Same sex marriage debate continues at the Supreme Court

WILLEMSTAD — The debate about the right to same sex marriage in Curacao and Aruba is in full swing, after the Common Court of Justice ruled that banning such marriages violates the constitutional right to equal treatment. Curacao and Aruba contested this ruling at the Supreme Court in The Hague. Curacao’s attorney Chester Peterson labeled the More...

It pays to go into elections with the maximum number of candidates
PHILIPSBURG — It is worthwhile to enter elections with a full list of 23 candidates. This appears from our analysis of the 2020-elections. Generally, the top five vote getters on a list are good for around More...

Investment-levels lag behind Caribbean average
PHILIPSBURG — The International Monetary fund (IMF) observes in its 2022 Article IV Consultation that public investments levels in St. Maarten are too low compared to the Caribbean region. The average Caribbean More...

It’s official: Elections on January 11, 2024
PHILIPSBURG — It’s official: parliamentary elections will take place on January 11, 2024, and parties will have to submit their lists of candidates on November 22. The government published the national More...

Almost one in five households live under the poverty line
PHILIPSBURG — At least 19 percent of St. Maarten’s population has a monthly income of 1,000 guilders ($558.66) or less, it appears from an analysis of the local labor market by the Economic Bureau Amsterdam More...

Minister Richardson: “Decision is vital to meet the pressing needs of the Pointe Blanche prison”
PHILIPSBURG — Minister of Justice Anna Richardson has reacted in a hurry to criticism from the police union NAPB about her decision to make the police force responsible for the detention center at police More...

Detention center becomes responsibility of the police force – union threatens with strike
PHILIPSBURG — The NAPB – the National General Police Union – has reacted with dismay to the decision by Justice Minister Anna Richardson to transfer the responsibility for the detention center More...

Dutch want help from Curacao against illegal online casinos
WILLEMSTAD — The enforcement department of the Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has reached out to the Gaming Control Board in Curacao for help in the battle against online casino operators that continue to More...

Court rules: No bank account for Oduber’s company BCY Entertainment
ORANJESTAD — Arubabank is entitled to refuse opening a bank account for BCY Entertainment, a company of former Minister of Urban Planning, Infrastructure and Environment Otmar Oduber, the court of appeals More...

Deborah Jack recipient of Soros Arts Fellowship
PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten-born artist Deborah Jack is one of eighteen recipients of a 2023 Soros Arts Fellowship from the New York-based Open Society Foundations that comes with a grant of $100,000. Jack More...