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French Quarter residents block main road over lack of security

~ Nerves frayed after district suffers 13 fires in two months ~

MARIGOT--The main RN7 road just outside French Quarter at Angel's Insurance was blocked for nearly five hours Wednesday morning as residents demanded accountability from authorities over lack of security in the district following a series of 13 fires in the span of less than two months.

Long lines of cars built up as motorists from both directions were forced to turn around.

A phantom arsonist appears to be at work and the fact that no suspects have been positively identified as perpetrators of the crimes has left residents on tenterhooks, wondering who will be the next victim.

Tensions boiled over after a wooden house on Route de La Saline burnt down Tuesday afternoon, destroying three cars and leaving a family of six homeless Read more

William tells Dennis to ‘do the right thing,’ ‘lead by example’ and resign

~ Govt. holding country, Governor hostage ~

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament (MP) William Marlin issued a firm call to Justice Minister Dennis Richardson on Wednesday to “do the right thing” and “uphold the constitution” by resigning, given the no-confidence motion passed against the Council of Ministers.

Marlin also accused Government of staying in office and deliberately stalling the process to buy time to make deals and further plunder Government-owned companies such as utilities company GEBE and the Harbour and to “fix deals” about issues such as the waste-to-energy plant.

He said Ministers still were travelling and squandering the country’s money while they should have made their positions available to pave the way for a new cabinet Read more

Plenary session of Parliament to appoint new President and Vice Presidents set for October 13

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The House of Parliament will meet in a plenary session on October 13 to appoint the President and two Vice Presidents.

The public Plenary Session is set for Tuesday, at 9.00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg. The agenda point is the appointment of the President and Vice Presidents of Parliament.

This meeting of the House was requested by the National Alliance Faction Members of Parliament (MPs) W.V Read more

Leader of National Alliance calls on Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson to uphold the Country’s Constitution and not hold the Governor of St. Maarten Hostage.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the National Alliance and Member of Parliament William Marlin made a public call to Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson at a press conference he called on Wednesday afternoon. Marlin said that Minister Richardson should lead by example especially since he has held several positions in government and knows much better Read more

Plenary session of Parliament to appoint new President and Vice Presidents set for October 13.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will meet in a plenary session on October 13 to appoint the President and two Vice Presidents.

The public Plenary Session is set for Tuesday, at 9.00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is the appointment of the President and Vice Presidents of Parliament.

This meeting of the House was requested by the National Alliance Faction Members of Parliament (MPs) W.V Read more

Some Coalition MPs afraid of new elections, wants their Ministers to resign but held back by UPP Leader.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Information reaching SMN News states that the two Members of Parliament that are supporting the UPP/ De Weever/ LRM coalition allegedly wants their Ministers to resign and does not want new elections to be called now since they know that they have lost credibility within the community and will not be re-elected if new elections is called now.
A source close to the minority coalition that is holding the island (government) hostage wants their Ministers to resign and to respect the decision given by the Governor of St Read more

Where Is Theo?

Theo Heyliger – File photo

Dear Editor,

?With all the commotion going on…where is Theo? His silence is deafening.

Is he backing the Government’s fight for new elections now? Is he ready? Curious to know.

Michael J Read more

Mp Matser Appeals Fraud Conviction This Afternoon

Parliamentarian Silvio Matser arrives at the courthouse on January 7 for his sentence hearing. File photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten – MP Silvio Matser appears in the Common Court of Justice this afternoon at 1.30 p.m Read more

Niaca Fest Honors Artists Of Three Generations

Dancers perform at the 2014 Niaca fest. Photo contributed

St. Maarten – The National Institute of arts hosts the third annual Niaca festival this Saturday at the John Larmonie Center. The highlight of the evening will be an award ceremony that honors local artists of three generations.

“The show begins at 7 p.m. It celebrates “both our traditional cultural heritage, as well as the contemporary art works created by the artists of now,” the institute writes in a press release.

