Bathroom woes
By Hilbert Haar Seemingly inconsequential events at times make quite an impression on me. Such was the case on Wednesday, when I was on my way to pay a visit to the bathrooms in Holland House where I was having lunch. Just ahead of me was a woman – an obvious tourist – who went in the same direction. At the top of the stairs that lead down to More...
The key to integrity
By Hilbert Haar Politicians are always quick to suggest that ‘this’ elections is really important and every time I hear this I think really? Our politicians also like to talk about ‘the next four years,’ More...
Whataboutism
By Hilbert Haar Almost immediately after stmaartennews.com, published the story on Monday about wrongdoings by former Minister Christophe Emmanuel with the issuance of land in long lease, the site was bombarded More...
House of corruption
By Hilbert Haar Two things come to mind after the arrest of USp-leader MP Frans Richardson. One: everybody is innocent until proven guilty. That applies to everyone and also to Richardson. Two: there is no smoke More...
Raised eyebrows
By Hilbert Haar Will we now have to go through a parliamentary elections whereby the leader of one of the participating parties is in jail? Tuesday’s arrest of Member of Parliament Frans Richardson makes this More...
Instability is here to stay
By Hilbert Haar More than once, during the more than ten years I have lived and worked in St. Maarten, I have wondered about the sanity of our politicians. The idea that politicians could have the same thoughts More...
A sign of weakness
By Hilbert Haar The abuse of short term labor contracts has been a bee in the bonnet for many a politician over the past years. Friday was the time to pass legislation that would have been a good step in the right More...
Extreme measure
By Hilbert Haar The Dutch intervention in Statia is, as even State Secretary Raymond Knops admitted, an extreme measure. It is also an event that may get people in St. Maarten thinking about their mid-term future. More...
In support of our independent media
By Hilbert Haar The Rotary Club Mid-Isle invited me to join in for a club meeting last Tuesday at Wasabi Charley in Simpson Bay. After having turned down quite some previous invitations due to conflicting work More...
Robo-calls
By Hilbert Haar I’m still not sure whether the guerilla warfare that is currently underway to convince voters to choose a particular party on February 26 is because of Hurricane Irma our political parties do not More...
