By Hilbert Haar Had the government been a private company it would have gone out of business a long time ago and most ministers would have been locked up for the way they squandered the money they are supposed to manage. That is the rather sad, though not unexpected, conclusion I draw from the General Audit Chamber’s report about the country’s 2016 financial statement. When ministers break the law by spending money that is not in their budget, they are sending a message that will inspire ordinary citizens to do the same thing. This results, as we have seen since…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – The government’s 2016 financial statements contain “material errors of profound influence,” the General Audit Chamber writes in its Compliance Audit, a document that was presented to parliament on Monday, January 14. The audit establishes that “ministries are not in control of public funds as far as public tendering is concerned” and hints in veiled terms at possible corruption. Finance Minister Perry Geerlings – who was not in office in 2016 – acknowledged the shortcomings in a reaction to the Audit Chamber, saying that the Plan of Approach Financial Management will tackle all deficiencies and that this should lead…
By Dr. Rhoda Arrindell Chapter 1 of the States Regulation (aka Constitution) of Sint Maarten, in its English translation of the Dutch original states in Article 1.3 that: “By national ordinance the national flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem of Sint Maarten shall be enacted.” The coat of arms and national anthem had been enacted by Island Council resolutions before 10-10-10, and Parliament thereafter adopted them in the transition to the present status. So, why hasn’t Parliament to date passed legislation to enact a “national anthem”? A quick look backwards may shed light. The debate of a…
An interesting question was posed today on Facebook. The poster wanted to know how the Shutdown in the USA, the Yellow Vests issues in France and the Russian bombers in Venezuela might affect our one pillar economy. A good question and it would not hurt to think about the possible scenarios that can play out leading to tourists stopping coming to our island. Therefore we are calling on our leadership in the business sector, in the government sector and in the private sector to form a taskforce to address this issue and be proactive in finding ways to mitigate the…
By Hilbert Haar Insurance company Ennia is struggling, to put it mildly. Its management and members of the supervisory board, including major shareholder Hushang Ansary, have been fired and the company is now controlled by the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten. Ennia’s insolvency deficit is a dazzling number and in the poker game between major shareholder Ansary and the Central Bank millions of dollars are at stake. What does all this mean for Ennia’s clients, the policyholders? Let’s first put Ennia’s position in the insurance market in Curacao and St. Maarten into perspective. According to court documents, the…
MARIGOT — “There is need for proper planning in the rebuilding of the communities following the devastation of the island by the hurricanes of 2017,” said Senator Guillaume. He explained that among the issues that they are facing are persons who are not qualified to construct buildings are allowed to bid for projects. This has resulted in serious problems with the repairs to the college in the La Savanne. After nearly 18 months hardly any work has been done that has the parents, teachers and students fuming with the way things are being done. He pointed out that government has…
PHILIPSBURG — The United St. Maarten (US) party and National Alliance factions of Parliament has requested Chairlady of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams to convene an urgent meeting of Parliament to discuss the reported Decision of The Council of Ministers to go with the Dutch government and European Investment Bank (EIB) financing proposal to the tune of US $100 million to go towards the reconstruction of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA). The aforementioned factions requested the presence of the Minister of General Affairs, Prime Minister Leona Marlin Romeo and the Shareholder Representative TEATT Minister Stuart Johnson for this urgent meeting. “Considering that…
PHILIPSBURG – Hushang Ansary, the 93-year old Persian-American major shareholder of Parman International B.V. is frustrating the restructuring process the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) has initiated to rescue troubled insurance company ENNIA. This appears from a press release issued by the Central Bank in reaction to what it calls inaccurate media reporting. ENNIA is a subsidiary of the Parman Group. Last week, the Parman Group took the Central Bank to court in an attempt to stop the emergency ruling the Central Bank issued for ENNIA. The court will pronounce its verdict in this case no later…
POND ISLAND – Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever is offering condolences to the bereaved family and friends of the driver who lost his life in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 12th on the A.J.C. Brouwers road in the vicinity of the Osbourne Kruythoff round-a-bout. This is the first traffic fatality for 2019. There was also another tragic incident involving a three-year old toddler who tragically lost his life over the weekend in another vehicle incident which is currently under investigation. The Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever extends his condolences to the family of the young victim.…
~ Minister of Justice Cornelius De Weever pays sympathy visit to incident scene ~ RETREAT ESTATE — An innocent life has been taken away today. Around midday, Sunday, January 13, 2019, an unmarked van from a funeral home came to take away the body of the two year old boy named Jeremy, who was tragically killed this morning around 10:30 am as a result of an incident whereby boys driving a car attempted to rundown other boys outside the Retreat Estate home of the Williams family. This as a result of an ongoing beef, apparently over a scooter. Also visiting…
