Dollars, not guilders
By Hilbert Haar An alert reader pointed out to me that the price the waste-to-energy plant would charge GEBE for a Kilowatt of electricity is $0.26 and not 0.26 guilders. This is correct and I apologize for the oversight. But how does this change the equation? According to the National Energy Policy – published in 2013 – it costs GEBE $0.22 More...
The question nobody ever asked
By Hilbert Haar The dump remains a hot item and for good reason. For decades dump fires have affected the health of citizens and for decades the government had failed to do something about it. The construction of More...
To write or not to write…. about the dump fire again
Last week Saturday, Carnival Fascination cruise ship was informed about the smoke from the dump by the port authorities and advised not to make a call at the port of St. Maarten. Despite this the captain decided, More...
Friday the thirteenth
By Hilbert Haar It’s rather ironic that Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo met on Friday the thirteenth with Moniek Bouland, the director of Governance & Integrity International. You could call it unfortunate More...
Rules and regulations
By Hilbert Haar We have no shortage of laws, national ordinances and rules and regulation in our little country. What we sorely miss is the will to apply those rules. This appears once more from the questions I More...
Sound levels
By Hilbert Haar It’s that time of the year again. Carnival. Come and enjoy life. But don’t forget your earplugs. The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) are on to it. Last week the department sent out a press More...
Timeshare barkers
By Hilbert Haar The timeshare-industry is important for St. Maarten because timeshare owners spend a lot of time on the island and – more importantly – they are spending a lot of money here. These people love More...
A lot of hogwash
By Hilbert Haar Khadija Arb, the chairlady of the Second Chamber in The Hague was not amused when she spotted Peter Kwint, a member of the Socialist Party faction on Wednesday. Where is your jacket? Arib asked. Kwint More...
Are informateurs disruptive?
By Hilbert Haar Informateurs disrupt the political process. That’s the opinion of well-respected political analyst Julio Romney (see article: Political analyst Romney: “Informateurs disrupt political process"). More...
A hot potato
By Hilbert Haar So what to think of the situation Member of Parliament Frans Richardson finds himself in? The initial reactions from primary sources have been, to put it politely, from noncommittal to nonresponsive. That More...
