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Transparency International Presents Integrity Assessment: “Political Parties Are Weak In Representing Social Interests”

Transparency International’s regional director for the Americas Alejandro Salas and lead researcher Cora de Voit. Photo Today / Leo Brown

GREAT BAY – At 7 p.m. local time last night, Transparency International’s National Integrity System assessment for St. Maarten came online. The company presented the report at the same time at the university on Pond Island. St. Maarten has now come full circle with probing its integrity issues. There are four reports on the table: the Baseline Study Institutional Integrity from the General Audit Chamber, the integrity-reports from the Bob Wit-committee and PricewaterhouseCoopers and now the transparency assessment.

It contains three core recommendations, of which the third one is the most concrete Read more

Minister to sidestep foundation to create Tourism Authority

PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Tourism Authority (STA) Foundation has been declared obsolete. Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Claret Connor now says the STA will be established without the intermediary foundation due to stagnation in progress caused by delays and lack of common vision on how to move forward.

Minister Connor reacted on Monday to requests for comment in light of last week Friday’s front page story describing the foundation as being in limbo Read more

No word yet on completion of minister candidates screening

PHILIPSBURG--It has been more than a month since the submission for screening a minister candidate to join the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet and there has not been any word about whether and when the candidate will be sworn in to office. There also has not been any information about the progress of the screening from authorities.

The candidate, who is expected to take up the post of Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT), is former utilities company GEBE employee Ernest Sams.

Following a successful screening, Sams is to take up that post and current minister Claret Connor is slated to move to the portfolio of Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Read more

Netherlands-bound students bid farewell to family, friends

AIRPORT--Some 27 students bade farewell to family and friends on Sunday morning as they departed on their journey to the Netherlands to further their studies. Loved ones spent the last moments with them at Princess Juliana International Airport SXM, at the fourth Bon Voyage party hosted by the airport and Domino’s Pizza.

The students heard special addresses by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs Rita Bourne-Gumbs and the airport’s Managing Director Regina LaBega before saying their final goodbyes Read more

Editorial - Put up or shut up

Parliamentarian Maurice Lake has a point (see Thursday paper). The persistent rumours that government is about to fall aren’t doing society much good.

As he is one of the persons being mentioned who might make such a political crisis a reality, his opinion definitely counts. After all, the Gumbs cabinet is backed by 10 of 15 seats in Parliament, which means no fewer than three current members of the UP-led coalition would have to withdraw their support.

That’s just not likely to happen, also considering the criticism, especially after the most recent election, on the practice of “jumping ship” for what seem rather opportunistic reasons Read more

Religious man attacks Jerusalem Gay Pride parade, wounding six

JERUSALEM--An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stabbed and wounded six participants, two of them seriously, in the annual Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem on Thursday, with police saying the suspect was jailed for a similar attack 10 years ago.
  About 5,000 people celebrating the event were marching along an avenue when a man jumped into the crowd, apparently from a supermarket, and plunged a knife into some of the participants, witnesses said. "We heard people screaming, everyone ran for cover, and there were bloodied people on the ground," Shai Aviyor, a witness interviewed on Israel's Channel 2, said.
  It was the worst attack in years on the event in Jerusalem, a divided city where the religious population is more prominent than in other parts of Israel and highlighted the tension nationwide among disparate social groups Read more

>SIMPSON BAY:----For the fourth consecutive year, the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM, in collaboration with Domino’s Pizza, will be saying “Bon Voyage” to about 30 students who will be departing the island Sunday, August 2, 2015, to further their studies in The Netherlands.
Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, Minister of Education, Sports, Culture & Youth Affairs Rita Bourne-Gumbs, and SXM Airport’s Managing Director Regina LaBega will all address the students before they board the KLM aircraft that will take them to Schiphol, Amsterdam.
During the special send-off, the students, while enjoying pizza and refreshments distributed by Domino’s Pizza, will be entertained by DJ King Kembe and MC Suppa.
They will also receive goodie bags containing SXM branded gift items fit for college-bound students Read more

Sxm To Say Bon Voyage To Holland-Bound Students Sunday

SIMPSON BAY, St. Maarten — For the fourth consecutive year, the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM, in collaboration with Domino's Pizza, will be saying "Bon Voyage" to about 30 students who will be departing the island Sunday, August 2, 2015, to further their studies in The Netherlands.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, Minister of Education, Sports, Culture & Youth Affairs Rita Bourne-Gumbs, and SXM Airport's Managing Director Regina LaBega will all address the students before they board the KLM aircraft that will take them to Schiphol, Amsterdam.

