SXMElections.com

Awaits decision of the Board

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Tuesday, November 28th, the Council of Ministers (CoM) gave the go ahead to the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, to meet with the University of St. Martin Foundation (USMF) to propose a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to grant incidental subsidy (amounting to NAF. 690K- 920K over three/four months) in the interest of preventing the closure of the USM as well as preparing for the continuity of the institution in a transparent, accountable, efficient and effective manner Read more

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Connecting sustainable businesses, investments, innovation, between the Netherlands, Dutch Caribbean, and Latin America.

GREAT BAY:--- St. Maarten joined countries of the kingdom for a two-part trade mission in the Netherlands, this week. The event looked at ways to achieve sustainable business between the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Latin America and the Caribbean region and to explore what opportunities entrepreneurs have on all sides.

The theme for the event was ‘Connecting sustainable businesses, investments, innovation, between the Netherlands, Dutch Caribbean, and Latin America’ Read more

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The Democratic Party has been one of the longest-serving parties in the history of St. Maarten. We have had our ups and downs, but we have been there for the people of St. Maarten, now more than ever before. Our main goal was and continues to be, "how can we make our island a better place for the people of St. Maarten".
To hear a political party, who welcomed the leader of the Democratic Party as the chairlady in one breathe and denounce her in the next, say some of the most unprofessional things is a shame to say the least Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Nearly three months after the passing of hurricane IRMA the people of St. Maarten is still grappling to get their lives back in order.
One of the main things that have to happen without further delay is the repairing of the roofs and especially those of our senior citizens.
Government on a bi-weekly basis is also providing food vouchers to the value of NAfls 150 to those in need to facilitate the purchase of food products.
Many persons have been to the government building in order to report that they are in need of such help, and how to receive the help they are looking for.
There are many out there in the community who do not know how to apply for help from the government or who to talk to or where to go.
Persons are questioning if they qualify or not for aid, they want to know what the criteria are to which someone would have to comply.
I am calling on the Minister of VSA-Social Welfare and Labor Read more

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Cruise Ship Call Schedule For December. Two Ships In Port On Christmas Day.

PORT ST. MAARTEN:--- Port St. Maarten would like to present the December month cruise ship call schedule as information for the community and for business establishment planning purposes. There will be two ships in port on Christmas day December 25.
Cruise ships will be in port on the following days: December 4, 5, 8, 17, 19, 25, 26, 27, 29, and 31. This is the latest cruise ship call information that the port has at this point in time as cruise lines continue to update their itineraries.
Royal Caribbean International (RCI) Grandeur of the Seas will be the first RCI cruise ship to rediscover the marquee destination on December 17.
The RCI ships and dates are as follows: Independence of the Seas, December 25 and 29; Jewel of the Seas, December 26; Freedom of the Seas, December 27; and Adventure of the Seas, December 31.
Port St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten henceforth has its first successful entrée of its documentary heritage in the Memory of the World Register for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Memory of the World Programme (MoW) is a UNESCO initiative, created in 1992, aimed at preserving the documentary heritage of the world – housed in libraries, archives, and museums – as a symbol of the collective memory of humanity. It calls for the preservation of valuable archival holdings, library collections, and private individual collections Read more

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~Tax and other related issues~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Information reaching SMN News states that three of the eight candidate Ministers whose names were submitted for screening have failed the process.
SMN News learned those that failed are Franklin Meyers who was supposed to fill the vacant position of Prime Minister. It is understood that Meyers failed because of taxes for both him and his spouse, also a complaint was filed against Meyers by an RST agent who accused him of using violence during a house search at his brother’s residence.
The candidate for the Ministry of Justice Leona Marlin also failed the screening process due to the 2014 ship-jumping and nepotism related to the St Read more

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Central Committee Meeting Of Parliament About Discussion With Usm Board On The Motives For The Closure Of Usm On Tuesday Morning.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Central Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 28, 2017.
The urgent Central Committee meeting is scheduled for 10.00 hrs in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. USM Board members will be present for this meeting.

