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Vsa And Actuary Met Stakeholders On Nhi

 

PHILIPSBURG – Last week a number of meetings were conducted with the actuary, Willis Towers Watson, together with the Ministry of VSA.

The group met with a number of stakeholders such as business groups, senior citizens representatives, consumers and unions, to present a preliminary version of an economic model for National Health Insurance.

“The meetings were very open and positive. Many questions were posed and many assumptions were challenged. One of the main challenges is the collection and availability of data Read more

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The First 100 Days Of Parliament?

On February 7, 2017, Parliament celebrated one hundred days in office. It is customary to evaluate a government’s performance, after they have been in office for one hundred days.

Parliaments, however, are generally overlooked when it comes to such an exercise. Seeing that St. Maarten got a most “unusual” parliament after the September 2016 elections, I became interested in wanting to know how effective this parliament has been during its first one hundred days, from October 31, 2016 to February 7, 2017 Read more

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Committees Of Parliament To Tackle Outstanding Matters

PHILIPSBURG – The chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the parliamentary committees were recently elected to guide the work of these committees on behalf of the Parliament of St. Maarten.

Chairlady of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has facilitated the work of these committees by providing all the committee chairpersons with the matters, which have been referred to the committees Read more

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Dr. Simmonds Guest Speaker At Mjp’S Congress

MARIGOT, Sint Martin — Dr. Keith Simmonds, professor in political science at Florida A&M University will be the guest speaker at the Movement for Justice and Prosperity (MJP) first party congress on Saturday, February 18, said Louis Mussington president of MJP.

Under the theme “People First” the congress will be held at the Chamber and Commerce building in Spring Concordia, Marigot, with an opening reception at 6: 30pm, followed by a presentation of the party’s program to be outlined by the various candidates.

“Our focus in this campaign is to put serious emphasis on the needs of the people,” said Mussington who will be heading the MJP’s list in the March 19, territorial elections.

“We are very much concerned about the various challenges our collectivity is confronted with, high unemployment rates among our young people, the deplorable failure rates in our educational system, the economic downturn, the lack of housings and environmental planning,” said Mussington.

MJP party who presented their full slate of candidates to the press on Friday, is inviting the general public to come meet and greet the men and women at the congress Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday February 15th, Minister Plenipotentiary sat with her staff, to once again address the issue of rise in the unprepared “Free moving” students, (students that travel on their own, and not through the Bureau of Study financing), to The Netherlands, in an ambitious attempt to pursue their tertiary education.

For the past months, the cabinet of the Ministry Plenipotentiary in The Hague has been encountering numerous troubling situations with youngsters from Sint Maarten, who for whatever reason, have decided to take this route.

The Minister took note that while the students, making the choice to travel to the Netherlands on their own is on the rise, quite often the necessary preparations in terms of housing, the acceptance and enrolment into schools in particular, among other things, is not completed before these ambitious students leave Sint Maarten.

Being that they independently make contact with schools in The Netherlands, they are not in contact with the Study Financing Department on Sint Maarten, and therefore do not participate in the trainings offered that help the other students prepare for among other things, the change in the social and cultural landscape of the Netherlands to which they must adapt.

In most cases, this results in these students facing insurmountable issues, where they struggle to get a grip of the situation they are in Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of the Sint Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) registered 9 separate power cuts in Sint Maarten districts at various moments over the past month. According to World Bank figures, that makes Sint Maarten's electricity infrastructure currently rank between the monthly average of the African countries of Tanzania (8,9 power cuts per month) and Burkina Faso (9,8).

As of 2017, the Sint Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association has started monitoring power cuts within country Sint Maarten Read more

Theo Questions Why Regatta Has Not Received Any Funding

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, one of the country’s premier events, is fast approaching and organisers are still waiting on funding from government for promotion and marketing. The reason for “de-funding” has been questioned by United People’s (UP) party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Read more

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Striking Teachers Take To Streets Of Marigot

MARIGOT--Many teachers and Parents Association members took the streets on Tuesday morning to protest National Education’s proposed budget cuts that are going to affect schools in St. Martin for the return to school in September.

The protest followed some two weeks of unrest, mainly at Collège Soualiga and Collège Mont des Accords. Teachers unions are protesting the proposal to reduce the number of teachers and increase the number of pupils in a class to 30. Instead of two teachers to teach 15 each, one teacher would teach 30 pupils.

