Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
Prime Minister Wescot-Williams Attends Opening of the Oualichi Women’s Soccer Association Female High school competition.
Princess Heights Hotel Named St. Maarten’s Leading Hotel for second year in a row by World Travel Awards.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Almost three weeks after signing an agreement with formateur Theodore Heyliger, leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams finally broke her silence on Monday at a press conference held at the House of Parliament Read more
Cpo Takes "Stop, Drop & Go" Projects To The Streets
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - On Sunday October 26th a peaceful march that was organized People United for True Democracy took place.
This march started at approximately 02.00 p.m. and lasted until 05.00 p.m.
The march was attended by approximately two hundred persons and ended in front on the Government Administration building on the Clem Labega Square.
The Community Police Officer/ Inspector Felix Richards used this opportunity and the end of the march to approach the onlookers and the participants attending the march, including prominent politicians such as, Franklin Meyers, Dr Read more
Prime Minister Wescot-Williams Stresses The Need To Support Mental Healthcare At Mental Health Foundation Function
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - While attending a recent function in benefit of the Mental Health Foundation, caretaker Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams again stressed the importance for the Mental Health Foundation; "As I have expressed in the past we have a Mental Health Foundation doing extremely good work but one that is faced with its challenges.
Government subsidizes the Foundation but indeed the needs of the organization are great.
"There are a lot of issues that are faced by people on a daily basis; some persons can conceal this state but others not.
More can be done on St Read more
Prime Minister Wescot-Williams Attends Diwali Celebrations
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Caretaker Prime Minister the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams joined the Indian Community in attending the Diwali Celebrations held this past Saturday at the Belair Community Center.
Diwali or Divali also known as Deepavali and the "festival of lights" is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year.
Wescot-Williams stated that it was a pleasure for her to be able to share a cultural experience with the Indian Community of St Read more
Mosquito Fogging Moved Forward; Commences October 28
St. Maarten –Â The fogging of mosquitoes originally carded for November 1 has been moved forward to October 28, according to the Collective Preventive Services (CPS).
Residents are asked to bear in mind that fogging is not a total solution to eliminate mosquitos and that fogging activity is kept to a minimum in order to prevent the mosquito population from developing immunity to the chemicals that are deployed.
Fogging is one intervention of several, and the main measure is for every household and business to take action by removing potential mosquito breeding spots in and around their premises on a daily basis Read more
Editorial - What then?
An estimated 200 people showed up for Sunday's demonstration against the intervention by the Kingdom Council of Ministers in the process to form a local government. The crowd may not have seemed that large in absolute numbers, but for St. Maarten, where people rarely take to streets to protest anything, it was significant.
Some who disagree with the participants might argue that they were mostly UP sympathisers, as the instruction from the Netherlands to Governor Eugene Holiday obviously is aimed at that party and its leader Theo Heyliger, to prevent him from becoming prime minister Read more
What democracy?
Dear Editor,
What democracy was the march on Sunday held for? Was it for the democracy that this island never experienced? Those of us who have lived on this island for the last 5½ decades know that this island was never governed in a democratic manner. This island was ruled during the last 5½ decades, with the exception of a few years after 1979, by a clan. The members of this clan are of the firm belief that only the clan should run this island.
To achieve their goal, this clan has used and is still using unconventional methods Read more
It’s just us!
After hearing the many varying opinions on our stance against continuous meddling and intervention by the Dutch in our affairs without any legal basis, I wondered and asked why the silence in Philipsburg is so deafening. And the thought came to me then of the prayers of our forefathers, especially their cry for divine intervention in times like these.
It was rather ironic that our country was hit by a hurricane and we heard no enquiries or queries from the Dutch on the damages or state of affairs on the island Read more
UK ends Afghan combat role, last US Marines hand over base
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan--British troops ended their combat operations in Afghanistan on Sunday as they and U.S. Marines handed over two huge adjacent bases to the Afghan military, 13 years after a U.S.-led invasion launched the long and costly war against the Taliban.
Their coming departure leaves Afghanistan and its newly installed president, Ashraf Ghani, to deal almost unaided with an emboldened Taliban insurgency after the last foreign combat troops withdraw by year-end.
At the U.S Read more
Minister praises ‘quick’ recovery efforts on visit
MARIGOT--French Minister of Overseas Territories George Pau-Langevin has praised the "very quick" efforts of the territory to get back on its feet following the passing of Hurricane Gonzalo, on her visit to St. Martin and St. Barths on Sunday.
She especially thanked law enforcement, SNSM sea rescue, EDF and all service providers for working flat out to assist the population in getting back to normal daily routines.
"As the tourist season is starting shortly, it was important for us to see areas like Orient Beach that depend on tourism," she said before departing for St Read more
Marchers call for ‘respect’ and end to Dutch ‘insult’
PHILIPSBURG--"We didn't vote for Bosman or Van Raak" and "Enough is enough. This is our country" were some of the messages on the placards carried by an estimated 200 marchers who took to the street Sunday afternoon to express their discontent with the Kingdom Council of Ministers' instruction to Governor Eugene Holiday to carry out what has been deemed an invasive, boundless screening into the lives of minister candidates.
The march started off from the ring road with the sizable group heading down W.J.A Read more
PSS N.V. says personalized stamps can be a fun and unique way to capture unique moments and communicate them not only within the St. Maarten community, but also around the world via traditional postal systems.
The personalized stamps service was officially launched at the A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities on October 17, 2014 along with the official opening of a new post office location at the Harbour.
To mark the occasion, PSS staff produced a series of personalized stamps for their invited guests during the opening ceremonies to demonstrate how quickly and easily a sheet of official stamps can be produced and instantly make use of an historic moment.
According to PSS N.V Read more
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal illness in humans Read more
"This whole thing is not about that anybody is afraid of being screened Read more
CPS reminds persons to get their seasonal flu vaccine.
As part of the Minister of Public Health's "Get Checked," campaign, influenza is an acute viral infection that spreads very easily from person to person, and can affect anybody in any age group.
"Check with your physician to see whether or not you are part of the high risk group and be proactive Read more
PHILIPSBURG:--- Organizers of the Peoples United for True Democracy (PUTD) began gathering on the Pondfill just after 1pm on Sunday as they prepared for the march they organized to protest against the instruction the Kingdom Council of Ministers gave to Governor Holiday on September 17th, 2014. The Kingdom Council instructed the Governor of St. Maarten not to sign any Landsbesluit to appoint Ministers that are appointed by the current coalition government.
The march which was scheduled to take off from the vicinity of the WIFOL building on the Pondfill on Sunday afternoon left the location close to 3pm as buses were circling in the various districts to pick up people who wanted to participate in the march deemed as protecting the country and its people's democratic rights.Despite the delay and several publications in the newspapers, radios, and the social media just about 100 persons attended the march, included were several members from the UP party including its leader Theodore Heyliger, MP Lloyd Richardson and MP Franklyn Meyers, children and even some workers from the brothels on the island were among those that marched down the Pondfill road to the Government Administration Building.As the marchers marched they chanted they wanted freedom, justice and respect Read more
I Have Mixed Feelings About This Recent Development Regarding The Instruction Issued To Our Governor, Says Lenny F. Priest
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – The OSPP has been paying keen attention to the recent developments regarding the instructions given to Governor Holiday by the Dutch Kingdom Council of Minister.
This instruction in our opinion is baseless to say the least. After the 2014 election the NA/DP/US government was being formed and they had reached a point of signing an agreement to work together.
This information was conveyed to the entire world including the Dutch Read more