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Minister of Tourism Connor Orders Two Calibration Tanks. Saba provides temporary assistance

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Hon. Claret Connor announced on Thursday that Ministry TEATT will be purchasing two fuel calibration tanks that would be used to test and re-calibrate fuel meters to make sure customers are getting what they purchased from a petrol station.

In the meantime, the Public Entity of Saba will loan the ministry their calibrating tank until the Sint Maarten tank which is currently in Curacao is repaired Read more

Sint Maarten's Uts Training And Development Centre In Top 15 Of 2015 Leadership 500 Awards By Hr.Com

GREAT BAY, St. Maarten – The United Telecommunications Service (UTS) Eastern Caribbean Division Training and Development Centre (TDC), which is managed by a dedicated and dynamic management team, namely, David Charles McGregor, Training Manager and Christine McGregor-Pennock, Operations Manager, has recently won the prestigious leadership award by HR.com, the 2015 Leadership 500 Awards, for exceptional leadership development programs.

For the past 30 years, Leadership Excellence, now a part of HR.com has identified and recognized the top 500 leadership organizations and their strategies and solutions in their yearly ranking.

"I am elated with the results that TDC has been able to book whereby UTS' our own home-grown TDC has been able to come out in the top 15 for human resources development programs.

"I congratulate all the entities, public and private sectors for utilizing TDC over the years and who continue to do so, for their human resources development needs.

This achievement and award is not only for TDC, but for all those who have participated and moved forward in their development using programs developed by TDC," Glen Carty, UTS Eastern Caribbean Division Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said.

TDC is also the proud winner of the 2010 Crystal Pineapple Award for outstanding employee training and development, and has shown since 2007 impressive advancement in credibility, popularity, and the regained confidence and trust of customers in Government and private sector.

TDC is privileged to be supported by a team of experienced international trainers from Canada, Holland, Curacao, U.S.A., the United Kingdom and St Read more

Bourne-Gumbs outlines plans for current governing period

PHILIPSBURG--Transforming an existing English public primary school into a Dutch one; creating incentives for teachers to obtain "favourable" mortgage rates and expanding public school hours were amongst the plans Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs outlined to Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday.

The plans cover the current four-year governing period. Bourne-Gumbs said when she took office as Minister the various department heads had already established a plan and parties had to see how to incorporate her ideas and "not take their entire plan and dismiss it."

The ministry's plans include putting in place a "strong" foundation for Dutch as a foreign language for all schools in the country Read more

Parliament committees to look into French/Dutch joint issues

Representatives of the French side Territorial Council with Members of Parliament in Parliament House on Tuesday.

PHILIPSBURG--A meeting between the French side Territorial Council and Members of Parliament (MPs) in Parliament House on Tuesday resulted in various topics discussed being sent to Parliament’s permanent committees for further deliberation and solution seeking.

Among the topics discussed was pensioners living on the French side, but who have contributed to the Dutch side’s General Pension Fund by working on the southern side of the island accessing their benefits Read more

ExxonMobil to continue exploring in Guyana waters despite Venezuela claim

GEORGETOWN, Guyana--Don't expect Guyana to stop its offshore oil exploration because Venezuela is claiming territorial waters where the "black gold" was recently discovered.

President David Granger has made it clear that his government will continue to back oil giant ExxonMobil in its work because the exploration is taking place in Guyana's exclusive economic zone.

He said he had met with officials from the company and assured them that they had nothing to fear as far as their operations in Guyana's waters were concerned.

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree on May 25, claiming sovereignty over Guyana's territorial waters in the Essequibo region of the Atlantic Ocean Read more

An Integrity Committee is most definitely needed

Dear Editor,

Okay, I have read the document on the establishing of the Integrity Committee (IC) and I must say that I CANNOT DISAGREE MORE with my good friend MP Christophe Emmanuel. I do not think that the establishing of this Committee is "bad for business" unless it is the business of nepotism and corruption that have plagued us for the last 25 years.

I also believe that some of the comments made by many members of Parliament misrepresent what is actually in the document. I am not saying they are lying but they are taking a very extreme view of what powers the Committee actually have.

