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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

Plenary Session Of Parliament Scheduled For Wednesday About The St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The House of Parliament will meet in a public plenary session on March 11. This session is the continuation of the initial session that was held on December 22, 2014 which is now being reconvened.

The Acting Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Marcel Gumbs, will be present for the public plenary session of the House of Parliament.

The plenary session is set for Wednesday at 10.00am 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

DP MP sends Letter to Chairman of Parliament on the Dredging of Simpson Bay Lagoon

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams dispatched a letter to the chairman of Parliament requesting information on the halting and illegal dredging of the Simpson Bay Lagoon. Wescot Williams commended the Nature Foundation for their swift actions which resulted in the halt. Excerps from the letter sent to the Chairman of Parliament Dr Read more

Mp Wescot-Williams Keeps Focus On Healthy Lifestyle

St. Maarten -The U2 Can Move organization has planned a walkathon for Saturday, March 7th     towards their goal of a healthy life style for all. Former Prime Minister and Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, who has been one of the driving forces behind this project from its onset, yesterday reiterated her continued support for the different activities that are geared towards a healthy lifestyle for all.

The date for the walkathon has been chosen to coincide with International Women’s Day–  being commemorated under the theme Make it happen– which is annually celebrated on March 8th.

“Cognizant of the constraints many women face, especially where physical activity is concerned, I warmly endorse activities, business-sponsored or otherwise that offer women the opportunity to stay fit Read more

style="text-align: center;">Calls on Raphael Boasman to vacate his seat as Chairman of the Supervisory Board since he is operating in Conflict of Interest.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Communication Union (SMCU) headed by Ludson Evers along with his other board members told reporters at a press conference held on Wednesday that he would like for the Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs (Shareholder representative of TELEM) and other entities they contacted to deal with an illegal situation that TELEM another government owned company has engaged in Read more

Committee Puts Three Questions To Council Of State: Do Kingdom Instructions Violate Our Autonomy?

St. Maarten – On the day of the extended deadline, the permanent parliamentary committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations formulated three questions about the procedures around instructions by the Kingdom Council of Ministers to the governor. The questions will be added to those already formulated by the Dutch Second Chamber and sent for advice to the Council of State.

The instructions the governors of Aruba (about its 2014 budget) and of St. Maarten (about integrity-investigations and about the establishment of the Integrity Chamber) are still a hot topic in the autonomous Caribbean countries of the kingdom.

The questions the Second Chamber members have formulated are, in the opinion of the committee-members in St Read more

Sarah calls for discussion on companies’ annual accounts

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has called for the examination of the annual accounts of all government-owned companies in a meeting of Parliament's Permanent Committee for Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication.

This urgent meeting request has been communicated to committee chairman MP Frans Richardson (United St Read more

MPs call for clarity on taxi, bus permits

PHILIPSBURG--Government is called on to make the register of bus, taxi and tour-bus permits public and to give an explanation of the current moratorium on issuance of permits for those types of businesses by two Members of Parliament (MPs).

Independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo said in a press statement issued late Monday night she "wants clarity" on the moratorium Read more

style="text-align: center;">Says Government knows who the owners of companies are that are doing business with Government Owned Companies.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party and Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams and the party advisor Emil Lee expressed concerns on the attitude displayed by some Government Owned Companies Read more

MPs add questions for Council of State

PHILIPSBURG--Three succinct questions have been formulated by Parliament's Permanent Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Affairs and Kingdom Relations for the Council of State in the ongoing discussion about the grounds on which the Kingdom Council of Ministers can issue instructions to the governors in the Dutch Caribbean.

The committee, headed by Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams, composed three questions in its meeting Monday to be forwarded to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Read more

Mingo refuses to disclose details of Checkmate security contract

~ Owner's identity not provided ~

PHILIPSBURG--Questions relating to the Harbour Group of Companies' contract with Checkmate Security Services and the status of security at the port, as well as the Group's "clandestine attitude" were amongst the hot-button issues discussed in Thursday's presentation to Parliament's Permanent Committee for Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT) at Parliament House.

Committee Chairman United St. Maarten (US) party leader MP Frans Richardson organised the meeting, which was broadcast live, with the expressed goal of hearing directly from Harbour Group Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo and his team about a number of pressing issues.

Mingo remained mum on most questions relating to security, citing competition and safety-related concerns, as well as contractual obligations.

He did not present any "information and documentation regarding the security contract with Checkmate Security Company" as formally requested by Democratic Party (DP) MP Sarah Wescot-Williams through MP Richardson Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams who is representing the Democratic Party in Parliament dispatched a letter to griffier of Parliament and copied to MP Frans Richardson to request the representatives of the St Read more

Gracita Arrindell Candidate For Dutch Council Of State

St. Maarten –Drs. Gracita Arrindell is a candidate to fill the position for St. Maarten at the Council of State in The Hague, the former president of parliament confirmed to this newspaper on Saturday. The appointment has not yet been formally announced.

