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Merchants Association

President of the Merchants Association of Marigot René Mathon (left) and Treasurer Philippe Morel.

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Gumbs: Economy a priority in 2015

PHILIPSBURG--The implementation of "deliberate and integrated policies like the counterpart policy, employability through training and skill building for youth and adults, strengthening workplace compliance and formalization of the informal economy that compliment economic growth and reduce unemployment in order to create sustainable development" are top priorities for the Gumbs Cabinet in 2015.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, in his early New Year's message: "The list of priorities is not a short one Read more

Person of the Year

French-side entrepreneur perseveres in difficult times

MARIGOT--For many people Marigot always had the potential to be the more attractive capital of the island and still has, to paraphrase a Kia commercial, "the power to surprise."

After all what could be more enticing to the vacationer than a little corner of France tucked away in the Caribbean, a sea front town with quaint streets, outdoor cafés, markets, shopping, the classic French boulangeries, fine restaurants , the ambiance, the savoir faire? Blend all of this with Caribbean culture and it should be a recipe for success.

The French-side enjoyed its heyday in the 80s and 90s with an up-market clientele, and Americans got a "good bang for their buck" against the franc Read more

Sportsperson of the Year

Rene Leveret

Professional baseball player Rene Leveret of South Reward is The Daily Herald’s Sportsman of the Year for 2014.  Leveret is not only an athlete; he is an unofficial ambassador for the Friendly Island, a role model and a true competitor. The first baseman who also can play left field signed a five-year deal with the Twins just a few months before his 18th birthday in 2003.
  His pro career started that year in the Dominican Republic summer league. Leveret played in 66 games Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- As the yearly challenge comes around to select the person of year, this year was not as challenging as it was in the past years, simply because the candidate that was selected made the headlines both locally and internationally more than any other person on St. Maarten. While being in politics for half of his life, during the entire time he was in opposition for a mere 18 months.
That person is none other than Theodore Heyliger who had over 18 years to make this sunshine city really shine Read more

Country cannot balance budget yet new staff hired. (UPDATED)

style="text-align: center;">Did Government cancel their contract with Cable TV for Wednesday? Is the media being muzzled?

PHILIPSBURG:--- The newly installed Gumbs cabinet has taken some radical decisions as to how they intend to deal with members of the media in the future. A press release from Gumbs press secretariat states that the Government of St. Maarten is the last county to establish a press secretariat, a department they said all other Caribbean nations such as St. Kitts have.
Having read the press release sent out by the press secretariat makes us wonder if St Read more

Prime Minister Lights Fireworks At Court House Tuesday

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Prime Minister of Sint Maarten the Honorable Marcel Gumbs was invited on Tuesday by the staff of the Court House, to symbolically resume a tradition that has been put aside over the last few years.

This was the lighting of a string of fireworks to close off the working year.

Court House staff welcomed the Prime Minister with snacks and hugs and said the two-minute fireworks presentation was simply the resumption of something many businesses on Frontstreet used to do.

With all safety precautions in place, the Prime Minister lit the string of fireworks Read more

Peace concert and fireworks on the Marigot waterfront

MARIGOT--The Collectivité in collaboration with artists association Kalaboom Team will organise a grand concert on the Marigot waterfront on Thursday, January 1, 2015, from 6:00pm to 11:00pm.

The Peace Concert will feature a number of artists including Akoustyle, DJ Outkast, Dutty Sham, Marc G Kalaboom DJS, DJ Biggers, N.I.A., Jackson, Red Eye Crew, King Vers, Oswald, Patou, Shanda Webster, Jahneral Blunty, Odd Brothers, Tamalia Theo, Anais Dancers, and more.

At 9:00pm precisely there will be a fireworks display to usher in the New Year Read more

Motor vehicle inspections at Little League Stadium

POND ISLAND--The location for motor vehicle inspection for 2015 licence plates has changed to the St. Maarten Little League Stadium parking lot, located next to the Carnival Village on Soualiga Road, Pond Island. The location up to now has been the nearby parking lot behind the new Government Administration Building, also on Pond Island.

Inspection will take place between 9:00am and 11:30am Monday through Friday.

The announcement comes from the Inspectorate of Economic Affairs which operates under the Ministry Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT), and applies to holders of bus, taxi, tours (T plates) and unscheduled transportation (G plates) permits.

According to a TEATT press release, the inspection will check that permit holders meet several key requirements such as third party liability insurance which should be a minimum of NAf Read more

Country cannot balance budget yet new staff hired.

style="text-align: center;">Did Government cancel their contract with Cable TV for Wednesday? Is the media being muzzled?

PHILIPSBURG:--- The newly installed Gumbs cabinet has taken some radical decisions as to how they intend to deal with members of the media in the future. A press release from Gumbs press secretariat states that the Government of St. Maarten is the last county to establish a press secretariat, a department they said all other Caribbean nations such as St. Kitts have.
Having read the press release sent out by the press secretariat makes us wonder if St Read more

Answers Will Have To Wait Until Mid-January: Parliament Wants Clarity About Housing Foundation

St. Maarten – Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs answered the call to appear in Parliament as the acting minister of public housing within 72 hours after he was sworn in on Friday. Members of Parliament appreciated that, even though Gumbs sent them on their way with a flea in their ear, after listening to questions about the chaos of the St. Maarten Housing Development foundation for more than two hours.

The minister brought to mind the words he spoke on Friday in the constituting meeting where his team officially took over the reins: “The country needs tranquility, stability, civility and prosperity.”

