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Mc Sood's cricket dream comes through in Carty

 CUL DE SAC--When the then president of St. Maarten Cricket Association, Imran Mc Sood announced that he wished that St. Maarten would provide her first player for a West Indies team by 2014, Kacey Carty was just three years at the time.
  Fifteen years later, Carty was selected to represent the West Indies U19 team in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) NAGICO sponsored one-day tournament which bowls off in Trinidad and Tobago on January 15.
  At a press conference at the NAGICO Conference Hall, a beaming Mc Sood stated, "I just wanted to have the opportunity today to express to Kacey and also his father Kieth how very happy I am personally about his call up to represent the West Indies U19 team for the NAGICO Super50 tournament Read more

Editorial - As much about quality

Government’s personnel cost has increased more than foreseen, Finance Minister Martin Hassink told Parliament on Tuesday, and is fast becoming “unaffordable.” He gave no clear indication as to why, but a perceived lack of efficiency in certain cases resulting from sheer incompetence may well have something to do with it.

For example, in the US persons have to take a special exam to enter the civil service, where the rank and pay for those who pass it are determined at least in part by the result Read more

Youth Care Centre has opened its doors

CAY BAY--The eagerly anticipated Miss Lalie Youth Care Centre was officially opened December 10 by Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson in the presence of a number of dignitaries, invited guests and members of the Meyers family, in commemoration of Eulalie Meyers who the Centre is named after. The Centre is set to start receiving youths as of next week.

The modern Cay Bay building had been designed as a boarding school-type facility meant for foster care, and was then restructured for use as a closed facility for boys ages 12 to 18, who are to be detained whilst receiving counselling, treatment, guidance and education, in order to enable them to have the best possible chance of succeeding in society.

A closed institution, it provides 10 places for boys sentenced by the criminal court and another 10 for boys with severe behavioural issues who have not been sentenced but who have received a placement order by a civil court.

Until now, there has been no such facility available locally for this demographic, as explained by Angela Dekker of Dutch financing institution USONA who said that the lack of a youth rehabilitation centre was questioned over a decade ago by a Geneva committee during a conference on the Rights of the Child.

Team Leader Natasha Carty acted as Master of Ceremonies for the opening event, introducing various key decision makers and dignitaries, the Center's team comprising social and security workers, and guiding a tour of the facility.

The Centre was financed by the Ministry of Justice and USONA Read more

Minister Lourens-Philip receives Plan of Action Regarding Children Rights.

>GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip has just recently received the Plan of Action regarding Children Rights from the "Kingdom Taskforce" which was established during the Kingdom Conference held on April 2nd 2014 in Aruba.
The document termed "Plan van Aanpak Kinderrecthen "Eerste Aanzet" 20 November 2014 outlines proposed priority areas for cooperation between the Countries of the Kingdom, and were selected from the recommendations of the UNICEF reports previously presented last year to all governments.

The final chapter of this initial report advises that the "Way Forward" is to ensure that not only government but also the entire society is engaged in chartering said way forward.

This would be accomplished by means of round table sessions regarding the priority areas such being:

The family as the Central PointChild AbuseSafety Net/after school care of childrenThe role of the parents in the raising of the child.Stipulations/Criteria/Parameters and Infrastructure

This report will also be presented to the Council of Ministers and Parliament, Minister Lourens-Philip disclosed on Wednesday.
"It is the intention that after the process of engaging civil society and the final plan is established, that the Kingdom Taskforce will officially submit this to the various Governments at the next Kingdom Conference scheduled for April 2015," Minister Hon Read more

Minister Lourens-Philip Receives Plan Of Action Regarding Children Rights

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip has just recently received the Plan of Action regarding Children Rights from the "Kingdom Taskforce" which was established during the Kingdom Conference held on April 2nd 2014 in Aruba.

