PHILIPSBURG — The board of the United St. Maarten (US) party is echoing the call by its leader MP Frans Richardson by publicly asking the Minister of Justice if he will investigate the theft of jewelry from the home of Francesco Corallo by two TBO officers. “Or will the Minister simply accept the convenient story by the Public Prosecutor who was quick to sweep it under the rug. Is the Prosecutor’s declaration gospel? Judging from past incidents we know this is not the case.” The board of the USP on Tuesday said the Public Prosecutor was quick to dismiss the…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — The Public Prosecutor’s Office does not recognize the statement of Mr. Richardson made in Parliament and to the media about the theft of jewelry by two TBO members in December 2016 and that these persons had returned to the Netherlands without repercussion. The letter circulated by Mr. Richardson has not been written by Mrs. Festen or sent to former Chief Prosecutor of Sint Maarten Mr. Maan, so he did not receive it either. The letterhead is from the Joint Court of Justice where Festen has never worked. Mrs. Hanneke Festen is currently the Chief Prosecutor on Curaçao and…
PHILIPSBURG — MP Theo Heyliger was quick to agree with MP Frans Richardson’s call for a parliamentary inquiry into the justice system here on St. Maarten. On Monday, November 5, 2018, on the floor of Parliament during a debate held at 9am about the repercussions of the verdict by the European Court of Human Rights in the Corallo case for the country St. Maarten and the Ministry of Justice of St. Maarten. MP Richardson had just railed against the injustices perceived in the justice system on St. Maarten. MP Richardson said he could not go into details as the Minister…
PHILIPSBURG — The leader of the Progressive Labor Party Clyde van Putten informed StMaartenNews.com that the injunction case he filed last week Wednesday, October 31, 2018, at the Court of First Instance in Philipsburg has been scheduled by the court for Tuesday, November 20th, at 11am at the courthouse in Philipsburg. This injunction case is intended to have the administrators who were appointed by the Dutch Government immediately removed from office and to restore the democracy on the island of St. Eustatius. Coincidentally, the date set for the regular court procedure in the regards to the petition filed by Van…
PHILIPSBURG — Finance Minister, the Honourable Perry Geerlings, says the second Draft Budget Amendment 2018 will be presented to Parliament of Sint Maarten for approval by November 15th, as originally scheduled. The Second Draft Budget Amendment will go to the Council of Ministers (COM), Tuesday next week for approval along with the “Nader Rapport,” which will outline how the Finance Ministry addressed the advice of the Council of Advice. In the same order the concerns put forward by the Board for Financial Supervision (Cft), in their Article 11 Advice (Rft) are addressed. Despite information disseminated by a local Media House,…
PHILIPSBURG — The St. Dominic High School has introduced an International Baccalaureate Diploma Program which is geared to develop an academically successful student that is well rounded, socially responsible and able to make ethical life choices. This academic program which is a pre-university program is offered to students who have finished high school but not ready to leave for university. “The IB program has been offered by the school for at least 7 years to make students better prepared for tertiary education,” said Principal of the St. Dominic High school Gianne Wilson De Weever. She explained that it is a…
PHILIPSBURG — Leader of the USP, MP Frans Richardson on Monday disclosed that two members of the TBO arresting team stole jewelry from Francesco Corallo during his arrest and the raid on his residence in December 2016 and was subsequently sent back to Holland without punishment. Richardson made the revelations during the meeting of Parliament on Monday in the presence of Minister of Justice Cornelius DeWeever. MP Richardson is in possession of a document to former Chief Prosecutor Ton Maan from the Gemeenschappelijk Hof van Justitie (Common Court of Justice) in which the situation was confirmed and outlined. H. Festen…
Wescot-Williams: The Path to Political Independence Starts With a Path of Total Self-reliance and Strong Sense of Self, English Language a Critical Part. Philipsburg, St. Maarten, November 4th, 2018 – The “English Language” Motions by Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams of 2015 and 2016, which were unanimously passed by Parliament have now been brought to the attention of the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs, Wycliffe Smith for his Ministry’s follow-up. “I have high hopes that a start will be made. Even in these trying times, we can’t overlook the process of nation building. Much of the criticism…
By Hilbert Haar PHILIPSBURG – The board financial supervision (Cft) has expressed severe criticism about the draft amendment to St. Maarten’s 2018 budget. In a ten-page letter to Finance Minister Perry Geerlings Cft-chairman Raymond Gradus identifies no less then twelve issues that require adjustment. The supervisor’s main conclusion is that the amendment does not meet the requirements of the kingdom law financial supervision. From the Cft-letter it appears that the government is dragging its feet with the completion of adjustments to the casino fee legislation. Because these adjustments are not in place, the government is unable to collect 3.15 million…
Philipsburg, November 1, 2018 – Discussions have begun between DIVI DIVI Air (Curacao) and WINAIR (St. Maarten) to begin the process of cooperation to work together improving connectivity in the ABC islands and Northern Caribbean. “The goals of these two companies will be how can we provide better services to our mutual customers, lower prices and increase options for our customers capitalizing on each other’s geographical location and extensive route networks” stated Michael Cleaver, President and CEO of WINAIR. WINAIR is a founding member of the Caribsky Alliance (with Air Antilles and LIAT) which serves 35 destinations and has a…
