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St. Maarten might be looking at new elections at the Expense of the People – Is there a stand off?

style="text-align: center;">St. Maarten has a Constitution that must be respected.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The current coalition government have a real problem on their hands to solve, now that MP Frans Richardson has asked the Minister of Justice by way of letter to resign effective immediately.
Political pundits says that MP Frans Richardson is getting ahead of himself and that he needs to know that St Read more

Editorial - The sooner the better

It seems the Gumbs cabinet has become embroiled in separate disputes (see Friday paper) with the boards of two public-sector entities on decisions regarding their directors.

At utilities provider GEBE Romelio Maduro was suspended, placed on non-active duty and said not to be legally appointed in any function, despite the fact that Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs on behalf of the shareholder had informed the Supervisory Board recently that he couldn’t honour their request not to extend Maduro’s contract and in fact had decided to extend such for another two years pending an investigation.

At National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) Education Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs advised the board to reverse its earlier dismissal of director Vernon Richards for organising, allegedly without proper authorisation, an Open Day that the minister also attended.

The two cases are different in that GEBE is a state-owned company and NIPA a Government-subsidised foundation, but the similarity lies in the fact that their boards have a certain degree of statutory autonomy compared to, for example, Government departments Read more

Justice Minister asked to resign by US Party

PHILIPSBURG--United St. Maarten Party (USP) has requested that Justice Minister Dennis Richardson resign. The request was presented in a letter to the minister delivered on Friday afternoon.

Minister Richardson did not confirm to The Daily Herald whether he had received the letter. He said he was “not commenting” on internal coalition or political parties’ matters.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has indicated already that should the Justice Minister be faced with any vote of no confidence in Parliament the entire cabinet also would resign Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The leader of the United Saint Maarten Party (USP) Frans Richardson hand delivered a letter to Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson on Friday when he met with him at his office around 1pm.
SMN News understands that the USP leader made clear that as a coalition partner he got that Ministry and since he formed part of the coalition he is not informed on how the Justice Ministry functions.
After the meeting with the Minister of Justice MP Frans Richardson showed up at the Government Administration Building where members of the coalition met.
Attending that meeting which lasted over three hours were the leader of the UPP Theodore Heyliger, MP Franklin Meyers, MP Silvio Master, MP Maurice Lake, MP Leona Marlin, MP Cornelius de Weever, and MP Johan Janchi Leonard.
Also in attendance was Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson and the other members of the Council of Ministers.
When the meeting ended all Members of Parliament left stating that nothing happened and that the coalition meeting was called to discuss the budget Read more

GEBE’s Maduro ‘suspended, placed on non-active duty’

PHILIPSBURG--In an unexpected statement to the press and in contrast to intentions expressed by Government, GEBE's Supervisory Board of Directors on announced Thursday evening that GEBE's Chief Operations Officer (COO) Romelio Maduro has been "suspended and placed on non-active duty" as of June 11.

The scanned document was signed by Supervisory Board of Directors Chairman Rene Richardson.

In introducing the statement, GEBE's attorney Jairo Bloem said, "The Supervisory Board of Directors of N.V Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Honorable Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs on Wednesday administered the oath to a number of civil servants in the A.C. Wathey Legislative Hall at the Government Administration Building.
Prime Minister Gumbs spoke to the civil servants about integrity and being productive while carrying out their duties to the nation.
The oath taking is part of the integrity compliance within the Personnel & Organization Department Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Supervisory board of directors of GEBE means business and they are sticking to the decision they have taken not to renew the contract  Romelio Maduro’s  as the Chief Financial Operations Officer of the Company.
Shortly after Maduro was officially informed by two of the board members in writing that he was not to be on the property as his contract expired on May 31st 2015, he retained attorney at law Peggy Ann Brandon to represent him. Not long after that the Prime Minister of St Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Administers Oath To Civil Servants. Stresses Integrity And Productivity

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Honorable Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs on Wednesday administered the oath to a number of civil servants in the A.C. Wathey Legislative Hall at the Government Administration Building.

