Dear Editor,
With their 3636 you have an option whereby you can benefit from service bundles which includes talk time, SMS, etc.
We all know how it is with these bundles, no videos is usually the requirement for your service to last for a month or a week according to the service bundle you chose or could afford.
After buying a new SIM card – for peace sake – I subscribed to the new 3636 thinking it would be better than the 3434 service.
To my great surprise it was not. My first bundle cost US $35. And that finished within 7 days less than it would on the 3434 service and I’m saying that because a $35 subscription is meant to last a month – supposedly if you don’t watch a lot of videos. My use of data service includes Instagram, WhatsApp (full package) and sometimes Facebook Messenger.
Now I decided to stick to the one-day plan which I considered effective, its instant renewal was intriguing, I thought I wouldn’t have to call customer service again to hear some grumpy person on the phone who seemed as if I was bothering them. I remedied that when I used to use the 3434 service with a perky and enthusiastic voice, because of course there are hectic days for them and I didn’t want to be another nonchalant customer.
Now I have been to UTS to make it known that my credit was being sucked off my phone after so called “depleting” my package bundle. I went to UTS and the customer service rep told me I was doing it wrong: I was trying to activate a bundle while I was supposed to be activating an add-on.
So from there on I was doing it right, but now when I consumed the greater part of my data I was still being robbed. Upon receiving the “data warning message” that states you have ~250MB left, at the same time the bankruptcy message comes in telling me I have no credit left.
So I went back to UTS requesting my cancellation from the 3636 service to the old 3434 only to be told, “That’s not possible, we are moving forward, not backwards.”
I replied, “Oh really?!” So I asked, “Then will the 3434 service be removed from the system eventually?” She said yes. I asked, “So what’s the solution?” She said that I have to buy a new SIM card in order to have access to the 3434 service but once you subscribe to 3636 you cannot go back to the 3434 service. I explained my reason for wanting to unsubscribe and she tells me I’m having a delay in messages, I then agree and said I lose a whole US $10 phone card sometimes. That went without much reaction.
I mean, come on, whoever the person who said, “The rich will remain rich at expense of the poor,” that person made no mistake back then when they said it and moving forward that saying still remains, I tell you.
I definitely have to see if TelCell can measure up.

Name withheld at author's request.

The development and adaptation to new rules for the spatial development of Curaçao are closely linked to the jointly shared resolutions from the Conference Habitat III. From 17 to 20 October 2016, this conference took place in the city of Quito in Ecuador. A delegation from the Curaçao government also participated. Every 20 years such a conference is held in an important city in the world.

The first conference was held in 1976 in Vancouver, Canada and the second in 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey. It would be the global effort and support for tackling the housing problem, helping to rebuild sustainable urban development and the implementation of a new urban agenda and to provide direction.

As a result, the conference led to a concrete, focused, forward-looking and action-oriented result document called "the New Urban Agenda". It concerns the new urban agenda, which is implemented by all Member States. The agenda consists of 175 resolutions, which were also approved by the participating Member States at the conference.

But, what are these resolutions that can be so decisive for the spatial development of Curaçao? Most people do not know what these resolutions contain. The writer intends here to highlight a piece of the veil to promote a broader awareness among the public. Each time comes another major resolution offer. An important resolution concerns number 12 of the new urban agenda, which refers to the approach for realizing a shared vision.

The resolution says: “We strive to realize cities and human settlements where all persons can enjoy equal rights and opportunities, as well as their fundamental freedoms, guided by the goals and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, including full respect for the international. In this respect, the New Urban Agenda is based on the universal declaration of human rights, international human rights treaties, the Millennium Declaration and the World Summit of 2005. It is also formulated by other instruments, such as the declaration on the right to development.”

The aim is also to place a considerable commitment on the table for all participating countries regarding physical actions that actively support the fight against poverty. And, regarding being able to realize equal development opportunities among citizens in new neighbourhoods to be built up. These starting points show that spatial development is not an abstract concept, but that it does intervene and tries to influence the quality of life of ordinary citizens in their daily lives.

Sharnon Isenia (Sharnon Isenia has a Masters' Degree in urban planning and business administration specializing in organizational engineering and community development)

The structural work of the HNO hospital will be completed by the end of May 2018. The technical delivery will take place in accordance with the planning at the end of August 2018. The loose and fixed medical equipment has already been ordered and partly in the delivery and installation phase. The new ICT and the Hospital Information System - Electronic Patient File are for the most part ordered and in progress.

If the Minister of Public Health asks again where the 300 million has gone, the money has remained there. The part of the Transition that would be carried out by Berenschot was commissioned by SONA to KPMG and Deloitte Dutch Caribbean. Meanwhile, that part of the transition has been taken over by the New Hospital Otrabanda (HNO) operating entity set up by the minister and his director Gilbert Martina, supported by the St. Elizabeth Hospital (Sehos).