The document termed "Plan van Aanpak Kinderrecthen "Eerste Aanzet" 20 November 2014 outlines proposed priority areas for cooperation between the Countries of the Kingdom, and were selected from the recommendations of the UNICEF reports previously presented last year to all governments.

The final chapter of this initial report advises that the "Way Forward" is to ensure that not only government but also the entire society is engaged in chartering said way forward.

This would be accomplished by means of round table sessions regarding the priority areas such being:

a Read more

Emerging Technologies In Tourism Sector Could Offer New Employment Opportunities In The Caribbean

PORT-OF-SPAIN - The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, hosted a concluding workshop in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 8-9 December 2014, where participants shared findings from their respective countries on "Anticipating Skills Requirements in Tourism: Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands".

The findings are the result of a 7-month virtual training Programme, a South-South joint collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO/CINTERFOR), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the National Industrial Training Service (SENAI), Brazil.

The Workshop was attended by representatives from National Training Agencies (NTAs), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) from Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Sint Maarten, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, and facilitated by ILO/CINTERFOR, and SENAI, Brazil.

~ILO, ILO/CINTERFOR, ACS and SENAI review results of "Anticipating Skills Requirements in Tourism: Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands"~

The Programme has equipped participants to anticipate future skills requirements, based on analyses of technological, organizational and occupational trends, and emerging occupations, focusing on the Tourism sector, in order to design training programmes that will better match labour market opportunities in 5 to 10 years' time.

Using SENAI's methodology, the group highlighted the most important emerging technologies in the tourism sector, such as the use of an electronic tourist pass, personalized electronic guides, electronic booths, global IT booking systems, satellite-enabled environmental management, sustainable management of tourist resources, telecommunications integration, energy-efficient microsystems, food hygiene control systems for hotels and restaurants, equipment and systems to improve accessibility for disabled persons, electronic translation devices, and thalassotherapy equipment for hotels Read more

Opinion: Sensible Decision (Write-Off Tax Debts Pre 2006)

The Council of Ministers took a sensible decision by leaving a policy that takes all tax debts from 2006 and earlier years off the books in place.

Former Finance Minister Roland Tuitt published the policy in May 2013. It triggered a remarkable advice from the Social Economic Council (SER) that claimed that the policy left more than 4.5 billion guilders in taxes uncollected Read more

US says reduced defence role for atomic bombs

VIENNA--The United States said on Tuesday it is relying less on nuclear weapons as part of its defence planning, but Britain argued against banning such arms now.

Both powers, taking part for the first time in an international conference on the humanitarian impact of atomic bombs, spoke in support of pursuing the goal of a world free of such weapons of mass destruction.

The three other officially recognised nuclear weapon states -- Russia, France and China -- stayed away from the meeting Read more

Renovation Golden Rock Homes cancelled!

Dear Editor,

The working relationship with the Dutch housing corporation Woonlinie and St. Eustatius is again in jeopardy. Free advice and financial aid has been turned down by government, which makes the future of decent low-income housing for Statia's citizens dimmer than ever before. Particularly, the apparent reason behind all of this is baffling.

The agreed upon interim director, supplied by Woonlinie, who had as his mission the reorganisation and strengthening of the housing foundation has left the island after Commissioner Zaandam told him that his skin colour was not suitable to lead the foundation Read more

Leeward Islands lose in misplaced-ball match

JAMAICA--Leeward Islands cricket coach Ridley Jacobs reported a bizarre situation in which the match ball was misplaced by the umpires during the tea interval when Jamaica Franchise took on the Leeward Islands Hurricanes in the West Indies Cricket Board Professional Cricket League 4-day match in Jamaica over the weekend.

The umpires were Jamaican Christopher Taylor and Trinidad and Tobago Danesh Ramdhanie.

A disappointed Jacobs explained, "The ball that we were bowling with was 16-overs and the ball they came back out with was 34-overs – that's a big difference Read more

Hassink: Country operating in financial ‘crisis management’

PHILIPSBURG--"We are operating in a crisis management situation," Finance Minister Martin Hassink said in describing the country's financial situation to Members of Parliament (MPs) when he outlined the government's earnings and expenditures for the first three quarters of 2014 in a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Tuesday. The meeting will continue on Friday.

