~ Secondary School Students can Win up to ANG 10000 and an entrepreneurial exchange at #NYP22 ~ GREAT BAY, St. Maarten — Student entrepreneurs in secondary schools can now apply to participate in the first ever National Youth Pitch Competition. Students must work in teams of no more than four (4) students of the same school. Applications close on September 30. Thereafter a committee will score the applications and the five (5) highest scoring teams will move on to a six (6) week accelerator with experts who will coach them and help prepare them for the finals on November 20,…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — The government has met the requirements that allow it to revoke the 12.5 percent salary cut for employees in the (semi) public sector. This appears from a letter CFT-chairman Raymond Gradus sent to the chairman of the Kingdom Council of Ministers, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday, September 5. One of the conditions for approval of revoking the salary cut is that St. Maarten has to finance its consequences from its own budget. The government is not allowed to use liquidity support funds for this purpose. On August 15, financial supervisor CFT advised that St. Maarten had…
By Hilbert Haar The coalition of National Alliance and United People’s party is close to collapse after UP-MP Ludmila de Weever declared herself independent. Sure, the numbers are with 8 to 7 still in favor of the governing parties but how long will this last? That question is legitimate after UP-MP and chairlady of parliament Grisha Heyliger-Marten voted in favor of a motion that would have sent Minister Doran home. In this sense, the vote of MP Chanel Brownbill (who voted against the motion) saved the day for the coalition and for the embattled minister. Independent MP Akeem Arrindell also…
PHILIPSBURG — UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, has so far conducted two studies into the situation of children and adolescents in St. Maarten. The first report was published in 2013 and the second one in 2020. That second report contains some shocking details that urgently need the attention of our decision makers. The report is entitled Situation Analysis on Children and Adolescents on Sint Maarten 2020. It was produced by the Dutch branch of Unicef and funded by the Dutch Red Cross. Shocking? Take for instance these findings. Of the people interviewed for the report, 85 percent…
AMSTERDAM – ABN AMRO is entitled to terminate the Dutch bank account of VapEps, a law office established in Curacao with offices in Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands. VanEps wanted to keep the account citing higher costs, currency risks, loss of revenue and problematic payments to Dutch clients and institutions if it loses the account. On December 6, 2002, VanEps opened its business account with ABN Amro in the Netherlands. One of the conditions: the bank is entitled to terminate the relationship without giving any reason for it, providing that it observes a notice period of 30…
~ “Financial situation critical” ~ PHILIPSBURG — Embattled utilities company NV GEBE is “counting on people to come in with their payments,” Temporary Manager Sharine Daniel said in an interview with Lady Grace during the radio broadcast The Breakfast Lounge on Thursday. Daniel acknowledged that GEBE is in financial dire straits but that it will take another two weeks until it will consider disconnecting non-paying clients. See interview recording online here>>> GEBE has put its clients in four different categories, simply labeled A, B, C and D (see images below). Those in the A-category (residential, commercial and industrial users) are…
PHILIPSBURG — The Public Prosecutor’s Office has made an agreement with Curacao’s former Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte about the payment of 1.8 million guilders (a bit more than $1 million). The payment is part of Schotte’s conviction for money laundering and corruption, for which he served two-third of his 3-year sentence in the prison in Curacao. Schotte was released on November 27, 2020. The prosecutor’s office confirmed the payment arrangement with Schotte in a brief press statement that did not reveal any details. CJIB, the Central Judicial Collections Agency of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Safety explains on its…
A nose for business By Terrance Rey Recently I had to laugh a lot when I heard a story about a businessman who ended up on St. Maarten and in no time he was managing a sizeable portfolio of businesses in the port. When asked how he managed to acquire so many real estate properties and businesses, he replied that when he first drove past the harbor in Pointe Blanche, he smelled business. The reason I found this so funny was because I immediately remembered the pungent smell of molasses emanating from the Pott Rum factory when I took drives…
By Hilbert Haar Wrestling through a press release issued by MP Rolando Brison, leader of the United People’s party (UP), a couple of things stand out. First of all this statement: “The constitution can never be sidelined.” This seems to indicate that MP Brison wishes to live up to the oath he took when he became a Member of Parliament: allegiance to the King and the Kingdom Charter, maintaining the State Regulation of St. Maarten and promoting the wellbeing of St. Maarten to the best of his abilities. But there are also a few statements that offer a glimpse into…
PHILIPSBURG — Utilities company GEBE is in a serious crisis, Minister of General Affairs Silveria Jacobs acknowledged during a public meeting of Parliament on Friday, but the shareholder (the Council of Ministers) has “limited authority to intervene.” Only the supervisory board of directors can provide the solution, she said. Jacobs also made clear that GEBE has no legal relationship with parliament and that parliament has no authority over the company. “It cannot summon members of the managing board or the supervisory board to parliament; they can appear voluntarily but they are not compelled to answer questions or to provide information.”…
