SXMElections.com

Ruling Jlp Wins Parish Council Elections

KINGSTON, Jamaica  – The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won yesterday’s Local Government Elections, taking eight of the country’s 13 parish councils, including the prized Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, in a poll marked by extremely low voter turnout, signalling widespread disinterest in a governance system hobbled by poor credibility.

Preliminary results at press time last night showed that the JLP had also taken the parish councils in Clarendon, Portland, St Ann, St Elizabeth, St James, St Mary, and Trelawny.

Ties reported in St Thomas and St Catherine will likely be resolved by the official count which could be completed today.

The voter turnout of 30 percent was said to be the lowest in the country’s local government election history.

Last night, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who is also the JLP leader, welcomed the party’s second victory at the polls in nine months as a positive response to the JLP’s performance in Government.

However, he warned supporters celebrating the victory at the party’s Belmont Road headquarters in Kingston that the real work to turn around the economy must start today.

“This victory can almost be seen as a referendum on our performance for the last nine months, and Jamaica is saying, you have performed,” Holness told the huge crowd.

He noted that the JLP has moved from controlling none of the island’s municipal corporations (parish councils) to taking charge of at least eight of those councils.

He also pointed out that in the Westmoreland Council, in which there was no JLP representation up to yesterday, the party had improved its position to hold five of the 14 divisions.

He thanked the “very hard-working team of councillors and councillor/caretakers” who represented the party in the election.

“We celebrate tonight as we should, because we deserve this victory,” Holness encouraged the jubilant supporters Read more

HARBOR VIEW:----- On Wednesday, November 23th, 2016, the Representative of the Netherlands in Sint Maarten, Mr. Chris Johnson met with SER Chairwoman Oldine Bryson-Pantophlet, Secretary-General Gerard Richardson and the staff of the SER. Mr. Johnson was appointed as the Dutch Representative in Sint Maarten as per June 1, 2016.
After introductions, the conversation focused on the view both parties have on social and economic development of Sint Maarten Read more

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Leasing Protection Service Launched On St. Maarten.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Landlords are becoming increasingly vigilant about the risk factors associated with renting their properties. Likewise, tenants face challenges with negligent property managers or landlords who refuse to return security deposits despite all terms of the agreement being met by the tenant.

St. Maarten Rent Connect (SRC) is a leasing protection - data management agency, newly established on St. Maarten with the core objective of working in the interest of both the landlord and tenant.

SRC offers services that does the ground work and screening to ensure of a healthy relationship between the landlord and the tenant.

To assist tenants and landlords with establishing a positive rating, SRC tenancy program promotes honesty and reliability by discovering each client via an application and verification process, followed by connecting property owners and renters based on profiles.

The difficulties between landlords and tenants largely stems from a lack of understanding of ones rights and responsibilities Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- By the end of November our Members of Parliament would have been on the job for one month and it is good took to take a look at how well they have represented us during their first month in office.
In the first week, seven of our MPs took part in an orientation week. At the end of the orientation, all five, first-time MPs and two former MP’s received a certificate of participation. Special congratulations to the five new MPs, for taking their position and their function seriously Read more

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Jamaicans Are Voting In Local Government Elections

KINGSTON, Jamaica  –  A total of 489 candidates are competing for 228 divisions, plus the mayoralty of the Portmore community in today’s Local Government Elections.

The battle is really on between the two major political parties, although active independents in St Ann, Westmoreland, St Mary, St James and Hanover could decide the majority in the councils (municipal corporations) in those parishes.

While the weather could have a minor impact on voting today, violence is not expected to play any major part in the electorate’s decision.

From all appearances, the generally high level of crime and violence affecting the country has not interfered with the campaigning by the candidates leading up to today.

“We had a very peaceful campaign right across the country,” Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie, who has been leading the ruling Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) campaign, said last night.

“Everywhere we went the reception was excellent Read more

Sneek On Cda Slate

THE HAGUE/ST. EUSTATIUS--St. Eustatius Democratic Party (DP Statia) Councilman Koos Sneek will be running on the slate of the Christian Democratic Party CDA in the March 15, 2017 Dutch Parliamentary elections.

Lee Disappointed In Court Verdict

PHILIPSBURG--Health Minister Emil Lee on Sunday expressed disappointment in last Friday’s court verdict issued based on a lawsuit filed by VAMED against Social Health Insurances SZV regarding the construction of a new general hospital for St. Maarten.

