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Gibson Aims To Make The Country Debt Free

PHILIPSBURG--Finance Minister Richard Gibson has set his aim on making the country completely free of its past debt by 2018. He told Parliament on Monday afternoon after he tabled the 2017 draft budget for approval that on the current trajectory the pending NAf Read more

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Foul Play Ruled Out In Case Of Body Floating In Lagoon

PHILIPSBURG--Foul play has been ruled out as the cause of death of the man, whose body was found floating in the Simpson Bay Lagoon on Sunday, December 11, around 9:30am.

The body of the man - a British national named Russell Frank Hodgson, born on November 30, 1945 - was found in the Simpson Bay Lagoon near Pink Iguana Restaurant on the Airport Boulevard. The lifeless body of the man was pulled out of the lagoon with the assistance of the Coast Guard.

Acting Police spokesperson Steven Carty said in a police press release on Monday that the body was confiscated for further investigation after it had been examined by a forensic doctor Read more

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*Update* Two Rob Ballerina Jewelry On Frontstreet

UPDATE: POLICE REPORT

Jewelry store robbery

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On Saturday, December 10, at approximately 12:25pm, a jewelry store, located on Front Street in Philipsburg, was robbed. An armed man ran into the establishment and grabbed several gold chains from behind the display case, and fled the scene as quickly as he had entered it.

No one was hurt during this robbery Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers used most of his speaking time during the budget debate to speak out against the constant arrests taking place on St. Maarten. Meyers said right now only the “blacks” on St. Maarten is being targeted. He mentioned the names of the various owners of houses of repute that were arrested even though the government is making monies from the “girls” that comes to the island to work Read more

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Who Scammed Government For Government Building Decorations?

PHILIPSBURG: --- Since the budget debate started last week there have been a war taking place on Facebook regarding the cost to decorate the New Government Building for the upcoming holiday season. On the social media various amounts are being mentioned, some persons stated and even newspapers stated that government paid $80,000.00 for the decorations all of which will remain government property. However, SMN News learned that the amount spent on the decorations amounted to $78,000.00. Indeed, the amount is far too much especially when the country has financial constraints and Ministers were forced to cut their budgets and spending in order to meet the requirements of the CFT Read more

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William Attends South Reward Association Community Meeting

SOUTH REWARD--Prime Minister William Marlin on Thursday, December 8, attended the St. Maarten Community Collective South Reward public meeting held at Milton Peters College (MPC).

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Ccj Pioneers New Tech To Improve Court Performance

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad – A suite of new high-tech court management systems will be adopted by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The CCJ will be one of the first adopters of a set of technology-enabled systems for electronic filing of court documents, case management and court performance measurement, according to a release dated December 9.

The region-wide initiative aims to ensure that courts across the Caribbean have access to the software and training needed to strengthen their operations and improve service delivery, the release said.

A pair of pilot projects are scheduled to take place soon in Belize and Grenada, the release said.

It announced the establishment of a not-for-profit corporation called Advance Performance Exponents Inc Read more

Info Session On Istep For Public School Management

BELVEDERE – The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport held an information session on iSTEP (Inspiring Students with Technology in Education Project) for the school managers, adjunct managers and student care coordinators of all public schools on December 1.

The session was facilitated by Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Silveria Jacobs, the iSTEP Team and head of Division for Public Education (DPE) Glenderlin Davis-Holiday.

Presenters informed the managers and student care coordinators of the project, its objectives, implementation phases and most importantly, introduced them to the ICT devices that will be implemented in the classrooms.

Presenters also stressed to the managers that they are a vital part of the success of the project and will need to champion the initiative in their respective schools.

The session concluded with a Q&A segment where the managers posed questions about the project to the team Read more

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Caft Chairman Age Bakker: “Keep Doing The Utmost To Meet Deficit Norms”

ORANJESTAD, Aruba – During a recent visit to Aruba, the Board of Financial Supervision for Aruba (CAft) indicated that the utmost must be done in order to meet the maximum acceptable deficit norm.

