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BONAIRE:--- On Wednesday, 16 August 2017, a declaration was signed in Kralendijk (Bonaire) in which the Public Prosecutor (OM), Royal Marechaussee (KMar), Police force of the Dutch Caribbean (KPCN) and the Public Body of Bonaire (OLB) have committed themselves to work together on a “safety picture BES 2017” (Veiligheidsbeeld BES 2017) . These parties are now part of the steering group that will guide the process.
The “security picture BES 2017” is commissioned by the Attorney-General (PG) of Curaçao, Saint Maarten, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba, and must consist a report describing the threats, and especially visible criminal threats that are visible on the islands Read more

Prime Minister Marlin Congratulates Anna Rabess-Richardson On Being Inducted As Director For Miss Teen International.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On Wednesday August 16, 2017, Prime Minister William V. Marlin joined in celebration and support of Mrs Anna Rabess- Richardson at the Princess Juliana International Airport in welcoming International Pageants CEO Mr. Mel Richardson, Executive Director Mrs. Mary Richardson for an official “Meet and Greet” where Mrs Rabess-Richardson was officially inducted as Director for Miss Teen International.

Being inducted as a director means that St Read more

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A Report Card For Members Of Parliament

At the end of every school year, students are evaluated and promoted or not promoted based on their performance during the year. Conversely, at the end of a parliamentary year, Members of Parliament are not evaluated yet they continue in parliament without anyone questioning their achievements, their performance or their competency to function as a parliamentarian.

I have observed that in several countries around the world, political and interest groups are developing report cards for parliamentarians Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday August 16, 2017, Prime Minister William V. Marlin joined in celebration and support of Mrs Anna Rabess- Richardson at the Princess Juliana International Airport in welcoming International Pageants CEO Mr. Mel Richardson, Executive Director Mrs. Mary Richardson for an official "Meet and Greet" where Mrs. Rabess-Richardson was officially inducted as Director for Miss Teen International.

Being inducted as a director means that St Read more

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Teen Queen Visits Mlk 

Dutch Quarter, Sint Maarten — The Miss Telcell Carnival Teen Queen Shakainah Arrindell-Pompier visited the Group 7 students of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School on Wednesday morning.

The young and energetic Queen gave the students a motivational talk and encouraged them to pursue their life goals.

“Do not let your current circumstances define you such a being in a single parent family or not knowing right now what you want to study. Your still young and there are endless opportunities for you to grab once you remain focused,” said Ms Read more

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Woman Set Ablaze After Refusing To Have Sex With A Man

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent – Police say a man is assisting their investigations as they probe the circumstances that led to a 44-year-old woman being set ablaze in a bed on Sunday.

Relatives of Monique Clarke of Biabou, a town east of here, said that they have been told by hospital officials that if she survives, she will have a very long road to recovery.

Media reports here said that the woman was set ablaze reportedly after she refused to have sex or give money to a man with whom she has had an abusive relationship for the past two years.

Clarke’s sister, Iesha Richardson, said that her sister told her that she was set ablaze as she was lying wrapped in a sheet in her bed.

“If I didn’t know her, I wouldn’t be able to recognise her,” Richardson said, adding that medical personnel at Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) met with relatives on Monday to outline her condition.

“They told me it’s a mixture [of 3rd- and 2nd-degree burns] and if she survives, she has a long, long — as in they [emphasised] the word ‘long’ — way to go, if she survives the ordeal.

“She is swollen, her left eye is burnt, so she is not seeing out of that eye,” Richardson said, adding “they (the doctors) are kind of tight-lipped but I am not stupid.

“I am not a stupid person Read more

ARUBA:--- Twelve years after Natalee Holloway's disappearance on a graduation trip to Aruba, her father is hoping a recent discovery will yield a major break in the case of what happened to his daughter.

Dave Holloway and private investigator T.J. Ward announced on TODAY Wednesday that an 18-month investigation has led them to discover human remains that are being DNA tested to confirm if they are Natalee's.

"When we determined these remains were human, I was shocked,'' Holloway told Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- At the end of every school year, students are evaluated and promoted or not promoted based on their performance during the year. Conversely, at the end of a parliamentary year, Members of Parliament are not evaluated yet they continue in Parliament without anyone questioning their achievements, their performance or their competency to function as a parliamentarian.

