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Emmanuel Wants Ottley To Investigate Disturbing Reports At Hospital Project

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Monday said that it has been brought to his attention that something is amiss with the ongoing construction/expansion of the St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH) and has called on Minister of Health Omar Ottley to investigate the matter and inform Parliament and the public accordingly.

Emmanuel said for the past few weeks little to no work has been executed at the project site, with key players in the project reportedly unhappy with the fact that they have not been paid Read more

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Mp Emmanuel To Govt: I Warned You About Coho And Conditions

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel wasted no time on Friday to point out that the government of St. Maarten has once again demonstrated its deceit by withholding vital information from Parliament and not being transparent when it comes to the COHO.

Additionally, the MP said its laughable that the government of St. Maarten is all of a sudden acting shocked over provisions in the COHO construct that would severely limit St. Maarten and infringe on the country autonomy.

Emmanuel made his comments during the Central Committee meeting of Parliament to discuss the 2022 budget Read more

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Mp Emmanuel Asks If Civil Servants Will Get Road Tax And Gebe Relief, Shopping Vouchers

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Monday said that his over 200 questions on the 2022 budget are people centric considering the amount of suffering being endured in the country. People dont want to hear frivolous nonsense, they want to hear how they will be helped, the MP said.

He went on to share stories of police officers that he know personally are struggling to buy basic food items and persons who have asked for small amounts of money to buy a US $20 cylinder of cooking gas Read more

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Emmanuel: Coalition Seeking Greener Pastures On The Backs Of The People

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel is of the opinion that governments lack of empathy towards the people of St. Maarten and its disconnect from the common man has been re-enforced through its words and actions over the past few weeks. He said the insensitive words that the Council of Ministers continues to use towards people whose income they have cut is a sad indictment against themselves and the lack of care they have for people. People who have been made to suffer while coalition members show off in videos playing golf and eating lobster, the MP said.

The MP said Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion and Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs in particular, behaves as if they didnt grow up on St Read more

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Emmanuel To Irion: Will Doran Be Accountable For Alegria Penalties?

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel on Monday asked Finance Minister Ardwell Irion if he will make an example of Minister of VROMI Egbert Doran and hold him accountable over his mishandling of the Alegria affair that will now cost the tax-payer approximately Naf 500,000.

Emmanuel used Irions own words to remind him of his statement earlier this year that Ministers should be made examples of and be held accountable for their actions Read more

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Mp Emmanuel Urge Govt. Entities Not To Rush Into Cutting Income

~ Still no economic recovery plan ~

PHILPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel have urged government owned companies and related entities not to rush into enforcing cuts on its workers until it is determined how the government of St. Maarten plans on moving forward in implementing cuts to income and benefits. It is left to be seen if the National Alliance (NA) and the United People (UP) party will stay on this course of putting people in the poor house, the MP said.

The MP was reacting to a circulating brief apparently from TelEm CEO Kendall Dupersoy to the union representing TelEm workers SMCU, in which Dupersoy is informing the union that financial measures will have to be imposed in accordance to the three laws on reduction of income Read more

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Mp Emmanuel: Prime Minister Celebrates While People Suffer

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The lack of empathy knows no boundaries with this Prime Minister, said Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel in reaction to Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs celebratory claim of vindication after the Constitutional Court upheld three income cutting laws that her government imposed on the people of St. Maarten.
The Prime Minister is celebrating being wrong and making people lives harder, the MP said.

MP Emmanuel said it should surprise no one that the Prime Minister would have that sort of reaction considering that her government did not consider the immediate and long term suffering workers would have to endure as a result of the cuts Read more

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Us Board: Court Ruling Will Stifle Middle Class, Further Dutch Plans

~ Says Alliance now facilitator of hardships ~

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The United St. Maarten (US) party expressed disappointment with the verdict of the Constitutional Court to uphold the three ordinances in connection with income and benefit cuts, despite the existence of laws that protect workers rights.

The party board is of the opinion that the court used convenient excuses and considerations to arrive at the underlying reason for its verdict: that it upheld the laws because St Read more

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Mp Emmanuel: Court Ruling Is A Monument To Suffering Imposed By National Alliance Govt.

