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Disaster Coordinator Thankful Record-Breaking 2020 Hurricane Season Comes To An End

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) The record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season comes to an official end on Monday, November 30with 30-named stormsunder its belt.

Disaster Coordinator and Fire Commander Clive Richardson, and on behalf of Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, chairlady of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), is thankful that the nation has been spared the full onslaught of a major hurricane for the record-breaking 2020 season which saw 30 named storms, of which 13 became hurricanes, including six (6) major hurricanes with winds of 111 miles per hour or greater.

An average season has 12 named storms; sixhurricanes; and three major hurricanes.

The 2020 Atlantic season got off to an early start with nine named storms from May 16 with the first named storm Arthur followed by another eight through July.  There were 10-named storms that formed in Septemberalone, the most for any month on record.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that falls under the U.S Read more

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Mp Buncamper Questions Prime Minister Regarding Ser Board.

PHILISPBURG, Sint Maarten – United St. Maarten Party (USP) Member of Parliament Claudius Toontje Buncamper on Friday fired off a number of questions to Prime Minister,SilveriaJacobs regarding governments failure to appoint new board members to the board of the Social Economic Council (SER). The MP questioned the reason why the new

board members have not yet been appointed and when does government expect to do so Read more

Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs Meets With Wiscu, Witu And Abvo Unions

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs attended a meeting with representatives of the
Windward Island Civil Servants Union (WICSU/PSU), Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU), and Algemene Bond Van Overheid en Overige Personeel (ABVO) unions today, Wednesday, November 25, 2020.

The union members called this meeting to gain clarity on the changes within the Secretariat of the Committee of Civil Servants Union (CCSU) which they are members of Read more

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Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs Meets With Dutch Minister Of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok

POND ISLAND, Sint Maarten – Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok arrived in St. Maarten on Sunday afternoon for a working visit. During his short stay, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs managed to have an informal pre-meeting with Minister Blok on Sunday evening where they discussed several matters, some of which falls within the purview of Minister Blok, other matters concerning St Read more

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Ready, Set, Protect!-Reflection Of Children Rights Development On St. Maarten

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten The importance of recognizing Childrens Rights on St.Maarten began as early as 1978. The now deceased Mrs. Mavis Salomon Brooks and Dr. Linda Banks first started the initiative by writing and producing a song about children rights for a song festival. Ever since, many individuals in our community volunteered their personal time in promoting the development and empowerment of children through various activities. Radio programs, uniformed groups and performing arts were among the undertakings by loyal persons.

On November 20th, 1989, the United Nations ratified the United Nation Convention for the Rights of the Child, with 140 countries including the Kingdom of the Netherlands adding their signature to this convention.

Consequently, all islands within the Kingdom adopted this treaty and started the work of drafting, establishing and implementing policy and programs in the interest of Childrens Rights. 

The first official policy initiative for St Read more

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Resources 4 Community Resilience Launchesus$452K In Local Projects

Philipsburg- Sint Maarten – The Resources 4 Community Resilience (R4CR) projectwasofficially launchedduring a Zoom meetingand Facebook livestreamonWednesday November 18.The ceremony washosted by radio personality Kevin SuppaPetrona(who isalso the localR4CRCommunication and Outreach expert)and Jose Sommers (R4CR Capacity and Training Manager).The R4CR program isa grant schemethatfocuses exclusivelyonfinancing and strengthening local Civil Society Organization (CSOs). The program isfinanced by the Government of the Netherlands via the St Read more

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Travel Entry Requirements Updated To Allow Rapid Antigen Tests

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten The Ministers of TEATT Ludmila de Weever and VSA Richard Panneflek have updated the entry requirements to include antigen testing with effective date of November 25th.
Travelers to St Read more

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Minister Of General Affairs Silveria Jacobs Initiates National Food Bank Project

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – On March 14, 2020, St. Maarten closed its borders, due to the effects of COVID-19 and a partial restriction was announced. With the island still bearing the effects of the pandemic such as business
closures, the economy has drastically declined and it is further projected to have continued adverse effects on the major economic pillar, tourism.

The government of St. Maarten has, for the short-term, initiated food boxes for persons in need. Due to the overwhelming need for sustenance, lack of capacity and limited resources, a more sustainable plan is warranted to support vulnerable groups Read more

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Minister Of Vsa Presented With Sint Maarten 2020 Labor Market Needs Assessment Survey Report

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten On Monday November 16th, the Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), Richard Panneflek and President and Research coordinator of Sint Maarten Institute for Public Policy
Studies (SIPPS), Mr. Julio R. Romney met to discuss SIPPS findings of our recent Labor Market needs.

