Elections or no elections, the campaign has started already in full swing and Emil Lee is once again the one everyone is taking potshots at. This time from the NA camp. Last year, we called this The Emil Lee Effect. It got him elected. Will there be elections in January? It all depends if we have real leaders here in St. Maarten. Being a leader means that when everything goes wrong, you have to take all the responsibility. When everything goes right, you have to give away all the credit. Last week, we heard a lot of the blame being…
Author: The Publisher
Campaign raises more than $50,000 for staff in St. Maarten affected by recent hurricanes LITTLE BAY — Divi Little Bay Beach Resort staff along with a local union representative gathered Monday, November 6, to receive checks from GoFundMe campaign donations. Set up to assist employees in rebuilding their lives on St. Maarten following devastating hurricanes, the GoFundMe campaign has now raised more than $50,000. $49,025 of the donated funds — the amount in the campaign at the time checks were cut — were equally distributed amongst staff, with the exception of upper management, who chose to opt out. “We thank…
Philipsburg — The President of Parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams has requested the Government of St. Maarten to submit to the Parliament the draft Integrity Chamber ordinance and all documentation pertaining to this matter as well as the documentation pertaining to the agreement on border control. These two subjects are at the center of the dispute between the Government of St. Maarten and the Dutch Government as far as aid from the Kingdom of the Netherlands is concerned. The documents are necessary for the Parliament to follow up on its motions regarding the integrity chamber and border control. The President of Parliament…
Analysis from Antilliaans Dagblad The honeymoon is over: the initial blind love of Curacao for Guangdong Zhenrong Energy (GZE) has cooled off and made place for a more rational, business-like approach of this partner for the next couple of decades. This can be concluded from a press release in which the Rhuggenaath-cabinet indicates that it has taken several decisions regarding the Isla-refinery dossier and GZE. While this way the dream shatters for some like a proverbial bubble, it makes more sense to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground. The future of Curacao is at stake and one cannot…
Commentary / Antilliaans Dagblad One cannot reproach the Netherlands for the fact that politicians in St. Maarten are making a mess of things. But knowing that the Parliament in Philipsburg is hopelessly divided, that an eventual interim-cabinet will have the slimmest margin of support and that it is questionable whether elections will result in more political stability, one ought to be able to expect more decisive action from the ‘mother country’ to offer the civilian victims of Hurricane Irma perspective for a rapid begin of the reconstruction of the devastated country. It is commendable that politicians in The Hague first…
by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert As an introduction, I could give you one of the many definitions of a ThinkTank, a Brain-Box or what Brainstorming is. I’ll spare you the futile semantics and just come to point of what is needed from my perspective. The Caribbean needs ‘Think & Do Tanks’ that are characterized by ‘Leadership of Thought’. My vision of a ‘Think & Do Tank’ is not a committee of some kind or other. It is an interdisciplinary communication process for in-depth consideration of issues and challenges, which relevance reaches beyond individual persons, governments, businesses, operations, associations, and time frames. …
PHILIPSBURG – The government had 55.8 million guilders in liquid reserves – 35.7 million in its current account and 20.1 million in deposits, Finance Minister Richard Gibson Sr. said yesterday during a meeting of parliament’s central committee. At the Central Bank there are remaining investment funds dating back to 2014 to the tune of 11.2 million, 21.7 million in capital investment funds for 2017 and 27.4 million that are remaining from the division of assets of the former Netherlands Antilles. The total reserves at the Central Bank add up to 60.3 million; combined with the current account and the deposits,…
GREAT BAY – Minister Emil Lee (Public Health, Social Development and Labor) has suggested in a press statement that the actual costs of some of the cleanup activities that took place after Hurricane Irma were ‘double the original estimate.” He also noted that some of the documentation that was submitted with invoices showed “discrepancies.” If that is the case, the minister said in his press statement, “wouldn’t it be reasonable to ask questions about it?” Lee said that asking those questions is not the same as “objecting to paying for work done.” Lee’s press statement comes after accusation by Prime…
Philipsburg — On Friday morning November 3rd, the mother of a 14 years old student came to the Police Station to discuss an incident that occurred. She stated that on Thursday November 2nd her son was attending class at a secondary school and later in the afternoon he started to feel unwell and needed medical attention. He was taken to the Sint Maarten Medical Center where he was treated. It turned out that he was possibly drugged by an unknown person (or persons). The victim was allowed to go home the next day and his condition is stable. This is…
Philipsburg — The Special Robbery Unit of the Police Department is presently investigating an armed robbery at the Chinese Supermarket Fresh Pond on the Sucker Garden Road. The incident took place on Saturday November 4th at approximately 15.00 p.m. The call came in to the Emergency Dispatch who immediately sent the police patrol to investigate what had taken place. On the scene the officers spoke to the victims and several witnesses. According to the information that was gathered is that one young man with a handgun threatened the employee with his weapon and took an undisclosed amount of cash from…
