By Hilbert Haar An alert reader pointed out to me that the price the waste-to-energy plant would charge GEBE for a Kilowatt of electricity is $0.26 and not 0.26 guilders. This is correct and I apologize for the oversight. But how does this change the equation? According to the National Energy Policy – published in 2013 – it costs GEBE $0.22 to produce a Kilowatt of electricity (and not 0.22 guilders as I wrote). Assuming that a waste-to-energy facility would produce at best 20 percent of the country’s energy needs, the numbers obviously change. On closer scrutiny, I discovered another…
Author: The Publisher
by Terrance Rey Pointe-A-Pitre/Philipsburg – What was dubbed as the most important meeting of the region, a gathering of press, airline officials, travel agents and government officials came together in Pointe-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe, for the official launching of the CaribSKY alliance between WINAIR, AIR ANTILLES and LIAT. An ambitious project with the aim to ease air travel throughout the Caribbean, as described by Romain Hordel, the Sales and Marketing Manager for Air Antilles during his opening speech at the event. The question that immediately comes to mind is whether this CaribSKY alliance can save Caribbean regional travel. A partnership between Winair…
Recap articles published about the residency issue of MP Frans Richardson and the possible consequences regarding his status as a member of Parliament: MP-status Frans Richardson called into question Opinion by Hilbert Haar: “A hot potato” No action from Central Voting Bureau against MP Richardson Questions remain about MP-status Frans Richardson Opinion by Hilbert Haar: “Rules and regulations” Recap: The Dual Nationality Dilemma of MP Frans Richardson In the political arena of St. Maarten, the residency issue of Member of Parliament (MP) Frans Richardson has been a topic of intense scrutiny and debate. As the leader of the United St.…
By Hilbert Haar The dump remains a hot item and for good reason. For decades dump fires have affected the health of citizens and for decades the government had failed to do something about it. The construction of a waste-to-energy facility has for a long time been considered as the solution to our dump-issues, but that’s of course a fairy tale. A waste-to-energy facility does not make the problems we are experiencing with the fires go away. Like a real solution for the dump, the construction of that waste-to-energy facility has also been elusive; that situation is still true today.…
I doubted very long whether I would write this comment. Let me begin by congratulating pastor Wycliffe Smith with his upcoming executive position as Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS). I believe that a man with your experience can contribute a lot to policies in these fields, especially education. But reading all publications recently in the newspaper and on social media, I start to doubt whether you’ll be strong enough to stand your ground once in that chair. Pastor Wycliffe Smith in public stated that he was not willing to form any government with criminals (suspected!), not under…
Our Country is often referred to as a State of Law (Rechtstaat). This means that our Country is governed by the rule of law, and that every formal decision of the state must be based on a law and the authority provided by law to make such decisions. Our Parliament and our Government are bound by the law. The Legality Principle (Legaliteitsbeginsel) is laid down in article 1 of our Penal Code. It states: No law is applicable unless it was established by the competent authority and published according to the law. This article aims to give the reader an…
Last week Saturday, Carnival Fascination cruise ship was informed about the smoke from the dump by the port authorities and advised not to make a call at the port of St. Maarten. Despite this the captain decided, after assessing the situation, to still make the stop in St. Maarten, as was announced in a subsequent press release issued by the port authorities. The news about the advice not to call and the decision to still dock are facts. We have the press releases to prove it. We also have a photo of the Fascination in port at the Pointe Blanche…
PHILIPSBURG – Twenty-two employees of World Gifts Import BV, a company that operates two stores in St. Maarten under the name Little Switzerland demand that the company pay salary arrears dating back to December 7, 2017. That day, the company stopped paying. On Friday morning, practically all the employees were in court together with their attorney Jelmer Snow to make their case in summary proceedings in front of Judge Sander van Rijen. Little Switzerland fielded attorneys Daniëlla Engelhardt and Michiel Gorsira, accompanied by Mike Cooney, the company’s vice president of human resources. The court will pronounce its ruling in this…
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance devoted almost three hours on Thursday afternoon to the fallout of a traffic accident that occurred on Sunday March 4 around 2 a.m. near the Daily Extra supermarket on Welfare Road in Cole Bay. When everything was said and done, the two defendants, Raymond Peterson (56) and his 27-year old son Raeyhon walked away with a suspended sentence of 60 hours of community service and 2 years of probation.
THE HAGUE – The Dutch government has put the establishment of a dispute regulation on ice, John Samson reports on Caribisch Netwerk. It is the umpteenth disappointment for the autonomous countries St. Maarten, Aruba and Curacao. State Secretary Raymond Knops says that he has other priorities, like the reconstruction of St. Maarten. During the past couple of years the islands have experienced several conflicts with the kingdom government about Dutch interventions on the islands. In 2014 The Hague balked at the idea that Theo Heyliger, then leader of the United People’s party (UP) would become prime minister. Heyliger solved the…