Prime Minister Gumbs spoke to the civil servants about integrity and being productive while carrying out their duties to the n Read more

Parliament Authorizes Increases In Passport Fees

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The House of Parliament of St. Maarten met in a public plenary session on Monday, June 8th.

The reason for the meeting was discussing among other matters, the draft National Ordinance to change the Stamps Ordinance for an increase in Stamp fees regarding Passports.

Minister with the responsibility for General Affairs is the Honorable Read more

Passport fee increase passed retroactively

PHILIPSBURG--Fees for Dutch passports have been increased retroactively by Parliament. The fees are already charged to Dutch citizens applying for new passports or passport renewals since March 10, 2014. Monday’s approval of the amendments to the Stamp Ordinance was only a formality.

The amendments were unanimously passed in a Plenary Session of Parliament with very limited debate between Members of Parliament (MPs) and Prime Minister/General Affairs Minister Marcel Gumbs Read more

Editorial - Lesser of two evils

Members of the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations are scheduled to meet this morning. Topics include a debriefing on the recent Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation IPKO in The Hague. Although not on the agenda, the protocol regarding an Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten signed around the same time between Justice Minister Dennis Richardson and Dutch Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk is likely to come up. After all, several legislators have voiced their disapproval over this perceived “bypassing of Parliament” in no uncertain terms.

In one case it actually concerns governing partner USP, which was given precisely the Justice portfolio when joining the UP-led coalition in January Read more

Request for Parliament meeting on protocol submitted by Govt

PHILIPSBURG--The Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has submitted its request to Parliament for a meeting to discuss the protocol on the establishment of the integrity chamber for the country signed by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson with Dutch Home Affairs Minister Ronald Plasterk two weeks ago in The Hague. No date has yet been set by Parliament for the meeting.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Richardson met with the press in A.C Read more

style="text-align: center;">PJIAH has to send letter of Apology to COM in order for them to continue processing the file.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs who is the acting Minister of VROMI said that he was accused of holding up the building permits the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) submitted for the Food Based Operations and fire station building Read more

Parliament still have the right to either accept, reject or make changes to the Integrity Chamber Protocol. Signed Protocol Eliminates Higher Supervision – Minister Dennis Richardson.

style="text-align: center;">Should a motion of no confidence be brought against Minister of Justice then it’s a motion of no confidence against the Council of Ministers--- PM Gumbs.

PHILIPSBURG: --- At a press conference held by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson on Sunday on the protocol Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson signed two Saturday’s ago in the Netherlands on behalf of the Prime Minster Marcel Gumbs, both Ministers said that the Parliament of St Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Attends 16Th Annual Walk For God’S Mercy And Protection

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs on Saturday evening attended the 16th Annual ‘Walk for God’s Mercy and Protection’ that was organized by the St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in collaboration with the Divine Mercy Charismatic Prayer Group.

Citizens of the country took part in the walk which was organized in connection with the 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season and any other disaster or calamity that may occur during the remainder of the year.

Prime Minister Gumbs told the gathering during the praise and worship session to stay focused on God; to pray for tranquillity and stability; to always be civil with one another; and to seek God’s protection for the hurricane season and any other disaster that may occur.

Participants met at the Cyrus Wathey Square in front of the Courthouse in Philipsburg.  After praise and worship, those in attendance walked through Front and Back Street and back to the Square.

In Photo: Prime Minister Hon Read more

Council Of Mnisters Stands Behind Integrity Protocol Says Pm

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Council of Ministers is standing behind the Minister of Justice and the protocol he signed with the Dutch government for an Integrity Chamber.

The Prime Minister the Honorable Marcel Gumbs stated that if the Parliament of St. Maarten gives the Minister of Justice a vote of no confidence based on the Int Read more

No decision by USP to remove minister

PHILIPSBURG--United St. Maarten Party (USP) has not made a decision to remove Justice Minister Dennis Richardson from his post.

