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Witu Being Left Out Of Social Dialogues

MADAME ESTATE – The Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) held a press conference, via phone, with the different media outlets, at their office in Madame Estate, on Thursday, July 27, after another failed attempt to meet with Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs.

According to WITU President Claire Elshot-Aventurin, the purpose of the press conference was to inform members about the ongoing issues they come to the union with, and let them know how talks with the Education Minister were progressing.

Initially, WITU first requested a meeting with Minister Jacobs on June 16 Read more

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Telem Group Ceo Cautions Against “Free Wi-Fi” Idea For St. Maarten

Pond  Island –  TelEm Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Kendall Dupersoy, is advising “caution” to an idea coming out of a recently concluded telecommunication conference in the Dominican Republic, that St. Maarten can enhance its telecommunication services to residents and visitors by offering free Wi-Fi throughout the island.

The idea was put forward by Minister of TEATT, Melissa Arrindell-Doncher during the recently ended 33rd annual Conference and Trade Exhibition of CANTO, in the Dominican Republic, and repeated in at least one online media outlet this week.

“I am all for making telecommunication services affordable for TelEm Group customers, however I cannot see how we can benefit by offering free wi-fi “spots” to the millions of visitors who come to the island each year, who are currently paying for this service,” said Mr Read more

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Pond Island:---TelEm Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Kendall Dupersoy, is advising “caution” to an idea coming out of a recently concluded telecommunication conference in the Dominican Republic, that St. Maarten can enhance its telecommunication services to residents and visitors by offering free Wi-Fi throughout the island.

The idea was put forward by Minister of TEATT, Melissa Arrindell-Doncher during the recently ended 33rd annual Conference and Trade Exhibition of CANTO, in the Dominican Republic, and repeated in at least one online media outlet this week.

“I am all for making telecommunication services affordable for TelEm Group customers, however, I cannot see how we can benefit by offering free wi-fi “spots” to the millions of visitors who come to the island each year, who are currently paying for this service,” said Mr Read more

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Caribbean Must Equalise To Grow And Grow To Equalise, Says Eclac

KINGSTON | NEW YORK – If they are to meet commitments agreed under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its sustainable development goals (SDGs), the countries of the Caribbean must focus on closing the structural gaps they still have – particularly with regard to gender equality and financial and fiscal sustainability (due to their high debt level) – and mitigating the effects of climate change, .

Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), spoke in this regard during the ‘African-Caribbean Cross-Regional Exchange’ at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) which ended July 19 at United Nations headquarters in New York.

“The current development model is unsustainable in that it has led to a decrease in trade and growth, greater inequality, excessive financialisation, and has fallen into the greatest market failure of all: climate change,” she said.

“The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have thus come about as an aspirational response with a view to the long term … [and] “in order to meet the SDGs, ECLAC proposes a great environmental push, a change in productive structures via industrialisation, innovation and the incorporation of greater knowledge.”

The New York event, which focused on dialogue around proposals related to debt, climate change and gender equality in Africa and the Caribbean, was organised by the Regions Refocus initiative of the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation (with headquarters in Sweden), the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) foundation and the Jamaica Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Participants in the dialogue included Ambassador Courtenay Rattray, Representative for the Jamaica Permanent Mission to the United Nation; Ambassador Pennelope Beckles of Trinidad and Tobago; Ambassador Keith Hamilton Lewellyn Marshall of Barbados and other Caribbean and African ambassadors to the United Nations, Anita Nayar of Regions Refocus, and Caecilie Schildberg of FES, among others.

In her remarks, the ECLAC Executive Secretary said that in order to implement the 2030 Agenda, develop their national institutional frameworks to follow it and mainstream the SDGs into their plans and policies, it is essential that the countries of the Caribbean know the challenges they face in the current global context in terms of trade flows and accords, access to financing and mobilisation of resources, and technology.

“We must equalise to grow and grow to equalise, fostering investment and gender equality,” said Bárcena.

On this last point, she stated that the main issue is assuring women’s autonomy in its three dimensions: economic, physical and political.

In the Caribbean, women tend to be over-represented in the lowest sectors of the labour market – especially in the service sector – and under-represented in areas that require higher qualifications, she explained.