~ Questions if laws and rights dont matter ~

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel called the decisions by the Constitutional Court to uphold the three ordinances that in part deprive workers of St. Maarten, civil servants in particular, to income and rights that they are entitled to by law, a monument to the suffering imposed on our people by the National Alliance led government.

MP Emmanuel was the only MP who voted against the ordinances to cut the income and benefits of civil servants and workers of semi-government entities Read more

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Emmanuel Calls For Mp BrisonS Immediate Resignation

~ Says PM also accountable to the people ~

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Referring to it as a clear and present danger to the legitimacy of Parliament and another failure of the current coalition, Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel on Sunday dubbed the viral recording of the Chairman of Parliament Rolando Brison arrogant and shameful and called on the UP MP Brison to tender his resignation immediately.

MP Emmanuel, who has warned about MP Brisons public conduct on numerous occasions, said elected representatives are supposed to be leaders who act with integrity and accountability after earning the right to represent the people of St Read more

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Emmanuel: Vromi Minister Must Address Leaked Document Of Over The Bank Land

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel on Thursday said it is disappointing, but still very typical, that Minister of VROMI Egbert Doran has not publicly addressed leaked documents that appear to contradict everything he has been telling Parliament and the public about long lease land at the area known as Over The Bank.

Earlier this week a media outlet published what appears to be an authentic list of the 50 or so persons who were initially granted a parcel of land in long lease at Over the Bank Read more

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Mps Emmanuel, Buncamper Warns That Proposed Data Protection Law Is Abusive

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Members of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel and Claudius Buncamper in a joint press release on Sunday stressed that the proposed Consensus Kingdom Law (Rijkswet) on Data Protection, if passed as currently intended, is tantamount to abuse and it must be stopped dead in its tracks. Both MPs said that the Government of St Read more

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Emmanuel: When Is Actual Work Going To Begin At Pjia?

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Wednesday once again questioned when the actual reconstruction work of the Princess Juliana International Airport will begin. The MP noted that the end of the year is approaching along with another peak season and PJIA is still showing the world the same face it has been showing for four years following Hurricane Irma of 2017.

He also said he is still awaiting a response from the Minister of TEATT to a letter he sent since August 15 seeking an update on any potential delays at PJIA, considering an ongoing situation in the Netherlands between Schiphol International and contractor Ballast Nedam Read more

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Part 1-2-3:

A land saga at Vineyard Heights (proposed housing development in Over the Bank) is currently brewing due to 25 persons receiving long lease parcels that were also allotted to 54 persons in 2016. The situation is technical because the issuance of government land (erfpacht) has no clear policy. This leads to the Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) ultimately deciding who gets land. That lack of policy eliminates checks and balances Read more

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Emmanuel Says Trust Fund Rejection Of Housing Proposal Feels Incomplete

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel on Monday said the statement by the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) about raising the rent of its tenants feels like there is more to the story than the foundation is saying and questioned governments role.

SMHDF General Director Helen Salomons informed the media that the World Bank (WB) Trust Fund Steering Committee has denied SMHDFs request for US $45 million in funding. She said that the rejection is for reasons unknown Read more

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Emmanuel Questions If 52 Million From Home-Porting Was Realized

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel has called on government to provide a report on the countrys first home-porting experience, in particular if the estimated US $52 million was realized now that the service is over to the Celebrity Millenium.

The MP said that currently the people of St. Maarten are only hearing tax, tax, tax from the government, with no other revenue generating measures or cost saving measures being mentioned. As such, he said, this would be the opportune time to Let us know if we managed to derive that famous US $52 million from home-porting, the MP said.

St Read more

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Emmanuel: Finance Minister Proves Again He Cannot Be Trusted With Financial Information

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Sunday said the Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion proved once again that the financial information he shares with the Parliament and the people of St. Maarten cannot be trusted. The mis-information and hiding of the truth continues, MP Emmanuel said.
The MP was referring to the disclosure by Minister Irion that a 7.5% sales tax for online purchases is on the table as part of the governments tax reform plans Read more

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Emmanuel Asks If Schiphol, Ballast Nedam Conflict Will Affect Airport Re-Construction

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — An ongoing situation in the Netherlands between Schiphol International and contractor Ballast Nedam has prompted Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel to write to Minister of TEATT Roger Lawrence to obtain information on any potential fallout for the re-construction of the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA).

