The other side of the story
By Hilbert Haar It was a rather weird day in court on Wednesday when Brenda Brooks, an attorney I have known since she started working in St. Maarten in 2009, was sitting in the chair of the accused, rather than More...
Is automatic early release coming to an end?
By Hilbert Haar Imagine this: the court sentences a man for armed robbery to a prison sentence of nine years. He spent already eight months in pretrial custody, so he has one hundred months to go before he roams More...
Reconstruction priorities
By Hilbert Haar Roofs have to be repaired and businesses have to get back on their feet in the wake of Hurricane Irma. All that makes sense. But the real priorities for the country still lie elsewhere, as became More...
Friday the thirteenth
By Hilbert Haar It’s rather ironic that Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo met on Friday the thirteenth with Moniek Bouland, the director of Governance & Integrity International. You could call it unfortunate More...
Rules and regulations
By Hilbert Haar We have no shortage of laws, national ordinances and rules and regulation in our little country. What we sorely miss is the will to apply those rules. This appears once more from the questions I More...
Sound levels
By Hilbert Haar It’s that time of the year again. Carnival. Come and enjoy life. But don’t forget your earplugs. The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) are on to it. Last week the department sent out a press More...
Timeshare barkers
By Hilbert Haar The timeshare-industry is important for St. Maarten because timeshare owners spend a lot of time on the island and – more importantly – they are spending a lot of money here. These people love More...
A lot of hogwash
LOGIN TO READ MORE... THIS IS A PREMIUM ARTICLE. YOU NEED AT LEAST YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION TO ACCESS THIS ARTICLE. ... Some articles or portions of articles are restricted exclusively for our registered members and More...
A hot potato
By Hilbert Haar So what to think of the situation Member of Parliament Frans Richardson finds himself in? The initial reactions from primary sources have been, to put it politely, from noncommittal to nonresponsive. That More...
Equal crime, equal punishment
By Hilbert Haar Everyone in Sint Maarten shall be treated equally in equivalent circumstances. Discrimination on grounds of religion, belief, political persuasion, race, colour of skin, sex, language, national or More...
