Ombudsman: Garbage collection-tender was not fair and not transparent

PHILIPSBURG — The public tender for the collection of solid waste for the period 2021-2026 was “neither fair nor transparent,” the office of the Ombudsman concludes in a report about its systemic investigation into this issue. VROMI-Minister Egbert Doran reacted tersely when he was given the preliminary report. He considered the investigation More...

Factsheet: “Only a small minority prefers complete independence”
PHILIPSBURG — Is St. Maarten completely decolonized or is there still work to be done? That is the central question in a factsheet three experts put together for the Dutch Second Chamber. The answer remains More...

New debate about double turnover tax on fuel prices
PHILIPSBURG — Eight years ago, financial expert Emilio Kalmera pointed out how the government abuses the turnover tax-system by applying this levy twice to the price of gasoline and diesel: once to the wholesale More...

Agreement about draft COHO-law seems highly unlikely
PHILIPSBURG — What are the chances that the four countries in the Dutch Kingdom reach an agreement about the draft consensus kingdom law COHO? If you look at the criticism from the Caribbean side of the ocean, More...

Supreme Court-ruling sheds more light on prescriptive rights
PHILIPSBURG — A five-year-old ruling from the Supreme Court about a land dispute between a family and the municipality of Heusden sheds some more light on the intricacies of prescriptive rights. The ruling, More...

Round table debate about Kingdom Charter: “Not correct to state that we are still a colony of the Netherlands”
PHILIPSBURG — Next week Tuesday, April 19, the parliamentary committee for Constitutional Affairs and Decolonization organizes a round table panel discussion with four experts about the Kingdom Charter, its More...

Audit Chamber gives negative opinion about 2019 financial statements
PHILIPSBURG — The General Audit Chamber confirms in its compliance audit of St. Maarten’s financial statement for the year 2019 what has been a headache ever since the territory obtained autonomy within More...

How to obtain land-ownership through prescriptive rights
PHILIPSBURG — There are different ways to become the owner of immovable property, like land or real estate. Civil law attorney Reynold Groeneveldt describes the finer points of this issue in an article with More...

St. Maarten must amend ordinance top salaries
PHILIPSBURG — The national ordinance that regulates the ceiling for salaries in the (semi-)public sector is not in line with the decision of the Kingdom Council of Ministers of September 24 of last year. More...

State secretary hammers on need for building a strong foundation
THE HAGUE — While the three BES-islands (Statia, Saba and Bonaire) receive millions from the Dutch government, the autonomous countries St. Maarten. Aruba and Curacao have to make do with observations from More...