the reports are proven to be true, reportedly…
WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO — Cable & Wireless Communications, part of the Liberty Latin America listed on NASDAQ Global Select Market, has acquired all shares in United Telecommunication Services held by the Country of Curaçao. The interest sold by the seller concerns 87.5% of the total number of outstanding shares in UTS. The remaining 12.5% is held by the Country of St. Maarten. It is one of the largest deals within the Caribbean part of the Kingdom in recent years. Tjarda Tazelaar, deal maker for VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne: “UTS has telecom activities in Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Martin, Bonaire, St. Barths, St.…
PHILIPSBURG – The downfall of the Golden Boy cannot have come as a surprise to anybody. It cannot have been easy to go through life as Claude Wathey’s grandson, as the man who had to step into the ole’ man’s shoes and prove his worth every day for more than 25 years. Theo Heyliger has not been sentenced yet, but the accusations of bribery brought against him by the public prosecutor’s office are serious and – given the details in the indictment – they will probably stick.
PHILIPSBURG — During an urgent meeting of Parliament on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, regarding the management structure of the detention facilities on St. Maarten, minister Wycliffe Smith deputizing for the minister of Justice, Cornelius De Weever, gave a short presentation outlining the current formation at the prison. This urgent meeting of Parliament was requested by members of Parliament Tamara E. Leonard, Sidarth M. Bijlani and Jules C. James on May 24, 2019, and registered by incoming document IS/1059/2018-2019. The agenda points for this urgent meeting regarded two topics, namely the management structure of the detention facilities on St. Maarten and the…
AIRPORT — The 4th annual Caribbean Aviation Meetup conference will be held June 11-13 on St. Maarten/St. Martin The conference is hosted by St. Maarten/St. Martin and supported by a number of major local and international industry companies. Two years ago, the event was successfully held on St. Maarten before the island was hit by the hurricanes. The Caribbean Aviation Meetup conference, CARIBAVIA, is a results and solutions oriented communication platform for stakeholders of airlift which are the aviation and tourism industries. The topics of the 30 sessions will vary from “Friendly Skies; Liberalizing Airlift in the Caribbean” to “Regional…
PHILIPSBURG – Between 2004 and 2014 United Democrats politician Theo Heyliger allegedly accepted bribes worth more than $5.5 million (9.9 million guilders) from Windward Roads, dredging company Devcon and Volker Stevin – the company that built the causeway across the Simpson Bay Lagoon. This appears from the indictment against Heyliger that became public on Monday. In exchange for the bribes, Heyliger granted the companies lucrative government contracts. Between January 1, 2004 and March 31, 2014, Windward Roads gave Heyliger $1,847,625, plus $850,000 in cash, $40,000 via a bank transfer and a share in the sale of a piece of land…
By Hilbert Haar The stalled debate about increasing the retirement age has put the spotlight on questions about ageing and the ability to continue working after the current retirement age of 62 in St. Maarten.
