SXMElections.com

I Feel We Need To Have New People In Chamber Of Commerce And Industry

I been part of COCI over 10 years and as a small business I cannot say that opportunities were offered to me or others in any type of investments.

If the Government was not forcing you by law to be a member, I think a lot of those people who don’t care to vote would have abandoned the organization, because is clear to me that it is only for the rich boys and girls on the island, who enter to secure others and themselves.

The banks are giving a hell of a time to open a simple bank account by asking you for all types of documents, and don’t talk about a loan Read more

Nhi Stakeholder Sensitization Sessions Start Next Week

PHILIPSBURG – The Ministry of VSA is currently in the process of organizing a stakeholders sensitization session on National Health Insurance (NHI).

The sessions begin next week Monday, January 23, and will be facilitated by Professor Wynand van de Ven at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, with extensive knowledge and experience in health insurance and Dr. Stanley Lalta, who is a researcher at the University of the West Indies (UWI) with special interests in the area of health financing.

Professor van de Ven has a vast wealth of knowledge on sustainable health care financing as well as experience with implementing National Health Insurance plans within the Kingdom Read more

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Minister Of Vromi Emmanuel Tours The “Dump”

PHILIPSBURG – Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel and his Cabinet were given a tour of the Sanitary landfill, commonly known as the “Dump,” by Head of Infrastructure Management Department Claudius Buncamper.

The camera crew from the Department of Communications of the Government of St. Maarten joined the tour to take video footage of the Dump Read more

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Governor Holiday Swears In Last New Member Of Parliament.

Governor Holiday swears in last new Member of Parliament.

Harbour View – On Tuesday, January 17, 2017, His Excellency Governor Eugene B. Holiday administered the oath to new Member of Parliament Mr. Perry Geerlings at the Governor’s Cabinet. The new member, of the Democratic Party, takes the seat left vacant as a result of the appointment to the Council of Ministers of Minister of VSA, Emil Lee Read more

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Minister Plenipotentiary Of Sint Maarten, Henrietta Doran-York Attends King’S New Year’S Reception.

THE HAGUE:--- On Tuesday, January 17th, His Royal Highness King Willem-Alexander and Her Royal Highness Queen Maxima, received Minister Plenipotentiary Henrietta Doran-York, among other guests, to their annual New Year’s Reception at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
Attending the reception on Tuesday were several hundred guests representing Dutch society, including Prime Minister Mark Rutte and most members of the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
The King’s New Year’s reception has become a tradition, which focuses each year on different groups, and this year the focus went on teaching professionals and school administrators.
After being greeted and welcomed by the Royal couple, H Read more

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Governor Holiday Swears In Last New Member Of Parliament

Harbour View – On Tuesday, January 17, 2017, His Excellency Governor Eugene B. Holiday administered the oath to new Member of Parliament Mr. Perry Geerlings at the Governor’s Cabinet.

The new member, of the Democratic Party, takes the seat left vacant as a result of the appointment to the Council of Ministers of Minister of VSA, Emil Lee Read more

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Heyliger: Dutch Victimisation Against St. Maarten Continues

PHILIPSBURG--The victimisation of St. Maarten by the Dutch Government continues in the latest appointment of a quartermaster for the so-called Integrity Chamber without a law even being in place, said United People’s (UP) party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Read more

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Island Gems Charity Foundation Donated A Large Freezer

Island Gems Charity Foundation recently donated a large freezer to the Hope Outreach Foster Home Foundation. Antonia Hodge of the home, was approached by Island Gems about the immediate needs of the foster home. A freezer was high on the list, and that was bought by the charity foundation.

Island Gems raises funds for projects such as this at its annual costume gala. This year’s gala is set for Saturday, April 8, at Captain Oliver’s restaurant. Tickets cost US $125 each and are available from all Island Gems members Read more

Ats Working Together With Business Community

PHILIPSBURG – The Audit Team St. Maarten (ATS), established by the Social and Health Insurances SZV since January 2016, has helped SZV to collect over NAf. 28 million extra in social premiums over the year 2016 for the different Social Security Funds managed by SZV.

