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>PHILIPSBURG:--- After holding the Government of St. Maarten on a line for a while, Dutch Minister Plasterk has "come clean", to use a local expression.
I am of the opinion that nothing that St. Maarten has done with respect to tackling integrity issues has made any difference for Minister Plasterk and his colleagues in the Dutch cabinet as far as imposing a measure of higher supervision on St. Maarten. That's what an article 51 measure is.
It is a measure that Minister Plasterk has been fencing with for a long time and actually used the Government of St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Claret Connor on Tuesday reiterated government's position to establish timeshare consumer protection and meet the goal of bringing credibility to St. Maarten's Timeshare product.

He said government understands, full well, the messages it is receiving from timeshare members. "We know that they are immensely frustrated because they feel vulnerable as a result of many questionable actions by multiple timeshare resorts and management companies which are at times against timeshare owner's interest Read more

Former Pm, Mp Wescot-Williams Disagrees With Minister Plasterk On Integrity Approach

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - After holding the government of St. Maarten on a line for a while, Dutch Minister Plasterk has "come clean", to use a local expression.

I am of the opinion that nothing that St. Maarten has done with respect to tackling integrity issues has made any difference for Minister Plasterk and his colleagues in the Dutch cabinet as far as imposing a measure of higher supervision on St. Maarten. That's what an article 51 measure is.

It is a measure that Minister Plasterk has been fencing with for a long time and actually used the government of St Read more

Soualiga Corporate Toastmasters Club Host Mature Carnival Queen Contestants

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Soualiga Corporate Toastmasters Club hosted the contestants of the Miss Mature Carnival Queen Pageant in one of its meetings last week under the theme "Life is Like a Pageant".

The session focused on prepared speeches, impromptu speaking and questioning which is similar to the question and answer segment of the pageant itself.

The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) thanked the Toastmasters for hosting the contestants who described the Read more

Editorial - Cost-effective

Friday's meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on the non-payment of bills by Social and Health Insurance Fund SZV and government particularly to St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) ended soon after it started. Members agreed that a full picture of the situation in health care could not be gathered from the two ministers present alone and it was considered necessary to hear both SZV and SMMC as well.

Part of the concern that led to the National Alliance's request for such a meeting had also been addressed during the preceding debate on the 2015 budget Read more

Unlocking clean energy potential the Caribbean

WASHINGTON D.C.--Energy security is at the top of the agenda for Caribbean leaders and it has been for some time.

With an average cost of electricity four times higher than in rich nations such as the United States, high energy cost is not only a daily hardship for Caribbean people, but also one of the key bottlenecks for unleashing economic growth and prosperity in the region.

While the recent drop in oil prices is releasing some of the pressure, it also represents an opportunity to look into strategies for increasing energy security in the region Read more

Multidisciplinary controls to check businesses for compliance with laws

PHILIPSBURG--The Immigration and Border Protection Service has announced via a press release that the Multidisciplinary Control Team has developed plans to intensify controls at places of business.

The Multidisciplinary Control Team consists of members of the Inspection and Control departments of Government such as Immigration and Border Protection Services, Labour and Health Inspectorate, SZV department Control and Levies, Inspectorate of VROMI, Economic Control Department and the Fire Department.

Given the multidisciplinary nature of the controls, various issues will be examined such as adhering to the labour regulations, illegal employees, work safety measures, fire safety measures, adherence to the building code, adherence to the social and health insurance regulations, and business and operational licence regulations.

The Multidisciplinary Control Team will also gear their controls toward identifying cases of human trafficking.

A team of 10 to 35 officers, depending on the size of the case, will be in charge of carrying out these inspections at various times.

Businesses and employers will be fined in case of violations Read more

Chamber to become ‘integrity champion’

PHILIPSBURG--The government wants to deal with integrity issues urgently and with "full reliability," and wants to do so in establishing an Integrity Chamber which is to provide advice on integrity issues, policy and possible integrity violations within government.

The Integrity Chamber, called the "Champion of Public Integrity," is to be put at a distance from government and is to obtain far-reaching authority, Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Marcel Gumbs stated in the introduction to the draft National Ordinance on the Establishment of the Integrity Chamber, which was sent to the Advisory Council.

