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Counterfeiting

By Hilbert Haar Tee shirts, watches, booze, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics. There is hardly a product for which consumers cannot find cheaper (and therefore counterfeited) alternatives. Stores in St. Maarten are stuffed with counterfeit merchandise and for a very long time the government has done its utmost to turn a blind eye to this practice. Brands More...

by The Publisher | Published 2 months ago
By The Publisher On Saturday, September 30th, 2023
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Good grief!

By Hilbert Haar What is the world coming to? What happened to the process of logical thinking? Those thoughts hit me like a hurricane when I read that the Council of Ministers asked the Integrity Chamber whether More...

By The Publisher On Thursday, September 14th, 2023
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Wishful thinking

By Hilbert Haar The prime minister listening to his own fairy tale. That is how comedian Wim Kan once described the traditional speech by the Dutch Queen (at the time) during the opening of the Dutch parliamentary More...

By The Publisher On Monday, September 11th, 2023
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Eternal debt

By Hilbert Haar I am not an accountant and not a financial wizard, so I share my thoughts with our readers about rather diffuse topics like debts and refinancing on a personal title. The Netherlands loaned St. More...

By The Publisher On Monday, September 4th, 2023
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Personnel affairs

By Hilbert Haar I am completely stunned by the way government-owned entities handle their personnel affairs. When you read the verdicts in the two GEBE-cases (against Sharine Daniel and against Clifford Sasso) More...

By The Publisher On Saturday, August 26th, 2023
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A hot air balloon

By Hilbert Haar According to UD-MP Sarah Wescot-Williams Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs sent a letter to government-owned companies urging them to hire locals for management positions. See Government has no clue More...

By The Publisher On Friday, August 25th, 2023
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Trustworthy politicians

By Hilbert Haar “I am an honest politician,” the man said to the beautiful looking blonde who sat next to him at a bar. “Yeah, right, the blonde quipped. “I am a prostitute, and I am a virgin.” This is More...

By The Publisher On Friday, July 7th, 2023
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A recipe for financial disaster

  The intention to appoint two full-time directors at the Cadastre next to the managing director that is already in place has raised serious concerns with at least one Member of Parliament, the formidable Grisha More...

By The Publisher On Thursday, July 6th, 2023
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Where freedom ends

By Hilbert Haar I have written this more than once but this seems an opportune moment to repeat it: freedom ends where it intrudes upon the freedom of others. Unfortunately, the prime ministers of St. Maarten, More...

By The Publisher On Thursday, May 18th, 2023
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Who benefits?

By Hilbert Haar I am not a fiscal expert, let me make that clear from the get go, but I have a simple question. Have you ever wondered why things are the way they are? I ask myself that question a lot and now I More...