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Bonaire wants time to hold referendum

THE HAGUE--Members of Bonaire’s Island Council on Monday officially presented a petition calling for a postponement of the amending of the Dutch Constitution to secure the island’s public entity status until after the referendum late 2015.

Island Council Members Robby Beukenboom of the Bonaire Democratic Party and James Kroon of the UPB Party handed over the petition to Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk at a reception on Monday, marking the start of the so-called Caribbean Netherlands Week in The Hague.

The petition, which was recently approved by a two-third majority of the Island Council, has also been sent to the First and Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Read more

Préfète Anne Laubies begins first day of her new posting

MARIGOT--New Préfète Déléguée Anne Laubies, who succeeds Philippe Chopin, began her first day of work on Monday by laying a wreath in the garden of Hotel de la Collectivité, the traditional signalling of the changeover of Préfets, and was introduced to the Territorial Council and separately to the press.

Prior to arriving in St. Martin she had been Secretary-General of the Préfecture of Pas-de-Calais since 2013.

She told reporters she was happy to be nominated the Préfete for St Read more

Cuba Inc. open to foreign capitalists, but within limits

HAVANA--Communist Cuba's newfound interest in foreign capital has its limits, as Philippe Pouletty found out.
  A French doctor, venture capitalist and founder of biotech company Abivax, Pouletty is working with Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology to develop a therapeutic vaccine to treat chronic Hepatitis B that could be on the Asian market in two years and in Europe after that Read more

The dump’s smoke is killing us and no MP cares

Dear Editor,

The dump (aka Mount Garbage) caught fire on May 2nd, 2015, and since then it has been emitting toxic smoke every day. That is well over 1 month (!) ago. Like many persons living and working in the greater Philipsburg area, I have also been suffering from frequent headaches and sore throat since the big fire. Depending on the wind direction, it can affect the entire Philipsburg area. On bad days, the smoke can even be smelled as far away as Caribbean Cinemas in Cole Bay/Simpson Bay.

It's therefore mind-boggling (but very telling) that up to now, no MP has raised the issue in Parliament and earmarked it as priority number one, as the smoke is poisoning a large part of the St Read more

>GREAT BAY(DCOMM):--- Ten civil servants from the Government of Sint Maarten has completed five days of training in a Basic User and Database Administration workshop. The workshop started June 1st and concluded on June 5th.

Organized by the National Development Plan (NDP) team from the Department of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BAK), the implementing agency for NDP project, the 10 civil servants now have the knowledge to work with the country databases SintMaartenInfo and CensusInfo Sint Maarten.

A follow-up training will be the next step – training the trainers – that will enable the 10 civil servants to assists others in learning how to utilize the database system.

Representatives from the Department of Statistics will also in the near future travel to the United States (New York) for a more advanced training at a Learning Lab.

Representatives of the various ministries now know how to create and manage databases within their ministry and how to upload their processed data into SintMaartenInfo for all stakeholders inside and outside of government to use - search for data, produce objects like tables, graphs and maps for presentations and reporting purposes to regional and international entities.

The Secretary Generals of the seven ministries were given a presentation on Wednesday morning and they were pleasantly surprised by what SintMaarteninfo looked like and the amount of data that was already in the database.

The information included Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) data as well as population and housing census data Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Hon. Maurice Lake, visited grade 5 students at the Sister Magda Primary School last week Friday as a guest speaker.

Sister Magda Primary School Grade 5 students were given an educational tour of the Parliament Building Read more

Arts and crafts find home on Front Street

PHILIPSBURG--Our Creations St. Maarten Arts and Crafts Foundation has found itself a home on Front Street 121A. At this address, no fewer than sixteen artists and crafters are displaying and selling their pieces of art and creative products to residents and tourists. Our Creations Arts and Crafts Home, which is a welcome addition to Front Street's selection of stores, was officially opened by Minister of Economic Affairs, Tourism, Traffic and Communication Claret Connor late Saturday afternoon.

It is the aim of Our Creations to promote and assist local entrepreneurs in St Read more

Request for Parliament meeting on protocol submitted by Govt

PHILIPSBURG--The Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has submitted its request to Parliament for a meeting to discuss the protocol on the establishment of the integrity chamber for the country signed by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson with Dutch Home Affairs Minister Ronald Plasterk two weeks ago in The Hague. No date has yet been set by Parliament for the meeting.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Richardson met with the press in A.C Read more

Kurdish party thwarts Erdogan's ambitions with election advance

ANKARA--Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's hopes of assuming greater powers suffered a major setback on Sunday when the ruling AK Party he founded failed to win an outright majority in a parliamentary election for the first time.

