** Government to establish inter-ministerial covenant to tackle immigration loopholes **
On Friday 27th, 2021, the Ministries of Justice, VSA and TEATT met to lay the foundation of establishing a working agreement or covenant to tackle the various loopholes used to defraud the system to acquire certain things like residency permits. Ministers’ support staff and relevant department heads engaged in a highly-anticipated meeting to identify issues within the labor and immigration system that allows persons coming to the island to abuse the system and acquire residency. The meeting served to introduce certain talking points and discuss the way forward with the intention of developing a joint covenant between all three Ministries that will tackle many aspects such as the employment-related immigration matters from the Ministry of Public Health, Labor and Social Development (VSA) and the abuse of the Business Director’s License from the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunication (TEATT) to acquire residency.
A covenant was first created in 2020, between the Minister of Justice and the Minister of VSA to cooperate on issues affecting both the labor and immigration systems. A task force was developed with representatives from both ministries to enhance the coordination and work relation specifically between the Immigration and Border Protection Services (Justice) and the Division of Labor, Affairs and Social Services (VSA) on employment-related immigration and to specifically address the ongoing issue whereby employers are employing persons who are not legally registered on the island. Representatives of the Ministry of TEATT were also invited to specifically discuss the misuse of the Business Director’s licenses that persons are requesting in order to acquire residency status on the island.
The issue of the abuse of the Director’s license for residence purposes is an on-going issue. Persons are paying for Directors’ licenses but the physical businesses are non-existent. The individuals continue to pay for the renewal of these licenses which is completed at the Receivers Department and not at the Ministry of TEATT. For this reason, the Government of Sint Maarten lead by the three respective ministers are moving forward to have a covenant established to continue to tackle this issue in a holistic manner.
Another manner in which the ministries will work together is on joint controls. Currently the Ministry of TEATT controllers are visiting businesses to ensure they are legally operating their business. Within short, the Mobile Unit of the Immigration and Border Protection Services will be joining the controllers of TEATT to ensure the business are employing Dutch nationals and persons with legal status.
The respective members of staff from each ministry will be meeting in a subsequent meeting just after the holidays to proceed with the discussions and ensure the draft covenant covers all relevant areas needed to properly regulate processes while upholding laws and policies. This working agreement once firmly established to be most effective will then be signed by the Honorable Minister of Justice, Anna E. Richardson, the Honorable Minister of TEATT, Ludmila De Weever and the Honorable Minister of VSA, Richard Panneflek.
The Tax Administration, div: Receiver’s office, hereby informs the general public that in cooperation with Police Dept. (KPSM), controls on payment for Motor vehicle taxes 2021 will commence as of Monday, March 29 2021. Before this time, all vehicles must carry the 2021 number plates and must be visible to the police. In accordance with art.25 of the Motor Vehicle tax ordinance, drivers/owners of vehicles who are non-compliant with the above-mentioned legislation can be fined up to Naf. 300.00. In addition to the fine, drivers will have to endure the inconvenience of having their vehicles confiscated.
What to do in the event your vehicle is confiscated. In the event your vehicle is confiscated, you must go to the Receivers office with valid insurance and inspection card and pay the motor vehicle tax for the vehicle. Be informed that due to Covid -19 it is mandatory to wear your mask and keep a social distance from others when visiting the office.
After making payment to the Receiver, you proceed with your motor vehicle tax receipt to the Police Department. The Police Dept. will provide you with a release form, with which you will go to the towing company specified on the release form in order to retrieve your vehicle.
How much will this cost? In order to retrieve your vehicle, you will first have to pay to the towing company up to $ 90.00 towing charges and $ 20.00 per day storage fee. Based on art. 25 of the Motor Vehicle tax ordinance, you will also have to pay the fine up to Naf. 300.00, issued by the police. This must be paid at the Receivers office.
Online Payments Taxpayers who made use of the online payment method and have not picked up their number plates are urged to do so to avoid unnecessary inconveniences the abovementioned cost.
** Captain arrested on suspicion of human smuggling **
On Saturday March 27th 2021, officers of the Immigration and Border Protection Services together with the assistance of the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard and the Prosecutors Office arrested the captain of a vessel by the name of “Anansi”.
Officers of IBP were alerted by a concerned citizen to the presence of a foreign vessel docked at a Marina in Great Bay. Upon inspection of the vessel the officers encountered a gentleman in the vicinity who was later identified as the captain of the vessel. It became evident that the captain did not report his arrival in Sint Maarten as is required by law as he could not show proof of his vessels clearance. The captain stated that he traveled to Sint Maarten with one passenger who was in possession of the Immigration clearance documents and that the person had already gone in to Philipsburg.