Furthermore, the unemployment rate is higher among women, who also suffer lower levels of social protection and have lower salaries compared with men (in similar positions).

“Much more needs to be done to completely capitalise on women’s potential, requiring methods that encompass their access to education and quality training, to economic resources and financial services, and to new forms of financing,” Bárcena said Read more

Update: Hikers Find Partially Submerged Body In Water

UPDATE by French Prosecutor office:

OYSTER POND, French Saint Martin – At 12:25pm on Wednesday, July 26, hikers near the Whale Watch Observatory in Oyster Pond on the French side reported to Gendarmes the presence of a body that was partially submerged in the water, some 50m from the edge.

This lifeless, but recently deceased body, was of a man about 35 years old, 1.80m and of Latino ethnicity Read more

Rerouting At Beacon Hill Entrance Will Have To Be Considered, One Death Is Too Much Says Minister Of Vromi.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel made clear on Wednesday that the people of St. Maarten will have to consider the re-routing of traffic on Beacon Hill since this plan has been on the books for years. The Minister said that government have to find a solution to the problems that exists at Beacon Hill because visitors to the island refused to take heed of the warning signs Read more

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Sarah: Winair’S Success: A Story Of Fighting For What You Believe In.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — It is with a great feeling of satisfaction that I took note of the publication regarding Winair’s performance for the fiscal year 2016 and I wish to add my words of congratulations to the board of supervisory directors, the management and staff for this accomplishment.

What a turnaround, if one looks back just a few years to the then outlook for this airline company.

Over the past few years, achievements by our national airline Winair have been steadily coming in and time and time again, I had to think of those early days when Winair was inherited from the Netherlands Antilles, bruised and in serious debt Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday, July 24, 2017, Ambassador of India to Venezuela and Consul General of India to Sint Maarten, Mr. Rahul Shrivastava, made an introductory visit to the Honorable Prime Minister Mr. William Marlin.

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PHILIPSBURG:--- It is with a great feeling of satisfaction that I took note of the publication regarding Winair’s performance for the fiscal year 2016 and I wish to add my words of congratulations to the board of supervisory directors, the management and staff for this accomplishment.
What a turnaround, if one looks back just a few years to the then outlook for this airline company.
Over the past few years, achievements by our national airline Winair have been steadily coming in and time and time again, I had to think of those early days when Winair was inherited from the Netherlands Antilles, bruised and in serious debt Read more

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Regional Laboratories Prepare To Detect And Respond To New And Emerging Diseases

KINGSTON, Jamaica - “Public health laboratories play a critical role in the fight against communicable diseases, specifically vector-borne diseases, to better prepare the Region to detect and respond to new and emerging threats,” stated Dr Karen Polson-Edwards, Acting Director, Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control at CARPHA.

Dr Polson-Edwards was speaking at the opening of a two-day technical and policy forum for laboratory directors from 19 English and Dutch speaking public health laboratories across the Region Read more

Open Letter To The Democratic Party

Dear editor,

Albert Claudius Wathey is rightly considered the Father of the Nation by many in Sint Maarten. He was also the co founder of the Democratic Party of Sint Maarten (DP). Not too long ago, however, the current government, of which the DP is a coalition partner, revealed that it wants to demolish the old government administration building Read more

New Uwi Chancellor Takes Office

KINGSTON, Jamaica – The University of the West Indies (The UWI) marks a change in its leadership, as it welcomes a new Chancellor, the highest office-holder in The UWI system.

Trinidad and Tobago national, Robert Bermudez assumes duties as the 6th Chancellor of the University, having been appointed at the University Council’s annual business meeting on April 27, 2017 to succeed Sir George Alleyne.

According to the University’s Statutes and Ordinances, “the Chancellor shall preside at meetings of the Council [the highest governing body of the regional university] and any Convocation and shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be conferred upon the holder of the office of Chancellor by The UWI Charter or any Statute, Ordinance or Regulation.”

Chancellor Bermudez—as he will be called—has been an entrepreneur for over 40 years.  He led the growth of his family-owned firm, to a regional business throughout the Caribbean and Latin America and has enjoyed a distinguished career in business, serving as either Chairman or Board Director for several corporate bodies in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean Read more

Cal Dedicates Jet To Honour Calypsonian

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – Calypsonian Dr McCartha Linda Sandy Lewis, better known as Calypso Rose, was hailed for her contribution to Caribbean culture when Caribbean Airlines (CAL) dedicated one of its 737 jets in her honour.

