St. Maarten has money
St. Maarten has money. Lots of money. Yet we are beggars in our own country. Just to give you an example, according to the latest annual report the MOT (Meldpunt Ongebruikelijke Transacties, or Financial Intelligence Unit) published on its website there were 9,357 unusual transactions in 2015, representing a value of more than 3.1 billion guilders; More...
The at-arm’s-length fallacy
There is a false belief that because government should remain at arm’s length from government-owned companies, the management and the supervisory board members are untouchable. Wrong! If management and/or More...
It’s their money at stake; not ours
One would wonder why Royal Schiphol Group (RSG) is making such a big stink about the airport. But one must remember, Schiphol is synonymous with The Netherlands which is part of the European Union. The $100 million More...
Is ANG 3000 the new minimum wage?
The explanatory notes (memorie van toelichting) of the new law for the admission and expulsion of foreigners describe why a person should have an income of 36,000 ANG to bring in a spouse as follows. “Twee More...
Loopholes
There are so many loopholes in our laws that we can rightfully be called the land of the lawless. Time to plug those loopholes. Do you agree? Leave a comment below… More...
All for the lack of money
A presentation by constitution expert Prof. Jan De Boer started off by explaining that the emergency legislation is not a government initiative but an obligation under the Constitution that should have been regulated More...
10x the next 10 years
As we commemorate today, 10-10-20, 10 years of Country Sint Maarten since 10-10-10, we must inexorably conclude: “We have nothing to be proud about!” The past weeks we have reviewed the state of the More...
Have taxes been paid?
Reports coming out of Curacao indicate that well-known people on St. Maarten allegedly received millions in payments over a number of years from companies linked to ENNIA Insurances. These payments supposedly were More...
Force Majeure: The Liability Question
Our local accountant had some very interesting things to say wherein he gave us his opinions about the demands SZV was imposing on some of his clients. Companies are utilizing a loophole by filing zero for the More...
