Netherlands Antilles NGOs face funding crisis
Filed under: Business and Economy, Government & Politics, Law Enforcement and Crime
CURACAO, Netherlands Antilles: The Dutch government has described the handling of AMFO�s (Antillean Co Financing Organisation) accounting as �jiggery-pokery� and confirmed that an annual budget of 9.5 million euros (US$11.2m) has been suspended until all monies given to AMFO could be properly accounted for.
AMFO is responsible for distributing funds for social projects designed to alleviate poverty and promote culture, throughout the Antilles, which also includes providing money for school meals for the islands� poorest children.
The problem for Holland is that AMFO�s directors are appointed by project organisations on each of the 5 islands, known as �Platforms� and so cannot be held accountable to the Dutch Government and, although their bookkeeping is questionable, the individuals who form the supervisory board are beyond reproach and can be neither fired nor suspended.
The current structure of how the funds are distributed to the NGOs in the region was created four years ago and it was decided that the then 1,000 plus NGOs who were requesting financial support directly from Holland should be consolidated into independently run �Platforms�.
These Platform companies fall under the supervisory control of AMFO, who in turn would approve necessary funds for the various project proposals.
Holland has now demanded that an emergency operational audit be carried out of AMFO�s bookkeeping prior to releasing more funds, as well as the total reorganisation of AMFO�s current management board that is directly responsible for the current lack of financial control.
It is considered by the Dutch government, given AMFO�s uncertain position, that this entire process is likely to take some time. But the victims of this financial debacle are the islands� neediest groups.
Catering companies providing school meals say the situation for them is desperate, as there is only sufficient funding for the next four weeks. This was confirmed by Curacao�s Platform manager Mr Doran.
If money is not made available, the kitchens will be unable to supply hot school meals for its poorest children and many other projects including youth programmes, and services for the elderly will simply fold.
When questioned about Holland�s moral obligation to continue to fund these small projects, their representative, who asked not to be named, hinted at the possibility of temporarily by-passing AMFO by working in collaboration with an intermediary management team, to temporally fund existing projects, but stopped short of making any promises about the future of the projects involved.
The representative added that Mr Pechthold, the Antillean interior minister in Holland, could not jeopardise his political position for what clearly would appear as unlawful support of AMFO�s financial ineptitude.
Source: Cayman Net
Pechtold coming for tough bilateral talks on March 27
PHILIPSBURG–Dutch Minister of Kingdom Affairs Alexander Pechtold will be in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba March 27-30 for what are expected to be tough bilateral talks on constitutional reform with all Island Territories, the Central Government and the government of Aruba.
Reports Tuesday said he would be seeking to establish new workable and efficient constitutional structures.
One of his main objectives during the talks will be to maintain a single judicial chain for all the islands in the wake of constitutional reform and the islands� acquisition of new statuses.
Coming soon: Exhibition match Curaçao vs Malta
The two islands are 8,600 km apart, and normally a match between eight-board national selections from both places would be exorbitantly expensive to arrange. Unless of course you use the Internet – specifically the Playchess server and webcams – to stage the event. If you want to see it happen, Saturday’s the day.
On Saturday March 11th 2006, the two islands of Curaçao and Malta will play a very important exhibition match against each other via the Playchess Server courtesy of ChessBase. There is a huge geographical distance of around 8,600 kilometres between both islands, Curaçao in the Caribbean and Malta in the Mediterranean.
A national selection from both islands will play each other over eight boards. Both teams will come together in their Chessboard Rooms that will be equipped also with Webcams. Emily de Jong-Elhage, Prime minister of the Netherlands Antilles, will open the sportive encounter between the two islands. After the match with Malta, Curaçao will also play several Rapid matches against teams of the city of Utrecht (Netherlands).
The matches are an initiative of the Right Move Campaign (“For a Bona FIDE”). The team wants to establish an international team competition over the internet. This will allow countries, which suffer from isolated locations, to participate in meaningful international competitions without suffering from mega air transfer and hotel costs.
We invite all chess players in the world to have a look at ChessBase on Saturday March 11th (see transmission times later on).