The formal commissioning of the aircraft took place on Friday when the signage on the nose of the aircraft was unveiled by three ministers: Minister of Community Development, Culture and the Arts Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly; Minister of Tourism Shamfa Cudjoe and Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon.

In addition, chairman of Caribbean Airlines Sameer Ronnie Mohammed and Rose’s international manager, Jean Michel Gilbert were present.

Rose was absent from the function but watched live from Lyon in France where she was scheduled to perform.

The decision to name the aircraft in her honour was made by Cabinet for her becoming the first Soca artiste to win the World Music Album of the Year for her latest album “Far From Home” at the French Victories de la Musique award ceremony in Paris on February 10.

Gadsby-Dolly said another of Rose’s many ground breaking achievements was when she won the title Calypso King in 1978, with her renditions “I Thank Thee” and “Her Majesty”, forcing organisers of the competition to change the name of the show to Calypso Monarch, the name it still carries today.

She said her list of achievements testifies to her unwavering spirit as an exemplar for all Trinidadians to follow.

She said Rose was not a case of overnight success but one of perseverance as she began writing songs when she was 15 and has so far penned more than 800 tunes.

The music video to the song “Far From Home”, which was shown on board the aircraft, features Rose at the controls of a vintage aircraft and many scenes of her native Tobago.

Gadsby-Dolly said the video showed that the sky is the limit for Rose Read more

Cal Pilots Raise Safety Concern Over Atr Planes

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – On the heels of an emergency landing in St Lucia by an ATR aircraft belonging to Caribbean Airlines (CAL), pilots yesterday held a “critical” meeting to discuss safety concerns over the aircraft.

The T&T Guardian was told by a source that the pilots are threatening to ground all flights until CAL rectifies all issues raised by them, including recurring technical problems on aircraft.

Contacted about the meeting held by the T&T Airline Pilots Association (TTALPA) yesterday, CAL communications manager Dionne Ligoure said she was aware but could not comment further on it.

On Sunday, Flight BW434 was forced to make an emergency landing at Hewanorra International Airport in St Lucia after a warning light came on in the aircraft’s cockpit Read more

Extreme Weather Wiping Out Hard-Won Gdp Gains In Hours

BRUSSELS, Belgium – With Antigua and Barbuda joining St. Kitts and Nevis as the two eastern Caribbean nations to attain middle-income country status, a senior diplomat has identified climate change as a major factor preventing other nations in the grouping from taking the same step forward.

According to the World Bank, a middle-income economy is one with a gross national income per capita of between 1,026 and 12,475 dollars in 2016, calculated according to the Atlas method — a formula used by the World Bank to estimate the size of economies in terms of gross national income in U.S Read more

Acm President To Be Recognised By Nabj

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – President of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), Wesley Gibbings will receive the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Percy Qoboza Foreign Journalist Award at the NABJ Convention and Career Fair in New Orleans next month.

Gib Read more

The Qualifications Of A Parliamentarian

Why even bother at this time to write about the qualifications of a parliamentarian when the next parliamentary election is all the way in 2020? Sadly, this has been the mentality in the past that has led us to vote for persons based, on friendship, family ties and family tradition, instead of looking at the qualifications, qualities and experience of the candidates.

One of the reasons why we have not paid much attention to the qualifications of parliamentarians is, because during election time, our politicians campaign as if they were running to become ministers in government Read more

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Pm Confident Of Victory In Upcoming General Election

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada – Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell says he is confident that the ruling New National Party (NNP) will be returned to power in the upcoming general election.

Mitchell, who is also the current chairman of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) urged Grenadians to return the party to power to ensure that there is a smooth transition from one chairman of the CDB to another next year.

He said that in May 2018, Grenada will be hosting the annual CDB meeting and hopes that Grenadians will understand why his Government needs to be the one handing over to the new chairman.

“No changes should take place,” Mitchell said.

No date has been announced for the general election that is constitutionally due by March 2018.

