Authorities tolerate unfair competition at Great Bay Marina PHILIPSBURG – The dispute between Dock Maarten, Bobby’s Marina and Country St. Maarten is alive and kicking. Bobby’s Marina continues to operate on parcels of water without holding long lease rights and valid building permits, to infringe upon de Neutral Waterway Agreement and to ignore government-orders to take down illegally constructed structures. The government does nothing against this and even refuses to entertain a meeting with Dock Maarten to discuss the situation. One major bone of contention is the irrefutable fact that Bobby’s Marine has been using water parcels without holding rights…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar It is no news that French-side garbage ends up on the dump on Soualiga Boulevard. What is however news is that the department of infrastructure apparently has no idea how to prevent this from happening. On the French side garbage collectors have to pay a fee for every truck that dumps garbage on the landfill, but on Dutch St. Maarten dumping is free. The head of VROMI’s Infrastructure Management Department, Claudius Buncamper said during a presentation at the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation on Wednesday that trucks with a French license plate will not be given access to the…
PHILIPSBURG — Applications for housing jumped after hurricane Irma from 1,500 to 9,000 according to the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation but Louis Brown, secretary-general at the ministry of VROMI, doubts these numbers. During a presentation about housing issues at the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation on Wednesday, he said that the number is more likely to be around 3,000. To tackle housing issues on a non-construction level caused by Hurricane Irma in September 2017, the government needs close to 20 million guilders, Brown said. Most of that money (15 million) would go to an “informal settlement upgrading project” while another 4…
PHILIPSBURG — A waste to energy facility is no longer the first option for dealing with the island’s garbage issues. The focus has shifted from producing energy to getting rid of waste. This became clear from a presentation by Claudius Buncamper, the head of infrastructure management at the VROMI-ministry at the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation on Wednesday. Taking a decision about how the government wants to solve its garbage issues could take up to three years, Buncamper said. It is more than likely that the government will take steps to impose levies on garbage collection and on waste water processing. Up…
PHILIPSBURG – Over the past months, the Government of Sint Maarten has worked closely with the Netherlands, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank to secure the necessary funding for the full recovery and strengthening of Princess Juliana International Airport. The Government has initiated this process based on a request for financial assistance by the airport. The discussions with the Netherlands, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank have resulted in a financing proposal of a 100 million US dollars for the reconstruction of the terminal and related facilitates. Under this proposal, 50 million US dollars will be…
PHILIPSBURG – Over the past months, the Government of Sint Maarten has worked closely with the Netherlands, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank to secure the necessary funding for the full recovery and strengthening of Princess Juliana International Airport. The Government has initiated this process based on a request for financial assistance by the airport. The discussions with the Netherlands, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank have resulted in a financing proposal of a 100 million US dollars for the reconstruction of the terminal and related facilitates. Under this proposal, 50 million US dollars will be…
PHILIPSBURG – On Wednesday January 9th, during the Council of Ministers Press Briefing, Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin confirmed the appointment by the Council of Ministers of Claret Connor as Director of the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB). As Director of the NRPB Mr. Connor will be responsible for the execution of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. During his courtesy visit to the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, Director Connor received an introductory briefing on the status of the recovery process. “I would like to express special thanks to Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin the Council of Ministers for…
By Hilbert Haar Every now and then when there is apparently nothing better to do, this question comes up. Who is a St. Maartener? Drs. Rodolphe Samuel, a member of the National Alliance, has once more lit the fire under this seemingly simple question with a draft motion. Technicalities aside – Samuel is not a member of parliament, so he cannot submit motions – his proposal is to declare anyone borne after 10-10-10 on the island to be a St. Maartener. As a seemingly vague afterthought, the motion also notes that “there are persons born before 10-10-10 who are St.…
PHILIPSBURG — NAGICO Group and Swiss Re have renewed their Excess of Loss (XoL) reinsurance treaty with symbolic signing 1,500 miles from land on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean. The treaty, which became effective on 1 January 2019, was signed by Cameron Parker, Head of P&C Structured Solutions for Continental Europe at Swiss Re, who is on an extreme endurance ocean row race as part of the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. When Parker and his four-man rowing team arrive at land and complete their 40-day journey, NAGICO’s Chairman Imran McSood Amjad will countersign the Treaty on NAGICO’s behalf. “We…
AIRPORT—“There is need for more parking space for aircraft at the Princess Juliana International Airport,” said General Manager of Signature, Matumi Shigemoto. He pointed out that this is one of the constraints that handling agents are being faced with presently. This is apparently the first time since the passage of the 2017 hurricanes that so many private jets have landed at the airport bringing in celebrities to the island. According to reports among the events that the celebrities are attending is the annual New Year’s event that happens in St. Barth’s. Shigemoto has confirmed that a number of celebrities are…
