SXMElections.com

Talented youths win TelCell Breakthrough competition

MAHO--The Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino’s Theatre Royale exploded with talent on Saturday for the third annual TelCell Breakthrough Talent Show Competition.

Winning the various categories were Aldi Farrell for instruments; Rumari Rogers for rapping; Lian Borsje for dance, Kyanni Atmpawiro for vocals and Paul Brown for “beatboxer.” Special awards were presented to Rogers for Best Team Spirit; Lisha Maduro for Most Punctual; Aldi Farrell for Producers Pick; Celina Monsanto for Most Creative Performance and SMS Campaign winner Leann Richardson.

The TelEm Group said the competition was successfully managed through collaboration of a team of volunteers from TelEm Group and promoter Xtratight Entertainment.

Xtraight Entertainment representative Berteaux “Mr Read more

MPs meet about Schram’s comments on Wednesday

PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) are set to give their views in a plenary session of Parliament on Wednesday on the comments made by Attorney-General Guus Schram at the installation of a new judge on September 11.

Justice Minister Dennis Richardson has been invited to the session in Parliament House slated to start at 10:00am.

Richardson already has called on Schram to produce evidence of his claims of a serious mixing of the underworld and civil society.

This urgent public meeting was requested by Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams and National Alliance MPs William Marlin, Silveria Jacobs, and Christophe Emmanuel.

The parliamentary session will be aired live on St Read more

Bouyon for Dominica Benefit Concert this coming Saturday

MARIGOT--The Dominica Foundation of St. Maarten/St. Martin will present the Bouyon for Dominica Benefit Concert this coming Saturday, October 3, to raise funds for the stricken nature island in its post-Erika aftermath.

The much anticipated concert with popular artistes from Dominica and St. Maarten/St. Martin will be held at Festival Village, Philipsburg, from 4:00pm to 3:00am.

The press conference on Monday not only announced the concert but also showed a preview of a documentary film made by MSR Cable TV cameraman Kitian Francis who went to Dominica with St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo continues to donate sports equipment to the country’s public primary schools.

The Prins Willem Alexander School, Ruby Labega School, and the Oranje School, all received soccer equipment from the MP.

All six public schools have now received sports eq Read more

>Pond Island:--- TelEm Group personnel capped a month-long campaign of cervical and prostate cancer awareness with a potentially life-saving talk from businessman Michael Ferrier and the KaLaHa Projects founder, Keoman Hamer.
The session took place in the TelEm Group main building Friday with close to 80 persons in attendance. It will be followed up in the coming days with special screening sessions for male and female workers in the company.
The talk was organized by TelEm Group’s Change Champions group in collaboration with the KaLaHa Foundation to bring attention to cervical cancer awareness for women.

“Since we were doing this for women in the company, a decision was taken to also include prostate cancer awareness information for men in the company also,” said Foundation founder Ms Read more

TelCell Breakthrough winners announced following Saturday’s exciting finals

>Pond Island:--- The 3rd annual TelCell Breakthrough talent show at the Theatre Royale, Maho, has been hailed another runaway success by event organizers and Minister of Education Youth & Sports, Mrs. Rita Bourne-Gumbs.

At the end of a grueling night of performances, the judges were very candid in their assessment of all the performers and named the following winners on the night:
Aldi Farrell - Instruments
Rumari Rogers - Rapping
Lian Borsje - Dance
Kyanni Atmpawiro - Vocals
Paul Brown – Beatboxer

Awards were also presented to the finalists for:

Best Team Spirit: Rumari RogersMost Punctual: Lisha MaduroProducer’s Pick: Aldi FarrellMost Creative Performance: Celina MonsantoSMS Campaign Winner: Leann Richardson

According to show organizers, Saturday’s event played to a full house with many persons unable to get into the show where they would have witnessed an impromptu singing performance from Member of Parliament, Tamara Leonard and VIP guest for the night.

