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Fake Land Transfer To Eco Green Designed To Duck Income Tax

By Today Newspaper

GREAT BAY – Former Public Health Minister Maria Buncamper-Molanus and her husband Claudius told the court at the Eco Green trial that they had trusted the advice from (now retired) notary Gijsbertha when they set up the construction with the bogus company Eco Green and that they had no reason to be concerned about its legality.

The court rejected this argument in its ruling yesterday Read more

On the occasion of the first CBCS Central Banking Conference Caribbean Central Banking since the Financial Crisis

Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Sint Maarten
March 31st, 2016

Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening.

It gives me great pleasure to join you this evening at the welcome dinner for the first central banking conference of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten.

Firstly, on behalf of the government of Sint Maarten, allow me to extend a warm welcome to all the speakers and participants who have travelled to Sint Maarten for this conference Read more

Obama Meets Castro In Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba – “This is a new day between our two countries,” President Obama said after meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro in Havana.

The two leaders agreed that there are still deep fissures between the two countries and that a healthy relationship between them will take work.

That uneasiness was apparent as soon as journalists began asking questions. Obama and Castro were not supposed to take questions, but a last minute change made that possible.

In Spanish, a journalist asked Castro why his country kept political prisoners.

Clearly miffed, Castro asked the reporter to hand over a list of political prisoners.

“If there are political prisoners, they will be released by nightfall,” Castro said.

Obama was diplomatic when he addressed Cuba’s human rights record Read more

National Institute Of Arts Gymnastic Competition

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On Saturday March 19th, the National Institute of Arts in collaboration with Club de Gym St.Martin will present part 2 of the 2nd Annual Gymnastic Competition at the Asha Stevens Christian Hillside School Campus in Cay Hill. 50 students born during the years 1998 to 2008 will compete in a parcours that covers gymnastic apparatus of floor, uneven bars, horse and balance beam.

The 2nd Annual Gymnastic Completion is the qualifier to compete at the Regional Competition that will take place in Guadeloupe.

Part 1 of the Gymnastic Competition was held on Saturday March 12 and 70 children born in 2005 to 2009 competed in a parcours that consisted of floor, bars and horse in basics skills and gymnastic alignment Read more

Summary Of Buncamper Case

Claudius-Buncamper

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The suspects are accused primarily of committing forgery. The core issue revolves around a piece of land that the couple B. had held since 2005. First by renting it from the island territory of St. Maarten, then by acquiring a lease. To obtain the land, however, conditions were attached. For example, the land could not be sub-leased or made available to a third party. The price paid by the couple B. was about NAf Read more

Prosecution Demanded Prison Time For The Buncampers And Co-Defendants.

decided to drop money laundering charge due to prosecutor’s misconduct.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The prosecution requested that the Buncamper’s namely Maria Buncamper Molanus and Claudius Buncamper be sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, six of which suspended and a three year probation be placed on the couple. As for notary Gijsbertha the prosecution demanded 15 months prison sentence, five of which suspended also with a three year probation.
For Ivan Haverthong the prosecution demanded 12 months imprisonment, four of which suspended along with a three year probation Read more

“I want to make clear that there is a government in place, all I wanted is support to approve the 2016 draft budget”

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin dispelled the allegations and rumors and even statements made during a radio program on Friday that he went tried to form a government on Thursday with the United Peoples Party Read more

Dutch Mps Laud Vote Buying Investigation

THE HAGUE--The liberal democratic VVD party, the Labour Party PvdA, Socialist Party (SP) and the Party for Freedom PVV in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament lauded the move of the St. Maarten Prosecutor’s Office in Wednesday’s arrest of St. Maarten Member of Parliament (MP) Silvio Matser and two others in the vote buying investigation.

Members of the Second Chamber André Bosman (VVD), Roelof van Laar (PvdA) and Ronald van Raak (SP) were especially content that the Prosecutor’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies were moving ahead with the active investigation and prosecution of illicit acts by elected/government officials.

