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Six more men arrested in Eindhoven following Sinterklaas rioting

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Six more people have been arrested for public order offences in Eindhoven, following the physical and verbal attacks on a small group of anti-Zwarte Piet demonstrators during the Sinterklaas procession in Eindhoven last month.

A number of people, including PSV football supporters, threw eggs and beer cans at the demonstrators, and hurled both racist and sexist abuse at them. Six people were arrested on the day itself but police have now picked up six more on the basis of surveillance camera footage.

All are men from Eindhoven aged between 21 and 22. The public prosecution department has not ruled out making further arrests. (DutchNews)

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Two arrested as Dutch police bust cockfighting centre

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Dutch police on Tuesday raided what they said was a centre for training fighting cocks, seizing 51 birds and arresting two people, following a tip-off.

The building in a rural part of Bodegraven, between Leiden and Utrecht, included a closed wheel which was used to train the hens and pens where the birds lived. Local broadcaster Omroep West also showed a photograph of a bucket containing dead birds.

Cock fighting is illegal in the Netherlands, but the hens may have been destined for France, where cock fighting is legal in a few places, the broadcaster quoted the police as saying.

The two men arrested are aged 31 and 38 and come from Zwammerdam and Bodegraven. (DutchNews)

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Decomposed body has not yet been identified. Police continues to seek community assistance

SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) - The Police Department has not yet been able to positively identify the person whose decomposing body was found in a shack in the bushes behind the Emergency homes (911 Project) located in Union Farm area, police stated in a statement on Monday.

The body of the male victim was located by residents of that area on Saturday December 1st and as of yet has not yet been identified. According to the report the nick-name of the male victim is “So-So”.

He is between the ages of 75 and 80 years old. The Police Department is asking family-members or anyone who is missing a family member form some time to get in contact with the department by calling 54-22222 ext. 208 or 211.

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Average energy bill predicted to soar past €2000 mark in 2019

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – The average household energy bill is expected to rise by more than €300 next year, according to an analysis by price comparison sites reported in the Telegraaf.

The price of gas and electricity has been pushed up by higher levies on CO2 emissions and the accelerated scaling back of gas extraction in Groningen, as well as a €50 rise in the amount households contribute towards sustainable energy subsidies (ODE).

Comparison site Pricewise calculated that the average household will spend €2,275 a year on gas and electricity in 2019, compared to €1,949 this year, based on the tariffs for three of the biggest energy suppliers: Eneco, Nuon and Essent.

By the same measure energy bills rose for the first time in four years in 2018, having fallen from €1,884 to €1,737 between 2014 and 2017. Another comparison site, gaslicht.com, quoted a rise of €360 in 2019 based on a single supplier.

The calculation is based on consumption of 3,500 KWh of electricity and 1,500 m3 of gas. (DutchNews)

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Consumer group threatens KLM with legal action over ‘no show’ charges

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Dutch consumers association Consumentenbond says it will take airline KLM to court unless it scraps the ‘no show’ clause in its terms and conditions by December 12.

The clause states that all the following flights attached to the ticket are cancelled if a passenger fails to turn up for a particular flight. So, if someone misses an outward flight, the return journey will be automatically cancelled.

If the passenger wants to make use of the return flight, they have to pay a hefty fee. The Consumentenbond says it receives regular complaints about the problem and cites the case of a man who could not fly with the rest of his family from Amsterdam to Munich because he was sick.

He got to Munich by other means but when the family arrived to check in to fly home, he discovered his ticket had been cancelled. He had to pay €250 to travel, only to be allocated the same seat next to his family as in the original ticket.

The Consumentenbond is one of nine European consumer groups hoping to force airlines to get rid of the clause in a concerted campaign. ‘The ‘no-show’ clause is downright unfair.

The passenger has paid for the tickets and expects to be able to use them,’ said Monique Goyens, director of European consumer lobby group BEUC. ‘You might have missed your outbound flight or found a more convenient way to get to point B, there is no excuse for airlines to cancel the remainder of your ticket.’