Furthermore, Gumbs noted: “Integrity has been a buzz word this year Read more

Editorial - Do what it has to

A press release by new Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs in today’s paper reminds civil servants that they are expected to report for work on Friday, January 2. The recently-installed Council of Ministers decided last week not to grant the day after New Year’s Day as an extra day off.

Publicly announcing such is highly necessary, because it had become almost a custom to give days off for dates sandwiched between public holidays and the weekend, seemingly without much regard for the loss of productivity and lack of service to the population.

Moreover, many would tend to stay home even when no such permission was granted Read more

Is the Dutch government guilty by association?

Dear Editor,

Now that the dust has blown over, we finally have a government even though the people didn't vote for them. The Kingdom Council of Ministers indirectly appoints a cabinet for St. Maarten, first time in the history of the kingdom, with the blessing of the leader of the UP, Mr. Theodore Heyliger.

The leader of the UP, MP Theodore Heyliger succumb to the pressure of the Dutch government by first withdrawing his name as a candidate for Prime Minister of St Read more

Civil servants to report to work on January 2

PHILIPSBURG--The new Council of Ministers decided last week not to give government workers an extra day off on January 2, the day after New Year's Day.

As a result, all civil servants are expected to report to work on Friday, January 2, a press release stated. January 2, the release added, is not a public holiday.

New Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs urged civil servants who would like an extra day off to enjoy a long weekend to seek and request approval for a vacation day via their department heads.

He said 2015, from day one, is "a crucial year for St Read more

Ministers to now speak via press secretary, weekly briefings ended

PHILIPSBURG--The recently installed Marcel Gumbs Cabinet appears to have erected a wall between itself and the press by establishing a “Press Secretariat” via which all ministers will communicate to the public. The live weekly Council of Ministers press briefing has been cancelled in favour of the new press secretary holding ad hoc briefings to tell the press what ministers have been working on.

The new Press Secretariat is led by former journalist Michael Granger, now press secretary to Prime Minister Gumbs Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The leader of the UP, MP Theodore Heyliger succumb to the pressure of the Dutch government by first withdrawing his name as a candidate for Prime Minister of St. Maarten, a position that he stated during the campaign that he was ready and able to take on Read more

All Civil Servants to Report to Work on Friday January 2nd, 2015.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- All civil servants are expected to report to work on Friday, January 2. The Council of Ministers took a decision last week not to grant government's personnel the extra day off following New Year's day. This day is not a public holiday. However, Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs encourages those civil servants who would like an extra day off to enjoy another long weekend, to request and seek approval for a vacation day via their department heads Read more

Lenny Preist Says Up Leader Bends Under Dutch Pressure

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The leader of the UP, MP Theodore Heyliger succumb to the pressure of the Dutch government by first withdrawing his name as a candidate for Prime Minister of St. Maarten, a position that he stated during the campaign that he was ready and able to take on.

The fact that he has not made himself available to assume the leadership of this country and to lead the government we consider this an act of treason Read more

Doubts deepen over new Nicaragua canal

MANAGUA--When one of the poorest countries in the Americas and a little-known Chinese businessman said they planned to undertake one of the biggest engineering projects in history, few people took them seriously.

A year and a half after the $50 billion project to build a canal across Nicaragua was launched by President Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla, the doubts have only grown Read more

Editorial - Viable alternatives

The St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) wasted no time in presenting its Christmas wish list (see Wednesday paper) to the newly-sworn-in Gumbs cabinet. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, especially because it regards the main employers’ organisation of the Dutch side.

While much of the release focussed on issues with government-owned companies, a call once again was made to repeal the turnover tax (TOT) because of its “extremely destructive nature.” The association used as argument that, according to the recent presentation of Finance Minister Martin Hassink in Parliament, annual income for the national treasury has stayed flat at about NAf Read more

Ukraine and pro-Russia rebels swap hundreds of prisoners

KIEV--Ukraine's government and pro-Russian separatists on Friday exchanged hundreds of prisoners of war while Kiev said it would suspend all train and bus service to Crimea, effectively creating a transportation blockade to and from the region.

The agreement to swap 150 Ukrainian servicemen for 222 rebels followed peace talks between envoys of Ukraine, Russia, the separatists and European security watchdog Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Wednesday.

Ukrainian transportation chiefs said the reason for suspending train and bus service was the need to protect passengers due to a "deteriorating" security situation on the Black Sea peninsula, annexed by Russia in March Read more

No Xmas babies this year, two born on Boxing Day

CAY HILL--No babies were born in St. Maarten on Christmas Day, however, two bouncing bundles of joy entered the world on Boxing Day, Friday, December 26.

The first baby, an eight pound girl named Raylesha, was delivered by midwife Regina Janga at 10:30am on Friday to parents Rayshantly Amerikaan and Ilegio Illidge. This is Rayshantly's first child Read more

Two people injured in unrelated stabbings

PHILIPSBURG--The idea of maintaining peace over Christmas was not adhered to by everyone, as the police had to deal with two unrelated stabbings on the night of Thursday into Friday.

One person, who was stabbed on Charity Drive, off L.B. Scott Road, around 10:00pm, is critically injured, acting police spokesman Inspector Steven Carty confirmed Read more

Parliament in recess until January 1st. Meetings resume in the week of January 12

>PHILIPSBURG:---  President of Parliament, Hon. Lloyd Richardson, MD informed Members of Parliament that the House as of December 22 is in Christmas holiday recess until January 1st.

Parliamentary sessions are to resume in the weeks of January 12 and January 26.

A parliamentary delegation will be traveling to Aruba for the Ki Read more