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Exclusive: Judge Slams Uszv, Kmpg, Minister Of Vsa And Smmc With The New Hospital Bidding Procedure --- Uszv Ordered Not To Proceed, $1M Violation Up To A Maximum Of $25M.

The government will have to compensate INSO if they lose completely.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court of First Instance in its ruling on Friday, November 25th in the injunction filed by VAMED against USZV, slammed USZV, KMPG SMMC and the Minister of VSA Emil Lee with the way the bidding procedure was conducted for the construction of the New Hospital Read more

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Minister Jacobs Visits The Carnival Vista

PHILIPSBURG – Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs along with culinary art students and faculty of NIPA visited the Carnival Vista cruise ship on Thursday, November 24.

The visit was an educational visit for the culinary art students of NIPA. The students were exposed to the operations of the food and beverage industry of the cruise line Read more

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Sarah Elected New Parliament Chair, Frans Second Vice Chair

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams was elected the new Chairperson of Parliament and United St. Maarten Party (Read more

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Council Of Ministers Meet With Representatives Of Sol, Us Laundry And Nv Gebe

PHILIPSBURG – On Thursday, November 24, the Council of Ministers met with management of the three major industries operating in the Cay Bay area: SOL, US Laundry and NV GEBE, to discuss the environmental and health situation at hand.

While Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs, has been addressing the situation in the Cay Bay area for the past couple of weeks, the complaints of residents in that area as well as of the Miss Lalie Center have increased.  For this reason, the Council, upon request of Minister Jacobs, called for the urgent meetings.

SOL, represented by the Operations Manager Robert James and Bernard Cumberbatch, Senior Engineer from SOL Corporate office, explained to the Council that the company is the distributor of end products to their users Read more

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Ambulance Dept. Personnel In Training 

PHILIPSBURG – Ambulance Department personnel of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor are participating in a week-long session in Advanced Life Support (ALS) training that started on November 21, and will run through November 25, in collaboration with the medical staff of the Dutch Marines and Fire Department.

“Facilitating this training for the Ambulance Department will ultimately benefit the entire population of St. Maarten in pre-hospital ambulance care Read more

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Council Of Ministers Meet With Representatives Of Sol, Us Laundry And Nv Gebe.

POND ISLAND:--- On Thursday, November 24, 2016 the Council of Ministers met with the management of the three major industries operating in the Cay Bay area – SOL, US Laundry and NV GEBE - to discuss the environmental and health situation at hand. While Minister of Education, Ms. Silveria Jacobs, has been addressing the situation in the Cay Bay area for the last couple of weeks, the complaints of residents in that area as well as of the Miss Lalie Center have increased Read more

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L’Esperance Airport Opens A Brand New Terminal Building

GRAND CASE--The first phase of a major 5.6 million-euro renovation to Grand Case’s L’Esperance Airport was inaugurated Tuesday evening by President of SNC-Lavalin Airports Youssef Sabeh and local dignitaries Préfète Déléguée Anne Laubies, Member of Parliament (MP) Daniel Gibbs, and President of the Collectivité Read more

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Fundraising Proceeds to empower and transform the lives of struggling families and youth

PORT DE PLAISANCE:--- In a world in which radio talk shows, employees, and the general public tend to lambaste political and other leaders for a lack of integrity and transparency, it is refreshing to know that leaders worth following still exist on St. Martin and the world. Therefore, on December 3rd, 2016, Victorious Living will host VLF’s Leader Worth Following Awards at La Terrasse Port de Plaisance from 7-9:30 pm Read more

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A Second Chance To Do Things Right

St. James, Marigot – I would like to thank all the voters in St. Martin who came out to vote on the occasion of the 1st round, last Saturday, November 19, of the Primary of the Right and Center.

I also want to thank the voters who voted for Alain Juppé and made it possible for him to earn 128 votes. This placed him in third place and 44 votes behind Nicolas Sarkozy who placed first on Saint Martin, but who was ultimately eliminated from the contest and soundly rejected at both the Overseas and the National level.

François Fillon’s surprising and brilliant performance is to be congratulated and Alain Juppé took precedence in the Overseas Territories while earning 28% of the overall vote Read more

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“Reach Out Speak Out” Sunset Walk

PHILIPSBURG – Safe Haven in collaboration with the Elektralyets Foundation presented their “Reach Out Speak Out” Sunset Walk against Domestic Violence for women and girls on November 25.