While the IBP officers were busy on the scene they ordered the captain with initials P.E. to present himself to their office to show this proof however he failed to present himself in the time given. The IBP authorities then alerted the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard to be on the lookout for the vessel and its captain. The Coast Guard patrol encountered the vessel and the captain and with the permission of the public prosecutor, he was arrested on suspicion of human smuggling and handed over to the police for further investigation.
Incoming reports to the authorities stated that multiple persons were seen disembarking from the vessel however were already on the island.
Additionally, the captain’s statement had changed from his original statement whereby he stated that he was traveling alone and ended up in Sint Maarten after experiencing engine trouble and could not show proof of a passport or clearance documents.
29 Mar 2021 The personnel of the Traffic Department are investigating two serious car accidents that took place over the weekend.
The first accident took place on Friday evening March 26th, 2021 around 11:30 pm on the Airport road. Upon investigating into what transpired, it was discovered that the driver of a silver Suzuki was driving at a high rate of speed on the Airport road, going towards MAHO area. The driver of the Suzuki lost control at one point and collided with the white Hyundai coming from the opposite direction.
Due to the collision both drivers were seriously injured. They were treated at the scene by the personnel of the ambulance and later requested to be transported to the Medical Center on the French side of the island. Both of the vehicles that were badly damaged were later removed by the towing company.
Illidge Road Accident
The second serious incident occurred on Sunday evening March 28th, 2021 around 11:20 p.m. on the A, Th. Illidge road. According to the preliminary investigation, it appears that the driver of a gray SUV was driving at such a high rate of speed that he lost control of the vehicle while going towards the Amsterdam Shopping Center. The vehicle slammed into the bus-stop located at the side of the road and the SUV rolled over several times before coming to a complete stop.
Both the driver and the passenger suffered serious injuries. They were treated by the personnel of the ambulance and later rushed to Sint Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) for further treatment.
Driving above the speed limit is a common practice for many motorists on Sint Maarten. This illegal behavior vastly increases the risk of losing control of a vehicle and causing an accident.
Even a small increase in speed can result in a much higher risk of being involved in a collision or other type of accident. As such, it is essential for motorists to be aware of the speed at which they are traveling and stay within the legal limits. (KPSM)
PFP Calls on coalition to withdraw petition to UN: Party for Progress St. Maarten ONE OF THEIR SLATE MEMBERS TRIED TO COME AT ME IN DEFENSE OF GRISHA AND THEO: Personal agendas, lack of strategy at center of current crisis. PFP Calls on coalition to withdraw petition to UN The Party for Progress (PFP) faction members Melissa Gumbs and Raeyhon Peterson called on the current coalition to withdraw the petition submitted on March 9th to UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.`
“As a faction, we repeat our rejection of this petition,” PFP said on Sunday, 28 March 2021. “On November 5th, 2020 Parliament established a Permanent Committee for Constitutional Affairs and Decolonization, following a proposal by MPs Solange Ludmila Duncan (NA) and Grisha Heyliger- Marten (UPP). Somehow, in 5 months, the country finds itself the subject of a UN petition on racial discrimination, with a governing coalition themselves unable to articulate what exactly it wishes to achieve. On the one side we see the UPP faction militantly moving forward and standing by their actions, while the NA faction is seeming backtracking and now asking for a roundtable, after having submitted the petition? In between the growing political chasm, coalition members and Foundation Pro Soualiga are calling for everything from independence to no independence to claims of just wanting advice and attention from the Netherlands. If the latter is true, PFP is very concerned with the level of maturity, strategy, and direction of a Parliament whose members endorse tantrums as a means of getting attention.”
What was unanimously decided in Parliament as a trajectory to address issues that the faction agrees are present within the Kingdom has been hijacked and is becoming nothing more than a conflated vehicle for personal agendas and vendettas. Parliament unanimously approved the establishment of the committee, but a majority voted for the motion that has now led to this petition. However, the petition was not provided for commentary or insight prior to being sent to the UN Special Rapporteur; it was sent to all members of Parliament half an hour before the start of a closed-door meeting of the decolonization committee, having already been sent to the UN. This does not support the talk of collaborative discussion that was promoted by especially MP Duncan during the establishment meeting of the committee.
“While the coalition is struggling to sing from one hymn book, the Dutch Government has cut off the much-needed liquidity support for Sint Maarten,” PFP continued. “How can we say on one hand that the Netherlands is ultimately responsible for all our faults and then, when efforts are made to fix the problems we don’t want the help? Is there a democratic deficit within the Kingdom? Yes. Do existing methodologies need to be revisited? Yes, but what has us concerned is the ‘champagne talk but mauby budget’ strategies of this coalition government in addressing these concerns, given the current economic realities of not only Sint Maarten, but the globe.”