I have observed that in several countries around the world, political and interest groups are developing report cards for parliamentarians Read more

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Minister Lee Pleas With Outgoing Minister Of Interior Affairs For Ngh Funding --- Pm

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin announced on Wednesday that the Minister of VSA Emil Lee tried once more to convince the Dutch Government to provide financing for the New General Hospital Read more

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Dutch Quarter;--- The Miss Telcell Carnival Teen Queen Shakainah Arrindell-Pompier visited the Group 7 students of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School on Wednesday morning.
The young and energetic Queen gave the students a motivational talk and encouraged them to pursue their life goals.
“Do not let your current circumstances define you such a being in a single parent family or not knowing right now what you want to study. Your still young and there are endless opportunities for you to grab once you remain focused,” said Ms Read more

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President Of Parliament Sarah Wescot Presented With Reusable Canvas Bags Proposal By Creative Hands.

~ Students learn of Plastic Bag ban initiative. ~

Philipsburg, St. Maarten, August 15th, 2017 – Simran Hotwani & Celine Mayeko-Coklee of Creative Hands recently met with President of Parliament, Sarah Wescot Williams, to share their proposal on eliminating the use of plastic bags through the use of individually-designed reusable canvas shopping bags.

The students learnt of the MP’s proposal to ban plastic bags and were elated to share their project that supports this initiative with the Chairlady of Parliament.

Creative Hands is a student-developed, non-profit organization that aims to encourage youths to artistically solve some of the island’s current issues, such as pollution.

MP Wescot  has been working on a draft initiate law to amend the   police ordinance to ban the use of plastic bags Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Simran Hotwani & Celine Mayeko-Coklee of Creative Hands recently met with President of Parliament, Sarah Wescot Williams, to share their proposal on eliminating the use of plastic bags through the use of individually-designed reusable canvas shopping bags.
The students learned of the MP’s proposal to ban plastic bags and were elated to share their project that supports this initiative with the Chairlady of Parliament.

Creative Hands is a student-developed, non-profit organization that aims to encourage youths to artistically solve some of the island’s current issues, such as pollution.

MP Wescot has been working on a draft initiate law to amend the police ordinance to ban the use of plastic bags Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Simran Hotwani & Celine Mayeko-Coklee of Creative Hands recently met with President of Parliament, Sarah Wescot Williams, to share their proposal on eliminating the use of plastic bags through the use of individually-designed reusable canvas shopping bags.
The students learned of the MP’s proposal to ban plastic bags and were elated to share their project that supports this initiative with the Chairlady of Parliament.

Creative Hands is a student-developed, non-profit organization that aims to encourage youths to artistically solve some of the island’s current issues, such as pollution.

MP Wescot has been working on a draft initiate law to amend the police ordinance to ban the use of plastic bags Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:---  St. Maarten Lion’s Club president, A. Busby and Lion members Gumbs, Boirard and Johnson recently held discussions with the President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams, regarding Lion’s Club focus on the youth for this lionistic year. Central to this theme are the topics of drug and alcohol use and abuse and cyber bullying.

Bringing the permit ordinance that regards the sale of alcohol to minors in synch with the legal age of 18 was again a topic of discussion as was the need for a broad discussion on (cyber) bullying.

It was explained by the President of Parliament that tabling the initiative law to amend the permit ordinance as presented by the Minister of ECYS in her former capacity of MP, was still possible, but needs to be done by the NA faction in Parliament.

On the topic of bullying, the President of Parliament expressed her opinion that Parliament would gladly collaborate through hearings etc Read more

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The Supervisory Board Of Directors Of Nv Gebe (“Sbod”)

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On August 15, 2017, Mr. Roy Marlin tendered his resignation as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of NV GEBE.

During the SBOD meeting of August 15, 2017, the Supervisory Board resolved to appoint Mr. Bienvenido Richardson as the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of NV GEBE.

The SBOD thanks Mr Read more

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Exlcusive: Roy Marlin Resigns As Chairman Of Gebe Supervisory Board.

Bienvenido Richardson appointed new chairman.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Former Member of Parliament and member of the Democratic Party Roy Marlin has tendered his resignation as the chairman of the Supervisory Board of GEBE. Marlin submitted his letter to the office of the Prime Minister on Tuesday morning.
SMN News learned that other members of the Supervisory Board of GEBE were having problems with Marlin since they believe Marlin was micromanaging Read more

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Barbados Pm Defends Controversial National Social Responsibility Levy

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has defended the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL) saying the country was dealing “incrementally” with a ‘serious deficit problem”:

Addressing stakeholders to the Barbados Social Partnership meeting here, Stuart defended the near 400 percent increase in the NSRL amid calls from the trade unions and the private sector for either a reduction or a complete repeal of the fiscal measure that came into force at the start of July.

During the budget presentation in May, Finance Minister Chris Sinckler said the NSRL, which was introduced in September last year, would be increased from two to ten percent effective July 1.

According to Sinckler, this increase will result in “increased revenue of $291 million for a full financial year and $218 million for the remaining nine months of the current fiscal year”.

