PHILIPSBURG:--- At Monday’s Central Committee meeting of Parliament, Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs delivered a compelling address on St. Maarten's role within the monetary union with Curaçao. Her remarks came amidst growing public discourse and statements from Curaçao’s Acting Minister of Finance, Mr. Cooper, suggesting a potential separation of the two countries within the union.

Minister Gumbs firmly stated, “St. Maarten is not a liability to anyone. We are an autonomous country within the Kingdom and an equal partner in this union.” She emphasized that cooperation between the two nations must be rooted in mutual respect, not dependency or superiority. While acknowledging the historical necessity of the monetary union, she made it clear that St. Maartin’s future course would be determined by legal analysis, economic stability, and the best interests of its people.
The Minister addressed the importance of unity between government and Parliament, particularly in matters of economic and financial stability. “When government and Parliament speak with one voice, we strengthen our negotiating position. When we stand divided, we weaken our leverage,” she said, urging for a cohesive approach to safeguard the country’s financial future.

Minister Gumbs also highlighted the strategic importance of the five harmonized national ordinances on financial supervision currently under discussion in Parliament. These laws, she explained, are not about union politics but about protecting St. Martin’s economic and financial stability. “These laws align our supervisory framework with international standards. They strengthen our compliance architecture, safeguard our banking and financial institutions, and protect St. Martin whether we remain in the union or whether the future structure of the union changes,” she stated.

In response to recent statements from Curaçao’s Acting Minister of Finance, Minister Gumbs clarified that such remarks are for Curaçao’s account and do not dictate St. Maarten’s position. “Stability requires preparation, strategic assessment, and alignment between government and Parliament,” she said, adding that any assessment of the monetary union’s future must be coordinated and rooted in national interest.
Minister Gumbs concluded her address by reiterating the importance of passing the proposed financial supervision laws. “Preparation is not panic. Compliance is not weakness. Institutional strength is not political theater. It is responsible governance,” she declared, underscoring the need for St. Maarten to remain aligned with international standards to protect its economic and financial stability.

Willemstad/Philipsburg:--- The Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) announces the appointment of Ms. Nicole Marlin as Director of its Sint Maarten office, effective April 1, 2026. The appointment follows a careful recruitment process undertaken in consultation with the Supervisory Board.
Ms. Marlin is a chartered accountant (RA) and has extensive experience in the private and public sector. Most recently, she served as Senior Specialist/Chief of Staff at the Cabinet of the Minister of Finance of Sint Maarten. Her previous experience also includes a management position at Stichting Overheidsaccountantsbureau (SOAB) and an earlier role as Senior Associate – Assurance at PwC Accountants N.V.
As Director, Ms. Marlin will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the CBCS office in Sint Maarten and will make an important contribution to the implementation of the CBCS’s tasks and objectives within the monetary union. She will also represent the CBCS in Sint Maarten.
The CBCS welcomes Ms. Marlin and wishes her every success in her new capacity.
Willemstad, March 3, 2026
CENTRALE BANK VAN CURAÇAO EN SINT MAARTEN

PHILIPSBURG:--- What was once heralded as a beacon of progress for St. Maarten has become a festering symbol of fiscal irresponsibility and deliberate obscurity. The New General Hospital project is no longer just delayed; it is a runaway train of unchecked spending and insulting silence from the very officials elected to serve the public interest. While the government remains tight-lipped, the bill for taxpayers continues to climb staggering new heights.
Let’s talk numbers. The project's initial price tag was already a substantial $120 million. Now, it has been confirmed that costs have exploded by at least $40 million, with rumors of another $20 million increase currently being negotiated behind closed doors. How can a project's budget inflate by a third or more without a single, transparent explanation to the people of St. Maarten? The government and the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) have hidden behind a convenient non-disclosure agreement with the contractor, FINSO, treating public funds like a private slush fund.

This veil of secrecy is a profound betrayal of public trust. We are fed flimsy excuses citing redesigns, COVID-19, and global conflicts. While these are real-world challenges, they are not a blank check for financial mismanagement, nor do they grant officials a license to operate in the shadows. Hiding behind legal clauses to dodge accountability is a tactic, not an explanation. It is an insult to every citizen who will be forced to bear the burden of this fiscal disaster.
The financial shell games are becoming more brazen. In a move that reeks of creative accounting, the demolition of the old SMMC building has been conveniently offloaded to local contractors. This appears to be a deliberate maneuver to artificially lower the contractor's new asking price, simply shifting the cost from one ledger to another while the overall expense to the island remains the same, or even grows.

