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>PHILIPSBURG:--- Chinese Consul General Chen Qiman (second from left) paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister the Hon. Marcel Gumbs on Sunday, February 22, 2015. The Consul General was joined by St. Maarten Chinese Association President Steven Huang and Head of the Department of Foreign Relations Khalilah Peters. General topics of cooperation Read more

Are we in Cuba or St. Maarten --- Prime Minister allegedly running a booth camp in Government Building.

style="text-align: center;">Civil Servants disgusted and ready to take action.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Several civil servants working at the Government Administration Building are disgusted and are ready to take action if Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs continues with what they consider as 'dictatorship" attitude. The civil servants who prefer to remain anonymous said that if they are seen in the corridor talking to a colleague or going to the kitchen the Prime Minister will come up to them and say "get back to work, it's not yet happy hour." Those who spoke to SMN News said that the Prime Minister would go as far as checking to see if civil servants are at their desk working Read more

Press Secretariat in Shambles, Granger submitted letter of Resignation to PM on Friday.

>PHILIPSBURG: --- Reliable sources within the Prime Minister's cabinet disclosed that the owner of M&M PR and Marketing Consultancy Michael Granger has submitted a letter of resignation to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs on Friday. According to information SMN News gathered is that Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs told Granger that he had to choose between working for his cabinet and being the President of the St Read more

style="text-align: center;">Sir Richard Branson Commends Islands on Shark and Ocean Conservation Efforts

Bimini- Political Leaders, Government Representatives and Conservationists from the Dutch Caribbean attended a high-level Caribbean Shark Conservation Leadership Retreat in Bimini, Bahamas last week, where significant discussions were held regarding the conservation of Sharks and Rays and the protection of the Ocean Environment in the wider-Caribbean Region. The Retreat, hosted by the PEW Charitable Trust; former President of Costa Rica and co-chair of the Global Ocean's Commission Jose-Maria Figures; and well-known businessman and environmental steward Sir Richard Branson, brought together conservation and political leaders, filmmakers and scientists from around the wider Caribbean region in order to discuss the protection and conservation of sharks and the Marine Environment.

During the event the delegates from the Dutch Caribbean; Commissioner Chris Johnson of Saba, Commissioner Carlisle Tearr from St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Government has launched its Official Facebook page, entitled: "Government of Sint Maarten" to the public and the rest of the world.

The goal of the Government's Facebook page is to gain wider exposure to a new demographic in the world of social media with information such as press releases, public notices, pictures and or videos of government related events. This social media tool will make it easier for persons to have access to updated information from the Government of Sint Maarten which includes highlights of specific departments and their services

Through the Department of Communication (DCOMM) in its capacity as Emergency Support Function 8 (ESF 8) the Government aims to expand its reach to the public during times of emergencies and in preparation of any possible disasters Read more

>ST. MAARTEN TOURISM AUTHORITY

During the recent budget debates, you informed parliament of your intentions to "revisit" the structure and functioning of the St. Maarten Tourism Authority (STA). I
have to admit that this is your and any government's good right. However, this statement in my opinion comes at a time when that body has hardly been given a
chance to execute any of its duties, let alone that its functioning could be evaluated.
Your response in the budget meeting that triggered the above conclusion, has caused a lot of concern in tourism circles Read more

GEBE is a Gentlemen's Club – MP Emmanuel.

style="text-align: left;">PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Christopher Emmanuel described the supervisory board and management team of GEBE as managers of a gentlemen's club and he felt they were disrespectful and ill-prepared when they went to Parliament on Wednesday. MP Emmanuel made clear that all members in managerial positions at GEBE are male and he wants to know when would the management and the supervisory board see it fit to promote some of the women they have working in the organization to managerial positions Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Director of the St. Maarten Development Fund Keith Franca on Wednesday officially introduced the government organization to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs. Franca briefed the Prime Minister on the accomplishments and activities of the fund in 2014 as well as presented the 2015 plans. Franca also met with Minister of Education, C Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs on Tuesday met with Harald Linkels (left) of the firm Linkels & Partners who is offering corporate governance trainings for various entities. The Prime Minister was enthusiastic about relaying the information to the boards of the various government owened companies considering the fact that good corporate governance and integrity are closely related Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister Plenipotentiary Hon. Josianne Fleming-Artsen recently met with the resident Ambassador from Panama Willys Delvalle at the Sint Maarten House in The Hague, the Netherlands.

"We had a very fruitful discussion about both of our countries and how we can explore further developing relations in various areas, one of them being from an economic perspective.

"Sint Maarten as a country needs to develop and expand relations with Latin American countries. We can learn a lot from Panama Read more