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Opinion: Vote Of No Confidence

Research by the Central Bureau of Statistics in Curacao returned a near fatal blow for the country’s politicians. Only 2.3 percent of the respondents among 2,620 households said that they trust their politicians. In other words, 97.7 percent do not trust the country’s legislators.

Suspicion towards politicians is nothing new and it is not uniquely prevalent in Curacao. It is a phenomenon across the board, and we suspect – though we obviously do not have hard evidence for it – that a similar research in, say, the Netherlands, Japan, the United States or St Read more

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Dispute Over Illegal Building At Bobby’S Marina Continues

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The illegal filling in of Great Bay by Bobby’s Marina. Photo contributed

Vromi-ministry’s term to answer

Dock Maarten expires next week

St. Maarten News / By Hilbert Haar – The dispute between Dock Maarten and Bobby’s Marina over illegal building activities is far from over. The attorney for Dock Maarten, Roeland Zwanikken has filed a request for information to Vromi-Minister Angel Meyers based on the law on public administration Read more

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Little Opposition To 2016 Draft Budget

MP Tamara Leonard: “I feel like we have to take a hit too.” Photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten News – The parliament seemed to be going in record tempo through the debate about the draft 2016 budget yesterday. By 6.35 p.m. all speakers had put in their two cents in the first round; only nine MPs used their right to address the issue Read more

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Timeshare, The Sick Cousin Of The Tourism Industry

After many years, legislation remains in limbo

St. Maarten – Trouble in the timeshare industry probably dates back further than December 2010, when the controversial sale of the Pelican Resort caused uproar among employees and timeshare owners alike, but it is a good starting point for getting an impression of the state of this industry and the lack of action on the part of successive governments.

When the Pelican Resort changed ownership in December 2010, the jobs of 182 employees were suddenly on the line Read more

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Mp Johan Leonard About The Cause Of Ship Jumping: Our Party Leaders Blatantly Disrespect Their Members

MP Heyliger is still smiling after the severe criticism from his fellow-faction member Johan Leonard (left). Photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten – The attitude of party leaders is the main reason for ship jumping, United People’s party MP Johan Leonard said yesterday morning in an unexpected sharp attack on UP-leader Theo Heyliger Read more

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Winners And Losers: Who Will Survive The Polls In February?

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – February 9, 2016 is crunch day for politicians and those who aspire to become one. The parliamentary elections – for some mysterious reason perceived by some as ‘snap elections’, whatever that may be – will give voters the opportunity to speak their mind about the constitutional drama that concluded on Wednesday when the ministers of the Marcel Gumbs cabinet tendered their resignation and Governor Drs Read more

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Thesis About Fraud And Corruption In The Netherlands: “No Major Interest In Fighting Corruption”

St. Maarten /By Hilbert Haar – “Dutch citizens consider themselves as the inhabitants of the least corrupt country in the world, while the many scandals show that this impression is not consistent with reality,” Jacqueline Bos writes in her doctoral thesis ‘Corruption in the Netherlands and Germany: Incidental or Embedded?’

Bos graduated at the Open University in Maastricht on Friday. Her thesis reads like a John Grisham novel and makes clear that the Netherlands is anything but free from corruption Read more

Tax-Compliance Measures Are Not Working

Cft: “Structural overhaul personnel costs necessary”

St. Maarten – Measures the government has put in place to increase tax compliance are not working. This appears from the reaction from financial supervisor Cft to the second execution report 2015. In the first half year, tax revenue fell 8 million guilders below budget. For the whole year, St. Maarten expects to collect 8.6 million guilders less than budgeted.

Nevertheless, the government wants to increase income levels for 2015 to 470 million guilders but, as this newspaper already reported last week, this does not have the approval of the financial supervisor.

“By taking additional measures St Read more

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Garbage Meeting Fizzles: Many Questions, No Answers And No Solutions

St. Maarten – At the end of a long meeting, finally there were some fireworks when opposition MP asked Vromi-Minister Claret Connor to answer one question: “Is there a contract with a company to build the waste-to-energy plant and how does this jive with your visit to a project in Miami?”