During the special send-off, the students, while enjoying pizza and refreshments distributed by Domino's Pizza, will be entertained by DJ King Kembe and MC Suppa.

They will also receive goodie bags containing SXM branded gift items fit for college-bound students Read more

Editorial - Loud and clear

The figures presented by Transparency International (TI) regarding poverty in St. Maarten (see related story) are interesting. The 75 per cent making less than NAf. 4,000 (US $2,222) per month are apparently considered below the poverty line, although everyone knows there are many earning far less and, according to the report, 22 per cent with no income at all.

The latter is a bit hard to swallow, as Government does provide some financial aid to citizens in need Read more

20,000 euros emergency aid dispensed to sustain livestock

MARIGOT--The Executive Council at its most recent meeting voted to release 20,000 euros of emergency aid for farmers and livestock breeders to enable them to purchase much needed water and foodstuffs for their animals.

The subvention has been given to Association de Développement de L’Elevage et la Promotion des Produits Agricoles Locaux (ADEPPAL) to purchase supplies and distribute on a priority basis.

It was noted the current drought has affected the whole of the Caribbean for the last six months, caused US1-million dollars in lost crops and thousands of dollars in value of cattle that have perished Read more

Editorial - Single market

That Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake is concerned about the cost of living on the island (see related story) is understandable. Particularly groceries are said to be quite expensive, certainly when compared to the relatively low average salaries.

Of course, there is the so-called basic necessity basket under government price control, but it regards a very limited range of goods that nowadays aren’t exactly, all considered, among the most healthy things to eat either Read more

Opinion: Paying Lip Service

What is most amazing about the never-ending procession of court cases the new owner of the former Caravanserai Resort, Alegria, gets involved in, is the lack of response to this very detrimental situation from the government, and in particular from Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Claret Connor, with the parliament closely on his heels.

Whatever the outcome of the court case may be, the effect on our tourism industry will be devastating Read more

Editorial - What’s going on?

The visa requirement for Colombians to visit Curaçao and St. Maarten was dropped effective July 1. Although it took another week after that for the authorities in Bogota to actually make the official announcement, both islands are hoping the measure will lead to an increase in vacationers from the South American country, but not of immigrants overstaying their welcome.

Little has been heard since on the handling of the change in practice, especially by immigration officials at the respective airports, but apparently there have been no major complaints so far either Read more

RSMA recruit sentenced for armed robbery in Guadeloupe

MARIGOT--Grégory Hanson de la Rosa, one of many young people recruited in St. Martin to join Régiment Service Militaire Adapté (RSMA) in Guadeloupe, was sentenced to three years in prison with one year suspended at a fast-track trial Monday in Basse-Terre. De la Rosa (18) took part in an armed robbery in the town of Pointe-Noire, Guadeloupe on Friday, July 10, France-Antilles newspaper reported.

De la Rosa and another individual, armed and wearing masks assaulted the driver of Oyé stationary truck at 3:30pm Friday then stole cash before escaping Read more

Woman found dead in house

ZAGERSGUT--Authorities found a woman dead in her home on Tassel Road, Zagersgut, late Monday, acting police spokesperson Steven Carty said.

According to Carty, someone called the police around 6:30pm Monday to make a report after not seeing the woman, who was their neighbour, for several days. Apparently the person looked through a window and thought something was amiss.

Carty could not say whether the woman had died of natural causes or whether foul play was involved, as the police were still checking to determine this Read more

Editorial - Reserve judgement

The UP-led coalition submitted its governing programme “Ready to Work for You” on Thursday. Better late than never, considering that it comes almost seven months after the Gumbs cabinet took office.

The question is also to what extent the policy intentions can be achieved in light of the current financial situation, with a looming instruction from the Kingdom Council of Ministers to settle the arrears totalling 189 million guilders to Social and Health Insurance SZV and the general pension fund APS Read more

style="text-align: center;">GEBE Supervisory Board plans to file complaint against Maduro and Harley.

