Thursday, 09 June 2011
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Schotte: Tromp was out to blackmail me
WILLEMSTAD--Curaçao Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte (MFK) called an urgent press conference after his heated meeting with Central Bank director Emsley Tromp to say the latter had tried to blackmail him with accusations against cabinet members to avoid giving clarity on his own dubious role in a NAf. 3-million loan.
The young prime minister said that, based on recent reports that he had arranged a
NAf. 3-million loan for two companies without any collateral from a commercial bank, the Council of Ministers had required further explanation, after Finance Minister George "Jorge" Jamaloodin had reported on his talk with the Central Bank director on the same topic earlier that day.
Schotte said that instead Tromp had launched serious allegations without presenting proof against him and other ministers, even claiming that Jamaloodin had threatened to plant drugs in the car and/or office. He called it an unsuccessful attempt at blackmail and nothing but a smokescreen.
Jamaloodin had put a distance between himself and his company Speedy Security when he had become minister and a committee had chosen government's "house bank" based on purely objective and well-established criteria, in a completely transparent manner.
It was Tromp who had received NAf. 3 million in his personal bank account from a loan that lacked any collateral. "So the question is: What did the Central Bank give or owe that bank instead?"
The prime minister added that the ties of a direct subordinate of Tromp at the Central Bank to the two companies that had benefitted from the loan made it all even more dubious. He said it was actually the audit team of the Central Bank that had noted the irregularity, "but word apparently came from above not to touch the matter, because it involved the boss."
There were more issues, he said, such as an insurance company operating without the required coverage from abroad. An attempt had been made to obtain such from another island nearby, but it had failed, he added.
"These matters affect the integrity of the institution and government had a right to demand clarity."
Asked what will happen now, Schotte said he would have talks about the matter with experts during his trip to the Netherlands, which starts today, Thursday, but that things could not stay this way.
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Ousted Palocci takes his job as member of Petrobras administration council
Antonio Palocci, who on Tuesday stepped down as President Dilma Rousseff?s chief of staff over questions about his personal finances, will be taking a seat at Petrobras Administration Council, confirmed Brazil?s oil giant president Sergio Gabrielli.Italy Lisa Allardice Private equity Yorkshire Tottenham Hotspur Comedy
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Qtel announces management changes to drive growth in Qatar and internationally
Qatar Telecom Q.S.C. announced a number of senior management changes following a Board Meeting that was held today.
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Minister Heyliger breaks ground on Dutch Quarter drainage project
DUTCH QUARTER--Minister in charge of Infrastructure Theo Heyliger broke ground yesterday in Dutch Quarter to signal the start of the drainage upgrading project for the district. Also in attendance at the short ceremony were Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, Minister Cornelius DeWeever and Minister Hiro Shegemoto.Joined by residents of Dutch Quarter, Minister Heyliger assured that the drainage project was just the beginning of future upgrades in the district He said while he would like to do everything at the same time, he believes in a structural approach to projects and identified the upgrading of drainage as the first step.
Dutch Quarter is very prone to flooding with the main road being rendered almost impassable at the slightest drop of rain. The project will last up to six months and should deliver what was dubbed the "ultimate solution" for flooding in the area. It will start with the construction of deep concrete drains on the road sides from the Dutch Quarter round about right up to Mt. William Hill.
Jan Hendrik-Boekaar of Windward Roads explained that there will, unavoidably, be some inconvenience for motorists and residents, especially as the project moves to the higher elevations. Boekaar also said his company will take on five young adults from the district to not only work on the project, but who will be trained with the long-term vision of having them contribute to future projects as well.
Interim President of the Dutch Quarter Community Council Sidney "Pebbles" de Weever said the project will improve the quality of life and quality of health in the district which is popularly known as "DQ." De Weever also proudly announced that "DQ" also stands for Don't Quit among Dutch Quarter residents.
He went on to pay homage to the late district stalwart Edgar Lynch, whom he said worked on the project up to a few days before his passing. De Weever said without Lynch's involvement many of the projects in Dutch Quarter would not have seen fruition or would not have been executed smoothly.
De Weever also made a call to government and the coordinators of the Get Off the Block, Get on the Bus, Get Busy (GB3) project to establish some form of entity that would see young men from the district involved in the maintenance of the projects. He said these young men who want to work would gladly maintain projects in their district as part of a maintenance crew for Dutch Quarter.
Minister Heyliger explained that as much as he likes the idea, with financial stipulations and Dutch regulations as they are, open bidding has to take place and other procedures followed in granting contracts. However, he added, his Ministry tries its best to involve the people of the districts through work with sub-contractors etc.
The drainage upgrading project for Dutch Quarter is a result of the UNESCO-IHE study of 2005 which is used as the master-plan for drainage on the entire Dutch half of the island.
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Road closures start in Cole Bay Monday
COLE BAY--Traffic will be re-routed in the Cole Bay area on Monday, from 9:00am, to facilitate the start of the infrastructure improvement project in the district. More specifically, Wringly Street, which connects Welfare Road with Wellington Road and the Waterfront Road (see image above) will be completely closed off for the next three months, starting Monday.For a better perspective, Wringly is the road across from Afoo Daily Extra Supermarket and stretches to Cole Bay Tire Centre. To negate the effects on traffic as much as possible, the concrete traffic directional barriers at the intersections of Wringly Street and Welfare Road and Waterfront Road and Welfare Road will be removed, thereby restoring that section of Welfare Road into a two-way traffic situation again, though temporarily.
The project, which will focus primarily on improvement of sewage and drainage facilities, will cost NAf. 5.7 million. Funding agency USONA is the main financer with government contributing approximately NAf. 650,000.
According to Head of the Department of New Projects Kurt Ruan, the physical start of the work will start next week Monday in the lower-lying areas of Cole Bay (in the area of Cole Bay Tire Centre). He explained that completing the work in these areas before the peak of the hurricane season was vital. These low-lying sections constitute phase one of the entire project.
Once completed, work on phase two will start (from KFC to Afoo Daily Extra). During this period, Welfare Road will be closed, from August 2011 until December 2011. It will only be accessible to homeowners, with special provisions for business owners. Barring any natural disasters, the road should be opened before the peak of the high season, Ruan said.
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