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Parliaments set on resolving dispute regulation dilemma

THE HAGUE--Delegations of the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are resolute to conclude the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations IPKO this week with a solution for the design of a dispute regulation (geschillenregeling).

"We want to get this solved for once and for all. More and more things are getting stuck in a dilemma in the relations between the Kingdom partners," said Member of the St. Maarten Parliament and Chairperson of Parliament's Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party (DP)) on Monday.

The three Dutch Caribbean Parliaments held tripartite meetings in The Hague on Monday in preparation for the IPKO which starts on Wednesday Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---Helmich Snijders Christian School will now be the latest recipient of a generous donation recently made to Foresee Foundation by Seven Seas Water.
The donation was made to school representatives last week, when Mr.Franklyn Richards, General Manager of Seven Seas Water in St. Maarten visited the Hillside Christian School in Cay Bay. Purpose of the visit had been to observe and experience the impact of technology in classrooms taking the Digkidz project to their sister school and beyond Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- From May 27-29, 2015 delegations from the Parliaments of the Netherlands, Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten will be meeting in The Hague, the Netherlands for the Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO).
On Monday, the three parliamentary delegations from Sint Maarten, Curacao and Aruba met in the Tripartite setting in The Hague to prepare for the IPKO discussions with Dutch parliamentarians.
The Tripartite meeting took place at the Mercure hotel in The Hague. Among the topics discussed were appeal in tax cases, the use of articles 15 and 21 of the Regulation of the Governor by the Kingdom Council of Ministers, screening of candidate ministers with a joint standards system, dispute regulation, nationality research as well as the feedback from several IPKO workgroups.
The goal of the meeting is to prepare for the Inter-parliamentary Consultation as well as discuss topics of mutual interest.
The Sint Maarten delegation partaking in the IPKO and Tripartite meetings consist of the following members:

Member of Parliament (MP) Hon Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs congratulates Sint Maarten Guyanese Community on Guyana’s 49th Independence and President Granger

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Hon. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs would like to congratulate the Sint Maarten Guyanese community with respect to Guyana's celebration on May 26 of their 49th independence celebration of statehood.

At the same time, Gumbs would also like to extend congratulations to the 8th Executive President of Guyana Hon. Brigadier David Granger (69) who was sworn in on May 16 after his A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) won the 2015 national general and regional elections on May 11.

President Granger will be inaugurated at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence on Tuesday.

"I take the opportunity to congratulate President Hon Read more

Sint Maarten, Curacao And Aruba Delegations Meet On Monday In Preparation For Ipko

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – From May 27-29, 2015 delegations from the Parliaments of the Netherlands, Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten will be meeting in The Hague, the Netherlands for the Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO).

On Monday, the three parliamentary delegations from Sint Maarten, Curacao and Aruba met in the Tripartite setting in The Hague to prepare for the IPKO discussions with Dutch parliamentarians.

The Tripartite meeting took place at the Mercure hotel in The Hague Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Congratulates Sint Maarten Guyanese Community On Guyana's 49Th Independence And President Granger

PHILIPSBURG – Hon. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs would like to congratulate the Sint Maarten Guyanese community with respect to Guyana's celebration on May 26 of their 49th independence celebration of statehood.

At the same time, Gumbs would also like to extend congratulations to the 8th Executive President of Guyana Hon. Brigadier David Granger (69) who was sworn in on May 16 after his A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) won the 2015 national general and regional elections on May 11.

President Granger will be inaugurated at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence on Tuesday.

"I take the opportunity to congratulate President Hon Read more

Mp Leona Romeo Marlin Believes In The Expansion Of Usm Vision

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Independent Member of Parliament, the Honorable Leona Romeo-Marlin is of the opinion that the vision of the University of St. Maarten (USM) should be expanded in the area of obtaining more revenues for the institution.

According to her, St. Maarten is strategically placed in the Caribbean, where it can capitalize in educational tourism.

She remarked: "With the vision that USM and the Minister of Education have, I am sure within short we can recruit persons from within the Caribbean region to come here to study Read more

Government Gone Silent On Integrity Chamber Says Dp Leader Wescot-Williams

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The faction of the Democratic Party in Parliament now has many questions regarding the proposed integrity chamber for St. Maarten.

