The true value of our parliamentarians
By Hilbert Haar It is not for the first time that the bloated remuneration of parliamentarians in St. Maarten has drawn the attention from politicians in the Netherlands. The issue is not new, because shortly after More...
True colors
By Hilbert Haar This morning the political life of Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Stuart Johnson hangs in the balance. There are two motions of no confidence on the More...
Another paper tiger
By Hilbert Haar The Financial Action Task Force has put forty recommendations in place that St. Maarten is supposed to follow. It is all about combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The Financial More...
A real reason for concern
By Hilbert Haar Okay. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves with the case(s) against United Democrats-leader MP Theo Heyliger. The 48-year old was arrested on Tuesday and the prosecutor’s office is now seeking permission More...
A party for the happy few
By Hilbert Haar St. Maarten’s parliamentarians do not have a strong record when it comes to appreciating the contents of critical reports about the functioning of the government or about the dire straits the country More...
An interesting move
By Hilbert Haar Not for the first time, the Progress Committee – the club that monitors how St. Maarten is doing with the execution of Plans of Approach for the police force and the prison – has sounded More...
A polite expression of my thoughts
By Hilbert Haar Come Thursday, the unity of the governing coalition of United Democrats and the St. Maarten Christian Party will be put to the test. If everybody shows up and toes the party line, the motion of no More...
A semblance of intervention
By Hilbert Haar How similar is St. Maarten to Curacao? That question becomes relevant after Curacao signed an agreement with the Netherlands about economic cooperation, improving its financial management and its More...
The will of the people
By Hilbert Haar There is a tendency in the Caribbean kingdom countries to dismiss anything VVD-parliamentarian André Bosman comes up with. This is also true when it comes to his initiative kingdom law that aims More...
Outside expertise
By Hilbert Haar The funding of the airport’s reconstruction via the World Bank trust fund was practically guaranteed to light the fire under the opposition in parliament and members of the National Alliance and More...
