~ Minister Johnson absent from airport-debate ~ PHILIPSBURG – On the fringes of the parliamentary debate about the financing of the airport’s reconstruction National Alliance MP Christophe Emmanuel called Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin on Monday afternoon a liar, wondered whether the absent Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson was on a gay cruise and announced a motion of no confidence against him. Most opposition members criticized the government’s decision to accept Dutch conditions to the $100 million it will receive from the World Bank trust fund to get the airport back on its feet again. The reconstruction of…
Author: The Publisher
Philipsburg St. Maarten, January 21, 2019 – “I started my New Year’s address with a quote from Hal Borland: ‘Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.’ – I mention this to emphasize that we learn and grow from experience – at least we should. Much in the news lately from opposition Members in Parliament, has been the role of the Chairperson of Parliament. Now, the fact that the opposition will always find reasons to criticize the Chair is a given, that is expected. However,…
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten (Sunday January 20th, 2019) — Social & Health Insurances SZV has welcomed Dr. Ruth Douglass as a new control doctor within the organization. Dr. Ruth Douglass joined the SZV team on January 15, 2019. As a family doctor with her own medical practice on the island, Dr. Douglass brings with her many years of experience. The team at SZV is delighted to have her on board. If you are ZV insured at SZV, you must visit the control doctor at the SZV on the 3rd day that you are unfit for work due to illness. When you…
PHILIPSBURG – Last week, Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings travelled to the Netherlands to successfully negotiate and secure a bridge loan amounting up to 15 million US dollars to ensure that the airport can continue to pay its salaries and fulfil its other financial obligations in the coming months. This financial assistance was urgently requested by the airport and is linked with the 100 million US dollars that the Council of Ministers has secured for the reconstruction of the airport through the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. Upon her return from the Netherlands,…
Philipsburg, January 18, 2019 –According to internal policy and international EASA standards both Air France and KLM were obliged to perform the Codeshare renewal audit at Winair. This audit must be done Bi-annually. With an audit team of 6 auditors the audit was performed according to the ICAO standards and all operational areas, security and the functioning of the Safety Management System were audited from January 14th- 18th 2019. Although a joint audit it seems logical Air France and KLM have to perform the audits under their own responsibility to ensure a safe and compliant operation for their codeshare passengers. The…
~ Consultations Should Always Be With End Goal In Mind ~ Philipsburg St. Maarten, January 18, 2019 – “I wish to again congratulate all of the persons who contributed to the success of the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO) held on St. Maarten during the week of January 7th, 2019. Nonetheless the debate continues with the question, does IPKO have any added value? I believe it does.” stated President of Parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams. The IPKO, formerly under different names, dates back prior to Suriname’s independence in 1975. “So, the fact that after so many years, the desire to come together as…
Philipsburg — From 21 January 2019, a team from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) will travel to Sint Maarten for a period of 2 weeks, to assist the government (VROMI) to assess the potential health risks for the community in relation to landfill fires. Frequent landfill fires in the recent past have been the subject of many complaints from various sectors of the community affected by the smoke. RIVM’s Environmental Incident Service has specialised equipment for taking measurements and samples. RIVM intends to use these to advise whether substances released from the fires may…
PHILIPSBURG—There has been an increase of students applying for study financing this year. According the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Wycliffe Smith although some 267 students have applied only 109 have completed the applications with all the supporting documents that are required. Although it was not reported the disciplines that the students have chosen the Netherlands were chosen by some 67 students as the places for their higher education. The United States and Canada fell into second and third place while St. Maarten and the United Kingdom were chosen by some other students. Other places were the ABC…
PHILIPSBURG — Some 40 students from various high schools have been nominated to receive the Kings and Queens’s awards by the Gifted Foundation. These students who have been making positive and outstanding contributions to their schools and communities in areas such as academics, athletics, community service, expressive arts and leadership, shows that there are focused youth on the island said Minister of Education Wycliffe Smith. “This is a good reminder at this time when negative news seem to be bombarding us especially as it relates to our young people,” said Smith. He mentioned that the awards should be shared and…
By Hilbert Haar There is no doubt that financial supervision is useful. St. Maarten agreed to this supervision when it obtained country status in 2010. The question is now: did financial supervision improve our country’s financial situation? Given the quandary St. Maarten finds itself in after Hurricane Irma it is tempting to answer this question with a full-blown no. And it is true, financial supervision did not perform miracles and the Board financial supervision (Cft) seems at times more like a paper tiger than a strict authority that keeps our sweet Sint Maarten land on the straight and narrow. One…