The NSRL was imposed on goods imported into Barbados and on domestically manufactured goods Read more

Message Of Hon. Prime Minister Mr. William Marlin At The Opening Of The Basic Legal Course

St. Maarten, Monday, August 14, 2017.

Our governing program for 2016-2020 is entitled, “Stability for Prosperity”. It is anchored on five strategic objectives, all of which can only be achieved by upgrading our government apparatus.  We are not even one year into this governing period yet and we can see that various initiatives that are geared towards a profound transformation of our society are already taking shape. One of those initiatives is why we are gathered here today. Nobody knows the challenges that this coalition government faces better than the civil servants who do their utmost day in, day out, to give professional support to government Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Our governing program for 2016-2020 is entitled, “Stability for Prosperity”. It is anchored on five strategic objectives, all of which can only be achieved by upgrading our government apparatus. We are not even one year into this governing period yet and we can see that various initiatives that are geared towards a profound transformation of our society are already taking shape. One of those initiatives is why we are gathered here today. Nobody knows the challenges that this coalition government faces better than the civil servants who do their utmost day in, day out, to give professional support to government Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday the 11th of August 2017, Safe Haven Foundation Managing Director, Miss Cassandra Richardson, met with the Justice Minister Rafael Boasman and Mr. Benjamin Ortega of I-Novus to discuss the upcoming events surrounding the awareness campaign to eradicate domestic violence, an unfortunate phenomenon observed internationally Read more

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Parents’  Time Is Worth The Sacrifice.

The Democratic Party would iike to extend a warm welcome home to those who spent the summer abroad and  extends best wishes to all students,  teachers, staff of learning institutions island-wide,  and surely to parents too,  for the new academic year. 

We believe that parents play an important, perhaps the most important role in this equation. We do so with  genuine appreciation and respect for all that parents must sacrifice and do to ensure their children’s  success, sometimes working two,  even three jobs to pay school fees, books, uniforms and more; not to mention after-school care and activity costs, which increase if the child engages in some sport or form of art (sports gear, musical instruments etc.).

Of the expressions of God’s steadfast and abiding love here on earth, that of a parent is surely one of them.   From it we learn that sacrifices and investments made for all those who come behind us is the very definition of civilization.  

Good teachers confess to faithfully picking up where the parents leave off, child after child,  day after day.   Yet in conversations held in confidence, we hear them say that they work even better with students whose parents take the time to give them individual and personal assistance.  Why?  They say they know for sure that those students will always have an extra push and those parents keep a keen eye on their child’s progress or their challenges. 

Even 30 minutes of uninterrupted one-on-one time spent by a parent with their youth on homework or any other activity , not only strengthens the bond, but is  critical to their development and  an ‘unspoken’ agreement in “co-labor” that the youth will uphold.  

It may be that they resist at first, believing that you will not continue,  or they  prefer to command their own space Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Democratic Party would like to extend a warm welcome home to those who spent the summer abroad and extends best wishes to all students, teachers, staff of learning institutions islandwide, and surely to parents too, for the new academic year.
We believe that parents play an important, perhaps the most important role in this equation. We do so with genuine appreciation and respect for all that parents must sacrifice and do to ensure their children's success, sometimes working two, even three jobs to pay school fees, books, uniforms and more; not to mention after-school care and activity costs, which increase if the child engages in some sport or form of art (sports gear, musical instruments etc.).
Of the expressions of God’s steadfast and abiding love here on earth, that of a parent is surely one of them Read more

Minister Of Education, Culture, Youth And Sport, The Honorable Silveria Jacobs’ Back To School Message.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On  Monday August 14, the school bells will be ringing, children will be walking to school, being dropped off by excited parents, and otherwise doing their usual, but it will be the dawning of a new day for many entering the school gates for the very first time. All across Soualiga, there will be children ready for the next step.

As the school year 2017-2018 commences,  I would like to wish each and every student, teacher, parent, school management, and all who make school possible, a happy and productive 2017-2018 Read more

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Smmc Hosts Appreciation Celebration Event For Oncology Patients

CAYHILL- On Saturday August 5th, the SMMC hosted an appreciation celebration event for their heroes, current and former oncology patients. The theme of the event was an ‘Appreciation Celebration; Surviving the Odds’.

The purpose of this celebration was to commemorate their patients and all that they have overcome. A small team of the Outpatient department felt a great need to celebrate their patients by involving all those that they have helped along the journey. The preparations for this event begun earlier in the year, with the initial idea brought forth almost two years previously.

Coincidentally, this year marks 20 years since the hospital first started oncology treatments for patients in need Read more

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