PORT ST. MAARTEN – The Port St. Maarten Group of Companies (the “Port”) has taken notice of the local and Dutch media reports in relation to the inquiry proceedings pending before the Court of Appeal. Although it is the policy of the Port not to comment on pending legal proceedings before the Court has issued a ruling, the Port wishes to rectify or clarify certain incorrect statements made, Port St. Maarten Management said on Wednesday. “The request for an inquiry into the Port’s management originated from a complaint letter that was sent to the Public Prosecutor by the lawyers of…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar It sounded good when the government established the Corporate Governance Council back in February 2010, but history shows that it was predominantly a paper tiger. “The council will advise the government on important matters, like the appointment of managing directors to government-owned companies and government controlled foundations.” That quote is from William Marlin, at the time the leader of the island territory of St. Maarten’s government. The first members of the council were Louis Duzanson, Minerva Vlaun-Monte, Francis Carty, Maria van der Sluis-Plantz and Agnes Gumbs. “You are the first to be appointed to the council and…
PHILIPSBURG – The Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University has predicted a slightly above average hurricane season. Research scientist Phil Klotzbach expects fourteen named storm, of which seven will become hurricanes. Three of these will become major hurricanes with wind speeds of 111 kilometers per hour or higher. Klotzbach also created a summary of the meteorological facts of Hurricane Irma that hit St. Maarten on September 6, 2017. Remarkable: Irma generated more Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) than 18 entire Atlantic Hurricane seasons in the satellite era since 1966. Irma also generated more ACE than the eight named storms…
THE HAGUE — As part of the presentations at the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO) members of Parliament took the floor. There was an emphasis on the sustainable development goals (SDG) of the island, particularly since the post-Irma development of the island. Member of Parliament Brison, who was part of the panel at the IPKO this week, directly addressed the Environmental issues as well as the possible prosperity of the island. “Planet and prosperity is one of the keys to our rebuilding efforts. And thus as stated by our chairlady of Parliament, our sustainable development goals are really based on how…
PHILIPSBURG – Romeo Pantophlet broke every rule in the book of corporate governance after his appointment as Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs in 2012. This appears from the petition the Public Prosecutor’s Office submitted to the Common Court of Justice last week Tuesday in its quest to obtain permission for a civil inquiry at the harbor group of companies. The petition also triggers new questions about the involvement of United St. Maarten partyleader MP Frans Richardson. Immediately after his appointment, Pantophlet demanded on August 29, 2012 that all five members of the supervisory board of directors submit their resignation.…
When you don’t know, you don’t know. But the school children always know. What school children have been saying for years is now a subject of investigation: the costs of the causeway bridge project over the Simpson Bay lagoon was 10% higher than originally quoted. Also the bond issue used to financed the causeway project is being investigated. It is remarkable how our government and government-owned companies can get very creative when it comes to finding money for certain projects but when it comes to paying things like the pro bono lawyers for their work, suddenly there is no money.…
By Hilbert Haar It is rather unsettling that pro bono attorneys have to go on strike on an annual basis for one reason only: the government is not paying them. It happened in 2016, it happened in 2017 and now it is happening again. Invoices have not been paid since January –that’s close to five months without a penny for the services these attorneys provide. To add insult to injury, Justice Minister de Weever has demanded that the lawyers stop charging the higher tariff they agreed upon with Minister Kirindongo in 2016. After two years, the minister had conveniently discovered…
PHILIPSBURG – Pro bono lawyers continue their strike that began eleven days ago on Tuesday. The attorneys have not been paid by the government since January. Furthermore, the government refuses to pay higher tariffs. The attorneys went on strike for the first time in September 2016. They demanded higher tariffs for pro bono work – 1,800 instead of 900 guilders. Such tariffs were at the time already in place in Curacao. In 2017, there was another strike, also about outstanding payments and about the tariff structure. This time around it is no different, be it that the current Minister of…
PHILIPSBURG – The Council of Ministers has appointed Mr. Marcel Gumbs as the representative of Sint Maarten to the Steering Committee of the World Bank Trust Fund. Under the Trust Fund, decisions on the financing of recovery and resilience projects are made by the Steering Committee, in which Sint Maarten, the World Bank and the Netherlands will be equally represented. In the next seven years, the Trust Fund will channel 470 million euros (about US$580 million) to support the recovery of Sint Maarten and to increase the country’s resilience following the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma & Maria. This week…
HILVERSUM – What will happen with the Caribbean countries in the Kingdom if Europe became a republic? Rik Haverman examined this hypothetical situation for Caribisch Netwerk with Caribbean-expert Wouter Veenendaal, who teaches political science at Leiden University. Europe is debating more or less European Union. On Sunday the formation of a coalition in Italy failed because of this issue. But what would happen with the Caribbean islands in the Dutch Kingdom if Europe became a republic? “That is a complicated question,” says Veenendaal. “So far the European integration has had little influence in the Dutch Caribbean.” According to Veenendaal this…