Also an honoured guest was Minister of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth Affairs, Mrs Read more

>PHILIPSBURG/MARIGOTSt. BARTHS:---- A joint Radio-thon by Lions Clubs of St. Maarten/St. Martin and St. Barthelemy raised much needed cash for the Dominica relief effort over the weekend. In just four hours, the service club members consisting of the Lions Club of St. Maarten, the Lions Club of Fort Louis, the Lions Club of Doyen, the Lions Club Qualichi and the Lions Club Ile de St. Barthelemy raised an impressive $6,262.55 for Dominica relief.

Even though the amount is short of the $30,000 target set for the Radio-thon, the Lions Club members are satisfied with the joint effort and the generous pledges that were made by members of the public in such a short amount of time.

“We received very few pledges from the many large companies on St Read more

>AIRPORT:--- Stagnating the expansion and projects at the Princess Juliana International Airport has taken yet another level. This time the Council of Ministers decided on August 19th 2015 that they will instruct Domain Affairs not to issue any more long lease land and or renew long lease for any land that the Operating Company of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJAIE) has and that all land must be given to the Holding of the Government owned company.
Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs dispatched a letter to the head of Domain Affairs on August 25th 2015 instructing the department head of the decision taken by the Council of Ministers on August 19th 2015 Read more

Tax-Compliance Measures Are Not Working

Cft: “Structural overhaul personnel costs necessary”

St. Maarten – Measures the government has put in place to increase tax compliance are not working. This appears from the reaction from financial supervisor Cft to the second execution report 2015. In the first half year, tax revenue fell 8 million guilders below budget. For the whole year, St. Maarten expects to collect 8.6 million guilders less than budgeted.

Nevertheless, the government wants to increase income levels for 2015 to 470 million guilders but, as this newspaper already reported last week, this does not have the approval of the financial supervisor.

“By taking additional measures St Read more

Brilliant move by Heyliger & Marlin

Dear Editor,

There was a call by the leaders of the largest political parties in Parliament for independence. As could be expected, very little was carried on the subject in the local press, but be that as it may for us as a budding nation we have finally garnered enough courage to say we stand ready to do it for ourselves. However, this is but a small step, we would hope that all factions in Parliament would come together and approve a referendum in the coming year, where the people can give their blessings to the desire to make use of our right to self-determination, and put an end to the many colonial dictates insults and disrespect.

People choose for varying political systems depending on how they see their own development and their ability to govern themselves rather than be governed by anyone else Read more

Gumbs stressed need for good relations during visit

THE HAGUE--St. Maarten Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs is satisfied with his first working visit to the Netherlands. “I got the message clearly across to the ministers that we want good relations and that the attitude of the Netherlands is not conducive to solid relations in the Kingdom.”

Gumbs’ main reason for paying an official visit to the Netherlands for the first time since his appointment in December 2014 was the invitation to attend final event of the 200th anniversary of the Dutch Kingdom which took place in Amsterdam on Saturday.

While in the Netherlands, Gumbs also made use of the opportunity to have a meeting with several of the Dutch Ministers, the Council of State and the Presidents of the First and Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament.

“It was a good week with good meetings,” he told The Daily Herald on Saturday, one day before travelling on to New York where he will join the Kingdom delegation for the United Nations’ General Assembly.

Gumbs said that he had made clear from the moment the current government took office that St Read more

Victorious Catalan separatists claim independence mandate

BARCELONA--Separatists on Sunday won a clear majority of seats in Catalonia's parliament in an election that sets the region on a collision course with Spain's central government over independence.
  "Catalans have voted yes to independence," acting regional government head Artur Mas told supporters, with secessionist parties securing 72 out of 135 seats in the powerful region of 7.5 million people that includes Barcelona.
  The strong pro-independence showing dealt a blow to Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, three months before a national election Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- CHTA President and St Maarten Hotelier, Emil Lee, recently spoke about the Economic Value of Tourism at the Statia Sustainable Conference held September 24 and 25, 2015 on the island of St Eustatius.

