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Police: Road Closures For Upcoming Parades And Jump Up

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — In connection with the upcoming Grand Parade scheduled for May 1st, the Second Day Parade scheduled for May 2nd and the closing Jump up scheduled for May 3rd the Police Department is announcing the following road closures.

Grand Parade May 1st 2017

The parade is scheduled to start at 10.00 a.m. leaving the entrance of Sint Johns Ranch on the L.B. Scot road with the following route: Sint Johns Estate road/ L.B. Scot road/Bush road/W.J.A. Nisbeth road/Percy Labega Street/Long wall road/Kerkhof Steeg/Front Street/ Emma plein/ Welvaart Brug/Buncamper road/Freedom Fighter Round About/W.J.A Read more

Victorious Living Celebrates 15 Years & Hosting Leadercast For 5 Years

Leadercast Registration deadline May 1st

Belair, St Maarten —  Leadercast Live 2017, the largest one day global leadership conference, hosted locally by Victorious Living Foundation via live simulcast is only one week away. As the excitement mounts, over 100 persons have already registered for this transformational experience hosted consecutively on St. Martin by Victorious Living for the past five years.

The theme for Leadercast 2017 is “Powered by Purpose.” Headliners at this year’s event include the world renowned director, playwright, producer and philanthropist, Tyler Perry; Dr Read more

Prime Minister William Marlin Meets With Progress Committee  

 

PHILIPSBURG – On Friday morning April 28th , Prime Minister William Marlin met with the Progress Committee. Prime Minister Marlin said that in the past reports have been very critical, but the reporting this time has been quite positive.

The new Justice Minister, Mr. Rafael Boasman is very serious about tackling the Plans of Approach Read more

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Preparations Has Commenced For Memorial Day On May 4Th

PHILIPSBURG –  Prime Minister William Marlin hereby makes it known that preparations for Memorial Day have commenced. Memorial Day is the National Day of Remembrance, which is the day that we commemorate the victims who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the outbreak of World War II have commenced.

The preparations include the relocation of the commemoration plaques at the Captain Hodge Wharf to a more publicly accessible location on the same Wharf Read more

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Vwa Concludes Saturday As Preps Get Underway For Vaccination Open House In May And June

 

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) which kicked off onSaturday, April 22, concludes on Saturday, April 29.

VWA did not go un-noticed in Sint Maarten, as Minister of Public Health Emil Lee received promotional materials from the local VWA Committee to signify the support of the country wi Read more

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Upp Faction Forfeits Opportunity To Represent The People

The Central Committee of Parliament made history last week when it scheduled ample time to discuss the 2016-2020 Governing Program “Solidarity for Prosperity.” As far as I can recall, this is the first time that Parliament planned so many meetings to handle a governing program. The only other topic for which so many meetings are scheduled by Parliament is the country’s budget. I am a strong believer that these two go hand in hand and we should expect to see the priorities and projects listed in the governing program also reflected in all future budgets presented.

The United Democratic Alliance (UDA), comprised of the USP, DP and NA factions, also ought to be commended for their display of unity during the opening presentation Read more

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Minister Jacobs Pushes Initiative To Increase Drinking Age

 

PHILIPSBURG – It is Parliament’s policy that initiative draft laws presented to Parliament and whose authors are no longer Members of Parliament, can be further promoted by the faction to which the initiative taker belonged.

This is the case with the change to the permit ordinance and the “legal” drinking age. One would recall that the Lion’s Club has been an advocate for the legal drinking age to be established at 18. This is the case in the penal code, however, the permit ordinance that regulates the sale of alcohol, prohibits the sale of alcohol to persons below the age of 16.

This discrepancy was addressed in Parliament during a meeting with representatives of the Lion’s Club.

Former Member of Parliament (MP) and present Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Silveria Jacobs, presented an initiative draft law, amending the permit ordinance to bring this in line with the penal code Read more

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Charlotte Brookson Academy Hosts Staff Retreat 

 

PHILIPSBURG – The Charlotte Brookson Academy of the Performance Arts recently concluded its retreat on April 18.

The 14 members of the board, management and staff gathered at the conference room of the Simpson Bay Resort. The purpose of the retreat was to re-establish a common understanding of the CBA vision and the school development plan, strengthen a collective understanding of how the vision will be implemented, monitored and evaluated and to identify strategic personal and professional development plans for the staff.

The turbulent process of moving to the new location, and in preparation for the upcoming school year and getting approval for the future focus of the school, management and staff felt it opportune to get together in a conducive environment to reflect on the immediate past, the successes, challenges and opportunities for the future of CBA.

The sessions were facilitated by independent consultant Marjan de Visser and assisted by Human Resources and Finance Manager Hiro Shigemoto and Innovations Coordinator Okama Ekpe Brook Read more

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Draft Law Establishing Timeshare Authority For St. Maarten Under Review

 

PHILIPSBURG – It has not gone unnoticed that timeshare users of units on St. Maarten have been very vocal as of late regarding the draft law to establish a timeshare authority.

