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. …
Author: The Publisher
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…
PHILIPSBURG – “As a minister that believes in being accountable to the people and based on recent accusations by the Prime Minister, I am in the process of requesting that SOAB, Government’s Accounting Bureau, perform an audit of the receipt and distribution of relief goods by Government and in particular the Ministry of VSA,” Minister Emil Lee (Public health, Social Development and Labor) states in a press release. “I am truly disheartened. It is so sad that in a time when the people need help and hope, politicians would fabricate stories for political gain. After working so hard after Irma,…
PHILIPSBURG – Recent accusations that Minister Lee is delaying the payments to truckers, heavy equipment operators and workers that are cleaning up the island after hurricane Irma, are simply not correct, Lee said in a press statement. “The accusations are a shameful attempt to look for a scapegoat that allows them to diffuse blame as well as serving a political objective of tarnishing the reputation of Minister Lee.” “I have absolutely no problem paying companies or workers that have participated in cleaning up the island. I am not the cause of delaying payments to the cleanup crews. Actually, the sooner…
PHILIPSBURG – During the month of October, Be The Change Foundation, through their online crowd funding platform, raised a total of USD$500 for Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC) Foundation’s project to plant native species around St. Maarten, following the disastrous effects Hurricane Irma wreaked on the island’s biodiversity. Prior to Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the Foundation conducted assessments to better understand what native plants need to be introduced to each of three sites (Cay Bay, Sentry Hill and Little Key) to increase biodiversity. Funds raised by Be The Change donors will be used to help source more plants to…
Elton Jones made an interesting observation in his opinion piece submitted to us which we published as a column on our website under the title “Vengeance”. He wrote and we quote: “It appears that the previous coalition members had assigned their signature to an agreement to dissolve Parliament should there be instability caused by ‘ship jumping'”. So as the Dutch saying goes ‘afspraak is afspraak’. Agreement is agreement. Certain coalition members of the NA-DP-USp combination did not live up to that agreement and therefore per the agreement, Parliament was dissolved after a ‘ship jumper’ caused the government to be given…
Philipsburg — On Thursday November 2nd and Friday November 3rd a total of 59 inmates that were housed at the Point Blanche Prison were relocated to detention centers in Curacao and the Netherlands. 28 of these inmates were relocated to Curacao and the remaining 31 relocated to the Netherlands. The relocation of these inmates is in connection with repairs and reconstruction work which has to be done at the Point Blanche prison due to the damage caused by hurricane Irma. The relocation of the inmates was previously announced to the public via a press release sent out by Norman Serphos…
