No support for “discriminating law” THE HAGUE – The controversial Bosman-law died in the Second Chamber yesterday, after all parties – with the exception of the VVD and the PVV – distanced themselves from it. Bosman’s law would have set criteria for citizens from St. Maarten. Aruba and Curacao who want to establish themselves in the Netherlands. Bosman pushed his law in an effort to prevent that islanders end up in a life without perspective or, worse, in criminality. Bosman was “disappointed” after the debate in the Dutch parliament. He had revised the text of his initiative-law after consultation with…
Author: The Publisher
Dear Editor, We are still in the midst of the hurricane season. A challenge which we in the Caribbean have to face every year. Unfortunately, there are many people who believe that when a hurricane devastates a community it is an act of God to punish such persons. We need to realize that this is a misconception, since the destruction, suffering and death that a hurricane can bring is an inherent evil and must therefore be the work of Satan, the source of all evil. We want us to be clear in our minds that God does not inflict evil.…
GREAT BAY – Statia will get a daily ferry service to St. Maarten next year, Caribisch Netwerk reports. Currently there is no maritime connection between the two islands. Statia can only be reached through flights with airline Winair. The Wagendorp group is going to change this situation. The shipping company has a history of a hundred years ferrying passengers to the Dutch Wadden islands Ameland and Schiermonnikoog. “We are in the process of purchasing a ferry with a capacity of 350 passengers. The twice-daily departures in both directions will begin in the third quarter of 2017. A single fare will…
Governments have been falling like dominoes since 10-10-10 – the day St. Maarten became an autonomous country and everything was going to become better for all residents. Well, well, and here we are with the formation of the sixth government in as many years. Let’s have a look at the rather pathetic political history. The National Alliance won the three-horse race that were the 2010 elections. With 7 seats, the party seemed in control but it still ended up in the opposition, because the United People’s party – the new vehicle of MP Theo Heyliger after he had left the…
The half-year report of financial supervisor Cft makes clear that contracting a loan for the new hospital via the cheapest route – the Netherlands – is far away, because the Cft has made healthcare reform a condition to obtain such a loan. We do not know what the current government is still able to achieve in the remaining weeks of its term, but it seems highly unlikely that the parliament will get to handle such reform on short notice. In that case, the financing of the project will fall to other parties, like the SZV and possibly the pension fund…
That Emil Lee has run an effective campaign, no one can deny. The results are there to prove it. I saw his video interviews on Facebook the weekend before election day and they were personable, informative and very convincing. He touched on all the basic topics in his 7-clips series and answered all the common questions everyone were asking. Who is Emil Lee? Why did you enter politics? Why the DP? Do you feel accepted by the people? What are your accomplishments? What are your most memorable campaign moments? He was so sincere and credible, I was damn near ready to vote for…
VVD-MP André Bosman has been at it for a long time with his initiative-law to restrict access to the Netherlands for citizens from St. Maarten, Aruba and Curacao. Yesterday his initiative law stranded in the Second Chamber. One may well wonder whether this is indeed a reason to celebrate. What we learn here is that two political parties in the Netherlands –Bosman’s VVD and Geert Wilders’ PVV – have no problem with discriminatory legislation. The good news is that all the other parties, including the VVD’s ailing coalition partner PvdA are not buying it. From that perspective, we still have…
GREAT BAY – The 5-5-3-2 result of the elections put fifteen parliamentarians in their seats early Tuesday morning. But the surprise agreement between the National Alliance and the United People’s party threw several careers in disarray, opened the doors for others and triggers questions about the future of the hospital project. NA-leader William Marlin sent a Whatsapp to his party’s membership to inform them about the cooperation with the UP. From left: Franklin Meyers, Theo Heyliger, William Marlin and Silveria Jacobs showing the agreement parties signed early Tuesday morning. Photo contributed Surprise coalition: NA joins forces with UP The turn…
GREAT BAY – The United People’s party may have become the largest party in Monday’s elections, but its party-leader Theo Heyliger suffered a personal defeat at the hands of the voters. He lost more than 25 percent of his voter-support, as the table with this article shows. The best performer in the elections was DP-Minister Emil Lee, who outvoted his party leader Sarah Wescot-Williams by more than 200 votes and saw his performance in office rewarded with 667 votes – 134 percent more than the votes he won in his inaugural elections in 2014. One may well wonder about the…
The surprising turn of events after there seemed to be an agreement to continue with the incumbent coalition has given the country basically the same result, be it with a couple of twists. Again we have a coalition holding ten seats. In terms of majorities that’s about as good as it gets. The concern here is about the fate of the new hospital. There is a contract with Inso but it is no secret that the UP – that will hold the ministry of public health, has wildly different ideas about this initiative. We trust that the new minister will…