The Integrity Chamber is to consist of a chairman and two members to be appointed for a period of three years Read more

St. Maarten baffled by Dutch position on Integrity Chamber

~Dennis calls latest move 'comical,' 'sad'~

PHILIPSBURG--"Outrageous," "comical" and "sad" were some of the words used by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson to describe the position of the Dutch Government on St. Maarten's move to establish an Integrity Chamber to investigate possible integrity breaches and advise government on integrity.

Richardson and Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs addressed the issue at a press conference on Sunday as the officials seemed baffled by the position of the Dutch on the matter.

The press conference was held on the heels of the move by The Kingdom Government decision to start the process for a so-called General Measure of the Kingdom Government to establish an Integrity Chamber in St Read more

Hanson sends condolences to family of Alain Tochou

MARIGOT--President of the Collectivité Aline Hanson has extended her condolences to the family and friends of the late Alain Tochou whose funeral took place Friday.

Tochou (83) passed away during the night of Monday and Tuesday morning last week.

"It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of Alain Tochou," she said in a statement Read more

style="text-align: center;">Foundation INFOBIZZ has scheduled a series of activities for entrepreneurs

GREAT BAY:--- On March 4, 2014, POWER HOUR: Networking for Movers & Shakers is back. This networking event for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial professionals, has affected close to 400 entrepreneurial minds since its inception in November 2013. Created to inspire and empower entrepreneurs, POWER HOUR now includes vendors that can display or sell their products at the event.
On March 4, 2015, INFOBIZZ, host of the POWER HOUR, expects at least 100 entrepreneurial minds present and is aiming for no more than 20 vendors Read more

No Waste-To-Energy Plant In Cay Bay

St. Maarten – The government is not aware of any plans for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant in Cay Bay, acting Vromi-Minister Marcel Gumbs said yesterday in parliament. He added that there are no plans for Gebe to invest in such a plant either.

“Negotiations with the selected company (for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant on Pond Island – ed.) are still ongoing and there are no plans for a plant in Cay Bay,” Gumbs said.

The minister said that Gebe buys its fuel from SOL and that this company has a storage facility for a two-week supply.  Gebe calculates the average cost of the two monthly orders and then calculates the fuel clause in the first week of the following month.

Gumbs said that Gebe had lowered its tariffs with 5 cent per Kwh for households and 1 cent per Kwh for companies after it no longer had to subsidize the utility companies in Saba and Statia Read more

St. Maarten Timeshare Association Smta Calls For Summit To “Correct” Timeshare Ordinance

St. Maarten —The SMTA yesterday called for an immediate summit to be convened with the current Parliamentary initiator of the law–MP Leroy de Weever–, the Ministers of TEAT and Justice, the Council of Advice, the Ombudsman, Legal Affairs and the SMTA in order to make a plan to get this (timeshare) legislation corrected and if necessary, translated properly to Dutch, and passed in the shortest time possible.

The SMTA’s call comes on the heels of recent developments surrounding the Timeshare ordinance Read more

Mp Marlin-Romeo: “Cut Salaries Of Mps And Ministers By 5 Percent”

St. Maarten – Independent Member of Parliament Leona Marlin-Romeo made a good impression in her first address during Tuesday’s budget-debate. To the point and sticking to budget-related issues, the rookie MP fired a torrent of succulent remarks, mostly geared towards areas where she considers budget cuts still possible – and she did not need one-and-a-half hour to get her points across Read more

Editorial - Risk of delay

That the Kingdom Council of Ministers took the first step for a general measure of governance to impose an Integrity Chamber on St. Maarten should not come as a complete surprise, taking into account recent statements in this newspaper by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson on the issue. An attempt had been made by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs to smooth things over a bit during the subsequent visit of Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk to the island, but apparently this "bad cop, good cop" routine did not lead to a compromise.

According to Plasterk, the intended general measure does not require the consent of the country in question Read more

Is change really coming?

Dear Editor,

Anyone who looked in The Daily Herald of Friday, January 30th, and saw the commercial from Music Man thanking the people for voting them the best place to buy Electronics, would be under the impression that that was in India or some dependent of India. This has nothing to do with human discrimination whatsoever, but it is a classic example of what the hot topic is based on these days.

