It takes just one rotten apple to spoil the whole barrel. That is the image one gets when one looks at the infamous video clip circulating on social media wherein police officers can be seen beating a suspected looter. The use of excessive violence can not be condoned no matter the good work being done by the police force in quickly capturing looters after the looting and plundering they committed during the passing of hurricane Irma. Let’s call a spade a spade, this was just plain police brutality. No form of proportionality nor subsidiarity can be seen in their efforts…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — Police Chief Carl John and his management team are addressing a video-clip which is circulating on social media regarding the use of excessive force by police officers on Sint Maarten. The police chief and management are stating that they are well aware of this video. An internal investigation into this incident has been launched. All police officers involved and witnesses of this incident are being interviewed and all documents regarding this investigation will be sent to the Public Prosecutor for review.
In times of crisis you get to know not only yourself but also your friends and, if you have any, your enemies. The role of the media during a crisis is ambiguous, though the bottom line remains the same. A free press is there to keep its readers abreast of whatever the authorities are up to. So where should our focus be? On everything that goes wrong? Or on the tireless energy utilities companies, government workers, private companies and individual citizens are putting into making St. Maarten whole again? We’re aware of the Peter Principle: everything that can go wrong…
PORT ST. MAARTEN – The British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Mounts Bay L3008, one of three Landing Ship Docks (LSD), arrived on Monday morning at Port St. Maarten to pick up two fire trucks and seven containers of hurricane relief goods. The aforementioned along with fuel was transferred from the HNLMS Karel Doorman A-833 to RFA Mounts Bay. RFA Mounts Bay was docked at Cruise Pier Northwest where the Royal Netherlands Navy’s biggest ship, the HNLMS Karel Doorman A-833, a Joint Support Ship (JSS), brought in disaster relief supplies along with a number of vehicles for the emergency phase of…
PHILIPSBURG – His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. Eugene Holiday, hosted a visit aboard the Navy Ship Zr. Ms. Karel Doorman on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 3. Representatives of French Saint Martin – Prefete Anne Laubies and 1st Vice President Valerie Damaseau -, the Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Mr. R. Plasterk, Prime Minister William Marlin, Minister of Justice Rafael Boasman and the Commander of the Dutch Military in the Caribbean, General Vin, gathered on board before the Commander of the ship, Colonel Schot provided a tour. His Excellency expressed his appreciation on behalf of…
POND ISLAND — The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) has warned that housing people in the Festival Village is a humanitarian and health disaster waiting to happen. The board of the foundation issued its warning following comments made by at least two Ministers (Marlin and Lee) that the village was being considered for housing. The board of the foundation stressed that its concern has nothing to do with Carnival itself, but what it knows to be the realities of the Festival Village. The facility, the board said, is especially hazardous for children and their susceptibility to catch insect bound…
POND ISLAND — Yesterday the Board of the USM sent a letter to the Honourable Minister of Education Culture Youth & Sports, Ms. Silveria Jacobs, informing her that if the government of Sint Maarten does not finally take up its responsibility to provide the USM with an increase of the annual subsidy of 3Million Antillean Guilders, the institution will have to close its doors as of the end of November! It’s a do or die scenario. The 850.000 Antillean Guilders that the institution currently receives, which boils down to less than 1% of the country’s annual budget allocated to education,…
GREAT BAY – After witnessing the arrival of the navy vessel Karel doorman, Minister Ronald Plasterk (Kingdom Relations) paid a visit to the reverse osmosis drinking water production facility near the Festival Village Monday afternoon, where he met with Minister Emil Lee (Public Health, Social Development and Labor), Gebe managing director Kendrick Chittick and Seven Seas Water managing director Franklyn Richards. Plasterk inspected the installation and at the end of the mini-tour enjoyed a sip of the fresh drinking water the facility produces. “When I was here two weeks ago we drove through Middle Region and people shouted to us:…
It is with great admiration for the people of Sint Maarten, and especially the business community of Sint Maarten, that we at Meijburg & Co Caribbean are monitoring the rapid rebound of the Friendly Island. In the following we would like to contribute to the rebuilding of Sint Maarten by providing some valuable considerations regarding tax implications of such devastating natural disasters. In these challenging times one could not help but wonder: Does the Sint Maarten tax legislation provide ‘disaster’ tax relief? Our focus in this contribution is primarily on the tax treatment of companies for profit tax and turnover…
PHILIPSBURG — Very soon after the passage of hurricanes “Irma” and “Maria” the enforcement of criminal law in Sint Maarten was restored. This in close cooperation with all involved in the justice chain. The police force of Sint Maarten (KPSM) has given great attention to the maintenance of public order with the support of the National Police, the marines and the Volunteer Corps of Saint Maarten (VKSM). But in addition, the arrest of looters was immediately taken up by the justice chain. Many criminal cases have been registered against residents who did not adhere to the curfew announced by the…