At this moment, particularly the indirect tax income is lagging well behind under the influence of low economic growth. In contrast, the reopening of the oil refinery will result in additional income for the government. The estimated direct tax revenue of Aruba for 2018 represents a 22% rise Read more

Prime Minister William Marlin Attends South Reward Association Meeting

SOUTH REWARD – On Thursday evening, December 8, Prime Minister William Marlin attended the St. Maarten Community Collective, South Reward Public Meeting, which took place at the Milton Peters College (MPC).

The community meeting was held with the intention of gathering members of the South Reward Community as a means to inform on current works that’s in progress by the association as well as to have an open floor allowing attendees to voice their concerns on various community issues, contribute their ideas and/or opinions of possible solutions, and togetherness in building a much stronger and better South Reward.

Concerns made by residents were noted by the Prime Minister’s team with the intention to further investigate to gain deeper understanding of the matters in order to better resolve them Read more

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Prime Minister William Marlin Attends South Reward Association Community Meeting

SOUTH REWARD, St. Maarten  - On Thursday evening (December 8th) , Prime Minister William Marlin attended the St. Maarten Community Collective, South Reward Public Meeting which took place at the Milton Peters College.

The community meeting was held with intentions of gathering members of the South Reward Community as a mean to inform on current works that’s in progress by the association as well as to have an open floor allowing attendees to voice their concerns on various community issues, contribute their ideas and / or opinions of possible solutions and an all togetherness in building a much stronger and better South Reward.

Concerns made by residents were noted by Prime Minister’s team with intentions to further investigate to gain deeper understanding of the matters in order better resolve Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:---- I must commend our parliamentarians for raising the budget debate in the Central Committee a notch higher this year. Compared to the debate on the 2016 Budget, Parliamentarians were better prepared to deal with details, to ask critical questions and to consequently carry out one of their very important functions, namely to control and monitor Government.
Parliamentarians were in their right to call out the NA-DP-USP-Lake-Matser caretaker Government and Ministers on the 2016 expenditures of the country Read more

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SOUTH REWARD:--- On Thursday evening (December 8th) , Prime Minister William Marlin attended the St. Maarten Community Collective, South Reward Public Meeting which took place at the Milton Peters College.

The community meeting was held with intentions of gathering members of the South Reward Community as a mean to inform on current works that’s in progress by the association as well as to have an open floor allowing attendees to voice their concerns on various community issues, contribute their ideas and / or opinions of possible solutions and an all togetherness in building a much stronger and better South Reward.

Concerns made by residents were noted by Prime Minister’s team with intentions to further investigate to gain deeper understanding of the matters in order better resolve Read more

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Caft Chairman Age Bakker: “Keep Doing The Utmost To Meet Deficit Norms.

Oranjestad:--- During its most recent visit to Aruba, the Board of financial supervision for Aruba (CAft) indicated that the utmost must be done in order to meet the maximum acceptable deficit norm. At this moment particularly the indirect tax income is lagging well behind under the influence of low economic growth. In contrast, the reopening of the oil refinery will result in additional income for the government. The estimated direct tax revenue of Aruba for 2018 represents a 22% rise. This is such a strong increase that the CAft is not sufficiently convinced of the long-term sustainability of the Aruba public finances.

Budget implementation in 2016
The implementation report for the period up to the third quarter shows that the deficit of the public sector over this period amounted to 1.5% of GDP Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- At a ceremony on Friday, two sites on St. Maarten were awarded the Blue Flag eco-label for the fifth year in a row. The Blue Flag has bestowed annually on beaches and marinas throughout the world that meets strict environmental and safety criteria. Divi Little Bay Beach Resort and Yacht Club Isle de Sol were commended for their standards of excellence and voluntary efforts towards environmental sustainability.
Environmental Protection in the Caribbean (EPIC), which organized the event, is the National Operator for the Blue Flag Program on St Read more

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Caribbean Court Of Justice Pioneers New Technology To Improve Court Performance

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — A suite of new high-tech court management systems are to be adopted by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The CCJ will be one of the first adopters of a set of technology-enabled systems for electronic filing of court documents, case management and court performance measurement, according to a release dated December 9.

