PHILIPSBURG — In April 2019 the Law Enforcement Council made six recommendations for the improvement of the management and supervision of the Crime Fund. In November 2022 the Council completed a report that details what happened to those recommendations. Only one has been implemented, the remaining five are still a work in progress. The Council advises the ministry of justice to temporary suspend the financing of new projects with money from the Crime Fund. That should not be too difficult or painful because the last call for new projects dates back to 2018 and since that time no new projects…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — The United Nations has made good intentions its core business, or so it seems. Case in point is the twelve strategic development goals (SDG) it formulated during a conference in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. Those SDGs consist of seventeen objectives (see the complete list at sdgs.un.org) and they are part of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. All UN member states adopted that agenda in 2015. It was presented as “a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future. Some of these SDGs are more relevant for St. Maarten than…
~ Merx commends the minister, her staff and the immigration department ~ PHILIPSBURG — Attorney Cor Merx is more than happy with an intervention by Minister of Justice Anna Richardson, her staff and the immigration department that prevented the deportation of one of his clients. On Monday, January 1, Merx’ client was arrested on the French side of the island and taken to Guadeloupe for deportation because of immigration issues. The client had appealed a rejection by the Minister of Justice against her request for a temporary residence permit on the Dutch side of the island. “According to the guidelines…
Dear Editor, Traffic is a combination of three components: people, roads, and vehicles (motorised and non-motorised). Safety on public roads should be of great concern to everyone; therefore, it calls for both citizens and the government to play equal parts in ensuring that safety is maintained. But to what extent are both groups playing their part? Last Saturday afternoon’s motorist and pedestrian accident in Point Blanche, among others, has really shown many gaps in the island’s traffic system that need to be addressed urgently. As a concerned citizen, I believe that these cracks must be analysed through the three main…
By Roberto Achken Richardson I made a complete Overview on the Facts of what had taken place in the past during the Term of the Former Dutch State Secretary in terms of decisions on this Country Packages Process. Note: I always stressed the fact that the Government of Sint Maarten had signed an, a) MUTUAL AGREEMENT with the Netherlands. It was an agreement that had already binded/committed the Government of Sint Maarten to the Implementation of the, b) COUNTRY PACKAGES, basically meaning there was no turning back on the journey of legally and constitutionally formally establishing all that would have…
PHILIPSBURG — The draft consensus kingdom law COHO (Caribbean Organization for Reform and Development) is definitely off the table, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs announced in a press release after the conclusion of a four-country consultation between the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and St. Maarten. The country packages containing drastic reform measures remains however in place. St. Maarten signed on to the country packages in December 2020. The four-country consultation was a two-day event that took place in Philipsburg. Present were, apart from Prime Minister Jacobs, State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalization Alexandra van Huffelen, and the prime ministers of Curacao…
PHILIPSBURG — Independent MP Grisha Heyliger-Marten has asked for a question hour with Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion and Minister of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment an Infrastructure (VROMI) Egbert Doran. Reason: the MP wants answers to questions about the suspension of the managing director of the Cadastre. MP Heyliger-Marten writes that the supervisory board of the Cadastre has suspended its director. She wants to know whether the Council of Ministers, or individual ministers, has or have been informed about the suspension and whether the supervisory board has provided valid reasons for its decision. Heyliger-Marten also…
PHILIPSPBURG — The Ministry of Justice is “making great progress with the final phase of regulating its personnel affairs,” according to a press release issued by the same ministry. On December 9, 2022, the draft legal position regulation for the police was sent to Governor Baly for approval. Before giving this regulation the green light, the Governor wants to know how much money will have to be paid to police personnel over a period of three to five years. This adds another step to what has been, to say the least, a cumbersome process. More than two years ago, in…
PHILIPSBURG — Winair is doing very well. The airline started in October of last year with the repayment of the $3 million loan it obtained in 2020 from the Netherlands and in a couple of months it will expand its fleet with two ATR42-500 aircraft that will service nine different destinations. Winair has also published a vacancy for the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The contract of the current CEO, Michael Cleaver expired at the end of last year, but it has been extended by three months. Michael Ferrier lauded Winair for its current performance. In a letter to…
PHILIPSBURG — The Court in First Instance has ordered utilities company GEBE to pay its former temporary manager Merrill Temmer his monthly salary of more than 15,000 guilders ($8,380) starting from November 7, 2022. The court ruling, dated December 29, 2022, deals a firm blow to the company and to its lone shareholder, Country St. Maarten with regards to the cyber attack by Blackbyte on March 7, 2021. “The statement that (only) Temmer is liable for the cyber attack and its negative effects, denies the responsibility of managers, members of the supervisory board and the large number of temporary managers…