KLM told broadcaster NOS that it first wanted to study the lobby group’s letter before making a detailed comment. However, a spokesman said that it is important passengers travel as outlined when they made their booking.

‘If a passenger wants to deviate from this, then KLM reserves the right to charge a fee.’ (DutchNews)

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Minister of Justice de Weever: United Against Corruption

SINT MAARTEN (POND ISLAND) – Sint Maarten is governed by the rule of law.  Corruption is found in all countries of the world, in public and private sectors.  Sunday, December 9 marks International Anti-Corruption Day.

Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever said on Sunday that the Government of Sint Maarten and its institutions of democracy will not allow corruption to undermine its institutions or contribute to government instability.

“Our country is currently in the rebuilding phase.  Corruption can threaten the economy of a country with respect to discouraging investment and trade. 

“Government must prevent any inhibiting of prosperity for the workers and people of Sint Maarten.  Looking back at the devastation caused by the hurricanes of September 2017, the country’s institutional infrastructure was weakened to a certain degree, however, steps were taken to seek assistance and that would result in a steady recovery to a post-Irma situation.

“We work diligently to strengthen our systems of governance in order to ensure that weak institutions and injustice does not prevail; and that safety and security is further enhance to prevent insecurity,” Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever said on Sunday.    

According to the United Nations (UN), every year $1 trillion is paid in bribes while an estimated $2.6 trillion are stolen annually through corruption – a sum equivalent to more than five per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“In developing countries, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), funds lost to corruption are estimated at 10 times the amount of official development assistance.

“Corruption is a serious crime that can undermine social and economic development in all societies. No country, region or community is immune.

“This year UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and UNDP have developed a joint global campaign, focusing on how corruption affects education, health, justice, democracy, prosperity and development.

“The 2017 joint international campaign focuses on corruption as one of the biggest impediments to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

“The Government of Sint Maarten will always adhere to the rule of law and the principles of good governance.  At the same time, where there are weaknesses in the system of governance, those will be strengthened in order to root out any corruption or the semblance of it

“Equal and fair justice is also a crucial element for a state that is based on the rule of law.  On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, we are united against corruption,” Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever concludes.

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Groningen postdoc conned by fake foreign ministry phone call

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – An international researcher at Groningen University has been conned out of nearly €3,000 by someone posing as an employee of foreign affairs ministry, the Northern Times reported on Friday.

Manas Das, a postdoc from India working at the faculty of science and engineering, was threatened with deportation by someone claiming that his paperwork was not in order.

‘I took out all my money because I thought it was a threat to my family. I’m living here with a small kid and my wife,’ he told the website. He was told to hand over the money in the form of gift cards for Steam, an online gaming platform.

Das told the website he has an appointment with the Groningen police on Monday to file a formal complaint. He said he had decided to go public about the con in an effort to stop other people falling into the same trap.

Similar scams involving phone numbers mirroring legitimate Dutch government agencies have been reported by foreign professionals across the Netherlands over the past year. (DutchNews)

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Man, 44, jailed for planning terror attacks on Muslims

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – A 44-year-old man who plotted to carry out terrorist attacks on Muslims has been jailed for three years by a court in Zutphen. The court was told Vincent T had set up a Facebook group with the aim of ‘combating Muslims’ and had tried to recruit members and get hold of weapons online.

He also planned to ‘blast off leftwing leaders’, naming television presenter turned politician Sylvana Simons as a potential target. The AIVD security service said it believed that T planned to put his words into action.

He had also searched under terms such as ‘killer for hire’ and information about making bombs on the internet, the AIVD said.

‘His active hunt for weapons and being in possession of nearly 2,000 bullets means T had past the phase of being a ‘keyboard terrorist’, the court said in its ruling. T is being held in the maximum-security prison in Vught.

The Dutch counter terrorism unit NCTV said last month there has been a rise in right wing extremism in Western Europe as a whole but the situation in the Netherlands is not yet as serious as in the early 1990s.

In the Netherlands, far right violence is usually unorganised and involves small groups who don’t feel the need to be part of a known organisation, the NCTV says.

