GREAT BAY – When Justice Minister Edson Kirindongo cut the blue ribbon on the old Soremar building in Cole Bay on July 29, we wrote that this building “holds a lot of promise for the near future” because the building is destined to house a forensic lab, a state of the art shooting range and the control room for the camera surveillance system. But that future looks far away, if not uncertain, because yesterday, 92 days after the inauguration, the building is still empty. The main entrance is shuttered closed, there are weeds growing at the bottom of the stairs…
Author: The Publisher
GREAT BAY – Winair has been granted a full ground handling concession by Princess Juliana International Airport, making the company the second ground handler in St. Maarten. Ground handling is commonly referred to as under the wing services, which includes baggage loading and off-loading, delivery of baggage to baggage carousels, aircraft push back, lavatory services and water services. “Winair is proud to have been granted this concession, allowing us to compete in providing services to all users of the airport on an economic and service-based scenario,” Winair’s President and CEO Michael Cleaver said. Winair thanks the airport, in particular Larry…
Doing business with the government is not without risk. One would think that, if there is one solid creditor, it would be the country. But it isn’t, and it does not even have anything to do with the question whether there is money in the bank. Take the case of the Curacao Wegenmaatschappij (CWM), the road building company of Curacao. On July 27, 2012, Minister Jacinta Scoop-Constancia (Public Health, Environment and Nature) gave CWM a contract worth 1.5 million guilders for the upgrade of the Wilhelminaplein, a prominent square in the center of Willemstad. The company went to work but…
Dear Editor, By the end of November our Members of Parliament would have been on the job for one month and it is good to take a look at how well they have represented us during their first month in office. In the first week, seven of our MPs took part in an orientation week. At the end of the orientation, all five, first-time MPs and two former MP’s received a certificate of participation. Special congratulations to the five new MPs, for taking their position and their function seriously. We assume that during the first week, the eight former MPs…
Dutch newspapers about Checkmate investigation: “O’Neal A. childhood friend of USp-leader Richardson” GREAT BAY – The arrest of Checkmate Director O’Neal A. was also news for the Dutch newspapers Trouw and de Telegraaf. Under the headline: “Head security port St. Maarten arrested’ the papers reported that “the 35-year-old owner of Checkmate Security has been arrested. He provides the security of the port authority in St. Maarten and is suspected of tax fraud, forgery and money laundering.” The investigation against O’Neal A. is “part of an intensive approach of border-crossing corruption and fraud in St, Maarten” with support from the Netherlands,…
The story about accessibility – or rather the lack thereof – in Bonaire could have been written about St. Maarten. If we look at the main shopping streets in Philipsburg, there is no way wheelchair-bound citizens can navigate Front Street or Back Street safely. And we are not referring to potholes in the street, but to the narrow pavements that have been thoughtlessly beautified with palm trees, making it impossible for wheelchairs to pass. And in places where the palm trees have succumbed to neglect or to naughty actions by retailers who did not want them, the large holes that…
Now that the focus of corruption busters is on the ties between politics, private sector and the underworld it is a pity that under current legislation companies are still able to protect the identity of their shareholders. The Checkmate drama that is playing out this week is a fine example. Reports that MP Frans Richardson is “a childhood friend” of the company’s director may be correct, but what do they tell us about the real relationship between the two? Being someone’s childhood friend is certainly not a crime, or even suspicious, but there have been suggestions that MP Richardson could…
Dear Editor, My question is what are Insel Air and its shareholders hiding? Why are Korpodeko, the government, and the Ministry of Transport accomplices in this mystery? First of all remember that the government, representing the Curaçao people, owns 21 percent of Insel Air’s shares and Korpodeko controls that on behalf of the government. As a major shareholder, they should have several directors on the airline’s board of directors. But even though the Curaçao people are one of the, or perhaps the most proportionate shareholder in Insel Air, they have always been marginalized by the directors and the other private…
ORANJESTAD – The Court in first Instance declared the Tiara Air bankrupt on Monday. The airline’s lawyer Hose Figaroa confirmed the decision yesterday morning to the Aruban news site NoticiaCla.com. In the verdict, the court indicates that the facts and the proceedings at the hearing clearly showed that Tiara Air is in no condition to continue meeting its financial obligations. The airline also failed to comply with the agreements made in payment moratorium of November 20, 2015. Though Tiara Air says it has money in certain banks in Venezuela, according to the court, the company could not indicate whether and when…
When we received a story for publication containing the opinion of René ‘Koto’ Wilson about the screening process, we declined to publish it. Not that we deny anyone the right to his opinion – any letter to the editor is welcome – but presenting an obviously flawed opinion as a news story would suggest that this newspaper legitimizes Mr. Wilson’s opinion. And the fact is, we don’t. More about that later. This refusal to print the story did not sit well with Wilson and on Sunday night he sent us the following message; “I understand that you won’t print my…