“Has this coalition considered the position from which Sint Maarten is negotiating from?” the faction said. “Has this coalition sat down and considered what their actions would mean? The Sint Maarten economy is being financed by the Netherlands. The 4000 families on food aid, the businesses receiving SSRP, the salaries being paid to members of Parliament, the Council of Ministers and civil servants. Referencing the same advice from the Council of State that indeed points out constitutional issues with the COHO, why do we not mention that the Council said that conditions to the aid are grounded? Cherry-picking what we want to fit our narrative is exactly what is happening here and unfortunately, it is to the detriment of the people. How are we going to raise money to keep this country going, the lights on, and food on the table? Float a bond?”
PFP expressed concern that with the country’s current Moody’s rating, St. Maarten will essentially be floating a junk bond to be bought up by whichever questionable elements seem to infiltrate our Government. They expressed that it was sad, but not surprising, to see that the current coalition seems to lack the vision necessary to come to terms with all these different factors. Instead of prioritizing a way to navigate Sint Maarten through this current COVID reality, when countries around the world are seeking to strengthen their position collectively, the majority in this Parliament has overstepped government and put St. Maarten on an ill-timed crusade to achieve nothing.
“The 12 members who supported the motion that led to this petition have taken a far leap in going to the UN, without knowing what they really wanted or the geopolitical implications of doing so, leaving many to question what happens next month?” PFP concluded. “The sad truth is that the current rollout of the whole decolonization issue has discredited the originally good intentions and isolated us from the same Aruba and Curacao that some claimed were right there with us. The country is in a very awkward position. PFP is calling on these same 12 members of Parliament to take stock of what is going on and urgently withdraw this petition. We also suggest that the coalition, which is spearheading this decolonization initiative, take a moment to regroup and come again, with the interest of all the people of Sint Maarten at heart and not their own. We need to come from a place of rationality and facts and let that determine our strategy.”
The faction warned against the use of ‘creative mathematics’ to make it seem as though because 80% of Parliament members supported the motion and thus the petition, that it means 80% of the people support it. PFP wishes to remind the people that that is not how it works; that each member of Parliament is there to represent 100% of the people of St. Maarten towards their Government, within this country. PFP will be sending an official letter to the President of Parliament calling for the withdrawal of the petition on Monday, 29 March 2021.
CHRISTOPHER EMMANUEL THE LAND THIEF IS HEADING BACK TO POINT BLANCH PRISON, ACCORDING TO MY SOURCE ‘GOAT MOUTH’ SOON: Home/Local/Soualiga News Today/MP Emmanuel: Liquidity freeze is result of lies, negligent governing. Says Dutch can assist without COHO MP Emmanuel: Liquidity freeze is result of lies, negligent governing. Says Dutch can assist without COHO
Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Christophe Emmanuel on Sunday said that the freezing of liquidity support to St. Maarten by the Dutch is a result of failed deception and childlike governing by the Prime Minister and her Parliamentary support which translates into negligent governance that only hurts the people of St. Maarten even more.
He said that any “proud representative with some backbone” would use the opportunity to tell State Secretary Knops to “keep his money and his COHO.” Emmanuel, the only MP who is completely against the COHO in any construct, said that Knops recognized the game at play as soon as the Parliament of St. Maarten involved the United Nations by submitting a petition calling for, among other things, dumping the COHO which even the Prime Minister called an entity of colonial control.
“I said then, and I’ll say again, you cannot ask the UN to kill the COHO while still asking the Dutch for money which comes with COHO as a condition for said money. It was dangerous from the start and deceitful at its core,” he said. The MP also re-iterated that Knops “probably got upset” after his second request for assurances in writing from the PM and Parliament for support of the country packages and the COHO, resulted in the same language he received after the first request for support in December.
“The only difference is, the petition was filed after the PM and Parliament informed Knops in writing that they have majority support for his reforms and the COHO. If he received a similar response in writing the second time he asked, knowing full well the PM and a majority in Parliament wants to get rid of COHO through the petition, he would have immediately realized that the PM and President of Parliament was acting in bad faith and pull the plug. That is entirely on the Prime Minister of this country,” MP Emmanuel said.
He continued: “The Prime Minister didn’t help matters when she said she didn’t read the petition, just the conclusion. This is the Prime Minister of the Country making such an irresponsible statement. It all smelled like bad fish to Knops. Point is, you should have said no to COHO from the start. But fear guided you. Instead you tried to lie your way through and here we are today without a plan. This is negligent governing and St. Maarten will suffer because of it,” MP Emmanuel said.
The MP stressed that St. Maarten does not need adult supervision. Instead, he said, St. Maarten needs to be treated with respect and as a true partner in the Kingdom. “We do not need another entity in this country. We have CFT, the World Bank, NRPB, Integrity Chamber, Schiphol, we have enough. We do not need COHO or any form of it, period. What we should be getting is the opportunity to meet at the table and speak based on respect and understand each other as partners in the Kingdom,” MP Emmanuel said.
