Met de naderende verkiezingen heeft een prominente politieke partij een voorstel naar voren gebracht in haar manifesto dat aandacht behoeft. Het voorstel pleit voor voorkeursbehandeling bij baantoewijzingen, met name voor personen die in St. Maarten zijn geboren, voor verschillende functies, waaronder rechters en aanklagers. Hoewel dit gebaar bij velen sympathie kan opwekken, staat het inherent haaks op onze Grondwet. Onze Grondwet staat centraal als fundament waarop onze wetten en maatschappelijke normen zijn gebouwd. Het schrijft expliciet gelijke behandeling voor alle individuen binnen St. Maarten voor, ongeacht hun afkomst of geboorteplaats. Discriminatie op basis van geboorte of afstamming is uitdrukkelijk verboden…
Author: The Publisher
Dear voters, As the imminent election approaches on January 11, the choice facing our nation is critical. It’s not merely a matter of selecting names on a ballot; it’s about defining the path our country will tread for the foreseeable future. My name is Terrance Rey, and I implore each voter to consider their choice wisely and with a focus on the future. In the cacophony of political promises and rhetoric, it’s easy to become disillusioned. The blame game prevails, with fingers pointing to the past, dragging down the hopes of new entrants like myself. I acknowledge the prevailing skepticism,…
Newcomer on the National Alliance list is candidate number 21, Terrance Rey, publisher of StMaartenNews.com. Rey ran in the 2020 elections as candidate number 12 on the Christian Party, SMCP list. From 2010 until May 2012, Rey served as Policy Advisor in the Parliament of St. Maarten and from June 2012 he has served as the Deputy Secretary of the Progress Committee St. Maarten overseeing the plans of approach for, among others, the Ministry of Justice. This year, 2024, Rey is celebrating 30 years in the travel business and over 20 years in the aviation industry as a travel agent,…
PHILIPSBURG — The National Alliance (NA) manifesto for the upcoming elections is a 30-plus pages document that outlines the party’s plans for the immediate future. There are a lot of initiatives that will appeal to voters. The focus is on improving people’s lives through fiscal measures. The NA promises to lower income, wage and profit tax within the first hundred days if it becomes a part of a new administration. It also wants to abolish inheritance and gift taxes as well as property tax. Appealing further to voters who struggle to make ends meet, the party intends…
PHILIPSBURG — The political manifestos of the political parties that will take part in the January 11 elections are a hodgepodge of ideas and proposals and at times read as a Christmas wish list. The National Alliance has made lowering taxes a focal point of its campaign; the party promises to lower income, wage and profit taxes within the first hundred days of a new government. Read: National Alliance manifesto appeals to voters with lower taxes Two other parties have also jumped on the fiscal bandwagon. NOW, the party of Christophe Emmanuel and the PFP of Melissa Gumbs both want…
PHILIPSBURG — The manifesto of the United St. Maarten party (USP) promises voters a myriad of initiatives. A key issue seems to be the intention to create a legal framework that always gives born St. Maarteners first preference. The party also wants to grant first opportunity to St. Maarten- and Antillean-born candidates to become judges and prosecutors. In line with the manifestos of all other parties, the USP-manifesto does not contain a financial paragraph so it remains unclear how the party intends to fund its proposals. The manifesto states that the USP does not intend to continue the practice of…
KRALENDIJK — The Court in First Instance has ordered Clark Abraham, the political leader of PDB (Partido Demokrátiko Boneriano) to pay $17,984 plus interest to the Mariadal Foundation, dossierkoninkrijksrelaties.nl reports. Last year, Abraham won a bid for supplying Mariadal with 1,000 sheets through his company Yo! Branding & Productions. The value of the bid was $19,548. He asked (and received) the advance payment of the complete amount. Mariadal is a healthcare institution that provides emergency care, short and long term care, diagnostics and medication on Bonaire. The court ruling states that the company Abraham used is not registered anywhere, which…
PHILIPSBURG — The Caribbean Guilder will replace the Antillean Guilder per March 31, 2025, the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten announced in a press release. Initially, the bank’s 2022 annual financial report stated that the new currency would be introduced in the second half of 2024. But the definite date for the introduction is now set for March 31, 2025. The Antillean guilder has been in circulation for more than seventy years, since 1952. In 1986, when Aruba obtained its status aparte that country launched the Aruban florin. In 2010, Bonaire, Statia and Saba introduced the American dollar…
PHILIPSBURG — Politicians ought to wake up to the threats posed by climate change, it appears from the Central Bank’s latest economic bulletin. Richard Doornbosch, the president of the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) writes that St. Maarten needs “to develop a comprehensive national climate adaptation strategy that should be integrated in the government’s long-term planning and fiscal framework.” This climate change-strategy should include the development of investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, Doornbosch writes. Other issues that require attention are the collection of new data and collaboration between local and international stakeholders to exchange existing data that are…
THE HAGUE — Aruba and Curacao have to allow marriages between same-sex partners. Both countries appealed the decision by the Common Court of Justice that ordered both countries to recognize these marriages at the Supreme Court in the Netherlands. Attorney-General Snijder concluded that the Supreme Court should reject the appeals. The final decision about this matter is expected on May 31, 2024. On December 6, 2022, the Common Court of Justice ruled that same-sex couples can get married and ordered Aruba and Curacao to cooperate. The court ruled that the ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional ban on discrimination.…
