SXMElections.com

Up Board Extends Deepest Condolences To Johnson Family And Stuart Johnson Secretary General

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – The United People's Party (UP) family and board extends its deepest condolences to the family of the late Mrs. Linda Marie Johnson, especially her son Stuart Johnson, Secretary General of the UP Board, UP Party Board President Sylvia Meyers said on behalf of the party on Monday.

“Linda Johnson has been like a mom to many of our board members and an unwavering supporter. 

We will surely miss her advices and quick wit," the UP Party Board stated Read more

Government Seeks To Make October 10Th A National Holiday

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The government of St. Maarten is now in the process of changing at least one of the islands National Holidays.

Prime Minister the Honorable Marcel Gumbs confirmed that the Holidays that will be switched is that of December 15 Kingdom Day, paving the way for October the 10th to become a National Holiday. Read more

Up Mp Lake Says Start Of New Parliamentary Year Is Opportunity To Move Country Forward By Executing Priority Projects

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United People’s (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake says with the new parliamentary year is about to start next month and he would like to see the country moving forward with the execution of priority projects, adding that this is an opportunity.

“First, I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends of one of my childhood friend, the late Robert Boasman of Tangerine Road, St Read more

Na Sends Condolences To Victims Of Ts And Stresses Preparedness

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The National Alliance family would like to extend condolences and words of encouragement and hope to the people and government of the Commonwealth of Dominica.

Natural disasters have an uncanny way of bringing communities, islands and countries together.

Though the destruction and devastation wreaked by TS Erika, still needs to be properly assessed, it is clear that much emergency aid will be needed in the coming weeks.

The photos and videos, testimonies of survival and tragedy are heart wrenching Read more

Lake urges stakeholders to work out waste-to-energy plant project

PHILIPSBURG--United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake has issued a public call to all stakeholders involved in the stagnated waste-to-energy plant to get to work.

His call comes after Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs said last week that getting the project moving had encountered some difficulties Read more

Woman who claimed wrongful arrest had undeclared $20,000 in possession

~ Customs officer says she was arrested lawfully ~

PHILIPSBURG--Insel Air passenger Maria Isabel G.L., who claimed that she had been arrested wrongfully last week Tuesday and falsely linked to a robbery, had been attempting to board the flight with more than US $20,000 and not $5,000 as she told this newspaper on Friday.

Isabel could not be reached for comment on Sunday, as she had indicated earlier that her phone had been confiscated by authorities. Isabel shared her story to clear her name, saying that she had been arrested wrongfully in association with the Son Latino robbery.

Customs officer Franklyn Bernadina, who was involved in Isabel’s arrest, said she initially had told officers that she had nothing to declare, then indicated that she had $5,000 in her possession and then that she had more than $20,000, which had not been declared.

Bernadina said this amount was “way above” the minimum amount of $11,000 required by law to be declared to Customs Read more

‘Too much emphasis on financial management’

WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG--The Committee Evaluation Kingdom Law Financial Supervision placed too much importance on financial management, said Curaçao and St. Maarten in their objection against the advice to keep the legislation in place for now.

As reported earlier, the committee headed by former Antillean banker Ron Gomes Casseres concluded that while the new countries’ budgets of 2012, 2013 and 2014 met the most basic conditions set, there is as yet no question of a proper structural financial management.

For example, the annual accounts of none of those three years have so far been approved Read more

Your own conclusions

Dear Editor,

It has been a trying week – two major storms have passed us by without any damage or significant losses. Our Prime Minister, in taking charge made all the right moves in closing the country down avoiding possible loss of life in flooding and blowing projectiles. Even though some think the actions were unwarranted it still is better to err on the side of caution than to do nothing and wish you did.

The other decision taken by the PM was to declare or put a stop to our ministers meeting with Dutch civil servants Read more

Editorial - Don’t kill the goose

All indications are that measures to raise revenues and/or cut expenditures will result from the budgetary instruction the Kingdom Council of Ministers is expected to issue for St. Maarten on the advice of the Committee for Financial Supervision. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs had stated earlier that several amendments to add 15 million guilders to this year’s budget were at Parliament, but the general public is yet to learn what’s in store.

Rumours in the past that a hike in the turnover tax TOT was being considered have always been denied Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- When the governments of the Netherland and St Maarten fight, it is the citizens of St. Maarten that lose. The Democratic Party advocates that the interests of the citizens of St Maarten should always come first.

As the governments of the Netherlands and St Maarten discuss crime, corruption, transparency and integrity; they should not lose sight of the fact that the interests of the citizens of St Maarten should always remain the priority Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- While residents throughout St. Maarten were anxiously following the developments with TS Erika last week, another outcry came from those persons affected by the recent fire on the landfill (dump). The effects, such as the smoke and fumes of this fire could be felt and sensed a great distance away from the Philipsburg area, said Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams.
Understandably, the people of St Read more

UP MP Lake would like to see stakeholders for Waste to Energy Plant Project getting together to move project forward

>PHILIPSBURG:---- United People’s (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake sent a letter to the Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, and also publicly made a statement on July 13th, 2015 requesting an update on the Solid Waste Ordinance and the progress of the long awaited Waste to Energy Plant to address the ‘growing garbage mountain.’

