Philipsburg:--- Media representatives on St. Maarten were treated at a cocktail party on Wednesday evening at the Chesterfields restaurant and bar in honor of press day. Kooyman is also celebrating its 70th anniversary said the assistant store manager Binkie van Es. Es said the company recognizes the work and dedication media workers do for the community and thus they feel compelled to honor them on this solemn occasion of press day.
He said free press dates back to article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights in 1948 that states that everyone” has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impartial information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”
Since the adoption of the “Windhoek declaration on Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press” in 1991 that led to the establishment of World Press Freedom Day in 1993 and is celebrated ever since.
The Windhoek Declaration emphasized the importance of a free press for developing and maintaining democracy in a nation and for economic development.
Now, 26 Years later this is still as important today as it was then , our own country is in both political and economic turmoil and needs a free press more than ever to safeguard our democracy and economic growth. “You as a group assembled here tonight are the guardians of our society, here as much as elsewhere in the world there are political and economic forces that would prefer to silence you. We ask you not to be silenced but continue to report abuse, incompetence and other sorts of behavior that does not benefit our society.” Es said as he addressed the media workers.
With this great Freedom, also comes great responsibility and another great roll of the press is educator, he continued, by reporting about worldwide events, health issues, technical developments, environmental issues and many others, you take on the job as educator of your audiences and with this come the added responsibility of reporting honest and well researched facts.
As a society have come to rely on the media as a prime source for our information to base their daily decisions on and for this important role we salute you.
On behalf of the company he said they would be celebrating their 70th anniversary of Kooyman as a company. 70 years ago Adrianus Kooyman founded his company on Curacao and to day his children are still the sole shareholders, several of his grandchildren are also in various positions in the company.
In the, past seventy years Kooyman has grown to become the leading building material and home improvement company in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba with three outlets on Curacao, two on Aruba, one on Bonaire and since January 2007 a Megastore in St Maarten.
Kooyman B.V. suppliers are located in all parts of the world. The assortment includes products from countries specializing in their product areas, e.g. tiles from Spain and Brazil. Other countries include The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and The United States of America.
Kooyman considers their staff as their most valuable asset, at the moment Kooyman has over 400 employees on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St. Maarten.
We consider the knowledge and efficiency that has been adopted over the years regarding the import of goods into the islands one of our core competences. For a relatively small island Kooyman is a company, which import a vast amount of building materials and hardware on a weekly basis.
