Author: The Publisher

The parliamentary elections on Wednesday in the Netherlands are not only a test for the political parties that have been angling for favors from the electorate. They are also a test for the polling agencies that have been entertaining the country with one poll after the other. But how reliable are these pseudo-scientific exercises? In 2012 Maurice de Hond was pretty close with his predictions, in the sense that the parties that were leading in his polls also turned out to be the winners in the real elections. But there were, of course differences because an opinion poll is not…

It’s not like the authorities that are supposed to control the functioning of the immigration services were not warned that the people who work in that department are susceptible to bribery. After all, we have a case dating back to 2007 when three immigration officers were punished for taking bribes and letting people into the country who had no right to be here. Not much later the head of immigration, Marcel Loor, and Chief Commissioner Derrick Holiday were also dragged into court for immigration violations. If you leave a door open, somebody is bound to walk through it. Right now…

GREAT BAY – Last Thursday members of the unit human trafficking and human smuggling of the police force arrested yet another employee of the immigration services in the so-called Ostrich investigation. With the arrest of 33-year-old D.M.M. there are now six suspects in this case that focuses on facilitating illegal access to St. Maarten for people from Jamaica, Guyana and Haiti. M. is suspected of passive bribery and human smuggling. The Judge of Instruction ruled her arrest on Friday legitimate; her custody was extended by eight days. The investigation into this smuggling ring began in April of last year. The…

About a month ago, this newspaper made its first attempts to arrange a visit to casino owner Francesco Corallo who is detained at the Philipsburg police station since December 13 of last year. We started getting a funny feeling about the time the Common Court of Justice is taking to set a date for an extradition hearing. Our first call was to Chief Inspector Ricardo Henson, the spokesman of the police force. He referred us to the prosecutor’s office. Chief prosecutor Ton Maan let us know that there are no legal objections against such a visit, because Mr. Corallo is…

The action by attorney Geert Hatzmann to ask public attention for an ill-treatment case makes sense. It is probably not something the Public Prosecutor’s Office particularly likes, but when things are not going the right way, sometimes publicity is the only way to break the deadlock. Hatzmann is a strong advocate for victim’s rights and when the situation calls for it he stands up for them in public too, not only in the courthouse. When someone becomes the victim of ill-treatment and the identity and the location of the abuser are known a quick arrest is most of the times…

GREAT BAY – On February 22 a 58-year-old woman was horribly ill-treated by her 35-year old son. The two have a dispute about an apartment and their mutual rights and obligations. Just before the man attacked his mother, he had ill-treated his wife attorney Geert Hatzmann informed this newspaper. “The son pulled my client by her hair, smacked her forcefully on the ground, hit her in her face and even attempted to break her neck with a chokehold,” Hatzmann says. “My client was injured to such an extent that on Wednesday, exactly two weeks after the incident, she still could…

GREAT BAY – For the very first time in a 10 year span, under 200 boats were registered to compete in the 37th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, but with the emphasis on quality racing, Lionel Pean and his able crew aboard SFS 11 , a Volvo 70 established a new record around the course with a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes and 37 seconds. SFS 11, competing in the Ocean Racing class and attaining speeds over 24 knots, were able to shave off five seconds from the Monohull record that was set in 2016. This time they emerged as…

GREAT BAY – For the next two days, the line between the crews that are in it for the fun and the very serious ones may be marginal, but in the 12th edition of the Gill Commodore Cup, a dry run on the day before the 37th St Maarten Heineken Regatta, a few boats were able to get their names in the books. Yesterday’s sailing was another record breaking event that involved 89 boats competing in 38 categories. With winds gusting between 18 and 20 knots, everyone took advantage of the downwind courses but as expected, sailing into the wind…

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS – A number of start-up companies and young people with great business ideas will soon get an additional avenue to bring their plans to fruition. Ten Habitat, a non-profit organisation which focuses on developing investor-ready start-up Caribbean entrepreneurs and regional bank CIBC FirstCaribbean have partnered in a venture to support local and regional start-ups. Gary Brown, Chief Executive Officer of CIBC FirstCaribbean and Chairman of CIBC FirstCaribbean’s charitable foundation, and Selwyn Cambridge, Founder of Ten Habitat, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the bank’s Warrens, St. Michael offices which will see the bank supporting the work of…

Has justice been served? The sentence cop-killer Ridge Damisse received on appeal is at least higher than the punishment the Lower Court administered: 25 instead of 20 years. The court ruled that a life sentence is not in order and that Damisse’s return to the community must not be excluded forever. In the background plays the consideration of consistent sentencing. On an emotional level those close to the late Police Officer Gamali Benjamin will have trouble coming to terms with this, but on a rational level the position of the court makes a lot of sense: equal punishment for equal…