SXMElections.com

~ Marlin hopes to return soon~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament William Marlin who is currently in Panama on medical in an interview with Andrew Dick said that he went to Panama some five months ago to seek medical treatment and was expected to return after three weeks. However, after a surgery there he was infected while in the hospital, thus he remained in the hospital on intravenous antibiotics Read more

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PHILIPSBURG: --- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said that while being overseas, she took note of what transpired during her absence. The Prime Minister was referring to the Alegria water rights saga, between the Minister of VROMI and Member of Parliament Raeyhon Peterson.
Jacobs said that the Minister of VROMI was off the island this past week and is expected to return to St Read more

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Ministry Of Vromi Investigating The Issuance Of Contract To Repair Prins Bernard Bridge.

~Possible Bid Rigging detected~

PHILIPSBURG: --- Acting Minister of VROMI Ardwell Irion said that the government of St. Maarten is busy investigating the contract that was issued to Soualiga Infrastructure to repair the walkway of the Prins Bernard Bridge, this contract he said was awarded by the former Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel in 2017.
Irion said that after conducting preliminary research government determined that the contract was awarded to the companion of the former Ministers chief of staff Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Following previous announcements of a new basket of goods, which increased from 12 to 72 items, the Ministry of TEATT hereby informs the public that the new basket will be going into effect on Monday, August 1, 2022.
The new basket, which is being regulated by Ministerial Regulation, allows for more flexible adjustments in the future. Revocation of the National decree containing general measures which regulate the current basket of 12 items, has been approved by the Council of Advice and is presently in the final stages of the revocation process.
The initial timeline to have the new basket of goods implemented was originally July 1st, 2022 Read more

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Richardson Contacts State Secretary About Alleged Misuse Of Unops Funds

Minister of Justice Anna Richardson.

 PHILIPSBURG--After having read a New York Times article about unusual and questionable investments at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Minister of Justice Anna Richardson sent a communication to State Secretary Alexandra Van Huffelen to express great concern about this report Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Sint Maarten Tourism Bureau announced the renewal of contracts with the three agencies that execute the public relations, marketing communications, and digital marketing for the destination, as of July/ August 2022.

Following the upward trend of arrivals since 2021 and with some concerning challenges with lower occupancy for the summer, the tourism bureau is pleased to work with the Marketing and PR agencies again. The marketing team will work with Diamond PR, Big Idea Advertising, and USP PR Marketing to leverage a marketing budget and strategically drive travel in target markets like the Northeast (NY, NJ, and CT), Atlanta, Charlotte, Florida, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and California Read more

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Shadani Fleming Wins Plate Design Contest, Plate To Be Used From 2023

The winning number plate design

PHILIPSBURG--Local graphic designer Shadani Flemings simple design of a number plate depicting an aircraft, sunrise, and palm trees has won hearts of the public and landed her the winning spot of the number plate design competition. 

  The winning plate design will be used as of 2023 and the following years. Flemings design received more than 1,000 of the popular votes and she was notified and awarded the prize of NAf. 1,000.

  Flemings winning artwork featured a clean design with a red, white, and blue gradient background Read more

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~The public has chosen Shadani Flemings design as the winner.~

PHILIPSBURG:---  For the past few weeks, the Ministry of Finance organized a design competition to choose what will be the artwork used for the Sint Maarten License plate. Three submissions for license plates were posted to the Sint Maarten Government Facebook page and citizens were encouraged to vote for their favorite.

Each submission was posted with a caption explaining the concept of the designs. During the Facebook poll, there were over 2000 votes cast Read more

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Sarah: Back And Forth Between Doran, Peterson Can Harm Country

MP Sarah Wescot-Williams.

PHILIPSBURG--United Democrats (UD) Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams believes that the back and forth between Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Egbert Doran and Party For Progress (PFP) MP Raeyhon Peterson over the Alegria case can harm St Read more

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Recording Shows Minister Doran Threatened To Smear Mp Peterson

VROMI Minister Egbert Doran (left), representing National Alliance, and Party for Progress Member of Parliament Raeyhon Peterson Read more

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Emmanuel: Government Actively Trying To Distract From The Ombudsman Report

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten –– In a democracy, elected officials are accountable to the public they govern. As of late however, a worrying trend has emerged: The Minister of VROMI and the entire government, has made it a political tactic to attack any institution that makes that accountability possible, from the press to Parliament.

Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Wednesday said it is embarrassing, yet telling, that the Minister of VROMI is openly and blatantly trying to de-legitimatize, and disqualify the result of the systemic investigation conducted by the Ombudsman on the tendering process for garbage contracts Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure is currently working on upgrading the living standard conditions of our elderly and disabled persons here in St. Maarten. In doing so, the ministry has embarked on a project which would grant these persons easy access to Great Bay beach.

