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>PHILIPSBURG:--- Honorable Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Claret Connor visited the Methodist Agogic Center (MAC), St. John's Campus and spoke to the 3rd grade students of campus 1 & 2 about Tourism and how it affects their lives.
The visit is in keeping with the Ministry's vision, which is to create greater awareness and understanding about the industry and the importance to the economy and by extension, the citizens of this country.
Minister Connor was very impressed with the knowledge the students have about Tourism, and how it contributes to the island Read more

Independent Mp Leona Marlin-Romeo Calls For Establishment Of Consumer Protection Agency

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo says statistics continue to show that Sint Maarten is still considered and favoured as the duty free shopping hub of the Caribbean.

"The time has come for the establishment of a Consumer Protection Agency. Consumer protection laws are in existence; however, there are no bodies to execute the said laws.

"Millions are spent in purchases on this island and yet both local consumers and transitional consumers purchasing goods are still not privy to the support of a consumer protection agency.

"In addition, many locals are subjected to questionable acts of financial institutions but are left hopeless because of the lack of support from such an agency Read more

Minister Teatt Connor Stresses Importance Of Tourism To Mac 3Rd Graders

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - On March 11, 2015, Honorable Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Claret Connor visited the Methodist Agogic Center (MAC), St. John's Campus and spoke to the 3rd grade students of campus 1 & 2 about Tourism and how it affects their lives.

The visit is in keeping with the Ministry's vision, which is to create greater awareness and understanding about the industry and the importance to the economy and by extension, the citizens of this country.

Minister Connor was very impressed with the knowledge the students have about Tourism, and how it contributes to the island Read more

Mp Lake Calls On Government To Use Local Contractors In The Different Districts

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United People's (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Hon. Maurice Lake would like Government to make use of local contractors in the various districts when it comes to district community improvement.

"As a duly elected representative of the people, I have a lot of persons approaching me that are not working, and not much is happening within the districts since I left office as the former Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (Minister VROMI) almost three months ago Read more

Ospp Is Repeating Its' Call For An Urgent Operational Audit To Be Done At The Harbour Group Of Companies

POINTE BLANCHE, St. Maarten – We have been following with keen attention all the activities that have been taken place at the harbour group of companies over the last couple of years.

In a media report some time ago the CFT stated that the Harbour Group of Companies refused to open its books for the government of St. Maarten, the shareholder of the company.

Based on the 2013 financial statements acquired by one of the dailies many irregularities were mentioned in the article. Perhaps it is time for us to revisit that article again.

It was stated that the board members were paid approximately U.S Read more

Large Scale Investigation at SZV might end up crippling Economy

style="text-align: center;">General Controls began Friday.

PHILIPSBURG: --- A large scale investigation is underway at SZV after the new management discovered that an employee is suspected of selling SZV cards to people that are not legally insured and they are registered under several bogus companies. Last week Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers announced through a press release that he is monitoring the investigation Read more

Editorial - Ask a question

Several motorists have expressed doubts over already the third gasoline price hike in just over a week that went into effect on Monday. They reason that world oil prices don’t seem to be recovering quickly enough to justify so many upward adjustments.

The fact that Curaçao announced a drop in fuel rates at the start of this month no doubt added to the confusion. However, it must be noted that tariffs for petroleum products there are adapted on a quarterly basis, which means the effect of international fluctuations is delayed.

Nevertheless, a combined increase of 25.7 cents per litre within such a short time is rare and parliamentarian George Pantophlet (NA) has sent a letter on the topic to Economic Affairs Minister Claret Conner (UP) Read more

OSPP repeats call for urgent operational audit at the Harbour Group of Companies

Dear Editor,

We have been following with keen attention all the activities that have been taking place at the Harbour Group of Companies over the last couple of years. In a media report some time ago the CFT stated that the Harbour Group of Companies refused to open its books for the government of St. Maarten, the shareholder of the company. Based on the 2013 financial statements acquired by one of the dailies, many irregularities were mentioned in the article. Perhaps it is time for us to revisit that article again Read more

After years of stalemate, Sweden seeks London date with Assange

STOCKHOLM--Swedish prosecutors want to question Julian Assange in London over allegations of sexual assault, potentially ending an impasse that left the WikiLeaks founder holed up for almost three years in Ecuador's embassy.
  Swedish prosecutors said on Friday they had asked for Assange's approval to question him in London, a U-turn after years of insisting he must go to Stockholm for questioning about alleged assaults against two women in 2010.
  Assange denies the allegations, which are not related to WikiLeaks' publication of U.S Read more

Chin Cactus no longer in a deplorable state

SUCKER GARDEN--Residents of Chin Cactus Road and Chin Cactus Drive can now enjoy long-awaited and much-needed improvements made to the roads, which had been in a continuous deplorable state that became increasingly frustrating.