The Parliamentary Elections Office, which is responsible for executing a general election, recently disclosed that it’s ready to ensure free and fear general elections Read more

Government Senator Resigns

CASTRIES, St Lucia – Jimmy Henry has resigned with immediate effect as a senator and as the Minister in the Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives.

Henry announced his resignation in a prepared video statement sent to the media just after 11 a.m. today, Wednesday, July 12, 2017.

In the one-minute-and-26-second video, Henry said “for reasons altogether personal” he has tendered his resignation with “immediate effect” from the Senate and as a minister.

He said due to “these personal matters at this time” he is unable to give the “attention necessary” to his ministerial duties.

Henry expressed his “deepest gratitude to the government of Saint Lucia, particularly Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, for having afforded him the “highest honour” to serve the country.

He also thanked his Dennery North supporters for sticking with him through “thick and thin”.

This news comes one day after both Minister for Home Affairs, Justice and National Security Hermangild Francis and Acting Commissioner of Police Milton Desir denied any knowledge of or refuted allegations of a recent police investigation into Senator Henry.

On his live television talk show last Thursday, July 6, former government minister Richard Frederick alleged that Henry was stopped by police at the George F.L Read more

Pm Orders Audit After One Minister Racks Up $8 Million Cell Phone Bill

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Prime Minister Andrew Holness has ordered an audit of all cell phone bills of Cabinet Ministers.

Holness, who issued the order ahead of Tuesday’s sitting of Parliament, said the issue of communication costs and high cellular phone bills being incurred for roaming and data charges, had to be addressed.

This comes in the wake of a recent report that Finance Minister Audley Shaw had cell phone bills amounting to J$8.3 million.

Coming from the meeting, it was acknowledged that there was no standard, clear and consistent policy being applied across government regarding the treatment of communication expenses for Ministers and Ministers of State.

According to Holness, the situation is unacceptable and must be addressed immediately in order to confirm the accuracy of information in the public domain.

He has also directed the Ministry of Finance to review and report on the respective policies for the provision of communication services including cell phones, operating in the various Ministries.

The Prime Minister added that this will allow Cabinet to make a comprehensive decision on how communication services and expenses for Ministers are treated.

He also directed that cellular phone expenses be capped.

The Ministry of Finance has been tasked to advise the Prime Minister, within a week, on the appropriate amount for the cap to be paid by each ministry for the Minister’s cellular phone bills Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Why even bother at this time to write about the qualifications of a parliamentarian when the next parliamentary election is all the way in 2020? Sadly, this has been the mentality in the past that has led us to vote for persons based, on friendship, family ties, and family tradition, instead of looking at the qualifications, qualities, and experience of the candidates.

One of the reasons why we have not paid much attention to the qualifications of parliamentarians is because, during election time, our politicians campaign as if they were running to become ministers in government Read more

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Premiums will increase which the private sector has problems with --- Finance Minister --- SHTA objecting to high cost.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Health Emil Lee reacted to the statements made by the SHTA on the implementation of the National Health Insurance ( NHI) which they also requested be postponed. Minister Lee made clear that he do believe the discussion on the NHI is a good discussion because everyone deserves to have quality healthcare Read more

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Sewage Truck Driver Demanding Apology, Possible Court Case Pending.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel shed some light on the video and photograph that was taken of a sewage truck driver that was seen dumping on the landfill. Emmanuel said after conducting an investigation it turned out that the truck driver in question was not dumping raw sewage on the dump but in fact, the driver was working for government who contracted him to clean drainage pit in the Dutch Quarter/ Belvedere area in preparation for the 2017 hurricane season.
The Minister said that the driver was dumping on the landfill legally because he pays to sludge in a specific area Read more

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The project will take 18 months to construct--- Agreement with Synergy annulled.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of VROMI has made some headway in getting a waste to energy plant on St. Maarten which would probably eliminate the fires at the dumpsite and also decrease the size of the ‘hill’ on Pond Island. The Minister announced on Wednesday that he signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with a company to deal with the garbage situation on St. Maarten. In a separate interview with SMN News Minister Emmanuel said that some 17/18 companies submitted proposals to the Department of VROMI but only four of them really mentioned the landfill (dump) in their proposals in terms of remediating and taking care of the landfill Read more

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