Leader MP the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams in a recent pre Read more

Sxm Delegation To Ipko Holds First Round Of Talks

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Parliamentary delegation of St. Maarten to the Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO) talks in Holland arrived well over the weekend and is already embroiled in meetings which form part of the talks which will culminate on the 29 of this month.

The talks consist of delegations from Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten and the Netherlands.

We contacted MP the Honorable Read more

Fate of domestic surveillance program uncertain after vote

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Senate blocked a measure to extend spy agencies' bulk collection of Americans' telephone records early on Saturday, leaving the fate of the program uncertain days before its June 1 expiration.
  By a vote of 54-45, the Senate failed to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance a bill that would have extended for two months provisions of the "USA Patriot Act" that allow the collection of vast amounts of telephone "metadata."
  The data collection program, in which the National Security Agency sweeps up vast amounts of Americans' telephone records and business information, was exposed two years ago by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who is now a fugitive in Russia.
  The vote against the extension came after the Senate narrowly blocked the "USA Freedom Act," a bill that would end the bulk telephone data collection and replace it with a more targeted program Read more

Education, St. Maarten’s primary emergency

Dear Editor,

Allow me to first of all inform you that I am not an educator nor do I pretend to have all the answers. I will try as much as possible to steer clear of the clichés and any semblance of personal attacks, however, should some feathers be ruffled so be it.

We have all heard or read in the wisdom of our forefathers the adage "those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail." This seems almost prophetic looking at the St. Maarten experience in the building of a nation. The narrative and the actions coming from the halls of power in Philipsburg are ambiguous and sometimes wilfully puzzling.

Government in justifying its lack of a policy on immigration declares that we don't have or haven't created what we need to move our economy forward Read more

Sweden's Zelmerlow wins Eurovision Song Contest

VIENNA--Sweden's Mans Zelmerlow won the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna on Sunday, beating Russia and Italy in the world's biggest international music show.
  The 28-year-old singer and TV presenter, who had been a bookmakers' favourite, performed the winning electro-pop ballad "Heroes," dancing in front of a black screen with animated gnomes.
  Sweden has won the 60-year-old competition six times, more than any other nation apart from Ireland Read more

Economic framework ‘good’ although not yet convincing

PHILIPSBURG--Stakeholders are still digesting the content of the newly-presented draft National Economic Framework. While the initiative is lauded to various extents, a common sentiment amongst private-sector stakeholders approached by The Daily Herald is that the outlook on follow-through is not entirely convincing, given that past initiatives have been very similar and have not necessarily delivered results.

Some participants were left feeling that once again they were going through the motions, not hearing anything new, and as though past initiatives such as the Tourism Master Plan simply had been left on the shelf.

The framework was presented to private- and public-sector officials by the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) at a National Economic Summit on Friday and has been a year in the making by the Department of Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication EVT.

Stakeholders were presented a 53-page document and their input will be considered by the ministry, which highlighted the need to achieve a "shared comprehensive vision." Private-sector stakeholders told this newspaper that cooperation indeed was essential to moving forward.

Oyster Bay Resort General Manager Ricardo Perez said it was a good initiative, but it would be more useful if the previous initiatives were to be "dusted off" and put to action, or that they should have been updated on what progress had been made on those recommendations.

Princess Heights Hotel General Manager Emil Lee shared the sentiments, although he said the goals were admirable Read more

Princess Heights added to TripAdvisor Hall of Fame

DAWN BEACH--Princess Heights Luxury Boutique Condo Hotel announced on Sunday that it has been recognised as a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Hall of Fame winner, and that there would be special rates available in June for residents of St. Maarten and neighbouring islands.

TripAdvisor's Hall of Fame was created to honour businesses that have earned a Certificate of Excellence for five consecutive years; the recognition is only issued to establishments that consistently achieve great traveller reviews.

This is the latest in a number of customer service and quality-related recognition awards granted to Princess Heights Read more

Sarah queries hold-up of labour law changes

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has enquired about the status of the draft law to amend the Civil Code and other ordinances to better regulate labour agreements.

She has written to Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  "The country is now moving into the second half of 2015 within the next five weeks, and I am hoping that within that period of time we will have the two ministerial positions filled by competent persons in order to continue moving forward.