Lee spoke about the many changes that CHTA is undergoing and the new CHTA Hub and Spoke model where National Hotel and Tourism Associations or NHTA’s and Tourism professionals curate new ideas, best and worst practices Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs visited the President of the Dutch Second Chamber of Parliament Anouchka van Miltenburg on Friday. The Second Chamber is also referred to as the House of Representatives.

Minister Plenipotentiary Fleming-Artsen stated over the weekend the visit to the President of the Dutch Second Chamber of Parliament was the last official visit that Prime Minister Gumbs had scheduled as part of his official working visit to the Netherlands.

“The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the Second Chamber about his efforts to promote the Kingdom of the Netherlands candidacy for the United Nations (UN) Security Council with respect to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) of nations who have seats in the UN General Assembly.

“Prime Minister Gumbs also explained to President Miltenburg that his efforts have been made even more difficult due to the constant stress in the relationship between Philipsburg and The Hague on a number of issues.

“The Prime Minister extended an invitation to President Miltenburg for her and the Dutch Inter-parliamentary delegation to meet with the Government during their visit to the country in January 2016,” Sint Maarten’s Minister Plenipotentiary Josianne Fleming-Artsen said over the weekend.

Anouchka van Miltenburg was elected President of Parliament (Speaker) on 25 September, 2012 Read more

Marriage problems of the Kingdom focus of debate

AMSTERDAM--A forced marriage, a marriage of convenience, a one-parent family or a combined family with children of different fathers: These were some of the terms used to describe the difficult aspects of the relations within the Dutch Kingdom during a debate on Friday.

The debate, which was organised by InterExpo and producer/debate leader Tanja Fraai as the last event of the 20th Trade Mission in Amsterdam, served to evaluate the new constitutional relations that went into effect on October 10, 2010.

Representatives of the governments and private sector of the Dutch Caribbean took part in the debate, as did Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party and host of the debate Chairman of the Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations Jeroen Recourt, the only Dutch politicians who were present.

Recourt painted a picture wherein the countries in the Kingdom are having relational issues and challenged the audience to give their view Read more

Saudi Arabia suggests pilgrims at fault over haj deaths, Iran angry

MINA, Saudi Arabia--Saudi Arabia on Friday suggested pilgrims ignoring crowd control rules bore some blame for a crush that killed over 700 people at the haj pilgrimage in the annual event's worst disaster for 25 years.
  The kingdom's regional rival Iran expressed outrage at the deaths of 131 of its nationals at the world's largest annual gathering of people, and politicians in Tehran suggested Riyadh was incapable of managing the event Read more

Israel's soaring population: Is the Promised Land running out of room?

TEL AVIV--Israel's birth rate, the highest in the developed world and once seen as a survival tactic in a hostile region, could be its undoing unless measures are taken to reverse the trend.
  The average Israeli woman has three babies in her lifetime, nearly double the fertility rate for the rest of the industrialised countries in the OECD. That, accompanied by heavy Jewish immigration from the former Soviet Union, has seen Israel's population double in the last 25 years.
  The birth rate is even higher among Israel's Arab community and more than double among its ultra-Orthodox Jews, two groups that also have low participation in the workforce, dragging the economy down Read more

Kentucky clerk in gay marriage dispute switches to Republican Party

WASHINGTON--A county clerk in Kentucky who was briefly jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples said on Friday that she and her family have switched to the Republican Party because the Democrats no longer represented them.
  Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, 50, who has said her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian prevent her from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, said they had changed parties last week. She was a long-time Democrat in eastern Kentucky.
  "My husband and I had talked about it for quite a while and we came to the conclusion that the Democratic Party left us a long time ago, so why were we hanging on?" she told Reuters in an interview at a hotel in Washington, where she has traveled to be feted at a Family Research Council event later on Friday.
  Davis also said she did not foresee a problem with the current marriage licenses being issued by her office in Morehead, Kentucky Read more

World Tourism Day Feature

Lee: Lack of consistency biggest bottleneck for St. Maarten tourism

The lack of consistency is one of the main issues plaguing St. Maarten’s tourism industry, says local hotelier and Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) president Emil Lee.

