So now we know. The Pearl of China project is not tourism- but business-driven; not another hotel to add to the existing premises. With a promise of 400 well-paying jobs for locals and work for local contractors on the horizon the project feels just like what the doctor ordered for our sluggish economy. There are some obvious concerns in terms of environment and infrastructure, but the Chinese investors seem genuine with their commitment towards sustainable development. Whether all this will indeed materialize is at this moment an unanswerable question. Let us first see whether contractors will indeed go to work…
Author: The Publisher
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“No one wants to stay on a leaking ship in the middle of the ocean” GREAT BAY – More than twelve years ago, on January 28, 2004, current Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr. presented the Lionel B. Scott Memorial address at the Philipsburg Mutual improvement Association. Today, that speech puts the recent history of St. Maarten in perspective with a flurry of interesting data and observations. By Richard Gibson Sr. In his book “A Tale of Two cities” Charles Dickens opens his literary classic with the sentence: “It was the best of times, it was the worse of times”.…
PHILIPSBURG – Tax Reform is necessary. Responsible tax reform has to be approached with caution and with the necessary care. You cannot gamble with tax reform. The results have to be calculated in advance using actuary expertise to avoid unforeseen consequences. The result of the steps that will be taken has to be known up front. It cannot be done on a trial basis. That would be irresponsible and could cause misery for a lot of people. Wild ideas that tax reform should consist only of flat taxes or only indirect taxes – as has been proposed by some –…
Dear Editor, Wow! It has become unequivocally clear, that coalition governments do not work on St. Maarten. The unions are formed as a springboard to facilitate the thirsts of corrupt politicians and their entourage. Who could have thought that just before elections, MP Frans Richardson would be speaking this ill of the Finance Minister Richard Gibson? Is it not the same minister who the MP defended so fiercely, during the 2016 budget debate? Then how is it that all of a sudden, the minister is referred to as being too old to keep up with the times? This statement that…
About the law ~ The Suspect (4) ~ By Cor Merx, attorney at law From last week’s explanation about how difficult it is to identify someone as a suspect, today we will have a look at the process of handling a suspect. Let’s begin with a better definition to understand each other. I will name this period the pre-trial period. I mean to say, this is the period a suspect can be held in detention until his case (ultimately) comes to court. According to the law the term pre-detention is not correct but I want to explain a system and…
“It’s time to shut up and go home.” says USp-leader Frans Richardson about Finance Minister Gibson GREAT BAY – Leader of the United St. Maarten party MP Frans Richardson on Monday night urged Prime Minister William Marlin to finally “put to bed and shut up” Minister of Finance Richard Gibson who, according to Richardson, is “becoming rude and bold in this country.” Richardson tore into Gibson during the USp’s public meeting on Monday night, chastising him for not taking care of workers in his places of business for many years, but quick to talk down colleague MP’s of the current…
~ Governor’s address at opening parliamentary year ~ GREAT BAY – Governor Drs. Eugène Holiday put the emphasis on the need for political and fiscal stability yesterday morning in his address at the opening of the 2016-2017 parliamentary year. “Stability is a necessary condition to facilitate public and private investments that are required to strengthen economic growth to meet the socio-economic needs of our people.” The governor noted that the opening of the parliamentary year takes place thirteen days before the elections and that a new parliament will be installed on October 31. A new Council of Ministers will be…
USp-leader Frans Richardson is twisting reality with his statements about the approach of Finance Minister Richard Gibson towards tax reform. We’re not here to defend Minister Gibson (he explains his position elsewhere) but to give our readers accurate information. The United St. Maarten party wants to get rid of all taxes and replace this with a single sales tax. The National Alliance, and Minister Gibson with it, proposes to lower income and profit taxes and to move in the direction of indirect taxation in combination with a broadening of the tax base. The devil is always in the details here…
Prisons are the same all over the world, though some prisons are obviously worse places to be than others. But they have one thing in common: their residents have nothing else to do all day long than thinking about their next move. How to get their hands on a cell phone, how to get their drugs, how to get their weapons – the list is endless. Sooner or later bad things happen in prisons – see the recent shooting of Omar Jones. We know from a report by the Progress Committee that prison director Edward Rohan does not have things…
GREAT BAY – Police officers with the support from Dutch marines found “numerous cell phones and other contraband’ during a safety search of the Pointe Blanche prison on Saturday. The search follows the fatal shooting of gang leader Omar Jones on Wednesday August 31 and the return of the nine suspects in this shooting from the police station to the prison. The search was done under the guidance of the police by a large number of police officers; the entire K9-unit and the Dutch marines stationed on the island also took part in the operation. Prior to the search all…