"We got to start putting the right people in the right positions. Don't tell me we can't find persons out of the 23 candidates of the United People's party to fill one or both of these two positions. Why can't MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson be the minister of health or other persons within the coalition, fill one or both of these ministerial positions?

"We need to raise the bar and start working in the best interest of this country Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Hon. Claret Connor received a very important guest at his Cabinet to discuss some national issues. Giomari Hodge was accompanied by his mother Yosaira Ramos.

Giomari wanted to meet with Minister Connor and to ask some questions regarding his portfolios along with some personal questions such as, what are the areas of responsibility under the minister Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- MP Sarah Wescot Williams sent a letter to the chairman of parliament regarding the draft national ordinance on the change of the civil code and other ordinances in connection with the labor agreements or short term labor contracts. The letter can be viewed below:-

Honorable Dr. Richardson, Chairperson of Parliament,

Close to 6 months ago, the Parliament of St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Last week thirty-three Asha Stevens Christian School (ASCS) teachers received a certificate from Foresee Foundation. Management and staff participated in four 2-hour workshops while being trained in the use of Promethean Digital Boards and the integrated use of technology in teaching content. The training was facilitated by consultant, Marcus Nicolaas, certified Promethean Board Trainer.
Over the last years traditional chalk boards are being replaced by digital interactive boards, which allow students and teachers to share a wealth of information in an interactive and engaging way Read more

Princess Heights Hotel Inducted Into 'Hall Of Fame' Of Tripadvisor.Com And Launches Last Minute Special For Area Residents

DAWN BEACH, Sint Maarten – Princess Heights Luxury Boutique Condo today announced that it has been recognized as a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Hall of Fame winner.

This certificate was created to honor those businesses that have earned a Certificate of Excellence for five consecutive years. This recognition is only issued to establishments that consistently achieve great traveler reviews on TripAdvisor.

Marc Charron, President of TripAdvisor for Business. "By putting a spotlight on businesses that are focused on consistently delivering great service to customers, TripAdvisor not only helps drive an improvement to hospitality standards around the world, it also gives businesses both large and small the ability to shine and stand out from the competition."

This is the latest in a number of customer service and quality related recognition awards granted to Princess Heights Read more

Hillside Teachers Received Digital Board Training Certificates From Foresee Foundation

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Last week thirty-three Asha Stevens Christian School (ASCS) teachers received a certificate from Foresee Foundation.

Management and staff participated in four 2-hour workshops while being trained in the use of Promethean Digital Boards and the integrated use of technology in teaching content. The training was facilitated by consultant, Marcus Nicolaas, certified Promethean Board Trainer.

Over the last years traditional chalk boards are being replaced by digital interactive boards, which allow students and teachers to share a wealth of information in an interactive and engaging way.

Foresee Foundation, the initiative taker of the DigiKidz project, views the increased use of Technology in classrooms as a very important step towards offering innovative 21st century education.

In addition to providing schools with equipment, the leading foundation in promoting educational technology on St Read more

Minister Connor Meets With Six-Year Old Giomari Hodge Of The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School Who Wanted To Discuss National Issues

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Hon. Claret Connor received a very important guest at his Cabinet to discuss some national issues. Giomari Hodge who is a student of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School, was accompanied by his mother Yosaira Ramos.

Giomari wanted to meet with Minister Connor and to ask some questions regarding his portfolios along with some personal questions such as, what are the areas of responsibility under the minister Read more

Stretched Afghan army falls back on militias to help defend Kunduz

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan--The Afghan government has enlisted hundreds of militia fighters controlled by local commanders to battle Taliban militants near the northern city of Kunduz, officials said, underlining how the armed forces are struggling to tackle the insurgency alone.

The recruitment of unofficial armed groups in Kunduz is on a larger scale than previous attempts by the government and NATO forces to recruit militias in the fight against the Taliban Read more

IMF says Japan overly optimistic on prospects

TOKYO--The International Monetary Fund warned the Bank of Japan will take longer than it expects to hit its inflation target even with more monetary easing, and said "bolder" structural reforms are required to shake off an entrenched deflationary mindset.

In a statement after "Article 4" consultations with Japanese policymakers released on Friday, the IMF urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to speed up fiscal reform and not rely on "overly optimistic" estimates in fixing the country's finances.

The value of the yen on a real, effective basis has broadly stabilised after weakening somewhat during the second half of 2014, it said Read more