According to official figures, there were 45 cases of far-right violence in the Netherlands in 2016, the most recent figures in the report. (DutchNews)

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Prime Minister leads delegation to Building resilience to disasters and climate change conference

SINT MAARTEN/WASHINGTON D.C. - Upon the invitation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank & the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a delegation from Sint Maarten consisting of the Prime Minister, Leona Romeo Marlin, Minister of Finance, Perry Geerlings and the Minister of VROMI, Miklos Giterson attended the “Building Resilience to Disasters and Climate Change in the Caribbean Conference”. The conference was held on November 26th at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC.

Also, in attendance were Heads of Government from Caribbean countries Jamaica, Barbados, Bahamas, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Haiti as well as senior civil servants, representatives of various regional and international organizations, such as CCRIFF and OAD.

The conference focused on the exchange on experiences, best practices as well as bottlenecks that impede sustainable development to building resilience for climate change and its effects. Delegates from various Caribbean islands highlighted the need for flexible procedures in accessing critical funding. The need for such stems from the lack of national resources to fund climate change as well as the constant need for national financial injections. The delegates argued that the time for assistance is now since Caribbean countries are frequently impacted by disasters.

Additionally, highlighted at the conference was the fact that while the Caribbean region is the least in gas emissions it continues to feel the brunt of the effects of worldwide climate change.

St. Maarten’s Prime Minister served as the lead speaker for the session on “furthering existing and developing new instruments to transfer risk”. She highlighted the key principles of resilience on Sint Maarten, namely, to be prepared and to adapt. In her address, the Prime Minister emphasized that there is a need for a multi-prong approach to financial climate change and therefore disaster management.

Steps taken by Sint Maarten thus far to safeguard financial resources for disaster management are joining the CCRIF and the establishment of a national disaster fund. One of the measures Sint Maarten intends on exploring is the increase in private insurance penetration. This would then lead to assisting low and middle-income households as well as small business in acquiring insurance.

Prime Minister Marlin Romeo elucidated on the prerequisite for the Caribbean region to speak with “one voice” and work together to address issues of climate change and disaster management.

The conference ended on a high note with the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, indicating that her country will take the lead in convening a meeting of Caribbean countries to determine the way forward for the region on climate change, resilience and financing thereof. Sint Maarten looks forward to collaborating with other Caribbean countries on disaster management and on addressing issues of climate change.

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LEE: INSO IS NOT BANKRUPT - HOSPITAL PROJECT WILL NOT BE HALTED

SINT MAARTEN (POND ISLAND) - During the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday December 5th, Minister of Public Health Emil Lee elaborated on the discussions that have started in the media regarding the new St. Maarten General Hospital, the Italian contracted construction company INSO and the implications of the financial circumstances of its parent company Condotte.

Lee confirmed that both INSO and Condotte are not bankrupt and have not filed for bankruptcy. “The hospital project is going ahead, it is going to be built. It may suffer a delay – but it is going to be built.”

“The new St. Maarten General Hospital and by extension SMMC, has not lost one guilder as a result of the issues between Condotte and INSO. Not one guilder has been lost! The project is well put together, with proper safeguards and we will proceed with construction only once everyone is confident in the security of the project moving forward.”

The project is organized in phases, for example: planning and design. This phased execution enables all parties to review the steering/adjustment points and compare progress with the contracted objectives. “I actually see it as a blessing that this is happening now and not when we have already started with the construction phase of the new hospital.”

The project managers, the SMMC, the Ministry of VSA and all the financers, in consultation and with coordination by the administrative and security agent for the lenders, the NIB, have decided to not issue any payments to INSO until clarity has been established. Lee stated “When we look at the agreement with INSO, they have defaulted on their contract. We have requested clarity from INSO, so that they can prove that they still have the financial capacity to perform on the contract.”

“I am in direct contact with the administrator in Italy. He is well aware of the situation. His job is to preserve the value of the company. The value of the company is determined by the contracts that they hold. He has an incentive to make sure that all the contracts that are currently in-house with INSO are maintained. So he has every incentive to find a way to make the project work. Keep in mind that he is administering a company with 1.3 Billion Euro in turn-over, so it is going to take a little bit of time, but we are on top of it.”

