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Parliament Ad Hoc Integrity Committee meeting stalled

PHILIPSBURG--The second meeting of Parliament's Ad Hoc Committee for Integrity stalled on Thursday, when sufficient Members of Parliament (MPs) failed to show up for the session to have a quorum.

Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. Lloyd Richardson opened the meeting just to announce that three MPs were signed in and present in the General Assembly Hall of Parliament House Read more

MPs urged to work with govt on law formulation

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament does not follow instructions on the procedure to write laws, Advisory Council Vice Chairwoman Mavis Brooks-Salmon said in a meeting of Parliament's Central Committee at which only eight of the fifteen Members of Parliament (MPs) were present on Tuesday morning.

The Advisory Council, a body outlined in the Constitution as a necessary organ of governance, has in the past told Parliament to "work with government's Legal Department" when crafting initiative laws. The Legal Department has the necessary expertise to assist with the proper way to formulate and present laws, though the department may be understaffed.

Brooks-Salmon pointed out to MPs that the Advisory Council "does not correct" draft legislation, but is capable of giving legislators guidance on where to seek pertinent information in the research and drafting process.

In response to "burning" questions from National Alliance (NA) MP Christophe Emmanuel about whether or not the five-member Council of Ministers was legal as the Constitution states the country should have seven ministers, Brooks-Salmon said while the Advisory Council will further look into the matter, it should be noted that the Constitution does not state the ministers should be seven different persons.

In the current situation, two ministers of the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet hold dual portfolios Read more

Jamaica gay rights activist meets with Dutch Parliament

THE HAGUE--Jamaica-born Maurice Tomlinson, one of the world's most prominent Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) rights and HIV activists, met with Members of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday.

Tomlinson, along with Kenyan LGBT activists George Gachara, Jim Chuchu and Njoki Ngumi, was invited by Member of Parliament (MP) Sjoerd Sjoerdsma of the Democratic Party D66, on whose request the meeting of the Second Chamber's Permanent Committee for Foreign Affairs took place.

"All over the world we see growing anti-LGBT sentiments, from Russia to Uganda, and from Saudi-Arabia to Jamaica Read more

PLP/UPC government to be sworn in Thursday

ST. EUSTATIUS--The new coalition government of Progressive Labour Party (PLP) and United People's Coalition (UPC) will be sworn in on Thursday, formateur and PLP leader Clyde van Putten announced Monday evening during a public address on local radio and television.

The formation of a new government for St. Eustatius followed within five days after the Island Council election of last week Wednesday, in which the PLP and Democratic Party (DP) both obtained two seats and UPC one seat.

As winner of the election, Van Putten was commissioned by Island Governor Gerald Berkel on Friday to form a new Executive Council Read more

St. Maarten advised to object to Sanction Law

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament's Permanent Committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations has been advised by legal expert Ralph Richardson to object to the draft kingdom law regulating sanctions imposed by the European Union.

Richardson gave his advice in a meeting of the committee in Parliament House on Monday morning. He said if St. Maarten agrees to the kingdom law, the country "will no longer have the possibility to say anything about sanctions imposed."

St. Maarten will just have to take over EU sanctions with "no freedom of choice." He used the example of a sanction being imposed on a country with which St Read more

Plenary Session of Parliament scheduled for Tuesday about the St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will meet in a public plenary session on March 24. This session is the continuation of the initial session that was held on December 22, 2014. On March 11, the meeting was called, but due to a lack of a quorum,, it could not continue and is now being reconvened.

The plenary session is set for Tuesday at 2.00pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is the request to the Governments Accountants Bureau SOAB to carry out a forensic investigation into the operations of the St Read more

Lake debunks talk about breaking UP

PHILIPSBURG--"Untrue and baseless" is how United People's (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake described rampant "rumours" in the community about him being "involved in a plot to throw down government and send home the Cabinet of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs."

Since Friday, there has been persistent talk that spun into blogs about Lake breaking with this party over differences Read more

Zaandam, McKenzie-Tatem to sit in Statia Island Council

ST. EUSTATIUS--United People’s Coalition (UPC) leader Reginald Zaandam will sit in St. Eustatius’ new Island Council following Wednesday’s election. He will hold his party’s only seat. The other four seats in the council are shared equally by Progressive Labour Party (PLP) led by Clyde van Putten and Democratic Party (DP) St Read more

De Weever wears bullet-proof vest after Bosman statement

THE HAGUE--Member of St. Maarten Parliament Cornelius de Weever (independent) took safety measures, which included wearing a bullet-proof vest, late 2014 following threats against his person when he left the Democratic Party (DP) in support of the United People's Party (UP).

This became clear during a court injunction in The Hague on Friday by De Weever against Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party Read more

De Weever, Bosman face-to-face in court

   By Suzanne Koelega

THE HAGUE--In what can be called a historic case, Members of Parliament Cornelius de Weever of St. Maarten and André Bosman of the Netherlands faced each other in court on Friday on allegations of slander. De Weever took Bosman to court to have the latter retract his statements of bribery in a rectification in the newspapers.