The Préfecture declined to give teachers permission to hold a protest march on a different route due to concerns of creating more traffic jams.

Teachers and parents gathered outside Hotel de La Collectivité and a delegation of 10 persons representing the teachers and five from the Parents Association was granted a meeting with the Director of General Services (DGS) and representatives of the Collectivité’s education services.

“The parents find this is totally unacceptable, as most of the students speak English and in order to educate them properly in the French language we need to have not more than 15 in a class so they can get adequate attention to learn in the right way,” said teacher Etina Mussington Arnell Read more

Mr. And Ms. Psve Pageant Participants Present Themselves

EBENEZER – The candidates of the very first ever Mr. and Ms. PSVE pageant presented themselves to the student body of the St. Maarten Academy PSVE at 9:30am Tuesday, February 14.

The 9 contestants (3 boys and 6 girls) gave brave and memorable introductions before an illustrious panel of judges in the persons of Anna Rabess-Richardson, President of Posh Productions; Sharon Layne, former Miss Mature 2012; and Sidney de Weever, pageant and music enthusiast.

After this first round of competition, the playing field is now levelled with three boys and four girls advancing to the final show to be held later this year Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The candidates of the very first ever Mr. and Ms. PSVE pageant presented themselves to the student body of the St. Maarten Academy PSVE at 9:30 a.m. today, February 14th, 2017. The 9 contestants (3 boys and 6 girls) gave brave and memorable introductions before an illustrious panel of judged in the persons of Mrs. Anna Rabess-Richardson, President of Posh Productions; Ms Read more

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Opposition Leader Denies Involvement In Alleged Plot To Overthrow The Government

ROSEAU, Dominica  –  Opposition Leader Lennox Linton Monday denied any involvement in an alleged plot to overthrow the Dominica government and says he fears he could be arrested on trumped up charges to that effect.

In a posting on his Facebook page, Linton said that a number of “Dominican patriots” will be at the police headquarters to “monitor events” surrounding the question of economist Dr. Thomas Fontaine, an opposition member of the United Workers Party (UWP) who was detained for several hours by police following his radio show on Sunday.

Linton said that while, Fontaine, a former employee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was due to return to the police station on Monday for further questioning, “I am hearing the plan is to have me arrested today.

“I am hearing as well that they are going to arrest me in connection with the bogus story that (Prime Minister Roosevelt) Skerrit told about overthrowing the government of Dominica.

“Now… let me be very clear, I know absolutely nothing about any coup or any attempt to overthrow the government apart from what I heard Roosevelt Skerrit say in his address to the nation.

“It is Roosevelt Skerrit who has this story Read more

Marlin Expected Back From Colombia Today

POND ISLAND--The country has been in the hands of Deputy Prime Minister/Justice Minister Rafael Boasman (United St. Maarten Party) for the past week due to Prime Minister William Marlin seeking medical consultation in Colombia.

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Minister Jacobs Attends “Shing Din” For Special Needs Citizens

ST. LOUIS, Saint Martin – On Saturday, February 11, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Affairs, Silveria Jacobs attended the first annual “Shing Din” at the cultural site of St. Louis.

The “Shing Din” was an event put together by the Rambaud-St. Louis Fete Association and hosted the special needs citizens of both the French and Dutch side Read more

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Minister Jacobs Attends “Shing Din” For Special Needs Citizens.

St. Louis:--- On Saturday, February 11th, 2017, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports Affairs, Silveria Jacobs attended the first annual “Shing Din” at the cultural site of St. Louis. The “Shing Din” was an event put together by the Rambaud-St. Louis Fete Association and hosted the special needs citizens of both the French and Dutch side Read more

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Is St. Maarten Against Refugees? A French Asylum Refugee Is Being Deported To Venezuela

1 in every 113 people on earth is an asylum-seeker, internally displaced, or a refugee. How many people do you know? Stand #WithRefugees pic.twitter.com/JAIhpGAMBu

— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) February 13, 2017

~Immigration is aware of 4 individuals who want to asked for asylum in St. Maarten~

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – About three weeks now Kleyber Jose Garcia-Arias (30) from Venezuela, has been incarcerated at the police station section of the Immigration Department, after he and his companion had a domestic dispute at an address on the Dutch Side Read more

Gag Order Issued To Civil Servants By Com

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Deputy Prime Minister of St. Maarten, Rafael Boasman has issued a letter to all Secretary Generals, Department Heads and other relevant civil servants not to meet with the newly appointed Dutch Quarter Master Hans Leijtens who has been charged with setting up an Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten. A unanimous motion has recently been passed by the Parliament of St. Maarten condemning the formation of a St. Maarten Integrity Chamber.

