Philipsburg — Ferfina S.P.A Group, the parent company of INSO, the construction company contracted to build the new hospital on St. Maarten, has allegedly amassed over US $833 million in debt with an apparent US $6 billion in order backlogs. Additionally, documents from the Courte de Roma show that another affiliate company, Condotte, as well as INSO, has been seeking urgent reprieve from creditors who are demanding funds that they simply cannot pay, or work they cannot perform. Member of Parliament Rolando Brison of the United St. Maarten (US) party faction in Parliament on Tuesday said he has uncovered information…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) has been notified by Italian construction company INSO that its parent company, Condotte d’Acqua (Condotte) has filed for Extraordinary Administration, which is a restructuring procedure aimed at satisfying the creditors on the one side and safeguarding the continuity of the business and the employees’ rights on the other. Condotte’s going through financial turbulence was mentioned by several speakers, including Minister of VSA Emil Lee and SMMC’s General Director Kees Klarenbeek, during yesterday’s Groundbreaking Ceremony for the construction of the new hospital. Despite these current circumstances, Tripartite members Ministry of VSA, SZV and SMMC…
CAY HILL — During a well-attended ceremony and in witness of the Governor of St. Maarten his Excellency Drs. Eugene Holiday, Deputy Prime Minister Wycliffe Smith, Minister of VSA Emil Lee and the Council of Ministers, Dutch Representative Chris Johnson, the Chairman of the Supervisory Council of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), Robert Jan James, the Board of Directors of SMMC Kees Klarenbeek and Dr. Felix Holiday and numerous Government officials and other dignitaries, ground was officially broken for the construction of the new hospital: St. Maarten General Hospital. The official groundbreaking ceremony was held at SMMC in close…
By Hilbert Haar Traffic jams. Everybody hates them but nobody wants to leave his or her car at home. A car for every working man; that was something Joop den Uyl, the iconic front man of the Dutch socialist party PvdA envisioned in the sixties of last century. We all know by now what happened next. Den Uyl’s vision became a reality and all those working stiffs are nowadays complaining about traffic jams. Congestion is not unique to St. Maarten, but the island’s land mass and infrastructure pose specific problems and they make a solution more complicated, if not near…
PHILIPSBURG – A rough estimate, based on plate numbers, suggests that there are between 60,000 and 70,000 cars on the road in St. Maarten – that’s counting both the Dutch and the French side. Given our island’s limited infrastructure, traffic jams are unavoidable. It’s at times bad in the low season and worse in the high season when there are many more rental cars on the road. One thing we know by now for sure: the causeway bridge was not the solution. But what is? Stmaartennews.com readers have expressed their thoughts about this topic and provided a wide array of…
PHILIPSBURG—“At least 15% of the population of the island are suffering with diabetes,” said Member of Parliament and surgeon Dr. Luc Mercelina during his lecture at the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) on Saturday. ‘It is very high and a very serious problem in the community,” he said. Responding to the concern of a member of the audience who suggested that something has to be done to prevent this disease, he said that science has not been able to find out what is the real cause of the diabetes disease. “What we know is once a person has the disease…
COLE BAY — News reaching our newsdesk reports that the electrical installation at the back of the Caribbean Cinemas Megaplex 7 movie theaters building on the Welfare Road in Cole Bay caught on fire and was emitting heavy smoke. The building was immediately evacuated and firefighters with their firetrucks are on the scene at this present time. The report came in just before 7pm this evening, Saturday, December 1, 2018. There is no indication of serious structural damage nor is there any reports of anyone getting hurt. This is however the second major business on the island to reopen after…
By Hilbert Haar Boom! Gerrit Schotte to jail for three years, banned from politics for five years. It is not unexpected, but the Supreme Court ruling has sealed it. The implications of this ruling also spread to St. Maarten and not only because of the involvement of casino owner Francesco Corallo in the Schotte-case. Remember, this is all about buying political influence and in the run-up to the elections in 2010 everything seemed possible for aggressive politicians who had managed to dress up their message in a new outfit. Schotte floated into the position of prime minister in Curacao on…
THE HAGUE – In a 65-page ruling containing 169 articles the Supreme Court has confirmed the conviction of Curacao’s former Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte to 3 years of imprisonment and a 5-year ban from membership of parliament. His partner Cicely van der Dijs also saw her verdict confirmed by the highest court in the kingdom: 15 months of imprisonment with 6 months suspended. The ruling put St. Maarten’s casino owner Francesco Corallo once more in the spotlights. Schotte accepted more than $213,000 from Corallo to finance his Movementu Futuro Korsou (MFK) in the run-up to the 2010 elections. After the…
By Hilbert Haar The title of this opinion – Curtain – may not mean a lot to younger readers, so let me explain it briefly. It was the title of the British detective-writer Agatha Christie’s book about the last case of her sleuth Hercule Poirot. No wonder this came to mind when I read about the conviction of former Tourist Bureau and airport director Regina Labega. The court handed down a 12-month conditional prison sentence and a fine of 300,000 guilders for embezzling funds from the Tourist Bureau’s New York office to enrich herself. Her partner in crime, Fabian Badejo…
