GREAT BAY – Four masked and armed men robbed the dazzling gems jewelry store on Front Street on Saturday morning around 11.15 a.m. They arrived at the store in a blue Jeep with heavily tinted windows that carried an expired taxi license plate. The robbers stormed into the store, smashed showcases with hammers and grabbed a still unknown quantity of jewelry. They fled in their car in the direction of Sucker Garden. Several police patrols reacted to the report about the robbery and they started a search for the suspects and their car. The police is asking anyone with information…
Author: The Publisher
The Parliament of “Country St. Maarten” convened a meeting on Thursday to debate the unilateral appointment by the Dutch of a quartermaster for the non-existing Integrity Chamber. To refresh your memory this Integrity Chamber exists no place else in this Kingdom and it is being imposed on us because the Dutch are hell bent on criminalizing the entire society without the inconvenience of due process or rather giving us our day in court. It is quite clear that the Dutch still exist in the past when they owned the islands and the people living there. The farce of autonomy is…
The conflict between the Harbor Holding Company and Dock Maarten is a prime example of the complexity of our laws. Dock Maarten holds the right of long lease to water parcels in Great Bay but as it turns out now, it is not free to do on these parcels what it wants. At least, that is for now the position the Court in First Instance has taken. The dispute is not over yet, as Dock Maarten has to provide the port with relevant information about its expansion plans. The company wants to make its marina fit for mega yachts and…
Parliament’s meeting about the controversial appointment of Dutch quartermaster Hans Leijtens to the non-existent Integrity Chamber drifted to its predictable conclusion yesterday afternoon. The Parliament stood united and condemned the appointment – a message Kingdom Relations Minister Plasterk will probably take in stride. More interesting is obviously what will happen next. Will Plasterk send Leijtens indeed to St. Maarten? And if so, what is the good man going to do here? Is it possible to issue a Trumpian entry ban? Will civil servants and ministers massively refuse to cooperate with whatever it is Leijtens comes here to do? The condemnation…
Dear Editor, A lot of indignation reigned during the discussions on the appointment of a quartermaster by the Dutch government and rightfully so. The Dutch Minister (Plasterk) has however remained undeterred and firm: “The quarter master will come, it was an agreement and SXM procrastinated.” Did we? The government of SXM learned of the appointment via the press, evoking a caution from Finance Minister Gibson that newspapers can be wrong. True, in this world of “false news” even newspapers can be tricked. However, in the Netherlands, this news was an orchestrated part of simultaneous and official publications. Algemeen Nieuws (BZK); Rijksbelastingsdienst of…
It may seem odd that the interim minister of tourism and economic affairs asks the minister of public health to attend the Caribbean Travel Marketplace in the Bahamas, but the background of Minister Emil Lee – a former president of the Caribbean Hospitality and Trade Association – justifies this decision. It is good to have a professional presence at this event, because destination marketing has been in the doldrums for too long, though one should not expect miracles from just one event. The government would do well to take the lessons from Isabel Mosk at heart about the use of…
GREAT BAY – Innovation is the key to success and with that in mind, the race committee of the 2017 St. Maarten Heineken Regatta has added a day to the already packed schedule of the event. Monday March 6, is the date for the first edition of the St. Maarten Heineken Star Event. This new racing series will take place on the French side in Nettle Bay, in front of Le Sand Restaurant, Beach & Bar and is sponsored by Yanmar. Winners of selected classes from the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta will be asked to nominate a member of their…
Professor Van de Ven about National Health Insurance: “Establish a purchasing agency today” GREAT BAY – It could take another two to three years before the National Health Insurance is up and running but in the meantime the government can already take swift action to address one issue: the purchase of healthcare service and medication. That is the conclusion from our interview with Professor of Health Insurance Wynand van de Ven, who is on the island this week at the request of Public Health Minister Emil Lee. Van de Ven addressed a closed door central committee of Parliament meeting on…
GREAT BAY – During the National Health Week that ended yesterday several meetings with various stakeholders have been scheduled by the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor. This included sessions with the Social Economic Council (SER), the Council of Advice, the Council of Health, and Parliament as well as two-day session for invited stakeholders. Last Tuesday the Council of Ministers was briefed on the matter of National Health Insurance. To learn from others countries’ experiences, Minister Lee invited several experts in the field to discuss the topic at hand from different angles. After the introductory remarks of both…
THE HAGUE – Minister of Safety and Justice Ard van der Steur stepped down on Thursday night after a tough debate about the so-called Teeven-deal. Stef Blok will take over his job until the elections on March 15. Earlier State Secretary Fred Teeven and Van der Steur’s predecessor Ivo Opstelten saw their career cut short over the Teeven-deal. The matter became again a hot potato earlier this week after Bas Haan, a reporter for NieuwsUur reported in a book that Van der Steur had kept information back about the deal as a Member of Parliament and as a minister. The…