One resident recently contacted The Daily Herald in order to show gratitude on behalf of the community to former Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Maurice Lake who he said pushed for the repairs to be done, as well as VROMI Maintenance Department Head Claudius Buncamper and Public Works Project Leader Alfredo Pantophlet who were both said to have kept good lines of communication with them and were always ready to assist when needed.

Buncamper explained to this newspaper that VROMI is now getting ready to take over the project as completed by the contractor, after some minor works are finalised Read more

Permit will be denied if employers fail to hire suggested counterpart

PHILIPSBURG--Employment permit requests will be denied from employers who refuse to hire "suitable counterparts" recommended by the Labour Department.

This is one of the stipulations in the controversial counterpart policy, which was discussed in a meeting of Parliament's Permanent Committee of Health Care, Social Development and Labour on Friday.

Some Members of Parliament (MPs) echoed sentiments expressed by some sections of the community noting that they had serious concerns about the policy and its potential effects on the economy Read more

Van Raak asks if casino bosses are being probed

THE HAGUE--Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) wants to know whether casino bosses Francesco Corallo of St. Maarten, Rodolfo "Rudy" Pizziolo, Robbie dos Santos and Jacobo "Cocochi" Prins of Curaçao are being investigated, criminally or otherwise.

Van Raak on Friday submitted a number of written questions to Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk in which the Member of Parliament (MP) seeks further information about the reported close ties between the government and the (partly illegal) gambling industry in Curaçao Read more

George questions gasoline delivery

PHILIPSBURG--The length of time the reserves at gas stations last, the delivery dates of gasoline for the past two years and controls at gas stations were among the questions sent to Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Claret Connor by National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament George Pantophlet via Parliament.

The questions to the minister stemmed from the gasoline price increases on February 27, March 5 and March 9 by a total of 25.7 guilder cents.

"Explanation needs to be given to the public, reason why, in contrast to when the prices go down, the increase takes place at a very rapid pace," stated Pantophlet in the letter.

Pantophlet requested information about the last time gasoline was purchased by Sol and Texaco, the number of days a tanker takes to arrive from Trinidad to St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Undersigned Member of Parliament George Pantophlet is requesting in accordance with article 62 of the Constitution that the Minister of Economic Affairs Claret Connor provide him with the answers to the following questions:

How long does the reserve at the gas stations last? And how often is gasoline delivered to St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- This Saturday March 14, 2015 in collaboration with Club de Gym Saint Martin, The National Institute of the Arts
(NIA) will be holding the first island wide gymnastics competition at the Asha Stevens Campus in Cay hill.

Grattiene Riom, the Director in charge of the trainer course and technical component training is supported by teachers Doris Barbes from Club de Gym Saint Martin and Peggy Oulerich Head of the Dance Department at NIA.
The purpose is to further develop the sport of gymnastics on the island between the French and Dutch sides.

The competition will involve 40 students under the age of 12 and are judges representatives from the Comité Régional of Guadeloupe (Gymnastics Local Commitee of Guadeloupe) Read more

>PHILIPSBURG: --- Several veteran and long standing police officers who have been waiting for their promotions are now peeved at the police management team whom they said are handpicking persons that are not qualified for top positions while officers of the force have been waiting for years to get their promotions.
Some of the officers spoke to SMN News on the condition of anonymity on Friday said that Jadira Gjisbertha, a scale 9 officer was chosen to take up a scale 12 position which was vacated by Pico Simmons who went on pension Read more

OSPP IS REPEATING ITS’ CALL FOR AN URGENT OPERATIONAL AUDIT TO BE DONE AT THE HARBOUR GROUP OF COMPANIES.

>Pointe Blanche:--- We have been following with keen attention all the activities that have been taken place at the harbour group of companies over the last couple of years. In a media report some time ago the CFT stated that the Harbour Group of Companies refused to open its books for the government of St. Maarten, the shareholder of the company. Based on the 2013 financial statements acquired by one of the dailies many irregularities were mentioned in the article. Perhaps it is time for us to revisit that article again Read more

NASA confirms ocean on Jupiter moon, raising prospects for life

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida--Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed that the Jupiter-orbiting moon Ganymede has an ocean beneath its icy surface, raising the prospects for life, NASA said on Thursday.

