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…
Author: The Publisher
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…
Dear Editor, It is never ever a sad day when a monster dies. Fidel Castro, the mass murderer who “sadistically tormented the Cuban people for over fifty years”, died on Friday at the age of 90. Thousands of Cuban exiles understandably celebrated in the streets of Miami. Leftists in the Caribbean and around the world, meanwhile, dutifully mourned their fallen evil communist hero. So called progressives always grieve when the vicious enforcers of class hatred die. Many useful idiots openly wept in the streets of Paris and other parts of Europe when Stalin and Lenin died. Lenin once said, “If Russia was…
Minister Koenders about Oyster Pond dispute: “Negotiations about land border begin as soon as possible” GREAT BAY – The action of French authorities against Captain Oliver’s in Oyster pond “go against the agreement to maintain the status quo,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders writes in answer to questions from VVD-parliamentarians André Bosman and Han ten Broeke. Koenders furthermore wrote that negotiations about the establishment of the land border between the French and the Dutch side of the island “will begin as soon as possible.” “The relationship between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and France are excellent and they are…
GREAT BAY – The Team Combating Undermining (team bestrijding ondermijning – TBO) arrested the owner of Checkmate Security, O’Neal A. yesterday morning after searches at the company’s offices on Illidge Road, at the port and at the Sun Tan Villas and Apartments Hotel (aka Rama Hotel) in Pointe Blanche. Corruption and fraud investigation Investigators seized a number of bank accounts and, in cooperation with the French authorities, they seized a yacht as well. More searches cannot be excluded, the prosecutor’s office said last night. Photo caption: Investigators enter the Checkmate building. Photo Today / Leo Brown It is the second…
The Ministry of Justice is of course quite right with its move to establish a stricter gun permit policy. It looks good on paper – except for gun nuts – but there are some practical concerns. It is for instance unclear where applicants for a permit have to go for training to get their certificate showing that they are able to handle a gun and that they know what’s in the firearm ordinance and in the criminal code. Also, the projected house visits to permit holders seem to pose a challenge. If all permit holders have to be visited at…
The report that more than one thousands of medical treatments are actually useless is quite an eye opener, as is the report that the cost of healthcare in the Netherlands has shot up by 40 percent over the past ten years. What happens in the Netherlands does not necessarily stay there, so we figure that in our mini-medical world of St. Maarten the same things occur. It makes sense to put medical treatments under the microscope and to separate the useful from the useless ones. Why is this a good idea? Because giving people useless treatments does not make any…
Dear Editor, By the time this article appears in the daily newspapers it will be 27 more days before Christmas. Last year some or many felt as if the ambience was not there. I would have to agree. And I am referring to specifically Philipsburg. We can agree that if you looked at some 90% of the homes on the Dutch side of the island there were no Christmas lights decorations that reflected the festive ambience which many of us feel around this time and I am not talking about the financial aspect because I know the reality of our…