The increase in premium collections for the Sickness and Accident Funds, for example, has been 21.1% over 2016 since ATS started its activities to increase compliance of all companies with employees, who by law are obliged to pay the legally indebted social premiums to the SZV Read more

Audit Team Sint Maarten (Ats) Working Together With Business Community.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Audit Team Sint Maarten (ATS), established by the Social & Health Insurances SZV since January 2016, has helped SZV to collect over 28 million NAf extra in social premiums over the year 2016 for the different Social Security Funds managed by the SZV.

The increase in premium collections for the Sickness and Accident Funds for example has been 21.1 % over 2016 since the Audit Team Sint Maarten (ATS) started its activities to increase compliance of all Companies with employees who by law are obliged to pay the legally indebted social premiums to the SZV Read more

El Primer Ministro Asistió A Servicio Religioso Y De Promoción Del Vks

Traducido por Máximo Castro

MADAME ESTATE.- El Cuerpo Voluntario de St. Maarten (VKS) inició el Año Nuevo 2017 con un Servicio Religioso celebrado en la Iglesia Metodista de Philipsburg, seguido de una Ceremonia de Promoción en su sede en Madame Estate.

El gobernador Eugene Holiday, y el primer ministro William Marlin, estuvieron acompañados de sus esposas Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- GEBE’s Supervisory Board of Directors along with its Managing Board met with Minister responsible for VROMI Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, the Honorable Christopher Emmanuel on Friday, January 13, 2017 as an introductory meeting.
The Minister was very open in his discussion and shared his views on how he would like to see NV GEBE move forward and wanted to know some of the company plans for the year 2017.
The discussion continued whereby the Minister shared his views on how he would like to see GEBE play a bigger role in the community in terms of cleaning up after works have been completed.

The implementation of Solar Energy and the requirement of finalizing the 2MW Solar Park was discussed Read more

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Sarah: Sudden Appointment Of Quartermaster Is ‘Provocative’

PHILIPSBURG--“Provocative” is how Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has described the appointment by the Dutch Government of a quartermaster for St. Maarten’s “non-existing Integr Read more

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Prime Minister Attends Vks Church Service And Promotion Ceremony

MADAME ESTATE – The Voluntary Corps of St. Maarten (VKS) kicked off the New Year 2017 with a Church Service held at the Philipsburg Methodist Church, followed by a Promotion Ceremony at its headquarters in Madame Estate.

The Church Service was attended by Governor Eugene Holiday and his wife, Prime Minister William Marlin and his wife, Commander of the VKS Antonio Rogers and his partner, invited dignitaries, officers and soldiers of the VKS.

Commander Rogers took the opportunity to address the youth in attendance by giving them words of encouragement as they face the challenges of the world today.

During the Promotion Ceremony in Madame Estate, 2 officers were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 1st Class Read more

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Matser Guilty Again, Prison Sentence And 150,000 Guilders Fine For Tax Fraud

Source Today Newspaper

GREAT BAY – The common Court of Justice has found United St. Maarten party parliamentarian Silvio Matser also guilty on appeal for tax fraud, though it mitigated the sentence the Court in First Instance imposed on January 7, 2015. Instead of a prison sentence of 24 months *with 18 months suspended), Matser now has a prison sentence for 22 months (with 18 months suspended, three years of probation and a fine of 150,00 guilders Read more

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MADAME ESTATE(DCOMM):--- The Voluntary Corps of Sint Maarten (VKS) kicked off the New Year 2017 with a Church Service held at the Philipsburg Methodist Church, followed by a Promotion Ceremony at its headquarters in Madame Estate.

The Church Service was attended by His Excellency Governor Eugene Holiday & his wife, The Honorable Prime Minister William Marlin & his wife, Commander of the VKS Antonio Rogers & his partner, invited dignitaries and Officers & Soldiers of the VKS Read more

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St. Lucia Making Slow, Steady Progress Towards Renewable Energy

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates  –  St. Lucia is making slow, but steady progress in its renewable energy transition plan, Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour, Stepehenson King said.

The Caribbean island is hoping to achieve a target of 35 percent renewables by 2035.