Sietse Fritsma (PVV) stated that Matser’s arrest in connection with election fraud didn’t come as no surprise as “vote buying has been the common practice for many years in the banana republic St Read more

Little Opposition To 2016 Draft Budget

MP Tamara Leonard: “I feel like we have to take a hit too.” Photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten News – The parliament seemed to be going in record tempo through the debate about the draft 2016 budget yesterday. By 6.35 p.m. all speakers had put in their two cents in the first round; only nine MPs used their right to address the issue Read more

Orient Beach Tenants Mull Legal Action If Satisfaction Not Obtained

~ Architect insists project has ‘been done by the book ~

ORIENT BAY--Three local proprietors of the new restaurant units on Orient Beach who have not signed contracts with the Collectivité based on their claims the buildings have not been constructed to French code in addition to contesting what they view as prohibitively high rent said Monday this was their “final stand.”

They alluded to a legal action if satisfaction is not obtained from the Collectivité. Meanwhile, other restaurants and boutiques in the new complex have signed contracts and opened, giving the project a half-opened look Read more

Nature Foundation Puts Warning Buoy On Object Causing Injuries To Swimmers On Simpson Bay Beach

SIMPSONBAY, Sint Maarten — Nature Foundation divers placed a white marker Buoy with information warning swimmers away from an area on Simpson Bay beach close to Karakter beach bar.

Many swimmers were injured, some seriously, when they cut themselves on an underwater object right in the surf zone as they were bathing in the area. The Nature Foundation was contacted by Member of Parliament the Honorable Maurice Lake as well as the owners of Karakter Beach Bar and residents of Simpson Bay regarding the incident.

“We dove the area in order to see exactly what it was that was causing cuts, some quite deep, to swimmers in the area Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Nature Foundation divers placed a white marker Buoy with information warning swimmers away from an area on Simpson Bay beach close to Karakter beach bar. Many swimmers were injured, some seriously, when they cut themselves on an underwater object right in the surf zone as they were bathing in the area. The Nature Foundation was contacted by Member of Parliament the Honorable Maurice Lake as well as the owners of Karakter Beach Bar and residents of Simpson Bay regarding the incident Read more

Former Pm Marcel Gumbs Reacts To Dr. Martha “Not Possible To Revoke Dissolution Decree”

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – “I think that not all the facts were presented to him,” former Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs told this newspaper yesterday in a reaction to the interview with Dr. Rutsel Martha. “He is a good friend and very clever, though somewhat controversial, but his specialty is not in constitutional law.”

Gumbs said that he had acquired advice from three constitutional experts – professors Arjen van Rijn, Tijn Kortmann and Joop van den Berg Read more

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Member of Parliament Maurice Lake commends the Marlin Cabinet for looking into projects that during the last minute before the swearing in of the new Cabinet, were signed off by the former Minister VROMI without a plan being in place. â€œThe new Minister of VROMI will also pay attention to these matters. As a representative of the people and a former Minister of VROMI, I was very amazed by the outgoing Minister of VROMI list of accomplishments in his thank you letter to the people since being Minister of TEATT and Minister of VROMI Read more

People’S Progressive Alliance Banned From 2016 Elections

St. Maarten – The People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) of Don Hughes will not be allowed to contest the February 9 elections. This appears from a decision by the electoral council.

Already in the day Hughes came to the council’s offices on Back Street to register the party it appeared that there was a problem Read more

Up-Board Slams Coalition “The Dp Membership Is In Shambles”

St. Maarten – “History surely repeats itself and it seems more so in the formation of the coalition of eight,” United People’s Party (UP) President Sylvia Meyers said in a press statement on behalf of her party’s board yesterday. 

“Imagine the UP-led coalition was heavily criticized for not having a full council of ministers appointed and today the coalition of eight is greeted with the same reality.  Out of seven ministerial positions, they were only able to fill five.” 

“The National Alliance should have led with the same collective responsibility any coalition faces and not hide behind a press release only promoting their minister nominees having passed the screening,” the release states. 