Transition

On Tuesday, April 17, the SONA Foundation agreed with Minister Suzanne Camelia-Römer that the foundation would hand over the project for the new hospital to the government of Curaçao, as SONA had already informed the government in September 2017. It is to be expected that this is in good cooperation with each other. However, the minister's attacks on SONA continue unabated.

Principal difference of insight

These attacks are based on a fundamental difference of opinion between the Minister and SONA. The minister recalls in every discussion that she has not yet received the audited annual accounts from 2014 up to and including 2016 from SONA. SONA shows below that this is not the core of the problem, but the consequence of it.

The core is:

- SONA parries stakeholders that damage the HNO project.

- Decisions by the government are in favour of stakeholders who damage the HNO project.

Both Minister Camelia-Römer and the Cabinet Rhuggenaath and Parliament have been informed of all the following points.

Excessive cost

In 2013, SONA countered the excessively invoiced costs of Berenschot International with which SONA signed a contract in 2011 for the implementation of the hospital project. For example, Berenschot charged a 30% surcharge on invoices from other parties. Those invoices ended up with Berenschot as executor but were paid in full by SONA. The 30% that Berenschot charged for himself, ran into the hundreds of thousands of guilders. SONA did what it is supposed to do and stepped on the brakes.

Unregulated declarations

Berenschot was unable to account for 3.3 million of their total declaration of approximately 8.5 million in 2013. SONA could not accept that. Because Berenschot was unable to provide any justification, no annual accounts could be prepared for 2013. Berenschot subsequently provided no financial justification with an auditor's report from the external auditor, for the HNO project over the years 2014 up to and including 2016.

To this day, despite all promises, SONA has not received financial statements, accompanied by an auditor's report, from Berenschot's HNO project.

Claim

Due to the government decision of 2013 to move the construction of the new hospital from the planned Amstel terrain to Otrobanda, a delay of three years arose. In 2012, SONA had already informed the government of this risk in writing. Due to this delay, the contractor Ballast Nedam filed claims with SONA of approximately 18 million US dollar above the budget for the construction of the hospital. When SONA wanted to negotiate, it turned out that Mr. Luc Steenhorst, Berenschot's project director, had acknowledged approximately 9 million US dollars of the claim in a letter dated 5 December 2015, without SONA's approval. This significantly weakened SONA's position, resulting in an increase of the costs for that project for the institution.

In a mail dated mid-December 2015, Berenschot confirms that they had acknowledged that claim to help Ballast Nedam. The claim would positively influence the value of the Ballast Nedam shares.

Lien

Contractor Ballast Nedam Infra B.V./Rönesans has placed alien of 31 million dollars on SONA bank accounts, for fear that SONA / Government will not have the means to complete the construction of the hospital project. This fear is unfounded. The so-called deficits mentioned in the media, among other things, are about non-budgeted costs. The non-budgeted costs were largely caused by the government decision to move the construction of the new hospital to Otrobanda. The construction itself has been budgeted and included in the funds already available at the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten that are earmarked for the HNO project.

Unfunded transition costs

In 2014 Berenschot started SEHOS preparations for the transition from the old to the new hospital. The total budget for this amounted to 22 million guilders. Berenschot asked for an advance of 3.5 million guilders for its transition activities. SONA agreed that Berenschot would still substantiate this amount. Berenschot never did this. In 2016, a report from Government’s Accountants Bureau (SOAB) revealed that Berenschot only performed 10% of the transition.

Superfluous

At the end of 2016, the Whiteman government, with the approval of parliament, removed 14 million guilders from SONA from the budget for the transition, for the improvement plans of SEHOS. This money has never been returned.

The further squandering of taxpayers’ money

In particular, because of all the above, SONA decided not to enter an extension with Berenschot for the working relationship that ended on 31 December 2016. In doing so, SONA also cancelled the management fee of at least 800,000 guilders per month that Berenschot wanted to charge for the remaining construction period. The word 'minimal' is literally in Berenschot's letter dated 6 January 2017. By not extending the working relationship, SONA has saved the community many millions of guilders over the past 16 months.

SONA also parried a lump sum payment of 17,5 million guilders that Berenschot presented "for unbundling the contract between SONA and Berenschot". This lump sum included the amount of 1.5 million for project director Luc Steenhorst and 500,000 guilders for board member Hein Vloet. SONA, in turn, presented a claim against Berenschot for unsubstantiated and inadequate declarations.