Erdogan, Turkey's most popular modern leader but also its most divisive, had hoped a crushing victory for the AKP would allow it to change the constitution and create a more powerful U.S.-style presidency. To do that, it would have needed to win two-thirds of the seats in parliament.

Instead, it has been left unable to govern alone for the first time since it came to power almost 13 years ago Read more

Response to Mr. Ferrier on ‘What a democracy we live in’

Dear Editor,

Upon reading the newspaper this past Friday, June 5, I came across an interesting article submitted by Mr. Michael J. Ferrier. The article was titled "What a democracy we live in"

What is a Democracy?

Democracy is defined as the following:

a) A form of government in which the people choose leaders by voting.

b) An organisation or situation in which everyone is treated equally and has equal rights.

Now that we all understand the meaning of the word, let's move on to the subject matter at hand:

*MP Frans G Read more

Editorial - Think big, start small

That emotions reportedly ran high during Thursday night’s meeting with local bus and taxi drivers may have had something to do with the recent special controls on public transportation operators (see Saturday paper). The Control Unit checked 14 buses and had two towed, while fines were issued for driving without a permit and even for being improperly dressed, among other things.

Legitimate operators actually should be happy with these actions. After all, there have been many complaints about illegal competition from so-called “gypsy drivers.”

Better regulating the industry and enforcing the rules also was a topic during the consultation with stakeholders by Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister Claret Connor and his team Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Interpol St. Maarten as part of the St Maarten Police Force, in cooperation with the St. Maarten office of the Attorney General Mr. Taco Stein, made 2 arrests on Friday June 5th 2015 around 03.50 p.m. in the area of Cole Bay.
On request of the Department of Justice in Miami USA, two British citizens were arrested in a case of involuntary manslaughter and false official statements, committed in the period of 2011/2012.
The arrested suspects are a 50 year old man with initials C.J and a 47 year old woman with the initials A.G Read more

style="text-align: center;"> Academy Sweeps Young King Awards!

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten:--- The third SXM Weekend of POWER was exactly that, powerful! The team of GIFTED and the artistes on the Caribbean Gospel Music Tour held entertaining motivational talks in seventeen schools in two days. These were followed by two free concerts in the Belvedere community –Daughters of Zion, and the Sons of Thunder concerts. The finale, ‘A Betta Tomorrow SXM’ Concert and Young King Awards was held at Port de Plaisance on Sunday Read more

style="text-align: center;">PJIAH has to send letter of Apology to COM in order for them to continue processing the file.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs who is the acting Minister of VROMI said that he was accused of holding up the building permits the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) submitted for the Food Based Operations and fire station building Read more

EXCLUSIVE:-- MP's wants Government to extend garbage contracts and not put them on bidding – Efforts being made by MPs to remove Buncamper.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Several Members of Parliament that have family members that have garbage collection contracts with government met sometime last week to discuss how they will by-pass the bidding process this year for the collection of garbage, a source close to the MPs told SMN News.
SMN News learnt some Members of Parliament wants to remove Claudius Buncamper from his post because he is the one that has to put the collection of garbage on bid, which Buncamper intends to do because that is what the law dictates.
However, certain MPs that are related to the persons who hold garbage collection contracts do not want to go through the bidding process but simply extend the contracts that were issued in May 2011, those contracts will expire in May 2016 Read more

Parliament still have the right to either accept, reject or make changes to the Integrity Chamber Protocol. Signed Protocol Eliminates Higher Supervision – Minister Dennis Richardson.

style="text-align: center;">Should a motion of no confidence be brought against Minister of Justice then it’s a motion of no confidence against the Council of Ministers--- PM Gumbs.

PHILIPSBURG: --- At a press conference held by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson on Sunday on the protocol Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson signed two Saturday’s ago in the Netherlands on behalf of the Prime Minster Marcel Gumbs, both Ministers said that the Parliament of St Read more

10 Civil Servants Complete National Database Training Workshop

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Ten civil servants from the Government of Sint Maarten has completed five days of training in a Basic User and Database Administration workshop.