The institute chose October 10 for its festival: “The transition to country status is the appropriate occasion to celebrate all things of St Read more

Cardiology conference for public, professionals, kicks off Thursday

BELAIR--The public and various medical professionals are invited to attend the upcoming cardiology conference for essential information on preventing, recognising and treating heart conditions. “How often do you get the opportunity to hear from and ask questions to a panel of medical professionals?” said co-organiser Rotary St. Maarten President Jeffrey “Dr. Soc” Sochrin.

“The Heartbeat in St. Maarten – Where are we now” conference is slated for Belair Community Centre, Thursday through Saturday, October 8-10 Read more

Dennis says decision is being prepared on political situation

PHILIPSBURG--Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson said on Tuesday that a decision is being prepared on the current political situation.

Richardson was acting in that capacity yesterday as Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs was ill at home. Richardson declined to divulge details of the decision being prepared, but he said Gumbs was “very clear” on his position about not resigning and about wanting new elections to be held.

Richardson said also that the Council of Ministers had received a second advice on the matter, but he declined to say from whom the advice had been received and what the conclusions of the advice were Read more

Conference on driving OCT innovation starts

DAWN BEACH--A three-day conference focused on brainstorming and finding solutions towards diversifying economies with innovation, part of an EU-funded project called "Territorial Strategies for Innovation," kicked off on Tuesday morning with a full audience of private and public stakeholders, as well as a host of international attendees from the European Union's (EU) Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

The solutions will be geared towards boosting sustainable development and regional/global competitiveness, spearheaded by OCT Association (OCTA) based in Brussels, Belgium Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The NIACA Festival is a platform to celebrate the St.Maarten Story as told by the people who live and work here as artist. The showcase celebrates both our traditional cultural heritage, as well as the contemporary works created by the artist of now. The National Institute of Arts has selected October 10th for the NIACA Festival, as we feel that the transition to Country Status is the appropriate occasion to celebrate all things St.Maarten. Our past, our present, and visions of our future Read more

>CAY HILL: --- Security guards at the PANAM head office in Cay Hill managed to shoot two of three robbers who tried to rob the money courier service shortly after 8am Tuesday morning.
According to information provided to SMN News two of the culprits were shot dead and was on the ground in the vicinity of PANAM head office in Cay Hill while the third suspect managed to escape in a  red unmarked vehicle that heavily tinted.
Chief of Police Peter de Witte confirmed that two men were shot dead by PANAM office while one of the suspects escaped.The top cop said police were busy combing the island in search of the getaway car and suspect.

Eyewitnesses identified one of the dead men as Elton  Richardson aka "Salti" whom they said committed several gruesome robberies, including a bank robbery Read more

Invest Caribbean Now 2015 Makes Splashy Opening In Terres Basses, St. Martin

NEW YORK, NY - Invest Caribbean Now 2015 entered its fifth year last night with a splashy opening ceremony at the prestigious Villa Mes Aimes in Terres Basses area of Saint Martin, West Indies.

Top government and local VIPS joined 41 Chinese delegates and several other overseas delegates for the opening reception and dinner which also included the presentation of the ICN 2015 Leadership Award.

A St. Martin tourism pioneer who was attracted to the sector at age 12 and went on to serve the island as a deputy mayor and creator of the Syndicat d’Initiatives, the precursor to the current Saint Martin Office of Tourism, was the ICN 2015 Leadership Award winner.
Romeo Fleming, head of the Romeo Fleming Group of Companies, which includes the current Hertz Rent a Car on St Read more

Green Light For New Government, But Pm Gumbs Disagrees: “Even The Governor Can Make A Mistake”

St. Maarten – Governor Drs. Eugene Holiday has given the green light to the National Alliance-led coalition to form a new government. There will therefore be no elections on December 8, as would have been the case if the governor had ratified the national decree the cabinet sent to his office to dissolve the parliament and to call new elections.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs “absolutely disagrees” with the decision and his cabinet does not intend to make its positions available Read more

Thesis About Fraud And Corruption In The Netherlands: “No Major Interest In Fighting Corruption”

St. Maarten /By Hilbert Haar – “Dutch citizens consider themselves as the inhabitants of the least corrupt country in the world, while the many scandals show that this impression is not consistent with reality,” Jacqueline Bos writes in her doctoral thesis ‘Corruption in the Netherlands and Germany: Incidental or Embedded?’