In the week of August 27, 2021, several media outlets in the Netherlands reported on the significant financial losses of Schiphol International Airport in the first half of 2021 due to the Coronavirus pandemic Read more

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Mp Emmanuel Questions Doran About Re-Locating People From Landfill To Foga

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel on Wednesday dispatched a letter to the Minister of VROMI Egbert Doran with a number of questions regarding the reported relocation of persons living on the landfill to brand new homes to be built at the area known as the Foga Housing Development Project in Sucker Garden.
Emmanuel said in his letter to the Minister that persistent rumors and unconfirmed reports must be addressed post haste as there were existing plans for the area Read more

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Mp Emmanuel: Making Light Of Accountability Shows President Of ParliamentS Immaturity

Everything I predicted came true

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Monday said the fact that President of Parliament Rolando Brison continues to poke fun at the notion of accountability not only reflects his immaturity, but the low level of respect he has for the people of St Read more

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Emmanuel Says Govt Gullible In Dealing With Dutch, Says Coho Still Unnecessary

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Monday re-iterated his position that the COHO or COHO 2.0 is a construct of control that is unnecessary in the bigger picture of St. Maarten implementing government reforms.
He said the government of St. Maarten is gullible when dealing with the Dutch or being willfully deceitful in keeping the public in the dark in regards to changes to the COHO legislation. We are approaching the end of the year and the entity known as COHO is still mired in controversy because in some shape or form it encroaches on the autonomy of the countries, Emmanuel said.

He stressed that State Secretary of Kingdom Relations & Interior Affairs Raymond Knops is forcing the countries to accept the entity by pretending to remove problematic areas of the COHO legislation, only to disguise COHOs true intent in other ways Read more

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Mp Emmanuel: Govt. Too Comfortable With Increasing Tax Burden On People, Businesses

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Christophe Emmanuel on Tuesday said he still cannot understand how a government that professes to care about its people is so comfortable and still unable to realistically tackle the issues that would improve their standard of living, but prefer to look at new ways to inflict more tax burden directly and indirectly upon them.

In this context, the MP referred to the Minister of Finance Ardwell Irions tax-reform presentation on Monday to Parliament as a presentation of nothing Read more

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Emmanuel: Coalition Not Holding Their Own Accountable, Meeting Requested

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — MP Christopher Emmanuel on Friday said a request has been submitted for an urgent Central Committee meeting with Minister of VSA Omar Ottley regarding COVID-19 protocols, their enforcement by the authorities and circumventing by members of the UP/NA coalition at their discretion for personal pleasure.

The MP said he has listened to Ottleys explanation of what transpired last weekend at Lotus Night Club, but as the Minister of VSA and Interim Minister of TEATT at the time, he did not address pertinent questions that specifically focused on breaching protocols.
The Minister used the opportunity to defend himself and take a target off of his back, but in doing so he either forgot or willfully did not answer important questions, MP Emmanuel said.

The question is, did the event, the same event the Minister said had just 100 people, carry on past 11pm and past 2am in the morning? If yes, who gave the permission to the club owners to continue their party later than the stipulated closing time of 11pm and have they been fined? Simple questions, yet all we get is dancing from the Minister who is obviously only concerned with protecting himself, the MP said.

He said the coalition also has yet to answer for the behavior of the Chairman of Parliament Rolando Brison, who used the medical situation of a fellow MP (MP Buncamper) as an excuse not to travel to Bonaire to attend IPKO, but instead spent a weekend partying Read more

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Emmanuel: Integrity Chamber Is A Completely Useless Entity

~ Chamber declines to give opinion on Ballast Nedam ~

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Monday said the Integrity Chamber has verified that his initial impression of the entity was exactly on point: a completely useless construction that does not serve the best interest of St. Maarten, only those that forced it upon the country. The double standards are evident, the MP said.

The MPs comment came after he received the response from the Chamber to his request for the Chambers opinion on Ballast Nedam being awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the airport.

He specifically requested an opinion considering Ballast Nedams criminal history of bribing governments and other officials and since it is becoming the norm for the government of St Read more

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