“We want to drink champagne on a mauby budget”
“We cannot drink champagne if we only have money for Coca Cola.” – Marcel Gumbs PHILIPSBURG — First MP Claudius Buncamper declared himself independent. Then Akeem Arrindell followed his example. Result: the United St. Maarten party (USp) lost its representation in Parliament. After Buncamper’s suspension that situation will soon be More...
Marcel Gumbs: “Friendships have broken up over vaccination-discussion”
PHILIPSBURG — Former Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and former Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards both expressed their support for vaccination against COVID during a Facebook-broadcast of Linda Richardson’s Aging More...
Professionals needed to carry out a strong government administration
PHILIPSBURG — Former Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards observed during a Facebook-broadcast of the Aging with Grace-program hosted by Linda Richardson that the government “really needs to strengthen itself More...
Court shoots down former Minister Sevinger’s departure policy decision
PHILIPSBURG — The website dossierkoninkrijksrelaties.nl published an article about Aruba’s former Minister Benny Sevinger and his “incomprehensible decision” to grant the company Ocean Eco Cleaning in More...
Is St. Maarten’s minimum wage at the bottom of the pile? That depends on the pile
PHILIPSBURG — “A complete revamping for the economy boosting strategy is necessary, because it has not worked for the St. Maarten minimum wage earner.” That is the conclusion of Certified Risk Analyst More...
Is the Constitutional Court such a good idea?
By Hilbert Haar St. Maarten’s judicial system contains a unique institution: the Constitutional Court. No other country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands has such a court. Is that good or bad? First of all it More...
Corstens pleads for judicial reform in the Netherlands
PHILIPSBURG — The Dutch judicial system could do with a makeover that had the potential to spill over to St. Maarten. Geert Corstens, a former President of the Supreme Court in The Hague made the suggestion More...
How St. Maarten fails to pick up millions in European subsidies – UPDATED
PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten misses out on millions of European subsidies because the government is unable – or incapable, or unwilling – to write the proper project proposals that would unlock these More...
Law Enforcement Council gets authority to control Crime Fund
PHILIPSBURG — The available capacity for the execution of measures from the country package in St. Maarten remains a continuous source of concern. The capacity in St. Maarten is even more limited than in More...
Integrity Chamber Quick Scan: Police less efficient and sharp decline in quality at the prison since 10-10-10
PHILIPSURG — Political instability and the frequent change of government since 10-10-10 have resulted in organizational instability within the Ministry of Justice. This appears from a Quick Scan the Integrity More...