Bos graduated at the Open University in Maastricht on Friday. Her thesis reads like a John Grisham novel and makes clear that the Netherlands is anything but free from corruption Read more

Prof. Van Rijn In 2012: “The Wish Of Parliament Prevails”

St. Maarten – Prof. Arjen van Rijn offered a different opinion about the position of parliament and government in an article in the Nederlands Juristenblad of December 7, 2012 that shows that constitutional law is not black and white. While Van Rijn advised the Marcel Gumbs cabinet this past weekend that its right to dissolve the parliament is autonomous and cannot be limited by parliament, in 2012 he wrote “If there is a serious clash between parliament and government and the tensions need to find a way out, then the wish of the parliament obviously prevails as the body with the most direct democratic legitimacy.”

Van Rijn refers in this article also to the situation in Curacao, where the majority of parliament sent home the Schotte-cabinet immediately Read more

Holiday: ‘No basis not to form new govt. based on new majority’

HARBOUR VIEW--A new Government can be formed in St. Maarten based on the new majority in Parliament.

This is the position of Governor Eugene Holiday, conveyed in a press release on Monday, after having concluded his consultations with parties on the recent political developments.

Holiday said that, having reviewed the correspondence received and following completion of the consultations regarding the current political developments, he had informed parties that “there is no basis not to form a new Government based on the new majority in Parliament.”

Holiday said members of the Gumbs cabinet had not yet made their positions available Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- In order to have a good functioning parliament, there must be a good functioning organizational secretariat of the Parliament of Sint Maarten, which is a department within Parliament that provides legal, administrative, and logistic support to the Members of Parliament (MPs) as a whole.
Back in June 2015, the Central Committee of Parliament discussed the “Function Book” of the Parliament Secretariat, and agreed to the content. A Plenary session of the House was held on August 6 and in that session the “Function Book” for the secretariat was approved.
Effective September 1st, 2015, the “Function Book” is being used to guide the daily running of the secretariat of the House of Parliament, and the previous document from October 10, 2010 is no longer in use.
Prior to Sint Maarten becoming a country in 2010, a number of organizational resolutions for different sectors within Government were established based on the Organizational Ordinance Island Territory Sint Maarten.
As of October 10, 2010, the legal basis was turned into a National Ordinance and sectors became ministries Read more

Observatory Certifies Eighty Interviewers

From left: Fenna Arnell, Joy Arnell, Ramona Connor, Minister Rafael Boasman, Rosette Gumbs-Lake, Dr. Louis Jeffry, and Valerie Giterson-Pantophlet Read more

Upnext Shares Info Via Facebook

St. Maarten – UPNext, the youth arm of the United People party (UP) will launch its latest initiative today on Facebook. The group of young people has chosen to share vital information with their peers as well as the general social media community on three days of the week, each day with its own name Read more

Rotary Donates Big To Third Digikidz School

From left to right: Jeffery Sochrin, José Sommers, and Danny Ramchandani. Photo contributed

St. Maarten – After a recent car raffle the Rotary Club St. Maarten has pledged $15,000 towards the DigiKidz Project of the Foresee Foundation. The money will be used to equip a classroom at Helmich Snijders Christian School with technology devices and contribute in the installation of a full wireless network infrastructure with Wifi in all classrooms and offices.

Teachers will be trained in the use of Skoolcontrol, the school’s new management platform, and the use of the Promethean digital boards.

Danny Ramchandani, past president of the Rotary said that he was impressed by the project and likes the fact that the effect of these donations can be seen physically in the school Read more

Late delay as Pacific trade talks near landmark deal

ATLANTA--A dozen Pacific nations closed in on a sweeping free-trade pact on Sunday in Atlanta but failed to finalize terms on the fifth day of round-the-clock talks, dashing hopes raised by an earlier breakthrough on protections for new biotech drugs.
  U.S. officials, who are hosting the meeting, delayed a planned joint news conference until early Monday. That pushed a resolution of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks beyond the deadline set by Japan's economy minister Akira Amari Read more