Minister Connor, who had just said that he would be able to inform the parliament on Monday when he would be able to answer the more than one hundred questions MPs had asked, did not bite Read more

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Mp Heyliger: “The Dutch Keep Terrorizing Our Little Country” : Constitution Day Triggers Calls For Independence

St. Maarten – Parliament unanimously approved changes to several ordinances to establish the second Monday of October as Constitution Day, an official holiday. Under this legislation. Kingdom Day (December 15) will disappear from the local holiday-calendar. While approving the legislation was a formality, several MPs used the opportunity to express their sentiment about the country’s road towards independence.

“Moving towards the end goal – independence – it makes sense to move away from a day that celebrates that we are a part of the Kingdom,” National Alliance faction leader William Marlin said Read more

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Ebenezer Residents Want Clean Trenches

St. Maarten – Residents from the Ebenezer District are disappointed that their trenches are filled with bush and debris. Grass and small threes can be seen budding from the bridge close to the Milton Peters College and behind in the trenches at the St. Maarten Academy PSVE. Daniela Richardson expressed her disappointment yesterday about the situation. She calls on public works to do something about it.

It is customary for the public works department to carry out major trench clean ups efforts before the beginning of the hurricane season Read more

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Dutch Police Now Include Internet In Phone Taps

Whatsapp-messages are protected by privacy rules

St. Maarten – Dutch police now automatically intercept internet traffic when setting up a telephone tap, online magazine Computerworld reported yesterday. The news was buried in the justice ministry’s annual report which was published in May and has only now been made public, the website states.

In St. Maarten tapping IP-addresses, for instance to intercept email traffic, is technically possible, press prosecutor Karola van Nie told this newspaper yesterday Read more

Caribbean Looks To Paris Climate Summit For Its Very Survival

St. Maarten/THE CARIBBEAN—Caribbean leaders on Saturday further advanced their policy position on climate change ahead of the 21st Conference of Parties, also known as COP 21, scheduled for Paris during November and December of this year.

The position of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), 14 independent countries, was put forward by the group’s chairman, Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie, during a meeting here with French President François Hollande. “For the Bahamas, which has 80 percent of its land mass within one metre of mean sea level, climate change is an existential threat.” — Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie

“The evidence of the impact of climate change within our region is very evident Read more

Carnival Foundation “Fires” 6 Volunteers

GREAT BAY – St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) fired six volunteers last week, days after the carnival season concluded.  According to one of the volunteers who asked to remain unknown, years ago, the volunteer started assisting the SCDF with the expectation to serve the community in what they called the islands biggest cultural festival. Six letters were sent personally to the volunteers stating that the foundation thanks them for their service however due to downsizing and restructuring of the board, the foundation can no longer allow them to be volunteers in the foundation.

Six members including a board member were sent the following dismissal letter, by President of the SCDF Michael Granger last week Thursday Read more

The Case Against Dollarization

The fact that there is still a discussion on the dollarization issue is somewhat strange to me and not because I think it would the worst thing that can happen to us in St. Maarten but because of the total lack of actual benefits proposed by those supporting dollarization.

The symposium on dollarization organized by the Council on Advice at the University of St. Maarten only confirms what I have believed all along, that dollarization is not a valid option for St. Maarten. Although I am basing my article on what was published in the media since I was unable to attend the actual meeting.

In the media, supporter of dollarization, Mr Read more

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Firstborn Daughter Of Broadcaster Eddy Williams Speaks Out: “There Is No Excuse For Being A Deadbeat Dad”

By Hilbert Haar

GREAT BAY / COLORADO SPRINGS – It must have been near eight years ago that this newspaper received a letter from a lady in England that complained about how her husband – “a local celebrity in Sint Maarten” – had dumped her. The basic request was to hang him out to dry, but Today passed on the occasion, thinking that marital problems do not belong in the public domain.