The region-wide initiative aims to ensure that courts across the Caribbean have access to the software and training needed to strengthen their operations and improve service delivery, the release said. 

A pair of pilot projects are scheduled to take place soon in Belize and Grenada, the release said.

It announced the establishment of a not-for-profit corporation called Advance Performance Exponents Inc Read more

Draft Budget Up For Approval On Monday

PHILIPSBURG--Finance Minister Richard Gibson Sr. will be back in Parliament on Monday at 2:00pm to present the draft 2017 budget for approval. The budget will pass into law once approved by Parliament. However, it will still need the stamp of approval from the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.

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Court Finds Wilders Guilty Of Inciting Racial Discrimination

AMSTERDAM--Strong reactions have erupted after right-wing politician Geert Wilders was found guilty of inciting racial discrimination against Dutch Moroccans in a court on Friday. Wilders was condemned for his actions leading a Party for Freedom PVV rally calling for “fewer” Moroccans in March 2014 -and now has a criminal record- but he received no punishment from the three judges.Read more

Resort Calls For Govt. To Pay $1.5 Million Overdue Payment

SIMPSON BAY – Simpson Bay Resort Management Company (SBRMC) employees are calling for a years-long overdue payment in excess of $1.5 million to be paid out to their employer by the government. This is in connection with undue salary payments made to Pelican Resort Management Company workers after the hotel had been sold and its ownership transferred to SBRMC.

More than 100 Pelican employees, under the belief that they were employed by new owner SBRMC, were paid monthly salaries for almost a year pending a court case, while not working at the hotel Read more

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Information Session Held On Istep For Public School Management

BELVEDERE, St. Maarten  – The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport held an information session on iSTEP (Inspiring Students with Technology in Education Project) for the school managers, adjunct managers and student care coordinators of all public schools on December 1st, 2016.

The session was facilitated by Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Ms. Silveria Jacobs, the iSTEP Team and the head of Division for Public Education, Mrs Read more

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Eyebrows being raised as to where police and prosecution found manpower and tools to investigate cyber crimes?

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday extended the pretrial detention for well-known teacher and unionist Claire Elshot who was arrested on Sunday evening for allegedly threatening an employee of the Court of First Instance. The employee it is understood is a court recorder and is also a neighbor of Elshot who recently opened the ACE foundation in Cole Bay with the assistance of NAGICO.
SMN News learned that the courthouse employee and her relatives refused to use their entrance and instead have been using the narrow entrance leading to the ACE Foundation Read more

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Information Session Held On Istep For Public School Management.

BELVEDERE:---  The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport held an information session on iSTEP (Inspiring Students with Technology in Education Project) for the school managers, adjunct managers and student care coordinators of all public schools on December 1st, 2016. The session was facilitated by Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Ms. Silveria Jacobs, the iSTEP Team and the head of Division for Public Education, Mrs Read more

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Mlk Submits Lists Of Concerns To Minister Of Education.

PHILIPSBURG -- On Tuesday, December 6th, the management and staff of the Dr. Martin Luther King School, provided a list of concerns. Minister Jacobs was surprised and dismayed to learn that the challenges being faced had not yet been dealt with when management and teachers requested an urgent meeting on these topics.
Head of DPE, Mrs Read more

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Pompei Suspects Released By Appeals Court.

PHILIPSBURG: --- The four suspects that were arrested in the Pompeii investigation on November 1st has been released by the Court of Appeals on Friday. Attorney at Law Shaira Bommel confirmed to SMN News on Friday that the four suspects namely Etienne Toochie Meyers, and his employees Dulcia Florentina, Louella Rog and Ramphis Rondei were all released on Friday.
The judge of instruction had extended the pretrial detention of the four suspects to 60 days but the Meyers family filed an injunction against the decision of the judge of instruction to have the suspects released Read more

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