Government expenses are growing while its income has shrunk in some areas and stayed flat in others in spite of the economic growth forecast by the Central Bank of Curaçao and St Read more

St. Maarten spot on CFT vacant

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten representative on the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT Richard Gibson Sr. has resigned from his post as of December 1. This leaves the country without a member on the committee that oversees its budget and finances.

The CFT confirmed Gibson Sr.'s resignation to The Daily Herald on Tuesday.

Prior to this, CFT Chairman Age Bakker had said during the committee's quarterly visit to the country last week that Gibson and CFT had agreed to keep some "distance for now." No information about the resignation was given during that visit.

Gibson's resignation possibly was linked to his candidacy for the post of Finance Minister in what is said to be the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet Read more

EXCLUSIVE: More Trouble for UPP/De Weever/LRMarlin Coalition.

style="text-align: center;">Fifth Minister has problem with screening --- Three years of taxes were not paid. De Weever to appoint his sister as Minister of VSA --- Reliable Sources.

PHILIPSBURG:--- As the days go by there seems to be more trouble for the UPP/De Weever/LRMarlin coalition government when it comes to forming a government.
SMN News understands that a fifth candidate that was submitted to the governor did not fully pass the screening because that person who is currently acting as a caretaker Minister did not pay his taxes for at least three years Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday December 19 and Saturday December 20, the National Institute of Arts presents The Sunshine Theatre production of "One of my sons is Missing" a classic Caribbean production written by Godfreyd Sealey about the Pandemic HIV and AIDS. Now in its 20th year, noted theatrical director Felix Fleming of the Sunshine Theatre Company Foundation is once again revisiting the Play.

According to Director Felix Fleming, "One of my sons is Missing" is still relevant today to keep the community aware of HIV and AIDS Read more

style="text-align: center;">ILO, ILO/CINTERFOR, ACS and SENAI review results of "Anticipating Skills Requirements in Tourism: Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands"

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad:--- The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, hosted a concluding workshop in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 8-9 December 2014, where participants shared findings from their respective countries on "Anticipating Skills Requirements in Tourism: Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands".
The findings are the result of a 7-month virtual training Programme, a South-South joint collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO/CINTERFOR), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the National Industrial Training Service (SENAI), Brazil.
The Workshop was attended by representatives from National Training Agencies (NTAs), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) from Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Sint Maarten, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, and facilitated by ILO/CINTERFOR, and SENAI, Brazil.
The Programme has equipped participants to anticipate future skills requirements, based on analyses of technological, organizational and occupational trends, and emerging occupations, focusing on the Tourism sector, in order to design training programmes that will better match labour market opportunities in 5 to 10 years' time.
Using SENAI's methodology, the group highlighted the most important emerging technologies in the tourism sector, such as the use of an electronic tourist pass, personalized electronic guides, electronic booths, global IT booking systems, satellite-enabled environmental management, sustainable management of tourist resources, telecommunications integration, energy-efficient microsystems, food hygiene control systems for hotels and restaurants, equipment and systems to improve accessibility for disabled persons, electronic translation devices, and thalassotherapy equipment for hotels Read more

Dp Leader Says Some Par Latino Sessions Focused On Women

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - In addition to the regular committee meetings of Parlatino last week (already reported on), Thursday and Friday Parlatino's activities centered around the empowerment of women.

Several simultaneous discussion forums were held, allowing female parliamentarians from the different countries to discuss ?topics such as leadership and the position of women in politics.

Some challenges faced by women in politics are universal, other challenges are exacerbated b Read more

Nature Foundation Helps Remove Wrecks From Lagoon

GREAT BAY–The St. Maarten Nature Foundation took part in the wide-scale cleanup of the Simpson Bay Lagoon spearheaded by Vromi Minister Maurice Lake and his ministry, in collaboration with the St. Maarten Marine Trades Association. The logistics were jointly organized by the Nature Foundation and the SMMTA.