The hospital project is currently in the phase where preparation of final drawings for the construction of the building are being finalized, the requirements for the site conditions are being worked on; topographic and soil samples are being taken and two mock-up rooms have been built for SMMC staff testing. These two rooms have been built “to size” in order to ensure that the planned procedures can be carried out in these rooms. Sizes of doorways & bathrooms, the flexibility of moving beds ‘in and out’ of rooms, etc are all being tested in order to provide feedback for the design criteria. Currently, the reinforcement and repair project of the current SMMC, funded by the World Bank is ongoing and will continue.

Lee addressed recent comments made in the media pertaining to the role of the NIB and ENNIA and stated: “To be clear, ENNIA is not a financer of the hospital. No portion of the ENNIA group is financing any part of the hospital. The NIB offers a service! They are an administrator that coordinates between the lenders. Their role is to coordinate. To synchronize and communicate; to regulate the agreements that all the lenders have come with.” Lee continued to elaborate that, as part of the project process, there was also a tender for the administrative and security agent service that took place, which the NIB won in December 2017.

“In the event that INSO cannot fulfill the contract, all the funding is in-tact. All the documentation, the drawings, the permits are owned by the SMMC. All monies paid for contracted services to this point, have been delivered. In the event that INSO cannot perform on the contract, we issue a new bid for the construction and maintenance portion of the project.”

The financial circumstances surrounding Condotte is recent and the project team was informed. With this knowledge, the team actively addressed the matter by conducting evaluations and consultations, including with international advisors. At the time, the financial turbulence of Condotte did not pose a threat to INSO and the project execution. “Let us remember that the contract with INSO was signed in 2016.” As of recent, just before the scheduled groundbreaking of December 3rd, INSO informed that they may be impacted as a result. With this knowledge, as stated before, it was agreed upon by the SMMC, the Ministry of VSA and the lenders that no funds would be released to INSO until clarity has been established.

INSO’s parent company Condotte, has been operational since 1880 and has an annual turnover of 1.3 billion euros. The extraordinary administration filing of Condotte is the result of something that is happening in the construction sector in Italy. Condotte is part of the top Italian construction companies, ranking in at number 3, along with Astaldi – number 2 and Trevi – number 6. All three of which are under extraordinary administration. “It is a process that allows for Government to step in and take over the management and decision making of the companies and properly restructure the debt of the companies.”

Recap of new hospital project process to date:
Lee gave a brief recap of the project process for the new St. Maarten General Hospital and which phase the project is in now. “I want to give a recap of the process of how we got here today. Why is it significant? Because process matters; why and how you execute a project matters.”

  • The scope and the requirements of the project were established in a Tripartite setting between the Ministry of VSA, SZV and the SMMC. “The work that has been done in terms of determining the requirements, the scope and everything of the hospital stands in good order.”
  • Before the bidders were allowed to submit an official bid for the build and maintenance of the new hospital, they had to undergo a pre-qualification and selection process. This process consisted of a review of their financial and technical capabilities as well as the capacity to manage the project. “INSO obviously went through this process and passed the review.”
  • As part of the due diligence process of the World Bank in order to grant funding to the SMMC, the entire process for the bidding for the new hospital was also reviewed by the World Bank. “They put the entire procurement process under review and they came out with a positive advice on how the process was executed.”
  • Further due diligence was executed by the project management team, having visited the hospital in St. Lucia which was constructed by INSO. This was in order to review the quality and execution of the project.
  • The contract with INSO was signed in September 2016, between INSO and SMMC.

The groundbreaking event of December 3rd, was planned and scheduled months in advance, with the planning and anticipation that several steps/phases were to be completed. Some of these steps were:

  • The preliminary design required for the building permit – completed and approved.
  • The building permit request – completed and granted.
  • Meeting the ‘Conditions Precedents’ requested by the financiers, the lenders of the project. The financers agreed to the funding of the project and outlined a list of conditions to be met before releasing funds to the project. The independent consulting engineer contracted by the lenders verified to the project managers that this process is on track.

 

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