“There is quite a history behind the proposal to establish a Timeshare Authority, starting with a motion passed in Parliament on June 29, 2011 to establish a ‘timeshare regulatory body,’” explained Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams.

With the help and involvement of many, in and outside of government/parliament and the timeshare industry, two draft initiatives were tabled by former MP P Read more

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Minister Jacobs Emphasizes Parental Responsibility During Carnival

PHILIPSBURG – Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports Silveria Jacobs addressed the media in Wednesday’s, April 19, Council of Ministers Press Briefing.

She wished everyone a happy and safe Carnival and stressed “especially to the parents, there is still school, and I would like to remind parents that your first responsibility is to make sure that your children make the most of their education Read more

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Minister Emmanuel Not Distracted By False Information

PHILIPSBURG – Minister of VROMI Christophe Emmanuel gave a short status update to members of the press in Wednesday’s, April 19, Council of Ministers Press briefing.

In regard to the proposed housing development in Dawn Beach, representatives “will be here in May. They will give a full rundown.”

“I received an email from them today stating that they will be signing the agreement, and going over all the paperwork with the landowner, contracts with the developer. I think that part of it is for them to explain how they’re going to move forward with it when I was in Curaçao,” Minister Emmanuel informed.

“Everything was set and is in motion concerning the 167 homes that are supposed to be built in the Dawn Beach area,” he said.

Concerning the explosive letter that was printed in the media, the Minister said, “That’s just what it is for me Read more

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Minister Lee Asks Media To Provide Quality, Unbiased Information To Public

PHILIPSBURG – Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Emil Lee addressed the media in Wednesday’s, April 19, Council of Ministers Press Briefing.

He first reported on his trip to Holland. “The purpose for the visit was to discuss the developments with the hospital. The fact that the hospital project is now back on track, we are again looking at exploring the possibility of financial support from Holland,” Minister Lee informed.

“The reason being, although we’re accessing funds locally to begin the project, fact is that if we can access funds directly via Holland because of the lower interest rate and because of a different payment terms, this would result in a savings operationally for the new hospital of between 3-5 million guilders a year, and I believe that anything we can do to save money operationally is money that can be better spent on health care rather than paying into financing charges,” the Minister informed.

According to the Minister, the “Kingdom Council of Ministers will make a recommendation that the funding for the hospital project be considered outside of the normal lending procedures.”

The other purpose for the Holland trip was to speak about legislative assistance Read more

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Wescot-Williams Requests Meeting To Discuss Taxes

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — After several requests for information on taxes and the answers provided by the Minister of Finance, I have now requested the Chairman of the Finance Committee to convene a meeting of this committee with the agenda point: The fiscal and tax systems of St. Maarten.

The request for the meeting was made after receiving upon request, the status of several pending pieces of legislation regarding taxes, etc. such as:

Cancellation of taxes prior to 2006;

Amendments to the national accountability ordinance;

Collection of taxes;

The financial training institution.

The first answers to these questions date back to August 2016, and an update was requested in March 2017.

Furthermore, I apprised the Finance Committee chair of the response by the Minister to the motion adopted by Parliament regarding the “forgiveness” of taxes, allowing taxpayers to file taxes, not filed before.

Then there is the document, provided by the Government, “The Road to a Smart State of the Art Tax Administration” by Mr Read more

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Parliament, Our Weak Link

Some people wonder why my writings deal mostly with the Parliament of Sint Maarten. This is because our Parliament is a new constitutional institution.

During the last campaign, leading up to the September 26, 2016 elections, the Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) observed that the majority of the people knew and understood very little about our Parliament and about the role and function of the parliamentarians they were about to elect.

The people generally equated the role of a parliamentarian with that of a minister Read more

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The Laws Of St. Maarten Books In English Are “Going Like Hot Bread”

 

PHILIPSBURG – The Laws of St. Maarten is a set of five books just published here. And the attractive, reader-friendly design publications are “going like hot bread” at Van Dorp bookstores and from the InfoMedia distributors, said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).

Each volume of The Laws of St. Maarten describes the book project on its cover as, “a five-volume English ‘Translation of the Official Publication’ of the Constitution and other laws established for governing St Read more

Rotary Sunrise Congratulates Winners Of Butterfly Story Book Contest: Khushi J. Soneji And Nagely Andular Vargas

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The Rotary E-Club of the Caribbean, District 7020 Butterfly Story writing contest was recently concluded and with much appreciation to our young authors, Rotary Sunrise heartily congratulates Khushi Soneji and Nagely Andular Vargas for emerging as the overall winners. The Gift of Listening by Khushi J. Soneji of the Methodist Agogic Center and The Girl with the Well-Worn Uniform by Nagely Andujar Vargas of Ruby Labega school emerged as the two best stories from the 14 stories submitted from St Read more

Com Hosts Information Session For Management Teams Of Seven Government Ministries

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – On Friday, March 31, the Council of Ministers hosted an Information Session to the Secretaries General of the seven different Ministries and their Management Team, the Staff of the Ministers cabinet, and the Staff of the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.

