Author: The Publisher

GREAT BAY – The University of St. Martin hosted the USM Preparatory Program (PRE-USM) class of 2016 Graduation Ceremony in the presence of Minister Silveria Jacobs (Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs).  The minister had encouraging words to the graduates and stressed the importance for programs such as the PRE-USM program, which guides young people in taking steps to obtain their tertiary education degree by enrolling in a college or university. President of the University of St. Maarten Foundation Valerie Giterson-Pantophlet applauded the graduates for taking the necessary steps to accomplish their ultimate goal which is becoming a college educated…

GREAT BAY – Finance Minister Richard Gibson and Public Health Minister Emil Lee have put out a public tender for a second review of the strategic business plan for the St. Maarten Medical Center, version 3.0. Bids must be submitted no later than Friday, October 14 at noon. The same day, at 12.30 p.m., bids will be opened and checked for admissibility. The contract will be awarded by October 21. The tender is part of efforts to get approval from financial supervisor Cft for the financing of the new hospital, SZV-director Glen Carty said. Part of the conditions the Cft…

GREAT BAY – TelEm Group announced yesterday the signing of a purchase agreement to take over ownership of St. Maarten Cable TV from its present owner Innovative. Negotiations resulting in the purchase agreement were conducted by the TelEm Group Partnering Committee along with telecommunication merger and acquisition specialists. The announcement is being made simultaneously to St. Maarten Cable TV personnel and TelEm Group personnel following months of negotiation and an intense due diligence process under a strict confidentiality agreement. TelEm Group Chief Financial Officer Helma Etnel, said the company is “extremely pleased” with the signing of this purchase agreement since…

GREAT BAY – The Court in First Instance sentenced restaurateur Dino Jagtiani and Dino’s Corporation yesterday each to a fine of $80,550 for tax fraud. Jagtiani also has to do 100 hours of community service, or spend 50 days in prison. Since 2005, Jagtiani operated a restaurant in St. Maarten under the name Rare. He is the sole shareholder of Dino’s Corporation. Allard Stamm of Standard Trust wrote a franchise agreement for the restaurateur, because, so he told the court, he wanted to set up a franchise network. On August 23, 2005, Dino’s Corporation entered into a franchise agreement with…

GREAT BAY – Formateur William Marlin will submit the paperwork of the ministers for his new cabinet by tomorrow to Governor Holiday and to the national security service, suggesting that the candidates for all the ministers posts have already been selected. Marlin emphasized that the governor is in charge of the next step in the process. Candidate-ministers will be screened by the national security service VDSM and by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.  Prosecutors will examine whether candidates have a criminal record and whether they are under investigation, be it in St. Maarten or elsewhere. Marlin said that candidate-ministers also have…

GREAT BAY – “I will make every effort to make sure that the progress we have made during the past ten months continues with the next government,” outgoing Minister Emil Lee (Public Health, Social Development and Labor) said at yesterday’s council of Ministers press briefing. “I am planning a very public handover of my ministry to my successor with a detailed report about what we have done. This way I want to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible,” Lee said. The minister reminded journalists that when he came into office ten months ago, there was not even…

GREAT BAY – Around 150 candidates have applied for the position of director at Princess Juliana International Airport, Prime Minister William Marlin said at yesterday’s Council of Ministers press briefing. While the PM did not go into the details of these candidates, he noted that two applicants had approached him with a complaint. “They have the proper work experience and academic education yet the answer to their application was that they did not meet the criteria. They thought it strange that they did not even get an interview.”

Every now and then the discussion pops up: who has to pay for work permits? In a related article, attorney Cor Merx notes that, as employers want to hire someone, said employers will have to pay. It makes sense, and the law says as much. The employer pays for the work permits. But. But. Nowhere in the law does it say that employers are not free to recoup these expenses from their employees. That is how things work in practice: the employer indeed pays for the work permits, but in the end the employees are charged for it. One may…

Dear editor, On this day I salute teachers everywhere and in a very special way, all teachers on St. Maarten in all levels of education. October 5 is celebrated as World Teachers Day, a day commemorating the signing of the recommendations on the status of teachers in 1966 in Paris. Over the past 50 years, several reports have been made, reviewing the execution and implementation of these recommendations. They address matters affecting our teachers,  such as their further education, careers, rights and responsibilities, salaries and social security, amongst others. The 2016 World Teachers Day theme “Valuing teachers, improving their status” suggests there is…

Just when you think that you have seen every possible way to fool the system something new comes up. This time it is a restaurateur – one with a name and reputation to hold up as well – who finds himself on the wrong side of the law with a simple scheme that seemed to work flawlessly for years. By setting up a company in another jurisdiction and subsequently signing a franchise contract with this entity, the restaurateur ducked hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. The franchise fees he either paid or just booked in his administration, disappeared into…