PHILIPSBURG — While Ennia’s major shareholder Hushang Ansary is entangled in lawsuits that could force him to repay millions of dollars to the insurance company, his wife Shahla does not seem to be short of capital, given her acquisition of a penthouse and cabana in Palm Beach for $14 million. TheRealDeal.com described the purchase in an article that was published on November 23, 2020. Ansary bought the property from reputed West Palm Beach attorney Alan J. Ciklin, who had acquired it back in 2014 for $7.8 million. When Ciklin put the penthouse and cabana on the market in May, the…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — General Pension Fund APS is not doing well, it appears from a compliance audit into the fund’s financial statements 2022 conducted by the General Audit Chamber. APS’ coverage ratio dipped below 100, several real estate projects (like the eco-hotel in Mary’s Fancy) have become liabilities and the fund’s subsidiary St. Maarten Investment Agency has been sidelined in favor of the Curacao Financial Group, operating as the St. Maarten Investment Company. “Numerous real estate projects face challenges and postponements,” the report states. The Audit Chamber recommends an analysis of the economic feasibility of these projects, their costs and their…
Is Fuel Clause rephrasing gross mismanagement? By Terence Jandroep Communities of the Dutch Caribbean are consistently complaining about the utility bills and therefore a simplified explanation is necessary. Colombian educated Certified Risk Analyst Terence Jandroep illustrates the utility bills using layman terms after conducting a historical research: The operating costs of the GEBE (SXM), WEB (Aruba, Bonaire) STUCO (Statia), SEC (Saba) or AQUALECTRA (Curacao) consists of Payroll costs, Consumption and Waste of production. Fact is that most of these utility companies are not the Energy or Water producers but the distributors that are governed by a consumption parameters contract with…
PHILIPSBURG — Refinancing of the corona liquidity loans hinges on an agreement about a solution for embattled insurance company Ennia. The deadline to reach an agreement is October 15. “This agreement remains subject to parliamentary approval,” Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion states in a press release. “The Ministry of Finance is actively engaged in negotiations to find a mutually agreeable solution, understanding the significant impact in has on policyholders and the broader community. Collaboration between Curacao, St Maarten, and the Netherlands is essential for reaching a resolution that safeguards the interests of all stakeholders.” Minister Irion states that the loan…
PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten’s economic recovery is moving in the right direction, according to the recently completed economic indicators table from the Department of Statistics (STAT). The numbers used for this conclusion mostly stem from 2021 and 2022 and even those numbers are not all final. STAT projects a 4.6 percent growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021 and estimates its value to be around 2.27 billion guilders ($1.27 billion). GDP was affected during the past couple of years by natural disasters like Hurricane Irma (2017) and the corona pandemic and its subsequent lockdown in 2020. Irma caused a…
PHILIPSBURG — The Dutch Senate approved a 60.9 million guilders ($34 million) loan for capital expenditures on Tuesday, September 26, Finance Minister Ardwell, Irion announced in a press release. The minister mentions seven projects that will benefit from the loan: a shade for the Martin Luther King School playground, renovation of various sports facilities, expansion and reconstruction of the John Larmonie Center and the Philipsburg Cultural and Community Center, completion of the Prince Willem Alexander School, hard surfacing of various dirt and main roads, the Dutch Quarter road development program, expansion of the sewage network (co-financed by the Trust Fund…
Dear Mr. Editor, The Telem Group of Companies announced today that it will transform its total operation into a state-of-the-art “Integrated Digital Service Provider” for St. Maarten. Information about the transformation was revealed to the Council of Ministers in a special convened meeting at the Government Administration Building on Tuesday September 26, 2023, according to news circulating on social media. Mr. Editor, this is good news, but how credible is this news when certain critical points is taken into account. Has the Fiber to the Home project been completed? If not where are the bottle necks? Can the present state…
PHILIPSBURG — “It is important to get an idea of what the government’s actions and policies have been and currently are with regard to tax holidays and other fiscal incentives,” independent MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten wrote in a press release about her letter dated September 15 to Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion. She wrote that correctly applied fiscal incentives can benefit the country and that incorrectly applied incentives do more harm than good. Heyliger-Marten asked the minister five questions about this issue. She wants to know how many requests the government received since February 2020 for tax holidays or other fiscal…
PHILIPSBURG — The Enterprise Support Project (ESP) will remain in place until June 2028, the National Recovery Project Bureau (NRPB) announced in a press release. Micro, small and medium enterprises can get grants and low-interest loans for 75 percent of their investment, up from 65 percent. The extended program also offers qualifying entrepreneurs a longer repayment period. Since the launch of the program in 2020, ESP has supported more than 200 local businesses and provided training to more than one hundred participants. The extension of the program went into effect on September 15, together with a revised design. The restructured…
Dear Editor, When discussing good governance, many typically think of government and governmental organizations. Several scientific definitions could be cited, but in daily life, it boils down to a few principles. Good governance encompasses transparency, accountability, responsibility, and the rule of law. For government and its subsidiaries, this means that their decisions should be transparent, procedures must be understandable and open to at least the involved parties. Accountability implies that people must be held responsible for their behavior and actions, carrying the consequences of such actions. Responsibility, on the other hand, pertains to the fact that besides accountability, people must…