“As the former Minister of VROMI, my ministry and the Steering Committee was very much involved with the final stage the bidding process which was won by a company to build the plant Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, said on Sunday that joint cooperation and collaboration is the most feasible way to move forward in building and developing a longstanding relationship that is beneficial to both parties concerned within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Additional discussions will take place between Sint Maarten and the Netherlands with on how to tackle a number of areas such as border crossing crime, money laundering, the narcotics trade, robberies, and human smuggling and trafficking.
“Sint Maarten and the Netherlands both agree that the country’s judicial system needs to be strengthened Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party and Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams said in a press statement that as a country that has known our share of disasters, it is heart wrenching to see the reports and scenes coming out of Dominica, as this island was battered by torrential rains, flooding and mudslides, associated with TS Erika Read more

>PHILIPSBURG;---- Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, has forwarded a letter to the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit expressing condolences to the people and Government of Dominica with respect to the damage left behind by Tropical Storm Erika.
“On behalf of the Government and the people of Sint Maarten, I Read more

Parliament not fully utilizing the forum of its committees to debate matters that affect the people of St. Maarten.

>PHILIPSBURG:---It was a progressive step when the parliament of St. Maarten in its wisdom decided to keep meetings of the parliamentary committees open. However, by not calling meetings of these committees as often as is possible and desirable, the purpose of these committees is defeated, said leader of the Democratic Party and Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams.
The work of these committees is to a large extent determined by the members of parliament who chair these committees Read more

Uts Upgrading Clients To Be 4G Lte Ready

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United Telecommunication Services is continuing on its course of improvement by offering its Chippie customers the opportunity to upgrade the SIM card they use to access the mobile operators’ mobile service.

For just USD $ 5 customers can purchase a 3G capable SIM card that will allow them access to the mobile operators’ premium mobile internet service. For a limited time only customers save $11.70 when purchasing their new SIM card.

With the upgrade campaign existing customers can visit the UTS store in Philipsburg from August 31 – September 19 and get their SIM card upgrade Read more

Parliament Not Fully Utilizing The Forum Of Its Committees To Debate Matters That Affect The People Of St. Maarten

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - It was a progressive step when the parliament of St. Maarten in its wisdom decided to keep meetings of the parliamentary committees open.However, by not calling meetings of these committees as often as is possible and desirable, the purpose of these committees is defeated. The work of these committees is to a large extent determined by the members of parliament who chair these committees. Members can ask for topics to be tabled, but there are no regulations that these meetings must be held Read more

Up Mp Lake Would Like To See Stakeholders For Waste To Energy Plant Project Getting Together To Move Project Forward

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United People’s (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake sent a letter to the Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, and also publicly made a statement on July 13th, 2015 requesting an update on the Solid Waste Ordinance and the progress of the long awaited Waste to Energy Plant to address the â€˜growing garbage mountain.’

“As the former Minister of VROMI, my ministry and the Steering Committee was very much involved with the final stage the bidding process which was won by a company to build the plant Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Expresses Condolences To The Government And People Of Dominica

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, has forwarded a letter to the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit expressing condolences to the people and Government of Dominica with respect to the damage left behind by Tropical Storm Erika.

“On behalf of the Government and the people of Read more

Financial instruction for St. Maarten unavoidable

~Minister Hassink relays objections to The Hague~

By Suzanne Koelega

THE HAGUE--St. Maarten has faced the threat of a budgetary instruction before, but this time there seems no escaping: the Kingdom Council of Ministers is expected to give St. Maarten an instruction on September 4, to get its 2015 budget in compliance with the requirements of the Financial Supervision Law.

According to St. Maarten Finance Minister Martin Hassink, in the Netherlands earlier this week for talks with Dutch authorities, the measure against St Read more

New Turkish cabinet includes opposition

ANKARA--Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu appointed nationalist and pro-Kurdish opposition politicians to an interim power-sharing cabinet on Friday, but left his finance and economy ministers unchanged in a team dominated by ruling party loyalists.
  Davutoglu was forced to form the temporary cabinet after his AK Party failed to find a junior coalition partner following the loss of its parliamentary majority in a June election which ended more than a decade of single-party rule Read more

Japan student group injects new exuberance into anti-war protests

TOKYO--Wearing shorts and a baggy T-shirt and clutching a microphone, Aki Okuda stands before a crowd, the pyramid-shaped roof of Japan's parliament lit up against the night sky behind him. "No War", "Protect the Constitution", "Abe - Quit!", he chants in a hip-hop rhythm, echoed by the crowd.

Okuda, 23, is a founding member of a group of students that has become a fresh face of protest against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to enact a more robust defence policy - steps critics say violate the pacifist constitution and could ensnare Japan in U.S.-led wars.

Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy (SEALDs) is also denting the image of Japanese students as either apolitical introverts, who left protests to their elders, or rightwing geeks Read more

Ujima takes treatment for ‘at-risk’ boys to another level

~ Applications Open for New Day Treatment Programme ~

By Judy Fitzpatrick

Ujima Foundation has taken its programme to help youngsters in St. Maarten to a new level with the launching of its new Day Treatment Programme for “at-risk” boys in the country. The treatment programme is an extension of Ujima’s Residential Treatment Programme and will be in the form of an after school programme targeting boys ages eight to 13. The programme began on August 24, and registration is currently ongoing.

UJIMA Foundation had offered a day programme in the past, focussing on academic support and therapeutic activities for persons who completed its residential programme Read more