The main agenda points of the session were the Governing Program; integrity and the plans of the Dutch Government towards establishing an Integrity Chamber on Sint Maarten and their recent appointment of a Dutch Integrity Quartermaster and an update on the budget 2017.

The Council found it essential to inform the key leaders and advisors of the organization in person about these key matters.

While the Prime Minister, William Marlin, spoke on the issues of the Governing Program and Integrity, the Minister of Finance, Richard Gibson Sr., elaborated on the budget.

At the same time both Ministers stressed the importance of the role of each civil servant in the process of making Sint Maarten great Read more

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Update: Multiple Gunshots Heard In Dominica Drive

UPDATE 3:00pm POLICE REPORT:

Detectives investigate shooting incident.

Detectives are presently investigating an incident of a shooting which took place on Friday April 1`4th at approximately 03.40 a.m. in Dominica Road.  Patrols were sent to the scene where they spoke to the victim with initials D.S.

who stated that he was awaken by several gun shots in the area.< Read more

It’S Just A Smokescreen To Cover The Real Con Man

Dear Minister of VROMI,

Employees representing TelEm and GEBE took note of a project to be constructed in Dawn Beach. Nothing wrong with that as the Herald applauded.

The monthly mortgage payments are 1,530 guilders, for a one-bedroom home and 2,070 guilders for a two-bedroom home. This deal is brokered between the Minister and a private land owner. The Minister of Public Housing today is in Curaçao to negotiate financing with the taxpayer’s money on behalf of a private land owner.

The article states that soon the Minister will introduce the private land owner to Vidanova, the pension funds financier Read more

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The Integrity Chamber War

Recently, our Prime Minister, the honorable William Marlin, leader of the United Democratic Alliance, which consists of the NA, USP and DP coalition, declared war on the Kingdom Government when he stated that said Government can “send in the troops to implement the Integrity Chamber.”

This reaction reminds me of my childhood days Read more

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Primer Ministro Marlin: Si Quiere Que La Cámara De La Integridad Funcione, No Obtendrá Mi Cooperación

Traducido por Máximo Castro

PHILIPSBURG.- El primer ministro William Marlin, abordó el miércoles con lo miembros de los distintos medios de comunicación durante la acostumbrada rueda de prensa del Consejo de Ministros; el tema principal de la Cámara de la Integridad y el nombramiento del intendente de St. Maarten. “Lo que estaban diciendo los titulares era el ministro no se aferró a su acuerdo, porque en lugar de continuar con la reunión, recibimos una carta que el Gobierno del Reino había decidido enviar al Consejo de Ministros del Reino con la propuesta de dar a St Read more

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Road Closures And Traffic Measures In Connection With The Upcoming “2017 Carnival Opening Jump-Up”

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — In connection with the upcoming “2017 Carnival Opening Jump-up” which is scheduled to take place on Monday April 17th / Easter Monday, the Police Department is announcing the following road closures and traffic measures:

The “Opening Jump Up” is scheduled to start at 08.00 p.m. sharp on the L.B. Scot road in the vicinity of the Milton Peters College in Reward. All band trucks and DJ’s will gather at the starting point prior to the departure.

At 07.00 p.m.  L.B Read more

Info Media Foundation Presents Laws To Council

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On Wednesday, April 12, 2017 Info Media Foundation represented by Keith Franca presented the Council of Ministers with the English translation of the 38 Organic Laws of St. Maarten.

Prime Minister William Marlin stated at the presentation that we are heading in the right direction as a country with these 38 Organic Laws now available in English, because we are an English speaking society, and there is a disconnect between the laws of the country, which are in Dutch and the community speaks English.

“Currently there is a motion at Parliament to make English more prominent in government, in official publications and in our society,” said Prime Minister Marlin.

Franca stated that the English version of the 38 Organic Laws was the brainchild of Marcel Gumbs, and has been made possible through the House of Nehesi Publishers and Ennia Insurances, along with review by the Department of Legal Affairs.

The English version of the 38 Organic Laws is a five volume set of books that are vision friendly and the letter type and size is easy to read Read more

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Dp And Coppal To Rekindle Ties

PHILIPSBURG – During his recent visit to St. Maarten, Rudy Croes paid a courtesy visit to DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams, also in his capacity as vice-chairperson of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (COPPAL).

The Democratic Party (DP) is a long standing member of COPPAL, however, during the last few years, has been inactive as far as this regional political body is concerned.

COPPAL is an international organization of political parties in Latin America and the Caribbean Read more

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