One can almost think that today’s State of the Nation Address by Governor drs Eugene Holiday will be the government’s reply to days and weeks of mounting concern over the state of the country’s economy and the its handling of governance. A true
Skeptics may see Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Dr. Rhoda Arrindell’s offer of study financing to an inmate and the request for prisoners to have accredited courses as creating incentives for going to prisons. We immediately disagr
The Volunteers Fair St. Dominic High School organizes this Saturday highlights an often forgotten and undervalued potential. The school has made volunteer work an obligatory part of its curriculum – without it, students will not get their diploma.
The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but turn they do. While many people have started wondering aloud whether the prosecutor’s office had silently decided to forget about December’s three million dollar Eco-Green scandal that cost Public Health
The BES-islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius & Saba) go through a remarkable experience: their taxes will go down. After complaints about the effects of the new tax system, State Secretary Weekers evaluated the situation and concluded that there is room f
Independent It is a bit too early yet to draw conclusions about the move by National Alliance parliamentarian to go independent. After all, we have not had the opportunity to hear MP Richardson’s side of the story. However, if it turns out to be
Yes, the situation at GEBE is terrible, but nobody seems to be able to do something to improve it. The past years have been spent on finger pointing, and on attempts to make managing director William Brooks go away. When that did not work, Brooks’
People are wondering why on earth they are unable to file a complaint at the office of the Ombudsman. Today’s front page story reveals what is happening, or better: what is not happening. Ombudsman Arduin finds herself trapped in a situation taken
Monday was a good start of the week for our local police force. Shortly after six, eight detectives, a phone call: Omar Nelson, a 20-year old fugitive criminal, had been located. Within ten minutes the officers were not only out of bed, they were als
Editorial, St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on August 29, 2011
Emilio Wilson is one of St. Maarten’s cultural icons. There is no disagreement there. Celebrating the century anniversary of Milo’s birth date at the park that carries his name, the suggestion was made to name a street after him. Great idea: par
The Central Bank has confirmed once more that the economic outlook for St. Maarten is not as rosy as the government wants people to believe. The 2011 budget was built on quicksand with an economic growth assumption of 1.3 percent. In reality, there w
Parliament will soon have three hot topics on its hands: the legalization of abortion, the legalization of euthanasia, and the legalization of prostitution. Moral crusaders will be up and about, but the truth is of course that our Parliament has onl
St. Maarten and Curacao are apparently not seeing eye to eye, at least if we have to go with vice Prime Minister Theo Heyliger’s initiative to ditch his UTS Blackberry and to buy himself a 3G TelEm one instead. The Vice PM will “eat locally” f
The Snowflake-trial may become the most spectacular case in St. Maarten’s criminal history that never took place. This morning, prosecution and defense attorneys will learn the court’s decision about the prosecution’s admissibility. If the ver
Editorial, St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on August 23, 2011
The changes the new civil code will bring are significant and they are not just about paternity and the inheritance legislation. The code is a complex of rules and regulations that will affect the everyday life of all citizens and the Parliament sho
It’s been a long struggle, but now it is finally a fact. Minister Franklin Meyers signed the management contract for the Man of War Shoal Marine Park with the Nature Foundation. It is a landmark event on the road to environmental protection in St
The St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association and the Victorious Living Foundation have offered another clear example of how non-governmental organizations can attract structured funding for their programs and projects. The other example is the p
Editorial, St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on August 18, 2011
The idea to create a standard school leaving exam will no doubt cause teachers at the primary schools to breathe a sigh of relief. At the moment many of the teachers at sixth grade level are burdened with preparing students for multiple exams that ha
Editorial, St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on August 17, 2011
Parliament has been hearing from stakeholders in the national economy during meetings it had last week and this week. This is good as it arms parliamentarians with general knowledge that they can use to question the minister using a letter, have a de
There is a huge kernel of gold in the admission that Winair will be in a better position if the airline is in the hands of a business person rather than in the hands of the government. One of the reasons for that is government should indeed be busy w
The idea to shift Carnival to the month of June in order to create more activities in the slower summer months sounds like an interesting plan and could present some interesting opportunities. One core issue that immediately springs to mind is the l
Banks, the government and no doubt the wider business community are all keeping their eye on the state of the world economy and trying to figure out how exactly to deal with the impact of financial woes in both the United States of America and in Eur
St. Maarten’s tourism industry is still showing some prestige as the island and businesses here have been selected as nominees in Caribbean Travel + Life’s Best of the Caribbean Readers’ Choice Awards. These are awards that carry a lot of weigh
St. Maarten born artist Jabu Arnell has told attendees at a recent panel discussion in Amsterdam that he gets the feeling that the people of the friendly country are accepting of homosexuals. He quickly adds soon after that he has only visited the is
Judge Mr. A.N.G.N.E Mijnssen made a salient point in a ruling he made on Thursday in which he turns down a request to block the start of work on the Welfare Road in Cole Bay. The judge tells the plaintiffs - Plutox Distributors N.V. and Saint Martin
The Bureau Telecommunications and Post has shown in yet another practical way that life in St. Maarten is changing and that early preparation is the best way to manage it. They’ve done this by launching a campaign to inform people about the change
The 2012 budget has yet to see light outside of the walls of the government administration, but the first signals that the island could have problems again with a gap between revenue and expenditures has come to light. Undoubtedly the prime minister
Monday’s ceremony where 82 recruits began a basic course to join one of several uniformed services that fall under the Ministry of Justice and the fact that there is great interest in the Netherlands to take up 20 postings here for three years is g
Last year’s decision of the Island Council to rent a building on Front Street to be the home of the Parliament Building was roundly criticized at the time mostly because of the fact that it would cost tax payers $96, 100 per month to rent the three
History can and does repeat itself, especially when dealing with politicians who are not willing to admit an error, or go half way by pointing the finger at someone else and saying they’re the one to blame. In this instance we watch from the sideli
The United Kingdom is going through a noteworthy exercise at the moment because of the scandal around Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World. That noteworthy exercise is a discussion on how far the media can and should go as it seeks to reveal informat
Even as St. Maarten makes it clear that it cannot wait for the five year evaluation period for the constitutional changes that took effect on October 10, 2010 to happen, the Dutch Government has delivered its vision on the Kingdom. It is a vision whi
When the President of Parliament makes a decision that is unconstitutional and against the body’s Rules of Order that’s not just a slip of the tongue, it’s a huge mistake. One could venture that it’s also trampling on democracy by flagrantly
The National Alliance has struck the correct note when it comes to what people want in this tough economic time by stating that GEBE should move to one flat rate when charging consumers. Their reasoning is that people want to know exactly what they a
It’s summer time and the living is easy. The children are out of school, but staying busy with summer camps, Parliament has gone on recess and the courts are also taking a bit of a break before things crank back into high gear in the middle of Augu