Rationale
Many countries, areas, cities and clubs all over the world, have to deal with large distances and high travel expenses and are therefore often isolated from International and even national competitions. It is obvious that this is a very big frustration for the development and popularity of our noble game. Also interesting competitions in one’s country or region, will attract sponsors and stimulate the youths for further playing, studying and training.
The Right Move team has a clear plan to solve this by developing Internet competitions with high standards of organisation. The Curaçao-Malta and Curaçao-Utrecht will be the first demonstration matches that are part of this plan.
The program for Saturday March 11 is as follows (times are GST):
14h00- 18h00
Curaçao – Malta (national teams)
8 boards, time control is 60 minutes + 30 sec
18h00- 19h00
SC Janwe, Curaçao – SC Moira Domtoren, Utrecht (Youth teams)
8 boards, time control is 25 minutes + 10 sec
19h00- 20h00
SC Nacho Moron, Curaçao – SC Hot Spirit, Utrecht (Rapid match 1)
8 boards, time control is 25 minutes + 10 sec
20h00-21h00
SC Nacho Moron, Curaçao – SC Hot Spirit, Utrecht (Rapid match 2)
8 boards, time control is 25 minutes + 10 sec
The chess players of Curaçao will be hosted in the Van der Valk Plaza Hotel in the downtown of Willemstad. The national team of Malta will play from the Visitor’s Lounge of Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, Malta’s largest Brewery.
In addition he can count on the support of Scarlet (wireless internet connections) and Citco and Keycomp (both for the hardware). International Arbiter, Alex Roose is setting up a first draft of dedicated rules for these Internet matches and whilst no incidents are expected, Ernst & Young in Curaçao will kindly look after the compliance with these rules during the games whilst Mr. Patrick Mangion, an auditor from Malta, will do the same.
Source: Chessbase.com
HEALTHPOINT Acquires Collagenase Topical Business from BioSpecifics Technologies Corp.
FORT WORTH, Texas, and LYNBROOK, N.Y., March 7 /PRNewswire/ — HEALTHPOINT, Ltd., a DFB Pharmaceuticals Inc. affiliate company, and BioSpecifics Technologies Corp. (BSTC.PK), today announced the sale of BioSpecifics’ topical collagenase business. As part of the agreement, HEALTHPOINT’s affiliate will assume ownership and operation of BioSpecifics’ manufacturing facility in Curacao and certain other assets in Lynbrook, NY, owned by BioSpecifics’ affiliate, Advance Biofactures Corporation.
Deal terms involve an upfront cash payment of $8 million to BioSpecifics on signing for the assets and an additional payment for future services to be provided by Advance Biofactures Corporation. The deal terms also include the potential for BioSpecifics’ to benefit from an earn-out based on sales.
HEALTHPOINT’s affiliate plans to invest $1.5 million in upgrading the newly acquired manufacturing facilities which currently produces Collagenase ABC, an enzyme derived from the fermentation of the bacterium Clostridium histolyticum.
“HEALTHPOINT is delighted to add BioSpecifics’ topical business to our product portfolio,” said Michael Steadman, President of Tissue Management Division, HEALTHPOINT. “This acquisition underscores our commitment to offer our customers a comprehensive line of prescription pharmaceuticals, biologics and technologies that improve treatment and outcomes for healthcare professionals and their patients,” continued Mr. Steadman. “With the acquisition of BioSpecifics’ topical collagenase business, HEALTHPOINT continues to demonstrate its dedication to drug development for the wound care market.”
BioSpecifics President Thomas Wegman said, “The purchase of the topical collagenase business allows BioSpecifics to focus our efforts on collagenase products for injection and the clinical development of new promising therapeutic indications. HEALTHPOINT is a proven leader in the wound management market and they are in an ideal position to maximize the potential for topical collagenase.”
About HEALTHPOINT, Ltd.
Since its inception in 1992, HEALTHPOINT has established a U.S. presence in the research, development, and marketing of branded pharmaceuticals, over the counter drugs, and medical devices for tissue management, dermatology, and surgical indications. An aggressive research and development effort has brought HEALTHPOINT’s unique technologies to the market, setting the pace for its highly trained field sales organization of direct sales representatives. HEALTHPOINT, with over 300 employees, is a DFB Pharmaceuticals, Inc. affiliate company. HEALTHPOINT is based in Fort Worth, Texas. Visit HEALTHPOINT’s web site at http://www.healthpoint.com.
