When Vincent Boetius ends his term as chairman(*) of the supervisory board of the Cadastre this month, his place will most likely be taken by Vromi-Minister Angel Meyers for a job that pays 2,500 guilders per month. At least, that is what we hear. Not all is well at the Cadastre, where interim-director Marcia Peterson is still in charge. Interestingly, so we learned from sources that know these things, Peterson seems to be close with Minister Meyers. Telecom records this newspaper obtained show how Peterson one day kept a phone conversation (on July 27, 2015) going for 5 hours, 11…
Author: The Publisher
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One may well wonder why St. Maarten’s Pointe Blanche prison has become the home of a convict who shot somebody in Aruba last year. With a sentence of 18 years to his name, the inmate will spend at least the next twelve years here. It seems rather odd that Pointe Blanche would accommodate Aruba, while it has been fighting a shortage of cells for years, if not decades. There are other options within the Kingdom and the first country that comes to mind is the Netherlands, were prison facilities are so under-occupied that several of them have been or will…
GREAT BAY – A conflict between the Westin Hotel and one of its employees took an unexpected turn when the hotel management approached a managing partner of TCP with the request to investigate whether his father (attorney Cor Merx) was busy with a lawsuit against the hotel. The managing partner in question, Ing. Henk Merx, went ballistic when the hotel management informed him that his contract would be terminated if he did not cooperate. TCP maintains swimming pools for the Westin on a contract worth $50,000. Merx Jr. let the Westin know that there was no need to terminate his…
GREAT BAY (soualigapost.com) – According to the Airinfo website, XL Airways is positioning itself on Saint-Martin. The low-cost company will operate the connection once a week between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Princess Juliana International airport from December 18, 2016, to May 1, 2017. “An Airbus A330-200 which can accommodate 359 passengers will be used. Travellers will be able to transport a 23 kg cabin bag free of charge and enjoy a hot meal and a snack served by the crew members,” reported Airinfo. Departures are scheduled every Sunday from December 18, 2016, to January 8, 2017, and then every Monday from…
Trouw journalist Hans Marijnissen analyzed the phenomenon Gerrit Schotte and Curacao-based journalist Dick Drayer added a brief introduction to the story. Why Schotte is going to win the elections tomorrow. Gerrit Schotte split with Helmin Wiels on October 29, 2012, after Wiels had called him a sociopath. Wiels had won the elections, beating Schotte by a margin of 1,265 votes that took away the initiative from Schotte for the formation of the next government. Research by journalist Yves Cooper made clear that Wiels took away 19 percent of Schotte’s MFK-electorate. In 2013 Wiels was assassinated and his 19,715 votes were…
GREAT BAY – Watching grass grow is probably more exciting than sitting through a session of the Central Voting Bureau during a recount of all votes cast in the September 26 elections, but there was still some excitement in the air for at least two candidates yesterday. Photo caption: All hands go up in favor of the recount of all ballots. Photo Today / Hilbert Haar Central Voting Bureau finds discrepancies When the Central Voting Bureau announced the results last week, UP-candidate Jules James was just one vote ahead of Tamara Leonard for the fifth seat in parliament. But already…
Small changes can make a big difference. That at least, seems to be a serious possibility based on the first results of the total recount the Central Voting Bureau began yesterday. With just one vote separating the number five and six on the UP-list, and one vote already found to even the score, the final result will decide who is going to take that seat – Tamara Leonard or Jules James. If one of the top four vote getters becomes a minister this becomes obviously a moot point; in that case both candidates will take their seat at the end…
GREAT BAY – Governor Drs. Eugène Holiday requested National Alliance-leader William Marlin yesterday to form a new government as formateur. The governor expects the final report no later than October 27. The Governor, considering the results of the September 26 elections, held consultations between September 27 and 30, with the leaders of the political parties that obtained seats in parliament – the United People’s Party, the National Alliance, the United St. Maarten party and the Democratic Party – and with the vice chairperson of the Council of Advice and the chairperson of the Main Voting Bureau. During the consultation the…
GREAT BAY – The Democratic Party, the United St. Maarten party and the five parties that did not win a seat in last week’s elections have petitioned the Central Voting Bureau with a request for a total recount of the ballots of all polling stations. The Central Voting Bureau meets this morning at 10 a.m. The seven political parties motivate their request with eight arguments. The first one being that voters “were not allowed to be present in several of the voting stations, thereby obstructing their right to voice objections.” In one particular voting station, the parties write in a…
GREAT BAY – At the request of several readers we publish an overview of all the candidates that took part in last week Monday’s elections and the votes they won – from the highest vote getter (Theo Heyliger with 1,426) to the lowest (Johan Zwart with zero votes). Take note of the man in the very last position. It is certain that he is one of the candidates that did not vote for himself. Ironically, he is the last man in both lists of all candidates from the highest to the lowest vote getter and in alphabetical order. All candidates…
