Philipsburg St. Maarten, October 29th, 2018 – The Market vendors and all the other small and micro entrepreneurs should be part and parcel of our economic recovery. “It is therefore with concern that I’ve noted that no information is available regarding the market vendors in Philipsburg and the food trucks on the Pondfill. In the latter situation, stories about the allocation of land on the Pondfill/Ring Road have lead me to question our Minister(s) about the plans for the Pondfill and Ring Road and the plans for the vendors/food trucks in this area.” stated Member of Parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams. The…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar After Envirogreen it is now Enviropower to get a shot at building a waste-to-energy facility on Pond Island. The company recently made a presentation in the parliamentary committee for environment and infrastructure. It’s an old song and people desperate for a solution to the situation at the dump have been hearing it like a broken record for years. So far it never added up to anything. Former Vromi-minister Christophe Emmanuel declared with a lot of pomp in the past that he was two signatures away from a deal with the Canadian company Envirogreen but before he could…
By Hilbert Haar What exactly are Gestapo tactics? That question becomes relevant now that members of parliament have seen fit to take Minister Perry Geerlings to task for his attempt to pacify the Dutch over the use of this term by MP Theo Heyliger. How did this term get a new lease on life in St. Maarten again?
ORANJESTAD – Statian politicians spearheaded by Island Council member Clyde van Putten are heading to court in an attempt to regain control of their island. There is not even a remote chance that the Netherlands will give in to their demand to relieve administrator Mike Franco of his duties by 4 p.m. on Monday afternoon. Once that deadline is gone, Van Putten c.s. will file an injunction on Wednesday at the Court in First Instance in a further attempt to suspend the Temporary Law Task Negligence Sint Eustatius (Tijdelijke Wet Taakverwaarlozing Sint Eustatius) and to undo some of its consequences.…
By Hilbert Haar Interesting that debate on our island about the accountability of journalists. Andrew Dick seems to be at the centre of this storm in a glass of water. I happen to know Andrew – for a short time when nobody else wanted him I employed him at the Today newspaper. Everybody deserves a second chance. Unfortunately, Andrew screwed up. I know from personal experience that Andrew is not a journalist – he is an opportunist. That’s okay, and it is not my intention to make this personal, because the debate is about the accountability of journalists. When I…
It was in the early 1804 that Haiti became the first country to become independent in this hemisphere. The rest of the world thought that Haiti which was a former colony of France was “bold and out of place” to put it mildly, to become an independent country. This resulted in serious sanctions that kept the development of the country down economically and has since been known as one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. It was called the Bastion of Society because of the move to become an independent nation, led by Toussaint L’Overture who liberated Haiti…
PHILIPSBURG — Ydellienne Heerenveen, affectionately known as “Ydi”, will be back on My88.3fm with her adult oriented program “Hushh”. The show will be on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 9:00pm too 11:00pm starting Tuesday, November 20, 2018. “Hushh” has a loyal adult following on radio due largely in part to its open and “almost unfiltered” discussions and general content. As the show’s tagline “A Sexy Session” indicates, Hushh will focus on relationships, love, sex, money, intimacy, any topic that touches human behavior. Many of these subjects overlap. Love and money, marriage and commitment, the wins, the losses, the chaos and…
ORANJESTAD, ST. EUSTATIUS — At the 11th hour the Dutch government made the decision to hire regional law firm HBN Law on St. Maarten to represent them in court in the case brought forward by Van Putten c.s., a case that will determine the future of the deposed island government of Statia and that even has legal ramifications for the existence of Kingdom-imposed government rule over the rest of the countries that form part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With this decision, the Dutch Kingdom government has basically agreed to participate in the dialogue as it stands to discuss…
Photo caption: Recently, St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) took a pause from its regular activities to meet with the Council of Ministers. In the meeting, SMDF took the opportunity to formally update the Ministers of the organization’s works in 2018 and goals for 2019. Present on behalf of SMDF were the Chairlady of the Supervisory Board, Richelda Rodriguez-Emmanuel, SMDF Managing Director Keith Franca and Program and Development Manager Makhicia Brooks. The presentation included insight into SMDF’s scope of work and updates on the activities of the 23 NGO clients currently funded by SMDF. Additionally, the development agency also provided an…
PHILIPSBURG — Former Deputy Minister of Plenipotentiary to The Hague, Henri Brookson, publishes an open letter to Second Chamber member, Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) regarding the proposal of the latter to celebrate the 250th independence year of the United States of America on St. Eustatius where the US Navy ship the USS Andrew Doria was first saluted by the Dutch Fort Oranje when America obtained its independence in 1776. Below is a copy of the open letter in Dutch: Een open brief aan dhr Ronald van Raak. Tweede Kamerlid van de socialistische partij SP. Geachte heer…
