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regarding the status of the Prison in Point Blanche and was baffled by the recent story that was published based on outdated information.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.…
Author: The Publisher
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…
PHILIPSBURG—The Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings has stated that the only finance opportunity that the government negotiated is with the World Bank and the European Investment Bank is a package deal. The minister was responding to questions with regard to the time that the World Bank and the European Investment bank takes to hand over the funds to have the airport reconstruction done. The Finance Minister was asked about the time it takes for the release which is said to be six months. He stated that although he is aware of this fact, he indicated that “they are trying to…
PHILIPSBURG — There are conflicting reports coming from the Ministry of Finance regarding the issuing of the vehicle number plates and the stickers. The Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings in response to questions about the issue stated that motorists should be aware that the legal object for vehicles are the number plates. He indicated that the displaying of the number plates is proof that persons have paid their road taxes which is a requirement by law. He noted that because of the controversy regarding the use of the number plates persons could use the stickers on their vehicles but must…
DUTCH QUARTER—The construction manager of the Dutch Quarter project Stefan van de Tonnekreek has dismissed reports that his employees on the road project was not paid which prompted them not to report to work yesterday Tuesday. He has confirmed that he pays his workers every two weeks and it was only last Friday that they received their remuneration for the last two weeks. It was reported in an earlier news report that the employees at the project did not report for work on Tuesday which was a concern for the businesses and residents in that district. Speaking with van de…