Sint Maarten Institute for Public Policy Studies is a non- profit charitable foundation, with the primary objective of
formulating advanced educational and public policy research Read more

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Ministry Of Justice Disappointed By Allegations Made In The Media Related To MondayS Ruling.

GREAT BAY, PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The Ministry of Justice has taken note of a report in the press related to Mondays rulings of the Court in Civil Servants Matters regarding several police officers. With the exception of one case, these court cases are all related to unanswered requests by the officers to be placed in a function that either does not exist within the current function books or is scaled differently in the draft function books.

While the Court did not order the Minister of Justice to directly comply with the requests of these officers, the Court did rule, that the Minister must make a decision on the requests Read more

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Telem Group Closing Main Building On Pond Island For One Week To Replace A/C Ducts

POND ISLAND, Sint Maarten – TelEm Group has announced that it will be closing its main building on Pond
Island for an entire week, starting end of business day Friday, to replace a network of air conditioning ducts in the main air-handler room.
In a memo to personnel Tuesday, that they will be working remotely from home from next week, TelEm Group CEO, Mr. Kendall Dupersoy, assured that the closure is necessary to rid the A/C ducts of material that contributes to dust over the years.

Another option was to do this work over several weekends and at night, but we were advised that this would be a very inefficient way to complete the task Read more

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12 Covid-19 Recoveries Today

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten The Honorable Minister ofPublic Health Social Development and Labour (VSA)Richard Panneflek expresseshis heartfelt condolences to the familyand friendsof Sint Maartens23rdCovid-19 victim, who passed awaytoday.Hewishesthe familymuchstrengthduringtheirtime ofbereavement.

As of November 5th, there were seven (7) persons who tested positive for COVID-19; however there was a recovery rate of twelve (12) persons; bringing the total active cases to seventy- four (74) Read more

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Minister Panneflek: Condolences To The Family Of Retired Civil Servant Vivienne Monsanto.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint MaartenIt is with profound sadness that the Honorable Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Richard Panneflek and the Ministry, offer their heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the family of Vivienne Monsanto.

Vivienne, affectionately known as Viv or Mama was a long serving Civil Servant Read more

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Parliament Establish Historic Permanent Constitutional And Decolonization Committee Motion To Finalize Decolonization, Organize Rtc By July 2021

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – A joint proposal by MPs Solange Ludmila Duncan (NA) and Grisha Heyliger- Marten (UPP) to establish a Permanent Committee for Constitutional Affairs and Decolonization was approved unanimously during a public meeting of Parliament on Thursday.
Decades ago, the highest body in the world, the United Nations, made decolonization one of its core objectives Read more

Mp Wescot: Any Decolonization Petition Can Not Be Seen Separate From The Status We Presently Have And From The Charter That Governs The Dutch Kingdom Relations.

Philipsburg, St. Maarten I put the word decolonization in quotation marks, because many things are being said regarding decolonization, but seemingly meaning different things to different persons on St. Maarten. While this is good and healthy for the public discourse, when the Government weighs in, it takes on another dimension, stated MP Wescot-Williams on the proposal for the establishment of a Permanent Decolonization Committee in Parliament.

The MP explained that a week ago the Prime Minister made a few interesting and sometimes startling remarks regarding this matter Read more

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Usp MpS Arrindell And Buncamper Congratulate Mp Emmanuel. Say The Laws Have To Be Reviewed.

GREAT BAY, Sent Maarten – Members of Parliament of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) Akeem Arrindell and Claudius Toontje Buncamper have expressed words of congratulations to MP Christophe Emmanuel on his victorious outcome of his recent case in which the prosecutors request to the Joint Court of Justice to prosecute him was denied.

The USP MPs feel that Justice has prevailed in this particular case Read more

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Minister Of Justice Anna E. Richardson To Prioritize Completion Of Domestic Violence Policy

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister of Justice Anna E. Richardson has prioritized Domestic Violence in her tenure and has set
the enactment of the Domestic Violence (DV) Policy to a high level of importance. Minister Richardson called for a taskforce between Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA). The taskforce will curate workshops focussed on the required steps to complete the draft DV policy, and have the same approved by the Public Prosecutor and the courts Read more

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