Instead, party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Frans Richardson is set to meet the Justice Minister next week to discuss the agreement signed by the Minister with the Dutch Kingdom Government on the establishment of the Integrity Chamber for St Read more

style="text-align: center;">Where is the Supervisory Board?

Airport:--- Ten more days to go and the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) may have to face serious penalties if they defaulted on the bonds they have secured for various projects. The bonds SMN News understand stands at $160M which had to be used up since 2014, but the lack of the building permits for the Food Based Operations (FBO) and fire station may well place the government owned company in a real predicament. One of things that can happen the bonds can be recalled because the funds were not used during the time frame in which it had to be used and PJIAE will also have to pay the interests and face a penalty while losing its financial credibility.
According to information SMN News received PJIAE signed a number of agreements and concessions with several stakeholders in order to recoup the cost of the FBO project Read more

Editorial - Hands-off approach

It may not seem that important, but two Supervisory Board members at Curaçao’s ABC Bus Company were ordered to pay back an allowance they had given themselves to take over the daily management (see related article). They had done so after the director suddenly died in January, leaving the government-owned entity without a Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The duo reasoned that as a result of Corporate Governance it would take quite some time before a successor could be appointed and the work had to continue in the meantime Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Removal of Justice Minister Dennis Richardson will bring possible Shake up in Government

style="text-align: center;">Will Council of Ministers be getting a motion of non-confidence?

PHILIPSBURG:--- The removal of Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson by Member of Parliament Frans Richardson will bring about a possible shake up in the five member Government. SMN News has been reliably informed that Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs already indicated to several persons that should Minister Richardson be removed from office he will tender his resignation Read more

Speeches, humour and anecdotes mark Préfet Chopin’s departure

MARIGOT--Tributes were paid to Préfet Délégué Philippe Chopin for dedicated service to St. Martin and St. Barths during his near-five-year tenure as the State’s highest representative, at a cocktail party in the Préfecture on Tuesday evening where he was presented with numerous gifts as tokens of appreciation.

Chopin takes on a new posting as a fully-fledged Préfet for the Region of Creuse in Central France.

As usual on such occasions, the Préfecture’s conference room was packed with representatives of all of the institutions, Gendarmerie, Police Territorial and border police (PAF) among them, with whom the Préfet worked.

The guest list included Dutch-side dignitaries Governor Eugene Holiday, Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Justice Minister Dennis Richardson while from the French side former Senator Louis-Constant Fleming and former Presidents of the Collectivité Frantz Gumbs and Alain Richardson were present Read more

style="text-align: center;">COO working without contract, promised contract till 2017.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The legal rumble and deal making continues at GEBE while the COO Romelio Maduro does not have a contract but signed a check on Tuesday June 2nd for over $60,000.00 for Alfred Harley who got a contract from GEBE which was not approved by the Supervisory board. Based on information SMN News received is that Alfred Harley a former journalist on St. Maarten secured a contract with GEBE through his company “St Read more

Writers flock to St. Maarten for 13th annual Book Fair

MARIGOT/PHILIPSBURG--A host of international authors, writers and poets from all over the world, including countries such as Brazil, India, Panama, France, the United Kingdom and United States, will be travelling to the island for the thirteenth annual St. Martin Book Fair.

The Book Fair, to be held June 4-6, will be officially opened at Territorial Media Tech Centre in Spring Concordia, Marigot, Thursday, at 8:00pm. President of the Collectivité of St. Martin Aline Hanson and Prime Minister of St Read more

Asjes part of royal US visit

WILLEMSTAD--Curaçao Prime Minister Ivar Asjes was in Arlington, Virginia. He travelled together with his counterparts of Aruba and St. Maarten Mike Eman and Marcel Gumbs respectively to accompany the Dutch King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Arlington National Cemetery.

With this ceremony the Kingdom of the Netherlands thanked the Americans for the liberation of Europe.

The royal couple is on an official visit in the United States Read more