About BioSpecifics Technologies Corp.
BioSpecifics develops collagenase-based products for therapeutic use, which may provide advantages over currently available treatments. BioSpecifics has partnered with Auxilium Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AUXL – News) to develop and commercialize collagenase for injection in Dupuytren’s disease, Peyronie’s disease, and Frozen Shoulder. Phase 3 clinical trials with collagenase for treatment of Dupuytren’s have been initiated. Peyronie’s disease is in Phase 2 clinical investigations. Auxilium announced that they had exercised the rights to Frozen Shoulder in December 2005 based on positive clinical results in a Phase 2 trial.
Latin American/Caribbean Junior League Tournament
ST. THOMAS РThe Alvin McBean East Little League and Elrod Hendricks West Little League will host the 2006 Junior League Latin American/Caribbean Regional Little League Tournament from July 15 to 23. Teams from Aruba, the Bahamas, the BVI, Cura̤ao, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Martin, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and the USVI will compete. People who would like to volunteer with the tournament should attend a meeting at 6:30 p.m. March 14 at Palms Court Harborview Hotel on St. Thomas. For more information, contact Lubin Roberts at 690-4326 or Jaime Francis at 344-1002.
Healing process
The French side is holding a march against racism Wednesday, in light of comments following the incident in which a Gendarme was killed by a motorbike he was trying to stop. Family and colleagues of the Gendarme said locals on the scene had acted and expressed themselves in an ugly and racist manner towards the victim.
The French press picked up the story and there was the suggestion that the biker had crashed into the European law enforcement official purposely, which at least at first glance seems ridiculous if he had any regard for his own life, especially as he ended up badly injured as well.
It is not the first time, of course, that there has been tension between segments of the local population and the Gendarmes brought in from France without having practical knowledge of the island. The municipal police are a “local†force, but primarily involved in regulating traffic and related manners. That there are cultural differences between European French and the people of the island is logical, but these differences should not be allowed to escalate in the direction things appear to be taking. Local leaders, as well as those in charge at the national level, should realise that adding fuel to the fire is not in the interest of anyone.
Of course, it would be nice if the Gendarmes had more local hands-on knowledge and experience, but at the moment the French police structure and operation is what it is. The majority of the voters also knew this when they voted to fall directly under Paris. If the French side is to remain part of France, its people must respect the national laws, regulations and authorities that come with doing so.
Having said that, it would be good idea to study the matter at all levels, to see if it’s not possible to somehow integrate more locals into the corps policing the communities of which they are part. That is something that can in principle benefit any police force and is also the reason why top Dutch-side officials would like to see more people from the Windward Islands become police, rather than depending too much on those sent here from Curaçao.
In the meantime, however, the French side needs to come together to show the outside world that St. Martin is still a peaceful and civil place, where people treat each other right. That’s why tomorrow’s unity march should be attended by all officials, including the Gendarmes, and if possible the families of both victims as well.
The healing must begin
Source: The Daily Herald
Colourful Curaçao Carnival
LAST WEEKEND’S Curaçao Carnival was celebration of culture and friendship, complete with a high level of creativity. Extravagant costumes, elaborately dressed spectators and music came together to create a grand parade worthy of the title of ‘the biggest show in the country’.
Over 5,000 costumed revellers and thousands of bystanders converged on the streets of Curaçao for the grand street parade on Sunday as politicians, the old and the young, dressed in costumes, rocked to the music.
Several Jamaicans among group to be deported from Netherland Antilles
Several Jamaicans are among a group of persons being considered for deportation from the Netherlands Antilles.
The government is considering deporting over 30,000 persons illegally living and working in the country.
But a group of foreign investors is pressuring the government to re-consider the move, claiming the illegal immigrants are contributing to society.
The lobby group in Curacao claims that the country’s economy would collapse without the immigrants, who are mainly from Jamaica, Columbia, Venezuela, Haiti as well as Trinidad and Tobago.