Berenschot favoured by successive governments

Despite all the above, in 2016 SONA received a series of letters from the then minister of Public Health, Mr Victorina, with the demand that SONA should restore the relationship with Berenschot. On behalf of the minister, the FCW-Legal office conducted an evaluation study in 2016. In connection with this, FCW-Legal spoke twice with SONA (manager of the project) and daily with Berenschot (executor of the project). SONA was not granted the usual procedure of hearing and rebuttal. Current Minister Camelia-Römer approves this in a letter dated 8 August 2017.

SONA learns from the media that the FCW-Legal report contains hard allegations against SONA. Until now, SONA has not received the final report from the successive ministers despite many requests to do so. Berenschot did receive the FCW report. This is apparent, among other things, from the fact that Berenschot quoted from this report in the April 2018 Parliamentary Assembly on the hospital project.

Ministerial supervisor works with Berenschot

The minister appoints Mr. Stanley Betrian as Ministerial Director and Regulator (MRT) in September 2017 to supervise the hospital project on her behalf. In turn, Mr. Betrian temporarily includes a Berenschot director in the ministerial team.

This Berenschot member of the Board, Hein Vloet, is jointly responsible for unsubstantiated and inadequate declarations and the inability to provide financial statements for 2014-2016, accompanied by an auditor's report, from the HNO project. This responsibility is indispensable for SONA to provide the justifications that the minister rightly demands.

On the one hand, the Minister holds SONA responsible for the lack of accountability. According to the minister, this is even a key reason to end the management agreement with SONA. On the other hand, the ministerial team is strengthened with a person who was partly responsible for failing to properly render accountability.

Betrian plays a role in delay annual accounts

Finally, Berenschot concluded an agreement in principle with SONA in April 2017 to end the working relationship. In it, it is agreed that Berenschot will transfer all the administrations that it has so far retained. In July 2017, Betrian visited Berenschot in the Netherlands, while he had not yet spoken with SONA.

Subsequently Berenschot informs SONA that it will sign the agreement and the transfer. As an explanation for this turnaround, Berenschot makes an explicit connection with the visit of Mr Betrian and what has been discussed there, namely the task of Betrian in accordance with the concept of the National Decree and the explanation given by Betrian himself.

The cheese pastry and the receipt

The minister continues to tirelessly spread the equation: "If mother sends you with 25 guilders to the store to buy a cheese pastry, she expects you to come back with a pastry, the remaining amount and the receipt."

In this case, however, the store will keep the receipt. Mother keeps the hand over their head and tells you that there is no receipt.

Conclusion

If the absence of financial statements by SONA was the true reason for the minister’s persistent allegations against SONA, it is inexplicable for the ministerial team to embrace that stakeholder that does not properly deliver the financial statements.

The fact that SONA did not deliver the annual report is therefore not the core of the problem. It is the result of the fact that cabinets and the ministers of public health, including the current minister Camelia-Römer and the cabinet Rhuggenaath, with all the consent of parliament, allow all the above.

Managers:

Reginaldo Doran

Tonnie Rossen

Commissioners:

Richard Hart

Mike Alexander

Dear St. Maarten Motorists,
As many of you may have noticed, a bunch of us bicycle riders get together every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and ride on Airport Road from 4:30pm till the sun goes down. It is the safest road for us to train on as there are no intersections or side roads, and you will notice us out there in large groups as we have so few places that are safe to ride on the island.
We love it, but unfortunately, we will occasionally experience dangerous motorists who are impatient to get to their destinations, so let me explain how this works. We ride from the roundabout on Simpson Bay side of the causeway to the roundabout at Maho. If you get stuck behind a cyclist for that entire time, you will be running 3 minutes off schedule. Keep in mind we are riding pretty fast, mostly an average of around 30 to 35km per hour, so you do the math.
Bottom line is that it makes no sense at all to risk an accident or even simply frightening a cyclist to save only a few minutes. After an incident today, I feel it necessary to remind everyone of the law. Cyclists are considered slow traffic and have every right to be on the road. Unless we have bicycle lanes, this is a fact of life, so get used to it.
Thankfully, most drivers are considerate and enjoy seeing the bright and colourful riders of all ages out there getting fit, but there is always that one idiot, that one uneducated and bitter person like the driver of the large black truck with license plate V3338 who almost hit two cyclists today when he passed them just a foot away at a terrific speed. After catching up to him and explaining that he passed too closely, he actually had the gall to say that cyclists do not have the right to be on the road. So, hence, this letter.
We have started accumulating license plate numbers of dangerous drivers, and God forbid we should see your plate turn up in our data base of complaints twice. One time and you get a warning, like you are now, but twice my friend...twice will get you a visit from delegates of St. Maarten Cycling Federation who will invite you to the Police Station for a little chat. You will then be publicly humiliated on every social media we can find. So, consider yourself warned.

Susy Maidwell