By Elco Rosario It was around September 1998 when I was visited in my notary office on Sint Maarten by two intelligence agents, one from Holland, Mr. Oosterlaken and one from Curacao, Mr. Schuschen. They had come to finish an interrogation which had started on March 9th of that year. Topic: the functioning of the notary by us. Like the first part of the interrogation this one also felt to me like giving an introductory class to students. At the end the two gentlemen thanked me for the information given and admitted that they had learnt a lot. I then…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar We leave Irkutsk on a Monday morning – rising early because the train leaves shortly after 8 a.m. for a trip of 22 hours to Ulanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Our cabin is more luxurious than the one on the train from Moscow to Irkutsk and our travel companions are Andreas, a young Pole and his father-in-law Jan; at age 73, Jan’s age mirrors that of his son-in-law who is 37. A trader in fuel, he is married to Paulina though he spends quite some time away from her traveling the world. So far, he’s hit sixty…
Dear Editor, Lets line up the following facts: 1. The failure of many developing countries, particularly small ones has been caused by the breakdown of effective democracy that has been undermined by various forms of non-democratic behavior including vote buying and undue vote influencing. 2. The recent demonstration that was based on the accusation that the prosecutors office in Sint Maarten is “selective” in it’s choice of cases to prosecute. The case in the forefront concerned vote buying. Surely we should hope that the prosecutors office should prioritize cases whose behavior have the widest possible impact on the future of…
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (August 28, 2018) – The St. Maarten Guyanese Association (SMGA) last evening was forced to postpone its election for a new executive board after Chamber of Commerce representative Ms. Ruth Patrick and Minister of Justice Cornelius De Weever pointed out that the association was not in possession of the original copy of its registered constitution. Both Minister De Weever and Ms. Patrick were invited to preside over the elections to ensure transparency, but when they requested to view the original Chamber registration, SMGA was only able to produce a draft document. As such, they indicated that they…
By Hilbert Haar With some amazement, if not amusement, I have taken note of the ‘I stand with St. Maarten’ march in Philipsburg. Obviously, this was a protest organized in support of MP Theo Heyliger, who is the subject of prosecution on charges of a (suspected) attempt at bribery. The protesters claim that the country’s leaders are being prosecuted ‘systematically.’ In my opinion, that’s a tall order. Maria-Buncamper-Molanus has been sentenced for tax fraud, former MP Patrick Illidge for bribery and MP Frans Richardson is on the ropes for bribery too. Is that systematic prosecution? It feels more like systematic…
Philipsburg, St. Maarten, August 30, 2018 – Long in the making, the proposal to ban single-use plastic bags, has been submitted to parliament for its consideration. “This is a significant step towards effective waste management on St. Maarten. I’ve proposed to amend the General Police Ordinance and prohibit the use of single-use plastic bags. Single-use plastic bags have significant effects on ecosystems and a variety of species and have contributed significantly to the solid waste problems we experience on St. Maarten.” stated Wescot-Williams. “Small, but Significant Step in Overall Waste Management” In my research, it became evident that there are…
BONAIRE, AUGUST 26, 2018 — Early Sunday morning the process to move about 90 to 100 prisoners to the newly constructed prison at Plantage Aruba in Bonaire started. Prison Director Wibo de Vries (see screenshot above) took a moment to inform the press about the process and said that the mega-operation was going well. As a result of the level of preparation the operation had not been of any cause of concern for the organization. During the press briefing JICN Prison Director De Vries explained how the mega-operation was very well planned and prepared as it was a long time…
PHILIPSBURG — On June 21st through 23rd, Kidz at Sea Foundation welcomed a team of Essilor of America employees and volunteer eye care professionals to St. Maarten to perform free eye exams to those in need. These volunteers have been providing free eye exams and corrective eye wear, to those in need, on St. Maarten for the last three consecutive years and on Anguilla the last two consecutive years. Essilor’s mission is improving lives by improving sight, and working with organizations like Kidz at Sea is just one way the company lives this mission. Screening children is especially important as…
THE HAGUE — The Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary was the location for the informative session between the three Cabinets of the Ministers Plenipotentiary and the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations. The purpose of this meeting was to inform new staff of the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK) on the role of the Cabinets with their core tasks and responsibilities apart from the articles and bylaws by which they operate based on the Kingdom charter. The Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaҫao spoke on the historical ties between the Netherlands and the island of…
CUL-DE-SAC — Cost-U-Less, the warehouse superstore, officially reopens on Saturday, September 1; nearly a year after being destroyed by Hurricane Irma and then plundered in the looting that following. Photo caption: Although Cost-U-Less is slated to officially reopen on Saturday, Sept. 1, shoppers can be seen here on Wednesday, August 29, already using the new entrance after the soft opening of the rebuilt warehouse, which was under construction since last year while shoppers used the back entrance to enter the building.