Since the inception of this Governmental term, the Honorable Minister Egbert Jurendy Doran has been adamant about upgrading the infrastructure on the island in such a manner that it would accommodate persons who are physically challenged Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The le Sommet Foundation in collaboration with The Haitian Association of Sint Maarten (H.A.S.MA) hosted a panel discussion for the Positive Parent Support Program, an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports.

Present in the panel discussion were board members of the Le Sommet Foundation and the Haitian Association of Sint Maarten (HASMA), UNICEF field assistant Mr. Bert van der Meijden. Head Caribbean Child Development Centre Ms. Cecile Minott from the University of the West Indies and Mr Read more

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Irion Says Liquidity Support Can Be Disbursed After Cft Approval

Finance Minister Ardwell Irion.

PHILIPSBURG--The NAf. 14 million liquidity support for the third quarter of 2022 that St. Maarten has requested can be disbursed once approved by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.

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Minister Of Vromi Seeks Legal Advice On How To Deal With Mp Implicated In Alegria Case.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Acting Minister of VROMI Ardwell Irion in response to questions regarding the letter that was released on Tuesday implicating a member of parliament in the Alegria court case that ends up in court.
SMN News asked the acting Minister of VROMI who is a member of the Council of Ministers said that he is aware that the Minister only last week received the letter that was part of a file for a court case and he is looking into all options on how to move forward Read more

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Raquel Spanner-Carty Elected Statia Democratic Party Leader

The new St. Eustatius Democratic Party Board (from left): Winston Fleming, Elvin Henriques, Magda Constania, Party Leader Raquel Spanner-Carty, Beverly Woodley, Sharon Berkel, Leona Spanner and Brian Carty.

ST. EUSTATIUS--Raquel Spanner-Carty has been elected as the new leader of the Democratic Party (DP) of St Read more

Finance Minister Ardwell Irion.

Minister Egbert Doran.

~ Doran believes it was done by design to create confusion ~

PHILIPSBURG--A hand-written note from a former commissioner for land swap with no supporting legal documentation; promissory letters, promissory e-mails, notes on an old paper with a signature, and word of mouth promises given to persons to occupy government land with no documentation are some of the situations that exists as it relates to governments long lease land.
Finance Minister Ardwell Irion believes some families had been duped with some of these situations, while Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Egbert Doran said in his opinion the situation seemed to have been done by design to create confusion in the future and not looking out for what may come.
Irion and Doran alluded to the challenges in response to a question on the efforts to collect outstanding Erfpacht cannon fees for long lease land during last Wednesdays Council of Ministers press briefing.
Irion said this process is continuing and government is in the process of adding two legal persons to a task force to address the matter Read more

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What Is Behind The Motion Of No Confidence Against Minister Of Vromi?

~ Promised Water Rights to Algeria as the driving force to remove Doran. ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran in a radio program on Tuesday indicated that there is more in the mortar than in pestle with regards to the motion of no confidence that the Party for Progress tries to table against him last week when they sneaked an agenda point in the urgent meeting called to debate the constitution.
Doran said the PFP faction mainly former head of Domain Affairs and now Member of Parliament Raeyhon Peterson made promises made to Algeria, now Morgans Resort Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Sunday, July 17th, 2022, the Justice Week celebrations culminated with a church service, followed by the Justice Parade, ending with a night of elegance at the First Annual Justice Ball to recognize workers of the Ministry of Justice.

Justice Week events began on Monday, July 11th, consisting of a three-day Justice Conference at the Simpson Bay Resort which saw department heads, management teams, and external partners discuss various topics of concern for the ministry while receiving critical feedback from a panel of experts in the field Read more

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Witu Disheartened By The Nonpayment Of The Vacation Allowance

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Irion Pushing To Lower Rental Costs As Part Of Cost Reduction

Finance Minister Ardwell Irion.

PHILIPSBURG--Finance Minister Ardwell Irion is pushing to lower the cost that is forked out on rent as part of efforts to lower costs Read more

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Former Minister Richard Gibson Dismayed By Bribery Insinuations

Former Minister of Finance Richard Gibson in 2017, with then Prime Minister and National Alliance leader Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:---  President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) Stuart Johnson minced no words by conveying, "I am profoundly saddened by the overall handling of the vacation allowance payment affecting subsidized school board employees."

He further expounded, "The precedence set by Government and the clear inequity it has caused is truly affecting the quality of education in our country," Johnson said.

On July 8, the WITU participated in a meeting with school boards and the Minister of Education, Drs Read more

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~United Nations updated on the progress of Sustainable Development Goals for 2030~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Jacobs recently flew to the United Nations (UN), as part of the delegation in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She was part of the delegation taking part in the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). During the three-day visit, the Prime Minister attended and presented at various discussions aimed at familiarizing countries with the others issues, solutions, and future plans Read more

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