The bottom line
By Hilbert Haar It cannot surprise anyone that the government’s cost-cutting measures in exchange for receiving liquidity support from the Netherlands have become the center of an epic controversy, especially at the government-owned companies. TelEm comes to mind in this respect with its proposal to cut salaries across the board by 12.5 percent in More...
What is reasonable?
By Hilbert Haar Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs has appealed to labor unions to be more reasonable in their approach to the government since it has become clear that said unions are squarely opposed to the looming More...
Under duress
By Hilbert Haar Motions are the political banana peel of the political arena. In St. Maarten they seldom result in the desired action expressed in a motion and only in extreme cases (like with a motion of no confidence) More...
Collective lowering of salaries is not that simple
By Hilbert Haar PHILIPSBURG – The kingdom’s demand that the government lowers the salaries of civil servants by 12.5 percent (as a condition for providing liquidity support) promises to result in a heated debate. More...
Cost-cutting counter-proposal unions vague
~ Unions need to present a more detailed explanation to substantiate their 100-million guilders cost savings claim ~ By Hilbert Haar How realistic are the cost-cutting proposals the unions submitted to the government? More...
An unthinkable scenario
By Hilbert Haar The conditions attached to the provision of continued liquidity support have put the government in a rather awkward position. Demanding a 25 percent salary cut for ministers and parliamentarians More...
Time to split up the monetary union of Curacao & St. Maarten?
~ Is it a good time now to take up the 2013 SER advice to split up the monetary union between Curacao and St. Maarten? ~ By Hilbert Haar The conditions the Kingdom wants to impose on Curacao for more liquidity More...
Stand by your man
By Hilbert Haar The verdict is in and former parliamentarian Theo Heyliger is facing a 5-year prison sentence for accepting bribes and for money laundering. It is a given that Heyliger will appeal the verdict; More...
Outside St. Maarten
By Hilbert Haar It’s been two years since I left St. Maarten. Yeah, I left because I never wanted to experience another hurricane again, so if you want to interpret that as a lack of stamina that’s just fine More...
A People In Solidarity – Part 2
All over the world this pandemic is showing the inequalities present in communities; social and economic inequalities. It is also exposing governments and leaders and quickly separating the wheat from the chaff. More...