One of the MP's in his debate during the budget meeting made it clear, when he was making a point concerning the counterpart policy, that it did not take rocket scientists to sell TV's and watches, with which I concur Read more

Proposal to analyze DNA from 1 million people

WASHINGTON--The United States has proposed analyzing genetic information from more than 1 million American volunteers as part of a new initiative to understand human disease and develop medicines targeted to an individual's genetic make-up.

At the heart of the "precision medicine" initiative, announced on Friday by President Barack Obama, is the creation of a pool of people - healthy and ill, men and women, old and young - who would be studied to learn how genetic variants affect health and disease Read more

Fire Department ‘has reservations’ about joining shared dispatch centre

~Want equality-based cooperation~

PHILIPSBURG--The Fire Department has reservations about joining a shared dispatch Centre with the St. Maarten Police Force and the Ambulance Department, Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson said this week in response to a question by MP Sarah Wescot-Williams as to whether it was correct that the Fire Department will have its own dispatch, whereas the police and ambulance are said to be having theirs jointly Read more

Plasterk says no desire to steer integrity politically

THE HAGUE--The Kingdom Council of Ministers does not feel the need to steer the integrity issue in St. Maarten politically. It merely wants to prevent the safeguarding of integrity from becoming politically susceptible, said Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk on Friday.

The Kingdom Government decided on Friday to start the process for a so-called General Measure of the Kingdom Government ("Algemene Maatregel van Rijksbestuur" AMvRB) to establish an Integrity Chamber in St Read more

West Indian Village launched

DUTCH QUARTER--The West Indian Village, welcomed as a positive cultural and family-friendly development, was inaugurated on the evening of Friday, January 30, amongst dignitaries, community members and other supporters in the heart of Dutch Quarter.

Owner Henry Lynch was praised for his vision, passion and tenacity in initiating the project and carrying it through to fruition in various speeches by dignitaries, friends and colleagues.

The Village features eight white-framed, brightly coloured wooden structures all serving local and regional food, a sheltered airy space with benches and leisure amenities, and an outdoor playground.

It was created, the small restaurants in particular, to showcase and enjoy local culture, as well as the various nationalities represented in Dutch Quarter Read more

The Hague assumes power over St. Maarten integrity chamber

THE HAGUE--St. Maarten will not have a free hand to set up its own Integrity Chamber to investigate the handling of conflicts of interest and abuse of power by government officials. Independent supervision of proper governance will be instituted through the Kingdom Government.

The Kingdom Council of Ministers decided on Friday to start the procedure to impose a General Measure of the Kingdom Government to safeguard integrity in St. Maarten through an independent Integrity Chamber with the authority to investigate possible cases of integrity violations.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk confirmed this to the media after Friday's meeting of the Kingdom Council of Ministers, which was also attended by the Ministers Plenipotentiary of Aruba, Curaçao and St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- This week students of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School were given the opportunity to cast their ballots in a 'mock election', which was part of the Project Approach on Citizenship/Government. The Cycle 2 year 2 students along with their classroom Teacher Tracy Joseph worked diligently to create manifestos which highlighted the goals each party expected to achieve if they win the election.
The aim of this project was to enable students to be active learners as they demonstrate an understanding of some fundamental rights of the Dutch citizen, that is, the right to vote and be voted for Read more

No Plans For Waste Treatment Facility In Cay Bay

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Prime Minister of St. Maarten, the Honorable Marcel Gumbs made clear on Wednesday that the government is not aware of any plans to realize a Waste Treatment Facility in Cay Bay, as there has been no proposals put forward to government regarding the involvement of GEBE in such a project.

However, in the even Read more

Mlk Host Mock Election

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - This week students of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School were given the opportunity to cast their ballots in a 'mock election', which was part of the Project Approach on Citizenship/Government.

The Cycle 2 year 2 students along with their classroom Teacher Tracy Joseph worked diligently to create manifestos which highlighted the goals each party expected to achieve if they win the election.

The aim of this project was to enable students to be active learners as they demonstrate an understanding of some fundamental rights of the Dutch citizen, that is, the right to vote and be voted for.

This activity also developed awareness of the election process and how a government is formed.

"We are equipping our students with the educational experiences to be ready for the democratic and political responsibilities of continuing to lead this country forward in the coming years," remarked School Manager Stuart Johnson.

As students campaigned throughout the school the core social values, such as, respect and fairness among peer were reinforced Read more