Lee, a former president of St. Maarten Hotel and Tourism Association (SHTA), told WEEKender that St Read more

Lee: Tourism’s Caribbean impact much greater than global figures

PHILIPSBURG--In an official World Tourism Day message by the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), St. Maarten-based CHTA President Emil Lee stressed that tourism’s impact on the Caribbean is proportionally far greater than the 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and six percent of exports cited by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), concerning global tourism contribution figures.

“Tourism continues to present the greatest opportunity for the countries throughout the Caribbean to create jobs, generate tax revenue, and spawn new locally-owned businesses,” Lee said.

His comments were underscored by UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai, who stated that tourism has demonstrated its capacity to increase competitiveness, create job opportunities, stem the rural exodus, generate revenues and reinforce the sense of pride and self-esteem within communities.

The theme for World Tourism Day is “1 Billion Tourists, 1 Billion Opportunities.”

According to the UNWTO, today’s more than one billion annual tourists have made tourism a leading economic sector – contributing 10 percent of GDP and six percent of the world’s total exports.

Lee stressed that tourism’s impact on the Caribbean is proportionally far greater Read more

Chinese delegation impressed with island’s ‘beauty, ethnicity’

MARIGOT--“The competitive nature of the global market place demands that we act global and think global. We must sell our assets of stability, ease of access and ease of doing business.”

Those were some of the remarks made by Founder and CEO of Invest Caribbean Now (ICN), Felicia Persaud, in her keynote address at Friday’s exclusive invitation-only conference in the Chamber of Commerce on the theme “Investing in St. Martin’s Tourism Product”.

“Partnerships, collaborations, linkages, networking…that’s the key to the success of businesses, economies, governments, because from where I sit there is no way that any government on any island is smart enough to do it alone,” she added Read more

>Airport:--- According to well-placed sources the supervisory board of the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) will meet soon to further discuss the issues and letter sent to the chairman of the board regarding the Airport’s managing director Regina Labega. Earlier this week the Prime Minister of St. Maarten dispatched a letter to the board informing them that they have to dismiss Labega because she failed the screening process. However, Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson clarified to SMN News that Labega has the rights to appeal the results of the screening.
SMN News further understands that while Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs sent a letter to the Supervisory Board to take action, that board cannot sanction or dismiss Labega, instead such decisions have to be taken by the Holding of PJIAE who would have a hard time firing or dismissing Regina Labega based on the five-year contract she signed.
According information provided to SMN News the contract Regina Labega signed with PJIAE did not state she is obliged to take any screening for the job she now holds Read more

Proposed candidate to take up St. Maarten’ seat on the CFT board is Maria Plantz.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The UPP/De Weever/LRM and USP coalition has submitted a name to take up the vacant position on the CFT board. The board of the CFT told members of the media on Thursday that a name has been submitted and appointment of the candidate is the pipeline but the chairman of the  CFT board refused to divulge the name of the candidate stating that it is the government of St Read more

>PORT ST:---- Sunday, September 27 marks World Tourism Day (WTD). Port St. Maarten on behalf of the Board of Supervisory Directors, Management and Staff, wishes everybody working in the hospitality and tourism sector a Happy World Tourism Day.
The theme for WTD 2015 is ‘One billion tourists, one billion opportunities.’
With five consecutive years of growth, tourism has been a major contributor to the economic recovery, creating jobs and opportunities for communities in many parts of the world.
Every time somebody travels, for whatever reason, they are part of a global movement; a movement that has the power to drive inclusive development, create jobs and build sustainable societies we want for our future; a movement that builds mutual understanding and can help us safeguard our shared natural and cultural heritage.
This year highlights the global potential for socio-economic development Read more