It is considered that the Constitutional Court found the legislation to establish an Integrity Chamber for St Read more

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El Primer Ministro Marlin Visitó A Pacientes Sanmartinianos En Colombia

Primer Ministro Marlin (4to desde la izquierda) junto con varios pacientes que permanecen en Bela Nova. De pie al frente, Lina, la propietario del complejo Bela Nova.

Traducido por Máximo Castro

SINT MAARTEN / COLOMBIA.- El primer ministro William Marlin, visitó el jueves de la semana pasada a varios pacientes sanmartinianos que se encuentran en Cali, Colombia recibiendo atenciones médicas Read more

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‘S’Maatin English Competition On Int’L Mother Language Day

PHILIPSBURG – In commemoration of International Mother Language Day (February 21), Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (MECYS) Silveria Jacobs is inviting the general public, schools, poets and literary artists to participate and present in an upcoming S’Maatin English Poetry/Storytelling/Narration Competition.

This event will be held on Tuesday, February 21, at the New Government Building on Soualiga Blvd., in Conference Room 1, from 6:00pm-7:30pm, and will be hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization National Committee (UNESCO NatCom) in collaboration with the Department of Culture.

Since 1999, UNESCO has designated February 21, as the annual International Mother Language Day, which serves to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by people of the world (www.unesco.org).

Knowing, writing and speaking in one’s mother language is an essential tool for the transmission and safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The deputy Prime Minister of St. Maarten Rafael Boasman dispatched a letter on Sunday, February 12th to all department heads, civil servants and persons working for the Government of St. Maarten not to meet with the appointed Dutch Quarter Master Mr. Hans Leijtens until further notice. The letter sent to all government workers can be viewed below this article.
Deputy Prime Minister Boasman said the instruction comes after the Council of Ministers adopted the motion passed Read more

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S’Maatin English Competition On Int’L Mother Language Day.

PHILIPSBURG:--- In commemoration of International Mother Language Day (February 21), the Honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (MECYS) Ms. Silveria Jacobs invites the general public, schools, poets and literary artists to participate and present in an upcoming S’Maatin English Poetry/Storytelling/Narration Competition Read more

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Prime Minister William Marlin (fourth left) with several patients staying at Bela Nova. Standing in front is owner of the Bela Nova complex.

 COLOMBIA--Prime Minister William Marlin, on Thursday, paid a visit to a number of St Read more

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Prime Minister Marlin Visits Patients In Colombia

SINT MAARTEN/COLOMBIA – On Thursday afternoon, February 9, Prime Minister William Marlin paid a visit to a number of patients from St. Maarten who are in Cali, Colombia. The Prime Minister himself is there for a medical checkup.

The Prime Minister dropped in on the patients who are staying at the Bela Nova Hotel, made up of a complex of four buildings totaling 88 rooms Read more

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Chairlady Of Parliament Sets The Stage For Handling Draft Laws

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — From the outset of the Central Committee meeting of Parliament on Friday, February 10, dealing with the draft law “Rules for Administrative Enforcement,” Chairlady Sarah Wescot-Williams made it clear that Members of Parliament will be given the time and opportunity to delve into the depth and width of this necessary, but very technical piece of draft law.

The handling will not be delayed, but neither will Parliament rush through this draft law Read more

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COLOMBIA/PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister William Marlin paid a visit to a number of patients from Sint Maarten who are in Cali Colombia. The Prime Minister himself is there for a medical checkup.
The Prime Minister dropped in on the patients who are staying at the Bela Nova Hotel, made up of a complex of four buildings totaling some 88 rooms.
Marlin said the patients were all full of praise for the facilities where they were staying and also very impressed with the care at the medical facilities.
Some patients are there for several months already and others for a couple of weeks now.
The Prime Minister was given a tour of the facilities by owner, Lina, who was very proud of her services she provides Read more

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