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…
Author: The Publisher
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…
Integrity Chamber back on the agenda GREAT BAY – Integrity remains high on the government’s list of priorities, Prime Minister William Marlin said yesterday afternoon during a central committee meeting about the looming instruction from the kingdom to establish an Integrity Chamber, but not everybody in Parliament was convinced. “Sometimes you really get what you asked for,” MP Claret Connor observed after noting that the government had not followed up on the motion of January 30 to present a plan of approach for tackling integrity issues. “We have nobody to blame but ourselves,” MP Perry Geerlings noted. The ruling of…
PM Marlin at info session for top civil servants: “We want discussion, not instruction” GREAT BAY (DCOMM) – The Council of Ministers hosted an information session last Friday for the secretaries general of the seven ministries and their management team, cabinet staff and the staff of the secretariat of the Council of Ministers. The main agenda points of the session were the governing program; integrity and the plans of the Dutch government towards establishing an Integrity Chamber on St. Maarten and their recent appointment of a Dutch integrity quartermaster and an update on the budget 2017. The Council found it…
The Council of Ministers has launched a rather unique initiative with a large-scale information session for top civil servants about its governing program, the Integrity Chamber and the budget. What we learned from the report about last Friday’s meeting is that the ministries still have a lot of work to do. First and foremost is the prioritizing of capital investment projects for a combined 30 million guilders. The second message the civil servants got was that, whatever they do, they have to keep a keen eye on the budget. In other words – no frivolous spending. What remains is the…
THE HAGUE – The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Wednesday asked for an update on the incarceration and pending extradition of St. Maarten-Italian casino owner Francesco Corallo to Italy. Socialist Party MP Ronald van Raak (see photo) made a request during a procedural meeting of the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations to seek clarity from the Dutch Government on Corallo’s status of detention and extradition. Van Raak asked for a letter from Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk. The Committee approved his request and sent a letter to the Minister the same day in…
The legal procedures against those involved in a by now more than 6-year old vote buying scandal have been dragging on for too long and public interest in the case has dropped to an all-time low. That is a pity because especially these types of cases are designed to prevent others from doing the same thing; hence the demand for suspended prison sentences and community service. But even the threat of these punishments – that quite some people consider way too lenient – has not worked over the past couple of years. There is a vote buying investigation into the…
GREAT BAY – With the appeal hearing against the last two defendants the 2010 vote buying case is nearing its conclusion, but election fraud remains alive and kicking in St. Maarten. while the legal battle of the defendants in the 2010-case is not over yet, the prosecutor’s office has two other cases on its plate: the accusations against United St. Maarten party MP Silvio Matser for vote buying in the 2014 elections and an investigation into similar practices during the elections in September of last year, whereby USp-MP Chanel Brownbill has been heard as a witness. Central question: agreement or…
THE HAGUE – Prime Minister William Marlin has hit a nerve with his remark that the Netherlands should “send in the troops’ to enforce the instruction for the establishment of an Integrity Chamber. VVD-MP André Bosman demanded yesterday in the Dutch Parliament talks on ministerial level about proper etiquette in the Kingdom. Bosman also finds that Minister Plasterk (Kingdom Relations) has to sound the alarm in cases of such ballyhoo. The statements of PM Marlin are the reason for Bosman’s remarks. Marlin said after the Kingdom Council of Ministers issued an instruction to St. Maarten last Friday that the Netherlands…