MP William Marlin in his comments stated that a simple relationship with a Minister or MP can disqualify you from a contract or job, which according to me is really stretching the meaning of the document Read more

Notices June 25

Saturday, June 27

FREE HIV TESTS

Organised by St. Maarten AIDS Foundation and Scotiabank

Place: Scotiabank Philipsburg (Next to KFC)

Time: 10:00am to 4:00pm

Free and confidential results in 15 minutes

Saturday, June 27

PET FOOD DRIVE

Organised by PAWSITIVE SXM

Place: Le Grand Marche

Time: 11:00am to 6:00pm

For dogs in shelter and for free cat colonies

NOTICES

Teachers, Volunteers Needed

I Too Can Learn (ITCL) Foundation is seeking teachers (Special Ed) and volunteers for their Center Read more

Ganzevoort new Chairman of Kingdom Relations Committee

THE HAGUE--Member of the First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ruard Ganzevoort of the green left party GroenLinks is the new Chairman of the Senate's Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations.

Ganzevoort (50) was recently appointed by the Presidium of the First Chamber for four years. A fair division of the portfolios of the political parties in the Senate was taken into account in this decision of the Presidium.

Ganzevoort, a Member of the Senate since June 2011 and a member of the Kingdom Relations Committee, is replacing Marijke Linthorst who chaired the Kingdom Relations Committee for the last five years and who left the Senate late May this year.

Ganzevoort had indicated that he was interested in becoming the committee's chairman Read more

SZV allowed to fire fraudulent employee

PHILIPSBURG--The Court of First Instance ruled in favour of Social and Health Insurance SZV on Wednesday. SZV had sought the intervention of the Court in a procedure to dismiss one of its registration supervisors, who is suspected of having committed fraud with the distribution of health-insurance cards.

SZV requested that the Court terminate the labour agreement with its employee S.T.M. (27) as per March 17. The woman started her career with SZV in August 2005. She was promoted to the function of registration supervisor in June 2013.

The health insurer sought S.T.M.'s dismissal after it emerged there had been "irregularities" concerning the registration and issuance of health-insurance cards Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs chairs first EOC Meeting

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs chaired his first Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Meeting last week Thursday.
Coordinators from the 10 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) of the country’s disaster management system were present.
The two main agenda points was the Hurricane Exercise 2015 and preparedness for the Read more

Minister of Tourism Connor commends Boxing Promoter Ottley for promoting Sports Tourism

>PHILIPSBURG:---  Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications Hon. Claret Connor recently met with Boxing Promoter of B.O.S.E. Promotion Milton “Bobby” Ottley regarding the upcoming PRO-AM Boxing Event “Eruption in Paradise” which is scheduled for July 4th.

Sports tourism is a significant element in world tourism, and has become highly competitive niche business for various tourism destinations Read more

Plenary Session of Parliament scheduled for Friday regarding developments at NV GEBE

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will meet in a public plenary session on June 26th. The shareholder representative Acting Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Hon. Marcel Gumbs will be present for the session.

The plenary session is set for Friday at 1.00pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is developments related to NV GEBE and the position of the Managing Board and the position of the Chief Operations Officer.

This plenary session was requested by the National Alliance (NA)in Parliament, namely Members of Parliament (MPs) Hon Read more

Authorizing a minister to execute a law, should never be a means to circumvent Parliament.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- On June 4, I issued a statement that addressed several matters, including the following paragraph: "Medical coverage law: one would recall that during the budget debates, a motion was presented to authorize the Minister of Health to execute this law, which the Parliament had not even seen. Luckily, Parliament caught on in the nick of time. This important piece of legislation, offering coverage to presently uninsured groups and persons in our community, still has not reached parliament for debate Read more

>PHILIPSBURG: --- The management team of GEBE headed by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Rene Gartner appointed Iris Arrindell as Commercial Manager of the company. The position has been open since January 2014 when the former Commercial Manager Steve Duzanzon was suspended and then left the company when they gave him a proposal if he resigned Read more

EXCLUISVE:Labor Policy Advisor and Mediator Raphael Boasman goes on Pension end of June --- No Mediator Selected.

>PHILIPSBURG: --- Raphael Boasman the policy advisor and acting mediator of the Department of Labor and Social Services will be leaving government function at the end of June 2015. Boasman has been a civil servant since January 1st 1979 and is now leaving on pension after giving 36 years of service to the government of St. Maarten.
SMN News understands that Boasman will be entering the private sector as a businessman and consultant, whether he will continue to provide government with his services that is not yet known Read more

Plenary Session Of Parliament Scheduled For Friday Regarding Developments At Nv Gebe

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The House of Parliament will meet in a public plenary session on June 26th.

The shareholder representative Acting Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Hon. Marcel Gumbs will be present for the session.

The plenary session is set for Friday at 1.00pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is developments related to NV GEBE and the position of the Managing Board and the position of the Chief Operations Officer.

This plenary session was requested by the National Alliance (NA)in Parliament, namely Members of Parliament (MPs) Hon Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Chairs First Eoc Meeting

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs chaired his first Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Meeting last week Thursday.