The agenda point is:

Discussion with USM Board members to discuss their feedback on the motives for the closure of this esteemed establishment (IS/142/2017-2018 dated November 22, 2017)

(This meeting was requested by MP T.E Read more

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Vromi Did As They Should In The Salvaging Of The Wreckages In The Lagoon.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministry has been working diligently with the processing of salvaging permits. Thus far 90 salvaging permits have been given between the two companies Aquatic Solutions NV and Seacure Marine Construction.

VROMI understands the severity of the state of the Simpson Bay lagoon but also needs to make sure that companies working have the proper documentation in place.

There was some confusion post hurricanes Irma and Maria pertaining to salvaging wrecks and the barge “Titan” that was brought by Marine Management & Consulting.

Chairlady Sarah Wescot Williams brought the barge to the attention of the coalition members as well as the council of Ministers and questioned why the barge was not being operated at the time Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- A recently published story whereby Minister Lee was accused of using government fuel bonds to purchase fuel for personal use and misusing government number plate by a blog website is mistaken. “Sadly instead of investing time and energy into rebuilding the country, it appears that efforts will continue to be wasted blaming others and continued attempts at character assassination. I believe this is a sad attempt to discredit, delay or interfere with the screening process for a candidate minister Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the United St. Maarten (US) party MP Frans Richardson on Sunday said that anyone rejoicing over the unprecedented moves by the Dutch government to oust Prime Minister William Marlin is condoning a dangerous, self-defeating precedent that will be used again against St Read more

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~ Man of Integrity and Transparency fleeced government to keep his hotel open ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of VSA Emil Lee who refused to take responsibility for not providing assistance to the people of St. Maarten after the passing of hurricane Irma has to explain the people of St. Maarten how it was possible for him to take off the MR.4 license plate from government vehicle and place it on his private pick-up truck that he used along with government bonds to purchase diesel at the Bush Road Gas station on September 12th, 2017.
Minister Lee was caught at the gas station where he filled two large drums almost every day with government bonds and he took the much-needed fuel to his Princess Heights hotel to run his generator.
Diesel was supposed to be used for government operations and for the vehicles that were busy providing emergency operations as well as cleaning up the debris left behind by Irma.
SMN News managed to secure photographs with the Minister in his pick-up truck that had a large black drum that was filled twice the morning of September 12th, 2017.
Persons who witnessed the Minister use government bonds for the purchase of the diesel once confronted the Minister since they believe that the Minister was abusing government while the country was devastated by hurricane Irma.
Several Ministers and other civil servants openly stated that Minister Lee did not even check in on the civil servants that work in his Ministry and had the responsibility to provide social assistance and aid Read more

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Exclusive: Up/Dp/Brownbill Coalition Pulled Back Candidate Minister George Willems.

~ Michael Ferrier next possible candidate Minister ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The UP/DP/ Brownbill coalition recently pulled back George Willems as the candidate Minister for the interim position as Minister of Finance Read more

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~ Bringing the DP stalwarts back together ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The United Peoples Party headed by Theodore Heyliger and Democratic Party headed by Sarah Wescot Williams have decided to merge the two political parties to contest the February 2018 snap elections.
Stuart Johnson who is representing the United People’s Party submitted the credentials of the new political party “United Democratic Party (UDP) to the Electoral Council on Thursday for vetting.
SMN News has learned that the main reason the leaders of the two political parties came together was to bring the former members and stalwarts of the Democratic Party back together on one slate since the Democratic Party has been losing votes these past years while the UPP could not muster enough votes on its own to win an election outright Read more

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~ Politicians on St. Maarten had one common enemy, I was blamed for almost everything ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ousted Prime Minister William Marlin held an emergency press conference on Friday where he gave a total recap on what transpired from 2014 to present that led to the Dutch Government forcing him out of office. The Kingdom Council of Ministers issued an instruction to the Governor of St Read more

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Was Live: Resignation Of Prime Minister William Marlin

The post WAS LIVE: RESIGNATION OF PRIME MINISTER William Marlin appeared first on 721news.com.

