PHILIPSBURG — Former Minister of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and infrastructure (VROMI) Angel Meyers is not the only one to get criticized after the recent court ruling about rights of long lease in the Over the Bank area. MPs Melissa Gumbs and Raeyhon Peterson (Party for Progress, PFP) and independent Mp Ludmila de Weever also point their fingers at the current VROMI Minister Egbert Doran. The court ruled on August 22 that the country is not bound by promises of rights of long lease to parcels of land in Over the Bank former Minster Angel Meyers made to six…
Author: The Publisher
WILLEMSTAD — The Fair Trade Authority Curacao (FTAC) fined accountancy Ernst&Young 400,000 guilders (close to $ 223,500) for failing to report a so-called concentration. The company appealed the decision, but the court in Willemstad ruled that the fine is justified. The term concentration refers to obtaining control over one or more companies, in this case, Ernst&Young’s competitor KPMG. In 2018 local media reported about a merger between Ernst&Young Dutch Caribbean and KPMG Dutch Caribbean. On December 31 of that year KPMG International revoked KPMG Dutch Caribbean’s license. The FTAC started an investigation based on the media reports. Ernst&Young denied to…
By Hilbert Haar According to UD-MP Sarah Wescot-Williams Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs sent a letter to government-owned companies urging them to hire locals for management positions. See Government has no clue how to advocate getting locals in managerial positions; passes the buck again Preferential treatment was the first thought that came to mind. MP Wescot-Williams wonders in a reaction to this letter who qualifies as being a local or a St. Maartener. Damn good question. My second thought was that it is logical wanting to have locals in top positions at government-owned companies. I have always defended the idea that…
PHILIPSBURG — The Over the Bank Group is not entitled to the rights of long lease on parcel of land in Upper Princess Quarter, the Court in First Instance ruled on Wednesday. The Country took the group to court in a successful attempt to close the book on the Over the Bank-saga. The Over the Bank Group consists of Naomi Kijzer, Mariska and Sergio Dias, Etienne Lake, Johishi Romney and Marcel Javois (Kijzer c.s.). Former VROMI-Minister Angel Meyers issued documents in 2016 that granted the group rights of long lease on parcels of land in the Over the Bank area.…
By Hilbert Haar “I am an honest politician,” the man said to the beautiful looking blonde who sat next to him at a bar. “Yeah, right, the blonde quipped. “I am a prostitute, and I am a virgin.” This is the problem in a nutshell: you really cannot trust anybody anymore these days. Knowledge Center Curacao, a department of the University of the Dutch Caribbean tested this theory by polling people in Curacao about their trust in local politicians. The result? After interviewing more than 700 people researchers concluded that Javier Silvania is the island’s most popular politician, though the…
PHILIPSBURG — The Freegan Food Foundation, a prominent non-profit organization dedicated to combating food scarcity, recently concluded its intake process for the upcoming phase of its innovative client choice food bank program. The initiative, aimed at providing weekly access to nutritious food and fresh produce to low-income families, took place on July 18 and 19 at the John Larmonie Center. Breaking away from the traditional model of distributing pre-packed food boxes, the Foundation’s program gives beneficiaries the freedom to choose their own food items, akin to a supermarket experience. This approach ensures that the dietary needs and personal preferences of…
PHILIPSBURG — United People’s party-leader Rolando Brison launched a vicious attack veteran MP Sarah Wescot-Williams by holding her responsible for the Bearing Point-controversy and by labeling her track record as “forty years of political failure.” Brison furthermore stated in a press release that the support for the Democratic Party is dwindling and that “recent polls” estimate that party will win just one seat in the upcoming elections. Brison did not stop there: “Whether it was the INSO fiasco, Mullet Bay and the situation with ENNIA or the Shipyard NV debts, we constantly see the fingerprints of DP cohorts around…
PHILIPSBURG — The fall of the Rutte IV-cabinet “underscores the risk of being dependent on a nation that does not have its own house in order, despite all its unlimited financial and other resources and global geo-political significance and influence,” Independent MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten writes in a press release that calls for a meeting to discuss the situation with Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs after the summer recess. MP Heyliger-Marten refers to the “underlying reasons” for the collapse of the last two Dutch governments: the child allowance scandal and the failure to agree on an immigration policy. “Significant and meaningful constitutional…
Cdr. Bud Slabbaert floated an interesting concept in a column that describes the benefits of business incubators. Incubators have a strong resemblance with the business centers that were all the rage in the eighties in the Netherlands. It is still a valid concept though: it focuses on creating jobs by building businesses, rather than on teaching job seekers how to find meaningful employment. A brilliant idea is not necessarily the key to building a successful business. Just think about what happened to the innovative electrical bicycle-manufacturer Van Moof in the Netherlands. The idea was good, the execution lousy and the…
PHILIPSBURG — Implementing the justice function book will cost the government more than 40 million guilders ($22.3 million) this year, it appears from a press release issued by the Ministry of Justice. The agreement Minister Anna Richardson reached with the unions is still subject to approval by the Council of Ministers. Minister Richardson negotiated the agreement with the NAPB, ABVO and WICSU/PSU unions and the Committee of Civil Servants Union (CCSU) as well as with management and employees of her ministry. According to the press release, the unions “collaborated closely” with the minister about the final review of the legal…