Elektralyets Foundation President Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt was approached by Safe Haven as a community mobilizer to help with awareness activities and events against Domestic Violence Campaigns for Safe Haven.

“I wanted to do something different and innovative to get the attention of persons in our community to realize that women are suffering every day Read more

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Victorious Living Honours Officer Gamali Benjamin At Fundraising Awards

COLE BAY, Sint Maarten — In a world in which radio talk shows, employees, and the general public tend to lambaste political and other leaders for a lack of integrity and transparency, it is refreshing to know that leaders worth following still exist in St. Maarten and the world.

On December 3, Victorious Living will host VLF’s Leader Worth Following Awards at La Terrasse, Port-de-Plaisance from 7:00pm-9:30pm. This inspirational event is designed to encourage, stimulate and inspire leaders to be leaders worth following Read more

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Frans: Us Party ‘Seriously Busy’ With New Government Formation

PHILIPSBURG--“We are committed and still seriously busy with finalizing the formation process,” said United St. Maarten Party (US Party) Member of Parliament Frans Richardson on Tuesday.

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Time To Take Gebe To Another Level To Better Serve The Community

As a community-spirited person, I am not here to criticize or pass the blame, but to address the issues and come with solutions. NV GEBE needs to start thinking like a consumer and put themselves in the people’s position and address the issues as soon as possible with a permanent solution.

As we all know, load shedding should be something of the past. This is why the new Board and Management have accepted the challenge and now is the time to turn our local company around with a strategic plan for the next 5 to 10 years.

I have gotten so many calls from local business persons, acquaintances about what’s the issue with this constant load shedding Read more

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Minister Jacobs Attends Rights Of The Child Ceremony

MARIGOT – The International Rights of the Child Day 2016 ceremony, hosted this year by the Collectivité de Saint Martin, under the theme: “Educate me right so my future is Bright,” was held on November 21, at the Hotel de la Collectivité in Marigot.

Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports Silveria Jacobs was in attendance Read more

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Social Activist Quincy Gario Gives Keynote At Usm

PHILIPSBURG – Faced with what many consider the worldwide resurgence of virulent forms of ethnic chauvinism and xenophobia, fear and urban uprisings as Donald J. Trump prepares to inhabit the White House, and the PVV, the Dutch rightwing party, becoming the major vote getter in the upcoming elections in the Netherlands, the University of St. Martin (USM) has teamed up with the Eastern Caribbean Public Health Foundation (ECPHF) of St. Eustatius, and the National Archaeological and Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM) on Curaçao, to organize a 2-day conference entitled: “Raising the Curtain on Race.”

To start off the discussion and offer useful input, Quinsy Gario, one of St Read more

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Frans: Llamó A La Población A No Prestar Atención A Falsos Rumores, El Us Está Comprometido Con El Proceso De Formación

Traducido por Máximo Castro

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten.- El líder del UNITED ST. MAARTEN PARTY (US), el parlamentario Frans Richardson, pidió el miércoles en la noche a la población a no llevarse de rumores mal intencionados que circulan en las redes sociales, en los que se dice que el (US), ha estado en negociaciones con otro partido, intentado con lo que calificó; “un desesperado rumor”, crear confusión en la población.

Durante el transcurso del martes, ciertas personas difundieron en las redes sociales, el rumor del que la coalición blanco, azul y rojo, se había roto, dando paso a que el partido (US), iniciara negociaciones con otro partido.  “Nosotros estamos comprometidos y seriamente ocupados con la finalización del proceso de formación del nuevo gobierno”, dijo Richardson, y agregó que rara vez reacciona a rumores, pero entendió que el pueblo merecía escuchar la verdad en este sentido.

Dijo que el partido (US) no tiene ninguna intención de hablar / negociar con ninguna otro partido y no lo ha hecho Read more

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Frans: Don’T Listen To Rumor Mongers, Us Committed To Formation Process

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Leader of the UNITED ST. MAARTEN PARTY (US) party MP Frans Richardson on Wednesday evening dispelled and dismissed what he called “desperate rumor-mongering” regarding the state of the Red-White-Blue coalition.

“During the course of the day on Tuesday, certain people on social media thought it was cute or funny to start rumors, but we are committed and still seriously busy with finalizing the formation process,” Richardson said, adding that he rarely reacts to rumors, but the public deserved to hear the truth in this regard.

He said the US party has no intention whatsoever to talk/negotiate with any other party and have not done so Read more

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