The finding resolves a mystery about the largest moon in the solar system after NASA's now-defunct Galileo spacecraft provided hints that Ganymede has a subsurface ocean during exploration of Jupiter and its moons from 1995 to 2003 Read more

Islands blamed for foiling cooperation in healthcare

~ Minister Schippers to attend Aruba health congress ~

THE HAGUE--Closer cooperation in healthcare in the Dutch Caribbean is possible and desirable, but is frustrated by developments in especially Curaçao and St. Maarten. The latter country is accused of obstructing the medical evacuations from St. Eustatius and Saba.

Dutch Minister of Public Health, Welfare and Science Edith Schippers sent a letter to the Dutch Parliament on Thursday, in which she confirmed her attendance to the Kingdom Health Congress which will be held in Aruba from June 1-4.

The letter was accompanied by a five-page paper on healthcare containing advice, an analysis and strategy for the Aruba congress as well as the Kingdom Congress, which will take place in Curaçao probably on June 16, where healthcare will be on the agenda as well Read more

SMHDF finance manager questions investigation

~ Says wrong persons investigating ~

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) Finance Manager Emilio Kalmera – in the midst of negative publicity, a court case and questions being posed concerning his credibility – has issued a press statement too long for The Daily Herald to print in its entirety that highlights what he calls questionable actions and says, “The reasoning for all this fiasco is more personal than anything else.”

Amongst other concerns, Kalmera said someone had been assigned to the board on the same day he and his colleagues were suspended; the audit was being carried out and supervised by the wrong persons; and former Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Maurice Lake had not stopped the investigations by Government Accounting Foundation SOAB.

Kalmera said he wanted to clear the air, especially after the March 11 article in this newspaper with the headline “SMHDF dumps Lynch for financial mismanagement” was published based on a press release by SMHDF attorney Jairo Bloem in which he announced that Director Henry Lynch’s service agreement had been dissolved as of February 4 Read more

D66 chapters champion voting rights of Dutch nationals abroad

THE HAGUE--Various chapters of the Dutch Democratic D66 party will submit a motion to party members at the April 18 D66 congress, to arrange the voting rights of Dutch nationals in the Caribbean Netherlands and abroad through an Electoral College.

Persons with Dutch nationality living outside the Netherlands, and those residing in the Dutch public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba are currently excluded from active voting rights for the First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, the Senate.

This is an unfair situation that needs to be changed according to the D66 chapters in, among others the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, and also the D66 chapters in The Hague, Maastricht-Heuvelland, Sittard-Geleen, Nijmegen and the Foreign Region chapter.

The Senate handles affairs that touch Dutch citizens abroad, including the Dutch Caribbean countries and in the Caribbean Netherlands, yet these nationals have no say in that same Senate, Secretary of the D66 Foreign Region chapter Arthur van Benthem stated in a press release Read more

Parliament approves 2011 annual accounts

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament unanimously approved the 2011 Annual Accounts of Government on Thursday. The approval comes three years after the period the accounts cover and well past the deadline stipulated by law.

The late tabling of the accounts was due to a severe backlog in the Finance Ministry; that backlog has since been cleared by current Finance Minister Martin Hassink who was at the plenary session of Parliament.

Hassink told the Members of Parliament (MPs) the backlog in the annual accounts is now a thing of the past Read more

Sarah questions reason for counterpart policy meeting

PHILIPSBURG--“Will we be discussing the relevant law, and if so, with what objective? Is the meeting only informative? Then what is new?” These were some of the queries raised by Democratic Party leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a letter to Parliament about the meeting of Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Public Health, Social Development and Labour on the pending counterpart today, Friday.

She asked what was expected of the committee, as it relates to the agenda point Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  St. Maarten needs airlift. The island cannot be dependent upon North American traffic anymore..." This is according to Olivier Arrindell, Chairman of AVA Airways.
Recently Mr. Arrindell and The President of AVA Airways Mr. Giovanni Atalita presented AVA Airways plans to the Ministry of Transportation, Civil Aviation and Economic Development, "One of our main objectives is to learn from the past and to propose a bold new direction for commercial aviation in St. Maarten Read more