Main reason for the court case, which took place in The Hague in De Weever's presence, was an article of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published on September 29, 2014, headlined "Corrupt St Read more

Statia to get coalition govt. as no outright winner emerges

~ Two seats each for PLP, DP, one for UPC ~

ST. EUSTATIUS--St. Eustatius voters opted for a coalition government in Wednesday’s Island Council elections, as none of the six parties in the polls emerged with the needed three or more seats in the Island Council.

Talks about forming a coalition government are said to have commenced already among parties.

The Progressive Labour Party (PLP) led by Clyde van Putten captured two seats after receiving 481 votes, the most for any party Read more

Safety measures for Saba volcano in place

THE HAGUE--Various safety measures have been taken to monitor the volcanic activity of Saba's Mount Scenery and to deal effectively with a possible disaster. A second and third seismic metre will be installed in June this year, as well as a Global Positioning System (GPS) later this year. A disaster management plan is in place and regular disaster exercises are held.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated this in response to written questions submitted by Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Wassila Hachchi of the Democratic Party D66 Read more

Elections Concluded On Bes Islands

BES Islands - The PLP Party of Clyde van Putten is in a celebratory mood, as the won two seats during the Island Council elections on Wednesday.

Also celebrating is the Democratic Party of Adelka Spanner.

They too won 2 seats, while the UPC was able to recapture its one seat in the island council of St Read more

Public Transport Permits Under The Microscope

MP Wescot-Williams sends questions to Minister Connor

St. Maarten – The closed-door committee meeting of last Tuesday about bus and taxi permits ended prematurely, because Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Minister Claret Connor asked committee members to submit their questions about this issue in writing.

Connor said that he has decided to keep the moratorium for public transportation permits in place Read more

Proposal for islands’ Electoral Colleges ready before summer

THE HAGUE--A proposal to establish Electoral Colleges for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba will be ready before the summer of 2015, Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk told the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday.

A vast majority in the Second Chamber is in favour of establishing the Electoral College(s) for the Caribbean Netherlands, which became clear during a debate of the Second Chamber's Permanent Committee for Home Affairs with Minister Plasterk Read more

Sarah: MPs still to work out coping with reduced budget

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament still has to readjust its finances to cope with an almost NAf. 2 million budget cut that came with its adoption of the 2015 Country Budget in January.

Parliament originally submitted a budget for its operational expenses totalling some NAf. 12.8 million, said Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams at a party press conference Monday in Parliament Building Read more

DP MP Concerned about Parliament’s 2015 Budget. 0.58% set aside for Legal Advice.

style="text-align: center;">Budget cut by almost Naf.2M, MPs Travelling continues.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Sara Wescot Williams shared much concern on the parliament's budget for the year 2015 on Monday at a press conference. Wescot Williams and the party's advisor Emil Lee said that they are of the opinion that the Parliament of St 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

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

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

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

No quorum stalls housing meeting

PHILIPSBURG--The discussion in Parliament about developments at St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) was stalled on Wednesday after insufficient Members of Parliament signed in for the meeting with ad interim Housing Minister Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs. The meeting will be reconvened at a later date.

Six of the seven United People's (UP) party MPs were not present for the meeting.

Only seven of the 15 MPs serving in the legislature signed in for the meeting Read more

Country still short two ministers, 2014-2018 governing programme

PHILIPSBURG--It's been almost three months since the current Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has taken office and it is still two ministers short of the usual complement of seven. March 19 will mark three months since the cabinet was sworn-in by Governor Eugene Holiday.

To date, there has neither been word from the UP/De Weever/Marlin-Romeo coalition regarding the nomination of the two additional ministers nor about the completion of the Governing Programme for the coalition for 2014-2018.

The current Council of Ministers only numbering five is not in any way illegal as the Constitution states the country can have "up to a maximum of seven ministers."

De-facto government leader United People's (UP) leader Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger had said in his New Year's address that he "would like to see a complete seven-member cabinet in place within 60 days or less as of the beginning of the New Year."

He also stated in that same address, "I am very confident in the team of ministers who have been appointed so far to carry out the people's business."

Ministers are needed for the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labour VSA and the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI.

Prime Minister/General Affairs Minister Marcel Gumbs serves as ad-interim VROMI minister while Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs is

ad- interim VSA minister.

It is speculated that potential candidates are shying away from the ministerial nominations, because of the somewhat invasive checks into the lives of minister candidates, their family and friends.

One person close to the issue said, some people do not want even their name to be mentioned as a potential candidate Read more

Parliament’s integrity needs to be assessed by ad hoc committee

PHILIPSBURG--"I think some type of assessment document should be proposed in the committee on areas that need to be assessed to form an assessment, because if Parliament has to assess itself we have to decide upon what we will be assessing ourselves." That statement from National Alliance (NA) deputy leader Member of Parliament (MP) Silveria Jacobs summed up Tuesday's meeting of Parliament's Ad Hoc Committee on Integrity.

The ad hoc committee, chaired by independent MP Cornelius de Weever, is set to meet again in two weeks, at which time committee members are expected to table a proposal on the way forward and give comments on the establishment of a Code of Conduct for Parliament.

De Weever submitted a proposal for a code of conduct he had formulated with elements of similar codes in place in the United Kingdom and Trinidad and Tobago Read more