As Member of Parliament Omar Ottley recently highlighted, the project has ground to a halt, delayed by 200 days, with the contractor demanding millions more while its workforce reportedly dwindles. Yet, instead of addressing this crisis head-on, there is a deafening silence from the responsible parties. Where will this money come from? Will crucial public services be slashed? Will taxes be raised to cover for this monumental failure of oversight? The public is left to speculate, their trust eroding with each passing day of inaction.
This is not just about a building. It is about a fundamental collapse of transparency and good governance. The people of St. Maarten deserve more than confidential handshakes and vague reassurances. They deserve—and must demand—immediate, public disclosure of the new budget, a clear and honest plan for covering these outrageous costs, and accountability for those who have allowed this project to spiral out of control. Anything less is an unforgivable dereliction of duty.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Edward “Eddie” Emanuel Violenus began playing music at age 16 and continued well into his 80s, up until shortly before his passing in February 2026. His accordion became the soul of the legendary Tanny & The Boys sound.
Born in Aruba in 1939 to St. Martin parents, Eddie returned to St. Martin, where he was an original member of Seteto Flores, a string band that performed at house parties, hotels, and formal functions in the early 1960s.
Seteto Flores started out with musicians like Karl “Tall Boy” Arndell, Jocelyn Arndell, Thomas Pemberton, Alberto Richardson, Arthur Mathew, and Raymond Violenus.
An instrument-maker, Eddie made the classic tambora, marimba, and güiro for Tanny & The Boys over the years.
Eddie took part in the transition movement from purely string music to the “big band” beginnings, when between 1962 and 1965 the Seteto Flores fused with the horn or “blowing” instruments of music pioneer John C. Larmonie’s Philipsburg Community Brass Band to form Philipsburg Conjunto.
Conjunto, also known as Larmonie & His Boys, appeared to have been formed expressly in response to the 1960s audience demand for a bigger and better “amplified” party sound at the popular “public dances” held at St. John’s Ranch, Vava Flanders’ theater in Grand Case, and like venues throughout St. Martin.
As band sizes and dance music styles on the island evolved, Tanny & The Boys, founded in the late 1970s, endured, not only in its traditional form, but also in a resurgence of popularity in St. Martin and in performances abroad from the late 1980s through the first decade of the new century.
Eddie’s accordion playing, along with instruments he crafted—including the banjo of band leader Nathaniel “Tanny” Davis and the marimba—are preserved on Fête: The First Recording of Traditional St. Martin’s Festive Music (1992, LP, cassette). The landmark recording was arranged by Urmain “Youmay” Dormoy and produced by House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).
As with Fête, Eddie’s accordion playing is also elemental, along with the instruments and voices of his fellow iconic band members, on Classic Tanny & The Boys – String Band Music from St. Martin (2000), the group’s first CD release, produced by Mongoose Production.
Rene Violenus recalled last week in a Facebook comment how, “As a young boy” he watched his great-uncle’s “genius and love for his craft, manifest in so many different forms… goat would get butchered... next thing you know, skin hanging out to cure for the making of a drum (tambora for George)... an old milk tin split with a cold chisel, flattened, holes punched on it with a nail and hammer, ’cause he making a ‘guerro’ (for Jocelyn)... I remember him cutting the metal tins and setting them on a marimba vaguely... [I] remember so many of the older heads coming and going in the yard in Sucker Garden,” Eddie’s home district.
In a separate Facebook comment, retired businessman Leo Friday noted that the musician “also played baseball with the Caterpillars” and was “a great catcher.”
Eddie Violenus also crossed cultural art genres, appearing with band members in paintings by the island’s leading artists such as Ruby Bute, Cynric Griffith, and Ras Mosera. The band and its instruments have been mentioned in poetry. As recently as 2021, Bute’s pastel portrait of the Tanny & The Boys accordionist was featured on the cover of the Caribbean Music edition of Interviewing the Caribbean (Vol. 7, No. 1)—the peer-reviewed journal published in Jamaica by The University of The West Indies Press.
Edward “Eddie” Emanuel Violenus is remembered, alongside his fellows, for musical excellence and an enduring legacy in the preservation of St. Martin’s traditional festive and string band music.
Well played, Eddie.