Last week, Today received a cry for help and understanding from Louise Carr in Colorado Springs Read more

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Upgrade Dutch Quarter Delayed, Not Forgotten

European subsidy-millions remain available until December 5

St. Maarten – What happened to the European funds St. Maarten supposedly received for the upgrading of Dutch Quarter? Former Vromi-Minister William Marlin announced at a “simply yet significant signing ceremony” on the De Weever property on June 25, 2012 that the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) had committed €4.75 million ($6.1 million) to the project and the government put up an additional 1,73 million ($2.25 million) Read more

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Telecommunication Union Accuses Telem Of Hiring Illegals:  Calls For Resignation Of The Board

St. Maarten – A vote of no confidence in the board of TelEm and the resignation of Raphael Boasman as the head of that board because of a conflict of interest, were among issues cited by the St. Maarten Telecommunication Union during a press conference yesterday.

The union called the press conference to air some of their grievances in the court of public opinion after having received no satisfaction from management and board of TelEm to their issues, chief among which is the employment of a Surinamese company to perform paid employment that the union feels can and should be done by local contractors Read more

Minister Connor: Government Still Committed To Timeshare Consumer Protection

St. Maarten – Government’s goal as it regards timeshare remains to establish timeshare consumer protection and meet the goal of bringing credibility to St. Maarten’s Timeshare product, Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Claret Connor reiterated on Tuesday.

He said government understands, full well, the messages it is receiving from timeshare members Read more

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Today’S Predictions For The New Year: Still No Waste-To-Energy Plant, No Plastic Bag-Ban, No New Hospital

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – “It seems almost too easy: predict what will and what will not happen in St. Maarten in any given year.” that was the first sentence of the article we published exactly a year ago about our predictions for the New Year – and it is still true. Our headline read “Emilio Wilson estate purchase but no waste-to-energy plant.” Needless to say, both predictions were on the mark.

The Today newspaper made its first predictions in 2010, when we looked ahead at 2011 Read more

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The Road To The Gumbs I Cabinet: “Peddling Seats To The Highest Bidder”

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – When Governor Drs. Eugene Holiday administers the oath of office to the five ministers of the Gumbs I cabinet this afternoon, it marks the end of a tedious process that started during the night after the parliamentary elections on August 29. How did we get where we are today? A review.

To avoid any misunderstandings, the governor also administers the oath to the minister plenipotentiary today – but that is not a ‘real’ minister – it is the representative of St Read more

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Robbery Victim Speaks Out: “We Have To Stop These Guys.”

St. Maarten – “This guy is lurking around, looking for people to scam. We have to stop these guys, they have become a nuisance to society, and they are a growing criminal gang – from stealing bags to mugging workers to armed robberies,” said a night worker in the Maho area, who was recently robbed by three armed men. The robbery took place while he was giving an “acquaintance” of his a ride home.

The gentleman believes he was the victim of an elaborate and premeditated ploy organized by his acquaintance, who is said to go by the name of Jean, and is of Haitian descent Read more

Letter From St. Maarten’S Council Of Ministers To Rutte And Plasterk: No Cooperation With Additional Screening

St. Maarten – The Council of Ministers will not cooperate with the instruction to Governor Holiday to subject candidate-ministers for the new cabinet to additional screening. In a letter, signed by outgoing Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, the council makes this position clear to Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk Read more

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Mps Unable To Give Update On Government Formation To Youth Parliament 

St. Maarten – As President of the St. Maarten Youth Parliament, Dwayne Griffith submitted to St. Maarten Parliament a motion, requesting an update on the current situation with government and the steps being taken to establish the new Council of Ministers. However, the MPs present were unable to give any information on the developments to the Youth Parliament, as many were not privy to what was taking place. Members of the Youth Parliament met with Parliament members at the Central Committee meeting on Tuesday to discuss the developments in government formation with regard to the instruction for the screening of candidate-ministers from the Kingdom Council of Ministers in The Hague.

“Our faction cannot provide any insight as to whether a list of ministers has been put forward… neither do we know the standards by which they will be screened,” said MP William Marlin Read more

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