Minister Jacobs has of course a point when she speaks about parental responsibilities. That is not only true for the Carnival season; it applies all year long. But thinking that parents will solve the problems with our youth is based on a lot of wishful thinking. The world does not work that way. The minister’s suggestion to sync Carnival next year with the school vacation is therefore one step in the right direction. It won’t stop kids from going places where they should not be, but at least their nocturnal behavior will not have a direct impact on their school…
Author: The Publisher
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Minister Emil Lee was justly irritated about an article on the SMN-News gossip website because it does not contain a grain of truth. Given the site’s reputation, that is not surprising. Minister Lee called on “the industry” to establish guidelines, but that call will not do anything to change the habits of outlets that have no respect for the truth. The established media on St. Maarten already function in a proper way, though of course they also make mistakes. That is okay, everyone makes mistakes, but what matters is how you deal with them. New guidelines for the established industry…
GREAT BAY – The Council of Ministers began yesterday morning with the presentation of its governing program 2016-2020 to the Central Committee of Parliament. Today reported extensively about the contents of the program on March 28. The program – under the umbrella of the United Democratic Alliance, a rather clever combination of the names of the coalition partners’ party names – contains around 130 initiatives for the governing period until 2020. Yesterday’s meeting was designed to shed some light on the government’s priorities but they remain at best opaque. After a general introduction by Minister of General Affairs William Marlin,…
GREAT BAY – The on-call attorneys go on strike starting today because the outstanding invoices dating back to December have not been paid in spite of earlier promises by Minister of Justice Rafael Boasman. “Considering the pleasant talks we had with Minister Boasman at the end of March it is very disappointing that it has to come to this,” attorney Geert Hatzmann (see file photo) told this newspaper via email. Hatzmann added in a follow up email that he had received a phone call from the spokesman of Minister Boasman who said that the minister had complied with all his…
Did we really get what we asked for as MP Claret Connor suggested yesterday during the debate about the Integrity Chamber drama? As much as we dislike the overpowering approach of Minister Plasterk, we figure that MP Connor may have a point. The government has said a bit too loudly that St. Maarten does not need an Integrity Chamber, that this institute is not a priority and that there are enough checks and balances in place. Given the number of high profile citizens that have been dragged into court the past couple of years there seems not to be too…
GREAT BAY- With Carnival officially opened, over-indulging by some adults is something that can be expected, but in light of the excitement surrounding the series of events ahead, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Silveria Jacobs issued a strong message on Monday evening. Minister Jacobs extended a hearty welcome to the visitors to the island who are here especially for the Carnival season as well as the residents who have been anxiously waiting for the season to begin. Before delving further into her short address, Minister Jacobs used the opportunity to call for a moment of silence as a…
Integrity Chamber back on the agenda GREAT BAY – Integrity remains high on the government’s list of priorities, Prime Minister William Marlin said yesterday afternoon during a central committee meeting about the looming instruction from the kingdom to establish an Integrity Chamber, but not everybody in Parliament was convinced. “Sometimes you really get what you asked for,” MP Claret Connor observed after noting that the government had not followed up on the motion of January 30 to present a plan of approach for tackling integrity issues. “We have nobody to blame but ourselves,” MP Perry Geerlings noted. The ruling of…
PM Marlin at info session for top civil servants: “We want discussion, not instruction” GREAT BAY (DCOMM) – The Council of Ministers hosted an information session last Friday for the secretaries general of the seven ministries and their management team, cabinet staff and the staff of the secretariat of the Council of Ministers. The main agenda points of the session were the governing program; integrity and the plans of the Dutch government towards establishing an Integrity Chamber on St. Maarten and their recent appointment of a Dutch integrity quartermaster and an update on the budget 2017. The Council found it…
The Council of Ministers has launched a rather unique initiative with a large-scale information session for top civil servants about its governing program, the Integrity Chamber and the budget. What we learned from the report about last Friday’s meeting is that the ministries still have a lot of work to do. First and foremost is the prioritizing of capital investment projects for a combined 30 million guilders. The second message the civil servants got was that, whatever they do, they have to keep a keen eye on the budget. In other words – no frivolous spending. What remains is the…
THE HAGUE – The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Wednesday asked for an update on the incarceration and pending extradition of St. Maarten-Italian casino owner Francesco Corallo to Italy. Socialist Party MP Ronald van Raak (see photo) made a request during a procedural meeting of the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations to seek clarity from the Dutch Government on Corallo’s status of detention and extradition. Van Raak asked for a letter from Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk. The Committee approved his request and sent a letter to the Minister the same day in…
