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West Indian Village launched

DUTCH QUARTER--The West Indian Village, welcomed as a positive cultural and family-friendly development, was inaugurated on the evening of Friday, January 30, amongst dignitaries, community members and other supporters in the heart of Dutch Quarter.

Owner Henry Lynch was praised for his vision, passion and tenacity in initiating the project and carrying it through to fruition in various speeches by dignitaries, friends and colleagues.

The Village features eight white-framed, brightly coloured wooden structures all serving local and regional food, a sheltered airy space with benches and leisure amenities, and an outdoor playground.

It was created, the small restaurants in particular, to showcase and enjoy local culture, as well as the various nationalities represented in Dutch Quarter Read more

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The Hague assumes power over St. Maarten integrity chamber

THE HAGUE--St. Maarten will not have a free hand to set up its own Integrity Chamber to investigate the handling of conflicts of interest and abuse of power by government officials. Independent supervision of proper governance will be instituted through the Kingdom Government.

The Kingdom Council of Ministers decided on Friday to start the procedure to impose a General Measure of the Kingdom Government to safeguard integrity in St. Maarten through an independent Integrity Chamber with the authority to investigate possible cases of integrity violations.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk confirmed this to the media after Friday's meeting of the Kingdom Council of Ministers, which was also attended by the Ministers Plenipotentiary of Aruba, Curaçao and St Read more

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Marlin changes his tune on leasing EWE to Rainforest

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament William Marlin was in favour of leasing Emilio Wilson Estate to Rainforest Adventure for the creation of zip-line attraction when he was Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment an Infrastructure VROMI in July 2012.

Marlin's support for Rainforest could be seen clearly in an excerpt from the Minutes of the Council of Ministers meeting of July 5, 2012, United People's (UP) party leader Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger told Parliament Thursday in the Plenary Session on the budget Read more

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Parliament adopts ‘skeleton budget’

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament passed the 2015 budget with an 11-4 vote on Thursday night with just two days to spare before the deadline set by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.

The budget had to be established in December 2014. Government asked CFT for more time and was given the deadline of January 31.

Voting for the budget were the 10 Members of Parliament supporting the coalition and former coalition member MP Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party (DP)) Read more

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William agrees with CFT’s lower budget assessment

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament (MP) William Marlin says his party agrees with the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT estimate of the draft budget. CFT has tagged the budget at NAf Read more

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Editorial - Structural approach

Parliament will debate the draft 2015 budget today in an effort to meet the end-of-January deadline set by the Kingdom Council of Ministers. The total amount is 445 million guilders, but the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT still wants this reduced to 426 million due to what it considers realistic income projections based on collections in 2014.

Finance Minister Martin Hassink has maintained up to now that further cuts are hardly possible because it's already a "skeleton budget." He instead wanted to try to convince CFT that the current, higher revenue estimates are legitimate and supported by, for example, findings of the Central Bank.

In that light the recent suggestion of UP leader Theo Heyliger that government should demand that all its companies that are able to pay concession fees do so begs the question whether that's how the 19-million-guilder shortfall, according to CFT, will be covered Read more

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He finally decided

Dear Editor,

I was listening to MP Theo Heyliger's interview on Oral Gibbs and it never stops to amaze me how politicians can be so good in saying what the people want to hear, instead of saying the truth. I had heard a few days before that US and UP were making a deal Read more

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Frans joins UP-led coalition, gets Justice Ministry portfolio

PHILIPSBURG--The United People's (UP)-led coalition again has the support of ten Members of Parliament (MPs) as of Monday morning when United St. Maarten (US) party leader MP Frans Richardson signed on to the coalition.

Richardson signed on with the "100 per cent support" of his party's board Read more

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Editorial - Louder than words

It appears St. Maarten and the Dutch Government are heading for a showdown again, judging from statements by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson in today's paper. This time it regards what he called a "draconic" proposal for an Integrity Chamber.

The Hague apparently is not satisfied with the current local plans that call for one representative of the Netherlands in the three-member chamber as well as one in the Progress Committee that is to monitor the integrity improvement course. Instead, the intention is reportedly for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to appoint the Integrity Chamber's chairperson and his cabinet a second member, leaving St Read more

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Theo: Govt must be willing to get concession fees from companies

PHILIPSBURG--Government must show explicit willingness to demand concession fees from all government-owned companies capable of paying the fee and not allow some companies to get away scot-free while others pay year after year, says United People's (UP) party leader Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger.

The concession fees must be collected by government and used the balance the budget, instead of excessive budget-cutting that "can affect the rendering of needed services to the people." The concession fees can aid in the balancing the budget without the need "to trouble the pockets of the people."

There is "no viable reason" why a company like SXM Princess Juliana International Airport "should not pay government a concession fee," Heyliger told The Daily Herald on Thursday.

United Telecommunication Services (UTS), of which St Read more

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Heyliger: NA’s call for Matser’s resignation ‘truly hypocritical’

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) elected members were "busy" last week trying to persuade United People's (UP) party Member of Parliament Silvio Matser "to leave UP in their attempt to cause problems in the UP-led coalition, says UP Leader MP Theo Heyliger Read more

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Editorial - Adequate protection

Two worrisome letters to the editor have appeared already in the New Year about the continued crisis at Caravanserai, where timeshare buyers lost their acquired rights due to the public auctioning of the complex. They were informed by the new owner Alegria Real Estate BV late 2014 that it did not recognise agreements with companies related to the former operator, but instead offered the disadvantaged guests a week's stay in the resort for the same amount normally owed in annual fees if they signed up for such within a short period of time.

However, this also meant these weeks no longer could be sold or exchanged for other destinations and/or properties, while some already had paid their dues to the ex-proprietor and now needed to come up with the money once again Read more

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Editorial - The bigger picture

It took until the last day of 2014, but Port St. Maarten reaching the two million passengers mark for the year (see Friday paper) can only be called a great achievement. Despite fierce and increasing competition, the island continues to hold its own as a still-growing top cruise destination in the Caribbean.

That takes hard work, and all those responsible who contributed to this positive development over the years ought to be commended. The news comes at time when the Harbour Group of Companies is under some public scrutiny about its financial reporting to the shareholder and perceived conflict of interest issues, but one hardly can deny that it regards a major success story.

So, although efforts to address possible integrity shortcomings are needed and to a certain extent already underway, people should not lose sight of this reality Read more

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UP party outlines 2015 resolutions

~ Budget, 7 ministers in first 60 days of 2015 ~

PHILIPSBURG--Financial management and the economy were among the areas highlighted by United People’s (UP) party in its New Year’s resolution for St. Maarten.

UP said in a press release that financial management “is a priority” as the country needs to have an approved budget as soon as possible within the first 60 days of the New Year or less Read more

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