“We are also hoping that by the year 2023, with the various components of renewable energy – wind, solar and geothermal – that we will be able to achieve at least 50 percent of the target set for 2035,” King told Caribbean News Service (CNS).

“We have done a fair amount Read more

My Person Of The Year 2016: The Ombudsman

Dear Editor,

I would like to congratulate all the person(s) who have been nominated by the different media houses on St. Maarten.

I believe any person(s) or organization that had been nominated as Person of the Year should play a key role within the public, private sectors and community in general.

As a Community Spirited person, if I had to vote for the Person(s) of the Year, I would have selected the Ombudsman and her team as the Person of the Year for 2016.

The Ombudsman was very active in all areas of the public by educating and explaining Government, Parliament and the general public of their roles within the community Read more

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Dp Leader Pays Tribute To The Late Anguillian Hero, The Honorable James Ronald Webster.

PHILIPSBURG/The Valley Anguilla:---I was humbled by the experience to pay my final respect to a man of such stature and esteem. The accounts of his life again brought to the fore, the common and intertwined history shared by Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Martin. A history that I am proud to be a product of. It brought back memories of how the Anguilla diaspora experienced the revolution and the subsequent developments on Anguilla. The late J. Ronald Webster and many of his contemporaries , including my deceased mother, had to leave their land of birth at an early age to seek a livelihood abroad Read more

Michelene Warner Receives Donation To Help Her Mother In Her Battle With Cancer

PHILIPSBURG – The Sint Maarten Community Outreach foundation has added one extra task to its Give back to the community program for 2017, planting seeds or planting in people.

The organization recognizes Robert Colliers words that “The first principle of success is desire – knowing what you want. Desire is the planting of your seed”.

It is for this reason Michelene Warner, a young Sint Maartener has been selected.  Michelene Warner is a former member of the Interact Club and the Rotaract Sunrise of St Read more

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Transition To Renewable Energy A Priority For Antigua & Barbuda

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne Saturday said that transitioning to renewable energy is a priority for his government, as he signed a US$15 million concessional loan agreement with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD).

Speaking with Caribbean News Service (CNS) at the 7th Annual Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) which opened here today, Prime Minister Browne his government has consistently demonstrated its commitment to chart a pathway to a sustainable energy future.

“In 2016, we invested in the region of US$22 million in solar energy, and this year we’ll invest another US$15 million in a combination of wind and solar,” he told CNS.

He said the new funds would be used to finance desalination plants that are located throughout the island and provide energy support for various government buildings including schools, clinics and the island’s lone hospital.

“I am quite sure that this will make a major difference and make Antigua and Barbuda a more climate resilient country and at the same time help us in making the island greener and also help us to reduce the cost of water,” Browne said.

“One of the things which we have actually suffered from is the issue of drought Read more

Hanson: ‘We Succeeded In Stabilising The Territory, Financially And Politically’

MARIGOT--President of the Territorial Council Aline Hanson delivered her traditional New Year address in the company of her four Vice-Presidents in Hotel de la Collectivité on Friday.

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Gibson Updates On Pearl Of China

PHILIPSBURG – During Wednesday’s, January 11, Press Briefing Minister of Finance Richard Gibson gave an update on his trip to Curaçao where he met with the Consul General of China to discuss the Pearl of China project.

He said during a lunch meeting in Curaçao, a letter sent by the Prime Minister to the Chinese government “expressing that we welcomed the entire project of Pearl of China, and that we’re moving forward to see how we can accommodate all that needs to get the project off the ground,” was discussed Read more

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Over 30 Homeless As Fire Rips Through Cummings Lodge Apartment Building

VIDEO by Gordon Moseley

GUYANA — It was just after 8:00pm when the Fire Service was summoned to the scene. The building housed more than 25 apartments, according to one tenant. Firemen faced several difficulties in dousing the blaze, although they arrived on the scene with two large fire tenders and over a dozen firemen.

A Friday night fire of unknown origin ripped through the “Off Campus Lodge” Apartment Complex in Cummings Lodge, leaving more than 30 persons homeless.

The Apartment complex which was located in Third Street, Cummings Lodge, housed mostly University students, including foreign nationals.

It was just after 8:00pm when the Fire Service was summoned to the scene Read more