Arrindell would succeed Dennis Richardson who sat on the council until he was appointed minister of justice in the third Wescot-Williams cabinet in 2013 Read more

Importance of transparency

Dear Editor,

With a government in office for just over 60 days, a feeling of discontentment with government is discernible. While part of this can be attributed to a feeling of ever-present political apathy, the fact cannot be denied that a government formed without even an indirect approval by the electorate; an uneasy composition of coalition "partners" with very diverse manifestos and philosophies, and the absence of a governing accord contribute in no small measure to the feeling of dissatisfaction or inquietude one can sense daily in the community.

The Democratic Party is also of the belief that the talk of transparency, but in reality the often times disregard for such, only exacerbates the situation outlined above.

Partial information is even more damaging, as then all sorts of stories are conjured up.

There are many small steps that government can take as measures to promote transparency as part of the bigger objective of promoting integrity Read more

Wescott-Williams: “New Tax System Cannot Be Introduced Overnight”

St. Maarten —A new tax system cannot be introduced overnight, notes leader of the Democratic Party faction in Parliament MP Sarah Wescott-Williams, who said she intends to discuss this new tax system in a meeting with the Minister of Finance. MP Wescott-Williams pointed out that the need for introducing a new tax system has been in discussions for years but there must be consultations and there are a lot of different aspects to take into consideration.

While acknowledging that the new tax system cannot be introduced overnight, the DP leader said a start must be made Read more

Dp Wants Answers From Gebe

St. Maarten -A list of pertinent questions will be forwarded to Gebe by the Democratic Party faction in parliament following a recent meeting between the company representatives and the parliament.

Leader of the Democratic Party faction in parliament Sarah Wescott-Williams noted that there is a government endorsed energy plan for the Country St Read more

‘Welkom op St. Maarten’ on top 5 travel guides list

SIMPSON BAY--The book Welkom op Sint Maarten: The Friendly Island is now among the country's top five travel guides thanks to a list compiled by Website

stmaartenvakantie.nl . The book is noted as worthwhile to read and to take on vacation to the Dutch Caribbean.

The Dutch language book was launched internationally last year with a limited edition presented to then-Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams by authors Ina Kruize, Esther de Vries and Marlene van Asten.

The book informs people who are moving to St Read more

DP: Country’s marketing seemingly at standstill

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten's tourism marketing in the Netherlands, the United States and Canada seems to be at a standstill with no representation in Europe and the expiration of the contracts for the North American market, according to Democratic Party (DP) Parliament fraction advisor Emil Lee.

Lee joined party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams at Parliament House on Monday for a party press conference at which they discussed various issues the party is pursuing and is pushing for Parliament and the Gumbs Cabinet's attention.

Wescot-Williams said Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Claret Connor is still to explain how and why he will be reorganising, re-evaluating and revisiting the already established St Read more

style="text-align: center;">Government and Supervisory Boards must respect Parliament and provide the answers necessary.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament and Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams along with the President of the Democratic Party Board Emil Lee high-lighted several issues that they felt needs to be clarified.
Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams said on Monday during a press conference that the "Counterpart Policy" used by MP Cornelius de Weever was not the reason why the number two candidate of the DP Faction broke the first coalition Read more

Enviro conference draws small crowd

BELAIR--Despite the constant talk and emphasis on tackling the country's rapidly-growing garbage mountain, a half-day environmental conference, hosted by Island Vision Foundation, on "Waste Management: Sustainability, Markets, and Initiatives for Small Islands" was sparsely attended at Belair Community Centre on Friday afternoon.

Democratic Party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams opened the conference 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

Govt envisages lowering workers pay on sick days

PHILIPSBURG--Government is considering amending the current policy to lower compensation paid to workers on their sick days as a means of combating absenteeism.

In response to questions on this subject from Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams during the public plenary session of Parliament on the 2015 budget, Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs said the point of departure is that employees would get only a percentage of their salary paid to them when on sick leave.

"This can range from, for example, 90 per cent as of the second or third day of being sick, to for example 70 or 80 per cent after having been sick for a longer period," Gumbs said Read more

Parliament establishes an ad hoc Integrity Committee

PHILIPSBURG--With integrity continuing to be the buzz word in St. Maarten, Parliament established its ad hoc committee on integrity Tuesday, but not without much discussion on the membership.

The establishment of the committee was recommended by Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a written proposal in January Read more

MPs to hear from Connor about harbour issues Tues

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and its operations will take centre stage at a Central Committee meeting of Parliament with Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Claret Connor and Finance Minister Martin Hassink on Tuesday, February 10. The meeting, requested by the National Alliance (NA) and Democratic Party (DP) on February 10, starts at Parliament at 2:00pm in Parliament House.

The agenda for the meeting covers issues related to the harbour group, the past and future impacts of the company on the country, cruise passenger head tax, Dock Marteen (Deher) marina project; causeway Turn over Tax payment, cranes, dividend and payment for the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association Conference (FCCA).

Members of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams (DP), Silveria Jacobs and George Pantophlet (NA) requested answers to be provided orally in the meeting by the ministers on the "outcome between the harbour and Bobby's Marina" and if government had given the harbour the exclusive right of development for the area that the company claims in its case against the Deher's development.

Also, the MPs want to know when Parliament will receive the harbour's 2013 financial report, whether government promised to contribute to the FCCA conference and what did government actually contribute Read more