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PHILIPSBURG:--- “I have not heard it myself, but it caused some persons to get quite upset, so I can only imagine the ranting that took place during the weekly Tuesday night program on 95.9 FM (SOS radio) on November 21st. This particular program is the mouthpiece for a political party, so its biased content should be taken with a grain of salt.
However, that does not mean that slander and bluffs should go unchallenged.
Our honorable Minister of VROMI allegedly was livid about my questions regarding the salvaging operations in the Simpsonbay Lagoon and on that particular program on 95.9 FM was fencing about a letter he had in his possession regarding the salvaging operations.
He alluded to this letter and me, as if there was something sinister about my questioning of the lagoon cleanup in general.
A couple of comments:

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Ministers Of Vromi And Vsa Questioned On Roof Repair Program.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten, — Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has requested Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, the Honorable Mr. Christopher Emmanuel and Minister of Health Care, Social Development & Labor, the Honorable Mr Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The Chief of Police Carl John and the Commander of the VKS Antonio Rogers met on Wednesday, November 22nd for talks regarding the safety of the community of Sint Maarten and the working cooperation between both entities. The VKS has been working under the supervision of the police department for quite a number of years with positive results.

Both the Chief of Police and the Commander of the VKS are doing their utmost to improve this working cooperation Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday, November 22nd, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport, began the distribution of the larger school and office supplies to the public and subsidized schools and organizations. The supplies distributed was part of the requested supplies by the school boards after the assessments were done post-Hurricane Irma. The supplies were sent via the Karel Doorman through the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science in the Netherlands. The supplies are to assist in the recovery and bouncing back of the schools Read more

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Eclac Provides Senior Public Officials With Cutting-Edge Trade Analysis Tools.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad & Tobago:--- Thirty-two public officials, senior officers and decision makers from several Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) countries gathered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines this week, to gain a better understanding of the tools needed to provide deeper trade analysis that would support future Economic Union trade negotiations among members of the OECS.
From 14 to 16 November 2017, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in collaboration with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission, jointly coordinated a capacity development workshop for senior officers from Ministries of Trade, Customs divisions, and Statistics departments, among others Read more

Children’S Rights Amidst The Recovery Plan Of The Country Sint Maarten.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The month of November has always been a very special month in the lives of the children where as a country we have promoted the awareness of children’s rights for over three decades in collaboration with our counterparts of French St. Martin.
This year a unique occasion has been presented to us since the passing of Hurricane Irma to truly demonstrate our sincere commitment towards the well-being of our children.
The devastation of the Hurricane, I dare say challenged almost every article as presented in the International Children’s Rights Convention which has been ratified by 195 Countries including our beautiful island St Read more

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Royal Caribbean Confirms Holiday Cruise Schedule And Is On Track For December 17 Return. 

~ Sister cruise line Celebrity Cruises returns February 2018 ~

PORT ST. MAARTEN – A Port St. Maarten delegation from the Cruise Business Unit met recently with Royal Caribbean International (RCI) representatives in Miami, Florida, to provide an update on the progress of current recovery efforts in destination Sint Maarten.

During the discussions, Royal Caribbean reiterated its commitment to the destination and provided a schedule of the vessels that will call on Sint Maarten starting in mid-December, just in time for the peak family travel season.

Grandeur of the Seas will be the first cruise ship bringing guests to rediscover the marquee destination on December 17, followed by daily visits across six vessels, including two of the world’s largest cruise ships.

The ships and dates are as follows: Independence of the Seas, December 25 and 29; Jewel of the Seas, December 26; Freedom of the Seas, December 27; Adventure of the Seas, December 31; and Harmony of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas on January 2 and 3, 2018 respectively.

Celebrity Cruises has also announced that Celebrity Eclipse will be returning to the island on February 4, 2018 Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Frans Richardson on Friday lauded the management of GEBE for the diligent work currently being executed and for their professionalism under pressure-filled circumstances following hurricanes Irma and Maria. The MP also praised GEBE’s personnel for going above and beyond in putting St. Maarten I position for a quicker recovery.

Richardson said the government and people of St Read more

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