Putting emphasis as nation building and wealth development for the people, Emmanuel stressed that there are areas that the Netherlands, as true partners, could assist St. Maarten. “The Netherlands are adept in several areas of economics and social development for example. Partners should be helping each other, not demanding and blackmailing trying to use an entity of control that even the Council of State views as heavy handed and infringes on autonomy. This is the responsible approach and principled stance our government should have taken. But they got scared, failed the people and lied to the Dutch,” he said.
He further pointed out that the same MP’s who said they were waiting until the COHO legislation gets to Parliament to discuss it, are now panicking and asking questions about the same issue they have been mute on for months.
“We all had the documents on the COHO for months, even before the PM signed the agreement with Holland in December. She refused to discuss COHO with Parliament. The Chairpersons of Parliament even instructed me on numerous occasions not to raise the COHO when discussing the country packages. The same Chairpersons as well as coalition MPs admitted that COHO and the country packages are linked. I tried numerous times to get answers and a meeting so that the public could be aware of what we were getting ourselves into.
“The people are still not informed because the PM and her coalition partners never brought it to Parliament to discuss. It could have been handled in a Central Committee meeting where members of Parliament would have had the opportunity to ask question and voice concerns in anticipation of the Council of State advice. Any responsible government would have taken this course of action to inform its people. Today there is confusion created by all the lying and deception perpetuated by the PM and her coalition partners,” MP Emmanuel said.
He added that while the Prime Minister continued to send mixed signals trying to trick the Dutch, she has yet to tell the people of St. Maarten what the plan is now moving forward. “The same PM is on record as stating that St. Maarten made suggestions that would be taken up in COHO. What those suggestions are nobody knows as only questions from Curacao were reflected in the Council of State advice on the COHO. So tell us what exactly we are now going to recommend to Knops at this stage,” Emmanuel said.
The MP said for a year the government of St. Maarten has tried to play a dangerous game with the Dutch while not developing economic plans of its own to guide our people out of this economic crisis brought on by the pandemic. “The Prime Minister and her government can find the time to recruit her predecessor to hold her hand in a press-conference and claim some sort of fake victory, but can’t present a budget for the country yet,” Emmanuel said, adding that the budget is another fiasco waiting to happen as many of the reforms have to be funded by the country’s budget, something that was specifically stated in the COHO legislation.
“What is her position on the petition, what is her position on the budget, what is her position on the freezing of liquidity, on the airport and that mess, on the function books for law enforcement personnel, on rising food prices, on rising gas prices. Is it true that the government is only now going to approach APS and other government owned entities for funding? The Prime Minister has engaged in months and months of transparent lies and this country still doesn’t have a plan for anything. We have absolutely nothing from this government,” he said.
TOONTJE BUNCAMPER IS ON TRIAL FOR TAX EVASION, HIS WIFE MARIA IS HEADED TO PRISON FOR SIX MONTHS. NO MORE APPEALS: MP Buncamper questions Minister of Finance on taxes levied on pension income Pensioners being taxed on their pension income is a great concern to Member of Parliament (MP) Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper, leader of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) faction in parliament, who on Monday sent a letter to the minister of Finance, Ardwel Irion, regarding the levying of income taxes on pension, the USP parliamentary faction said in a media statement n Monday.
In his letter to the minister MP Buncamper mentioned that pensioners are dissatisfied with wage/income tax being levied to their already low pension income, especially in these challenging times when the pension might be their only source of income.
The MP did not stop short to acknowledge the fact that pensioners have benefitted from the deductions of their pension premium payments from their gross salaries, while government had to sustain that loss of income.
MP Buncamper, who is considering the possibility to discontinue levying wage/income tax on pension income, submitted a number of questions relevant to his concerns to the minister of finance. The MP asked the minister if his ministry is considering the possibilities to cease levying wage/income tax on the pension income? And, if so, what plans are there in place to do so and what timeframe is proposed for such?”
Buncamper inquired from the minister how much additional income would government stand to generate if the pension premiums of all working residents were no longer deductible from the gross salary, and the income tax was to be calculated based on the gross taxable salary? He also queried if it would be beneficial for government to levy taxes on the gross salary (without deducting the pension premium payments) and cease levying taxes on pension income, and how much government would stand to lose or gain?
MP Buncamper queried if government will have a solution to cover the such loss, if any, in the 2022 budget.
MP Buncamper is of the opinion that if the premium payments are no longer deductible, then the pension income can be exempt from income tax.
Honorable Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs: “Educational and inspiring information session with the Coast Guard including a trip around the lagoon and out to the most western point of our jurisdiction. Thanks to Commander Levenstone, LIK officer for the info and, Officers Alain Conner and Gumbs for the tour! It was exhilarating. What an exciting job! Policing the seas and waterways – ensuring our safety. God bless you all”.