PHILIPSBURG: --- SMN News has landed its hands on some more documents relating to the dismissal of Romelio Maduro all of which was sent to the Council of Ministers on the decision taken by the Supervisory Board of Directors to dismiss the former Chief Operational Officer (COO) Romelio Maduro when they discovered that Maduro abused his position as the COO and head of the management team when he signed a contract with Alfred Harley under a company that is owned by his mother which is meant for inter-island purchasing and not consultancy.
On May 15th 2015, the supervisory board sent a letter to the Council of Ministers stating that they have taken a decision not to renew the working contract for Maduro Read more

Chicago's July 4 rituals: fireworks, gun deaths

CHICAGO--Late in the evening on July 4 a haze of smoke from backyard fireworks hung over Chicago. Like kids all over the city, 7-year-old Amari Brown stood on the sidewalk enjoying the show - until the staccato burst of explosives turned into gunfire.
  Brown was hit when a man ran around the corner and shot at his group in an apparent gang-related attack. He was rushed to the hospital in his father's arms and died two hours later.
  The boy was the youngest of 10 people killed and more than 50 injured in gun violence over the Independence Day weekend, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner and local media reports Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Mysterious draft MOU signed by GEBE COO and GB Energy Surfaced --- PM Marcel Gumbs and MP Theodore Heyliger witnessed signing at DIVI Little Bay Hotel.

style="text-align: center;">Supervisory Board of Directors allegedly Cancelled MOU --- Will Prime Minister come forward with signed copies.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The much talked about Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was signed earlier this year by the former COO of GEBE Romelio Maduro and the President of the G. B Energy Pablo Porles has surfaced. However, SMN News only managed to retrieve the unsigned copy which is documented as “Privileged and Confidential.” The MOU which several Members of Parliament requested and to date cannot receive was signed on February 4th 2015 at the Divi Little Bay Hotel in the presence of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, the shareholder representative of the Government of St Read more

Swift action, evacuation for 2nd KLM bomb hoax

AIRPORT--Another KLM plane was the target of an apparent bomb-scare hoax on Friday afternoon. An anonymous caller phoned airport check-in counter 46 and said that there was a bomb on KLM flight 785. Although no bombs were found after thorough searches of both the plane and the airport building, this is the second such costly and disruptive bomb-scare in a matter of months.

Another scare, also pointing to a bomb on KLM, prompted a mass evacuation of Princess Juliana International Airport SXM on Saturday, December 6, 2014.

Friday’s threat was called in at 11:45am, airport Special Projects Coordinator Robert Brown relayed during an impromptu press conference held jointly with Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Claret Connor and Chief Inspector Police spokesperson Ricardo Henson.

Emergency procedures started after the agent to receive the call informed a security guard Read more

Editorial - In the middle

The same-day postponement of Monday’s continuation “until further notice” of a plenary session in Parliament on developments at NV GEBE did not come as a complete surprise. During the original meeting last week Friday interim Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Marcel Gumbs in his capacity of shareholder representative indicated the need for more documentation to answer the questions posed.

Apparently the latter could not be gathered over the weekend, hence the delay Read more

Gearing up to a new era of colonialism and nepotism

Dear Editor,

Lately, our representatives seem to worry a lot -and sometimes rightly so- about the Dutch (post) colonial powers. So far, the apogee of this independence rhetoric came to light when an MP was quoted as saying that he would rather “die on his feet than live on his knees”. The MP was quick to forget that Dutch PM Rutte already indicated that independence is just a phone call away.

So why so much noise? It is nothing more than putting up smokescreens in order to derive the attention from the real problem, namely the new era of (corporate) colonialism and nepotism which is upon us Read more

Families of South Carolina church massacre victims offer forgiveness

CHARLESTON, South Carolina--As the young white man charged with murdering nine people inside an historic black church in South Carolina stood blankly silent during a court hearing on Friday, relatives of slain worshippers addressed him one by one, offering tearful words of grief and forgiveness.

Dylann Roof, 21, who authorities say spent an hour in Bible study with parishioners at the nearly 200-year-old Emanuel African Methodist Church before opening fire on them, stood quietly, stoically, as he appeared via video feed for an initial bond hearing before a magistrate judge.

Dressed in a black-and-white prison uniform and flanked by two guards in body armour, Roof showed no reaction as the judge ordered him held without bail Read more

What’s is in it for me? Gearing up to a new era of colonialism and nepotism

Dear Editor,

Lately, our representatives seem to worry a lot, and sometimes rightly so, about the Dutch (post) colonial powers. Some of our MP's are calling for independence while presenting themselves as the last of the Mohicans. So far, the apogee of this independence rhetoric came to light when an MP was quoted as saying that he rather "die on his feet than live on his knees." The MP was quick to forget that Dutch PM Rutte already indicated that independence is just a phone call away (i).

So why so much noise? It is nothing more than putting up smokescreens in order to dr0ive the attention from the real problem, namely the new era of (corporate) colonialism and nepotism which is upon us Read more