PHILIPSBURG — The solution Curacao’s Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas has presented for embattled insurance company Ennia is not an entirely done deal yet, it appears from a press release issued by the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS). Pisas stated recently that Curacao will provide an annual financial injection of 30 million guilders ($16.75 million) for the next 25 years to make sure that Ennia’s life insurance branch (Ennia Caribe Leven, ECL) can continue to make its monthly payments to pensioners. Pisas also stated that the CBCs would support this effort. But the press release issued by the…
Author: The Publisher
~ Antigua and Trinidad beefing over regional airline service ~ A Report by THG News Today ST. JOHN — The Antigua and Barbuda government Friday said it intends to “fight” plans by the Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines (CAL) to expand its operations into the Eastern Caribbean at the expense of the regional airline, LIAT 2020. A statement issued following the weekly Cabinet meeting said the government had taken note “of the scaling-up of Caribbean Airlines, including the purchase of several ATR Aircraft with the expectation of placing them on routes serviced by LIAT 1974 ltd. The statement about CAL’s expansion came…
PHILIPSBURG — The Dutch loan of €600 million (1.2 billion guilders or $636 million) to Curacao and St. Maarten to save the life insurance branch of insurance company ENNIA is off the table. Curacao’s Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas stated that his government in cooperation with the government of St. Maarten will make a serious effort to guarantee the interest of 30,000 policy holder and the employees of Ennia Caribe Leven “as much as possible” without neglecting the interest of the people of Curacao. In consultation with the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) the government of Curacao has…
PHILIPSBURG — Luciano Homemade Gelato, a renowned name with 15 locations in the Netherlands and 2 in Bonaire, has recently opened a new shop in Philipsburg, St. Maarten. The opening took place on Saturday, September 30, 2023, at the St. Joseph Convent Building. The event was officiated by the owner, Juul Vredenbregt, and his business partner, Luc Blok, who is also the master ice cream maker. Juul Vredenbregt, the owner and franchise holder of Luciano Sint Maarten, shared his journey that led to the opening of the Gelato parlor. He and his wife fell in love with St. Maarten during…
PHILIPSBURG — The economy of St. Maarten is roughly twice the size of that of the French part of the island, it appears from the Economic Bulletin of September, published by the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS). The report estimates size of St. Maarten’s economy to be around $1.2 billion, while that of Saint Martin is just $650 million. CBCS-estimates show that the population on the Dutch side is rapidly increasing while that on the French side is in decline. A graph shows that St. Maarten’s population increased from around 38,000 in 2015 to above 42,000 in…
PHILIPSBURG — The economies of Curacao and St. Maarten continue to recover from the corona pandemic, the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) states in its economic Bulletin of September. The first quarter of the year shows that gross domestic product (GDP) growth was driven primarily by stay-over and cruise tourism activities. In St. Maarten, growth slowed from 9.8 percent in 2022 to 3.9 percent this year and will ease further to 2.7 percent in 2024. Inflation is projected to ease across the monetary union due to an expected decline in oil and non-oil commodity prices. Inflation in…
PHILIPSBURG — Independent Member of Parliament Grisha Heyliger-Marten criticized the National Alliance faction for not providing a quorum to a meeting of the parliament’s Justice Committee. “The coalition continues to disrespect government, justice workers and population,” she stated in a press release. ‘What we witnessed past Friday was yet another unfortunate and shameless display of this government’s coalition’s disrespect for itself and its ministers, the parliament and the people of St. Maarten,” the MP stated in a press release. “When meetings are finally called coalition MPs leave the minister high and dry without a valid explanation.” The Justice Committee was…
PHILIPSBURG — Retroactive payments to personnel of the justice ministry are going to cost the government 44,588,500 guilders ($24.9 million) it appears from a press release issued by the ministry. Making these payments over a five-year period is not feasible, so the ministry reached a agreement with labor unions in July to extend this period to ten years. The ministry will have to reserve 4 to 6 million guilders ($2.2 to $3.35 million) in its budget for a period of seven to ten years. Minister Richardson provided this information in a press release after a scheduled meeting of the Justice…
By Hilbert Haar Tee shirts, watches, booze, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics. There is hardly a product for which consumers cannot find cheaper (and therefore counterfeited) alternatives. Stores in St. Maarten are stuffed with counterfeit merchandise and for a very long time the government has done its utmost to turn a blind eye to this practice. Brands have ignored the situation in St. Maarten for a long time as well. Why? Because in the big scheme of things, St. Maarten is a small market and going after counterfeiters is expensive. There is no point in throwing good money after bad money. Some years…
PHILIPSBURG — The second annual anti-counterfeit and intellectual property protection conference will take place on October 19 and 20 at the Simpson Bay Resort the Ministry of Justice announced in a press release. Brands like LVHM (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), Chanel, Nike and Puma have confirmed their attendance. UniFab (Union des Fabricants), a French anti-counterfeit association of manufacturers established in 1872 by a group of pharmacists that focuses on the international protection of intellectual property will be present as well. Justice Minister Anna Richardson and Disosa focus on revitalizing St. Maarten’s retail market. Disosa is the Caribbean brand protection service…