During the cleanup the Nature Foundation focused on the removal of wrecks and major garbage on the lagoon Read more

New territorial archives and Media Library inaugurated

MARIGOT--The brand new building in Concordia that houses both the Territorial Archives and the Media Library was officially inaugurated Monday in the presence of elected officials, Director of the National Archives of France attached to the Ministry of Culture Hervé Lemoine, Director of the Archives Department in Guadeloupe Anne Lebel and numerous invited guests from both sides of the island.

Guests included principals of the collèges and schools, representatives of supervising contractor Semsamar, subcontractors, architects, representatives of the Philipsburg Jubilee Library, the Anguilla library, as well as employees and management of the Territorial Archives and Media Library.

Other personalities present, such as artist Roland Richardson and his wife, historian Daniella Jeffry, and President of the St Read more

Families of the Disappeared suffer as Northern Ireland drags feet on past

GLENAVY, Northern Ireland--As Brendan Megraw's coffin was lowered into his family grave 36 years after he was kidnapped and shot by the IRA, the mourners at the cemetery felt relief but also anger at Northern Ireland's reluctance to investigate its past.

Among those gathered at the graveside were relatives of a dozen other people "disappeared" by the Irish Republican Army in the 1970s and 80s Read more

‘The Sunshine-City, Guava-Berry sound’

Dear Editor,

St. Martin's (north and south) style of music has always intrigued me; therefore, I would like to tell my comrades about our unique style. If one would listen to tunes produced by The Mighty Dow, The Emperor Brat, King Patou, King T-MO, King Beau Beau, King Jacko, Doctor Jones, King Fish De Mega Boss, King Stunky, Ramon Wilson, Lino, Kaiso Genius, Rosan Maccow, The Mighty Baker Jr. one would hear 14 very different styles. But they all have what I would call the "Sunshine-City, Guava-Berry” flavour.

Here is a gentle reminder from The Mighty Dow's road-march tune "St Read more

style="text-align: center;">TODAY Newspaper Editor in Chief could have confirmed the screening reports by asking their Publisher.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Some of the candidates that ran on the UPP slate are enraged because they said they were treated like children when their party leader Theodore Heyliger interrogated them to see if any of them would have told him who leaked the screening results to SMN News Read more

Lasana Sekou’s poetry, short stories taught in Mexico and at the University of Puerto Rico.

>GREAT BAY:--- In December, University of Puerto Rico (UPR) students will turn in term papers and take final exams that reflect their study of Nativity, The Salt Reaper, and Brotherhood of The Spurs by the St. Martin author Lasana M. Sekou.
Some of the university students had more than just Sekou's poetry and fiction books to read. The Doctoral Program of UPR's English department brought Sekou to Puerto Rico to give a three-day lecture last October/November, according Dr Read more

style="text-align: center;">Prosecution Purposely delayed Investigations to Taint St. Maarten as a Country, were they instructed to destroy St. Maarten or are they incompetent?

PHILIPSBURG:--- The screening process that was conducted these past weeks by a team of persons including the prosecution can only be described as a one eye giant and the Prosecutors Office is failing to execute their duties or they are simply incompetent. At least two of the persons that failed the screening raised eyebrows Read more

Editorial - Best for now

"Only in St. Maarten," some people no doubt were saying after another news-filled Saturday, with word that four candidate minsters did not pass the screening and a –thankfully false – bomb alert that caused chaos at SXM Princess Juliana International Airport precisely during its busiest day and hours of the week.

Regarding the latter one can keep it short. Authorities need to take the incident very seriously and treat it like a major crime, because that's exactly what it was, with the entire island and its tourism economy as the ultimate victims.

If the call made to the police is in any way traceable no time should be lost in trying to find out who is responsible Read more