The Maximus-trial is the talk of the town in Willemstad. NOS correspondent Dick Drayer shed his light on the case in his blog De Achterkant van Curacao. These are his observations. “Almost four years after the murder of the Curacaolenean politician Helmin Wiels it starts to become clear who are behind this political murder. The principals come from the gambling sector but also from within politics. That is what the Public Prosecutor’s Office claimed during the first day of the Maximus-trial, a case that should in the end get political heavyweights behind bars, the public prosecutor promised. Those heavyweights were…
Author: The Publisher
That the opposition UP opted to stay away from a meeting about the governing program is indeed weird and it serves no obvious purpose. Maybe the opposition is okay with the governing program, who knows? But it is hard to imagine that an opposition worth its salt does not have a single question about the country’s roadmap for the next couple of years. Indeed, the question arises why the opposition would bother to turn up at all for any meeting of Parliament in the future after giving the impression that its members have nothing to ask and nothing to say.…
GREAT BAY – The third and last day of a central committee meeting yesterday afternoon about the governing program was more about the absence of the opposition UP party than about the program’s content. Ministers Rafael Boasman (Justice) and Silveria Jacobs (Education) were present to answer questions, but none came and the meeting was done within three quarters of an hour. USp-leader MP Frans Richardson, DP-MP Perry Geerlings and also Parliament’s President MP Sarah Wescot-Williams all criticized the absence of the UP from the meeting, while on the other hand they had nothing but compliments for the government about the…
GREAT BAY – Former Immigration and Border Protection Director Udo George Aron (55) and Elroy L.A.H., a former policy advisor at this department were arrested yesterday morning in connection with an investigation dubbed Robalo by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. With the arrests the scope of the May 5, 2016 incident whereby Aron brought a woman into the country past immigration officers at the Princess Juliana International Airport seems to widen. Aron already lost his job over this incident whereby he “overstepped his authorities” as the country’s attorney Richard Gibson Jr. expressed it during a court hearing in September of last…
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…
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…