“We are closely monitoring the inconsistencies and political rhetoric which clearly indicates of a weak new majority government.  It is quite obvious there is an apparent weakness in the new coalition and further testimony is the new recruitment effort of the Democratic Party led-ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor with the placement of an advertisement in the daily newspapers looking for persons to join the cabinet.” 

According to the UP-board it is “unheard of when the DP cannot find individuals within its own ranks to join its cabinet.  It’s a crying shame that they have to resort to this route.  It’s widely known the DP membership is in shambles and it seems no better way to recruit new members than by promising cabinet jobs.” 

“We will continue to be the eyes and ears of the people who undoubtedly continue to support us knowing all the trials and tribulations we’ve faced during the past 11-months,” the statement continues Read more

City Manager Announces Retirement Date, Service To Tallahassee Spans 25 Years

SISTER CITY TALLAHASSEE, united States of America - Tallahassee City Manager Anita Favors Thompson announced that she will retire effective November 20, 2015.

“When I became City Manager in 1997, I made the commitment to always put people first and to focus on providing the best services possible to meet the needs of our community,” Favors Thompson said.

“Through my 25 years working for the city and through challenges and accomplishments, I’ve never wavered in my belief that a city’s greatest asset is its people Read more

Seven New Political Parties Report For 2016 Elections

St. Maarten – An astonishing number of seven new political parties reported to the offices of the Electoral Council yesterday to submit their request to be registered for the February 9 elections. Among them is the St. Maarten Christian Party, led by Pastor Wycliffe Smith. On the other hand, the party of European Dutch residents did not show up, reportedly because they did not have enough time to prepare their documentation.

With the seven new parties – if they get all their formalities in order – the field for the elections will consist of eleven and possibly twelve parties Read more

Mixed growth in the monetary union

>WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG:--- The government of Curaçao has embarked on a path of reducing the costs of the government apparatus and the social insurances while stimulating economic growth, that contributed to a real GDP growth of 0.4% during the second quarter of 2015.” the president of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten, Dr. Emsley Tromp, said in the Bank’s Quarterly Bulletin Read more

style="text-align: center;">Says crime spree is Minister’s indictment

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the USP and Member of Parliament Frans Richardson on Monday called on Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson to resign immediately in the wake of unprecedented crime on St Read more

>Simpson Bay:--- An early Sunday morning shooting has left one person dead. The shooting took place shortly after 9am Sunday morning by Robbie’s Lottery located at La Palapa building in Simpson Bay. Persons on the scene said the victim that was shot dead seems to be an employee working for Robbie’s Lottery and he apparently got shot while trying to open the business place. However, that could not be confirmed by anyone. SMN News further learnt that the victim is of Latino decent.
SMN News contacted Police Spokesman Ricardo Henson for confirmation on the shooting, Henson who was on the scene of the shooting said “I am not giving you any information Read more

Dissolution decree corrected, sent back to Governor for his signature

PHILIPSBURG--It looks like elections on December 8 may still be in the cards. The Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has made adjustments to its draft national decree to dissolve Parliament and has sent it back to Governor Eugene Holiday for his signature.

The draft decree was sent to Holiday on the night of September 30, hours after the new National Alliance (NA)-led coalition passed a motion of no confidence against the seven-member Cabinet Read more

style="text-align: center;">Says Governor must sign decree dissolving Parliament ~

PHILIPSBURG:---- United People (UP) party fraction leader MP Franklin Meyers on Thursday night stressed that at some point “somebody has to make a stand somewhere” to stem the tide of constant government instability and address a flawed constitution Read more

Former MP De Weever stands trial for stealing blogger’s tablet

PHILIPSBURG--Former Member of Parliament (MP) Petrus Leroy de Weever (61) stood trial Wednesday on allegations he had stolen blogger J.R.’s tablet during an altercation on Front Street on January 11, 2014.

The Prosecutor’s Office considers the case proven and requested that the Court sentence the senior politician to payment of a NAf Read more