The workshop started June 1st and concluded on June 5th.

Organized by the National Development Plan (NDP) team from the Department of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BAK), the implementing agency for NDP project, the 10 civil servants now have the knowledge to work with the country databases SintMaartenInfo and CensusInfo Sint Maarten.

A follow-up training will be the next step – training the trainers – that will enable the 10 civil servants to assists others in learning how to utilize the database system.

Representatives from the Department of Statistics will also in the near future travel to the United States (New York) for a more advanced training at a Learning Lab.

Representatives of the various ministries now know how to create and manage databases within their ministry and how to upload their processed data into SintMaartenInfo for all stakeholders inside and outside of government to use - search for data, produce objects like tables, graphs and maps for presentations and reporting purposes to regional and international entities.

The Secretary Generals of the seven ministries were given a presentation on Wednesday morning and they were pleasantly surprised by what SintMaarteninfo looked like and the amount of data that was already in the database.

The information included Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) data as well as population and housing census data Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Attends 16Th Annual Walk For God’S Mercy And Protection

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs on Saturday evening attended the 16th Annual ‘Walk for God’s Mercy and Protection’ that was organized by the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in collaboration with the Divine Mercy Charismatic Prayer Group.

Citizens of the country took part in the walk which was organized in connection with the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season and any other disaster or calamity that may occur during the remainder of the year.

Prime Minister Gumbs told the gathering during the praise and worship session to stay focused on God; to pray for tranquillity and stability; to always be civil with one another; and to seek God’s protection for the hurricane season and any other disaster that may occur.

Participants met at the Cyrus Wathey Square in front of the Courthouse in Philipsburg.  After praise and worship, those in attendance walked through Front and Back Street and back to the Square.

In Photo: Prime Minister Hon Read more

Dp Leader Prefers Integrity Chamber Created By St. Maarten

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Would the Parliament of St. Maarten prefer to have an Integrity Chamber created by the Dutch Government as opposed to creating one themselves?

Leader of the Democratic Party of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot-Williams stated that they are in support of an Integrity Chamber created by the Parliament of St Read more

Council Of Mnisters Stands Behind Integrity Protocol Says Pm

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Council of Ministers is standing behind the Minister of Justice and the protocol he signed with the Dutch government for an Integrity Chamber.

The Prime Minister the Honorable Marcel Gumbs stated that if the Parliament of St. Maarten gives the Minister of Justice a vote of no confidence based on the Int Read more

Collectivité convenes its annual hurricane preparedness meeting

MARIGOT--The annual hurricane preparedness meeting took place in Hotel de La Collectivité Friday morning with all the relevant persons and departments to assess the readiness of the territory in the event of a hurricane strike.

The meeting was presided over by President Aline Hanson, the Préfecture's Chef de Cabinet Emmanuel Effantin and for the Collectivité, Charlotte Terrac, in charge of the crisis unit for natural risks.

The objective was to assess the current resources available to deal with a hurricane strike and the needs of each department Read more

No decision by USP to remove minister

PHILIPSBURG--United St. Maarten Party (USP) has not made a decision to remove Justice Minister Dennis Richardson from his post.

Instead, party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Frans Richardson is set to meet the Justice Minister next week to discuss the agreement signed by the Minister with the Dutch Kingdom Government on the establishment of the Integrity Chamber for St Read more

style="text-align: center;">Where is the Supervisory Board?

Airport:--- Ten more days to go and the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) may have to face serious penalties if they defaulted on the bonds they have secured for various projects. The bonds SMN News understand stands at $160M which had to be used up since 2014, but the lack of the building permits for the Food Based Operations (FBO) and fire station may well place the government owned company in a real predicament. One of things that can happen the bonds can be recalled because the funds were not used during the time frame in which it had to be used and PJIAE will also have to pay the interests and face a penalty while losing its financial credibility.
According to information SMN News received PJIAE signed a number of agreements and concessions with several stakeholders in order to recoup the cost of the FBO project Read more

style="text-align: center;">Party remains steadfast on their decision to remove Minister of Justice from Office

PHILIPSBURG:--- The members of the USP board headed by MP Frans Richardson have decided that the party leader MP Frans Richardson will meet with the Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson early next week as SMN News reported earlier Read more