PHILIPSBURG – Real growth of St. Maarten’s Gross Domestic Product will drop from 9.8 percent in 2022 to 3.2 percent this year, the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) reports in its Monetary Policy Report of June 2023. The growth forecast is up 0.9 percent from the outlook the bank published in March. This is primarily due to a more positive contribution of public demand to economic growth, the report states. Public demand represents government consumption and investment. The numbers the bank used for its projection stem from St. Maarten’s approved 2023 budget. Inflation will reach 3.7 percent…
Author: Online Editor
Read More
On Saturday, June 10th, The Sint Maarten Lions Club installed its Board of Directors for the new Lionistic year 2023 -2024. Leading the Team for the year, which officially begins on July 1st, will be Police Officer Inspector Lion Felix Richards. President-Elect Lion Felix began his acceptance speech to the large gathering of Lions, Leos, and invited guests at the Paradise Event Hall, with an inspirational quote from Mahatma Gandhi “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” He pledged his utmost to meet this “herculean challenge” before him with God’s Grace, help,…
PHILIPSBURG – PFP member of Parliament Melissa Gumbs sent questions to the Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion requesting, among other information, an update on the ongoing saga between ENNIA and the Central Bank of St. Maarten and Curacao. On 1 June 2023, The Daily Herald ran an article wherein Minister Irion highlighted some key statistics and information regarding the role of St. Maarten when it came to the ENNIA situation. He mentioned among them the fact that there are approximately 3000 ENNIA policyholders in St. Maarten who may face issues in their pension plans by 2025. These policyholders represent a…
ORANJESTAD – Information about people who lived in slavery in Aruba and Statia is available online through indexes and associated scans of colonial archives. Searches are possible on the website of Archivo Nacional Aruba (ANA) and on the website of the Dutch National Archive. The index Aruba: slavery and Emancipation 1840-1863 enables people to find information about the slaves that lived in Aruba during the last 25 years of slavery. The index contains information about around one thousand people; 450 of them became free in 1863. They represent one-fifth of the Aruban population at the time. The database uses a…
PHILIPSBURG – The Consumer Price Index increased by 0.44 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the last quarter in 2022. Compared to the first quarter of 2022, the increase is 3.48 percent. In other words: buying goods and services became more expensive. The overall increase looks moderate but in categories that matter to the average citizen prices went up much more. Compared to the first quarter of 2022, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages went up 10.5 percent, while furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance became 7.97 percent more expensive. Champion in the field of higher…
PHILIPSBURG – Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs sees “insufficient space” for making marriage between partners of the same sex possible in St. Maarten. This appears from a letter Kingdom Relations State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen has sent to the Dutch parliament in answer to questions about this topic from D66-MP Boris Dittrich. Dittrich asked the state secretary on April 6 to discuss the options for same-sex marriage with the Caribbean country St. Maarten. Aruba and Curacao. “During the past couple of months I have spoken about this issue with the prime ministers of the Caribbean countries,” the letter states. “Most of…
PHILIPSBURG – State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (Kingdom Relations) will attend the ceremonies during Emancipation Day on July 1 in St. Maarten. This appears from a letter she wrote to the parliament’s president Siddharth Bijlani, on June 27. The letter addresses the history of slavery and the follow-up the Dutch government will give to the apologies Prime Minister Mark Rutte expressed on December 19 of last year. It speaks of “good discussions” between Van Huffelen, the government of St. Maarten, and social organizations. “We see these discussions as the foundation for the creation of a culture of commemoration that offers…
PHILIPSBURG – D66 parliamentarian Jorien Wuite presented her report Dreaming about a Sustainable and Resilient Future on Tuesday during a legislative consultation with Kingdom Relations State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen. The report proposes eight initiatives aimed at strengthening the social-economic position of communities in the Caribbean part of the kingdom. “I hope that many inside and outside of politics are interested in the proposals for a sustainable and resilient future for the Caribbean islands,” Wuite writes in her introduction. D66 wants to move away from the current reactive and supervising approach towards policies that focus on sustainability and development. “It…
PHILIPSBURG – The Netherlands extends a new loan of €33.5 million (60.8 million guilders or $34 million) to St. Maarten. The loan is intended for investments in wastewater treatment, physical and cultural infrastructure, education, school buildings, office equipment, sports facilities, vehicles, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The government will issue bonds for this amount. The Kingdom Council of Ministers agreed last Friday to the proposal by Kingdom Relations State Secretary Alexandra van Hufffelen to subscribe to the bond issue, based on positive advice from the Board of financial supervision (Cft). The decision is still subject to approval by the…
WILLEMSTAD – Medical specialists in Curacao are subject to the national ordinance that regulates the top incomes of employees at government-related entities, the Court in First Instance ruled on June 14. This means that, after a transition period, medical specialists who are on the payroll of the Curacao Medical Center (CMC) cannot earn more than 386,000 guilders ($215,642) per year. The court ruled that the CMC is subject to the National Ordinance Standardization Top Incomes because it considers the hospital as a government-associated entity. The ruling does not necessarily have consequences for specialists who work at the St. Maarten Medical…
