Philipsburg, Sint Maarten Member of Parliament Francisco A. Lacroes is once again raising the alarm following yet another increase in fuel prices, which will take effect on April 3, 2026 at 6:00 AM. For households already dealing with high grocery bills, rising utility costs, and stagnant wages, this latest adjustment pushes families deeper into financial hardship. Fuel Price Change Confirmed by Ministry of Tourism Economic Affairs Traffic and Telecommunication Public Announcement dated April 2 2026 effective April 3 2026 What the Government Price Buildup Reveals: Import duty and turnover tax remain fully in place within the final fuel price. No…
Author: The Publisher
St. Maarten remains the most vulnerable of the three Caribbean countries participating in the Kingdom’s reform programme, largely due to limited administrative capacity, according to an independent evaluation released this week. The report, “Contouren van vooruitgang: De werking van samenwerken” (Contours of Progress: The Functioning of Cooperation), concludes that while cooperation with the Netherlands has helped initiate long-overdue reforms, progress in St. Maarten continues to depend heavily on staffing, continuity in key positions, and political prioritization. The evaluation assesses the effectiveness of the Mutual Regulation for Cooperation on Reforms, which formalized agreements between St. Maarten, Aruba, Curaçao, and the Netherlands following financial support provided during the COVID-19 crisis. Capacity constraints Among the three countries, St. Maarten is…
The Dutch government has set the 2026 budget for Kingdom Relations at approximately €180 million, a significant reduction compared to earlier projections, largely due to the transfer of funds to other ministries and shifts in long-term spending priorities. According to the revised budget presented alongside the Spring Memorandum (Voorjaarsnota), the decrease reflects structural reallocations, particularly to the Ministries of Justice and Security and Defense. Funds previously included under Kingdom Relations for law enforcement and border control will now be administered directly by those ministries. The reallocation includes funding for key institutions in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, such as the Joint…
Since 2020, the Trust Fund’s Enterprise Support Project (ESP) has empowered more than three hundred of Sint Maarten’s small businesses with loans and grants. The project which is implemented by the National Recovery Program Bureau, was established to strengthen recovery and increase the resilience of businesses on the island after Hurricane Irma’s destruction in 2017. As ESP’s financing activities are now complete, the project is moving to the next chapter of support. This phase is dedicated to creating enduring support systems for the long-term success of local businesses even after ESP closes in 2028. These systems aim to reach many…
Transition to Caribbean guilder successfully completed Willemstad/Philipsburg – One year after the introduction of the Caribbean guilder, the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) looks back on a smooth transition to the new currency. As of 1 April 2026, Netherlands Antillean guilder (NAf) banknotes and coins can only be exchanged at the CBCS. Exchange at commercial banks will no longer be possible from this date. The public can continue to exchange NAf at the CBCS until 31 March 2055. On March 31st, 2025, the Caribbean guilder was officially introduced in the monetary union of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.…
Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams, leader of the Democratic Party (DP), on Tuesday presented a proposal to establish a Community-driven District Development Fund for St. Maarten, receiving broad support from members of the Committee for District Councils (CDC), which she chairs. The proposal, aimed at strengthening community participation and decentralizing development efforts, was discussed during a CDC meeting attended by DP MP Dimar Labega, Unified Resilient St. Maarten Movement (URSM) MP Veronica Jansen-Webster, United People’s (UP) party MP Francisco Lacroes, and Nation, Opportunity and Wealth (NOW) party MP Lyndon Lewis. Members expressed general agreement with the initiative. Wescot-Williams formally requested the committee’s endorsement to explore and pilot the fund, which…
Dear Editor, I read with interest a recent article by Alexander Gumbs, decrying potential increases in cruise ship taxes in the Caribbean. As CEO of the Port St Maarten Group, Mr Gumbs has a vested interest in Caribbean cruise tourism. To be fair, I have a different vested interest through many years involvement in resort development consultancy across the Caribbean. Mr Gumbs argued that “cruise tourism is sometimes assessed too narrowly through the lens of taxation rather than its broader economic contribution to destinations and tourism authorities should instead pay closer attention to how cruise passengers actually spend money during their…
Legal and financial uncertainty surrounding the future of the monetary union between Curaçao and St. Maarten took center stage in Parliament on Tuesday. Member of Parliament Viren Kotai, representing the Democratic Party (DP), pressed for clarity on whether either country can independently withdraw from the arrangement and what the consequences would be. His intervention followed a candid presentation by DP Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs, who outlined growing tensions within the monetary union between Curaçao and St. Maarten and raised concerns about structural imbalances within the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS). With reports that Curaçao may be considering a departure from the monetary…
By Hilbert Haar I know that it is not done to blow your own horn but still, the initiative by StMaartenNews.com Publisher and Chairman of the Trey Foundation Terrance Rey to establish a digital platform dedicated to projects about the history of slavery deserves more than a casual footnote. Slavery is of course a painful subject, more so in the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom than in The Netherlands but that does not mean that the topic should be ignored or even buried under the blanket of history. On the contrary, our citizens, and especially our young generation, should be…
The failure of the government’s latest solid waste tender process has forced the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) to reset its approach, with Minister Patrice Gumbs announcing a series of corrective measures, including an external review, temporary contract extensions, and broader reforms to the country’s waste management system. Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, Minister Gumbs acknowledged that all 17 bidders in the 2026–2029 garbage collection tender failed to meet mandatory eligibility requirements, effectively halting the awarding process and requiring government to reconsider its next steps. The Minister explained that allowing corrections to bids during the evaluation phase would have compromised…