Coordinators from the 10 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) of the country's disaster management system were present.

The two main agenda points was the Hurricane Exercise 2015 and preparedness for the season.

The 10 ESFs are: GEBE/ESF-1, TelEm Group/ESF-2, Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI)/ESF-3, Fire Department/ESF-4, Police Department/ESF-5, Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labour/ESF-6 and 7, Department of Communication/ESF-8, Ministry of General Affairs/ESF-9, and Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT)/ESF-10.

The 2015 Atlantic Hurricane season has already seen two storms form namely Ana and Bill.

Prime Minister Gumbs, reminds the Sint Maarten community to be prepared for the season which commenced on June 1st.

The remaining storm names for the Atlantic season are Claudette, Danny, Erika, Fred, Grace, Henri, Ida, Joaquin, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicolas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, and Wanda.

The 2015 hurricane season officially runs through November 30.

In Photo: Seated at the head of the table is National Disaster Coordinator/Fire Chief Clive Richardson (left) and Prime Minister Hon Read more

Finance Minister Updates Parliament On Govt Expenditures Compliance

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Permanent Committee of Country's Expenditures (CLU) of Parliament met in a session on Tuesday with the Minister of Finance, the Honorable Martin Hassink.

The purpose of the meeting was to provide information to members of the CLU committee regarding the measures taken by the Government on the recommendation of the General Audit Chamber in its report on Compliance Audit of the 2012 Financial Statements of the General Pension Fund St. Maarten (APS).

Wh Read more

Prosecutor’s Office not to appeal ‘Piranha’ acquittals

PHILIPSBURG--The Prosecutor's Office has decided not to appeal the verdict of the Court of First Instance in the so-called "Piranha" investigation, it was announced Tuesday. On May 28, the Court acquitted former Minister of Finance Hiroshi "Hiro" Shigemoto and Global Advisor Services (GAS) BV Director R.A.G. (62) of fraud and forgery, among other crimes.

The Prosecutor accused Shigemoto of performing acts as a civil servant, in his capacities as Director of Resources, Secretary-General and Minister of Finance, in such a way that suspect G Read more

Parliament wants islands to improve LGBT rights

THE HAGUE--The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday adopted a motion which called on the Dutch Government to urge the Governments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten to legalise same sex marriages and to improve the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBTs).

The Parliament approved the motion of the liberal democratic VVD party, the Labour Party PvdA and the Democratic Party D66 Read more

Police, Ambulance launch joint NAf. 5.5 million Dispatch Centre

PHILIPSBURG--“A very important undertaking” and “an example of good cooperation,” were some of the terms used to describe the St. Maarten Police Force and Ambulance Department’s Joint Dispatch Centre, which was officially launched on Tuesday.

The state-of-the-art centre was constructed at a cost of NAf. 5.5 million, which was partly funded by Dutch Funding Agency USONA and partners in the project Read more

Sarah calls Govt to return law amendment ‘soon as possible’

PHILIPSBURG--Government should “not take its time” in returning to Parliament with amendments to the draft National Ordinance to establish the Integrity Chamber for the country. Rather than wait for Parliament’s return after its July recess, Government should return with the amended law as soon as possible, says Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams.

She is “prepared” to handle the draft law in July even though it is the parliamentary recess Read more

Plasterk gives details on dispute regulation talks

THE HAGUE--Three aspects of the dispute regulation (geschillenregling) were a source of discussion at last week's Kingdom Conference: the type of organisation that would execute the regulation, the nature of the disputes that would be resorting under the regulation, and the binding character of the ruling.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk provided details on the discussions between the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten at the June 16 Kingdom Conference in Curaçao in a letter that he sent to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday.

Plasterk explained that the Dutch delegation indicated a preference for the Council of State of the Kingdom, and to give this existing entity a major role in the dispute regulation because, according to the Netherlands, this entity was "by far" best equipped to deal with disputes of a constitutional character.

However, the three Dutch Caribbean countries preferred to appoint the Supreme Court as the executive body of the dispute regulation Read more

Rolling back the ‘Arm’s-length’ Policy: Govt & its companies in the power play

Dear Editor,

Once upon a time, in the last century, what we know today as "government-owned companies" were departments of the government administration. Who remembers when Landsradio was a federal government department, run effectively from Willemstad, Curacao? Or, when GEBE was similarly a public utility company that could not function without directives from the then government of the Netherlands Antilles? Or when the Post Office and even the Princess Juliana International Airport was arms of government?

That seems like an eternity ago and thus to many, probably completely forgotten Read more