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Laville Still Under Investigation

St. Maarten – Former Member of Parliament Romain Laville is not off the hook yet as the Public Prosecutor’s Office still considers charging him for gun possession and two cases of gun threats. Officers of the National Detective Agency arrested the former politician on Thursday March 26 at his home but they released him the same day.

“The case is still under investigation Read more

Opinion: Paying Lip Service

What is most amazing about the never-ending procession of court cases the new owner of the former Caravanserai Resort, Alegria, gets involved in, is the lack of response to this very detrimental situation from the government, and in particular from Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Claret Connor, with the parliament closely on his heels.

Whatever the outcome of the court case may be, the effect on our tourism industry will be devastating Read more

Claude Wathey Commemoration: Everybody On The Same Page Again

Family members and representatives of DP and UP gather for a group picture together with Minister Claret Connor. Photo Today / Leo Brown

St. Maarten – After the awkward split in the election year 2014, when the Democratic Party and the United People’s party organized separate wreath laying ceremonies to commemorate the birth date of the late Dr Read more

Editorial - Badly-needed jobs

The slowdown regarding investment in the local economy was confirmed by Windward Islands Bank (WIB) Managing Director Derek Downes in Saturday’s paper. He said fewer loans and consequently lower interest rates for such had been the trend during the past years.

In his opinion Government must create an atmosphere to improve business and investor confidence. However, that is more easily said than done.

For one thing, repeated detrimental issues with the dominant timeshare sector on the Dutch side, including the Pelican saga a while back and now the Algeria controversy, are not exactly helpful Read more

Notices July 27

First Responder

WIEMS is now registering for the annual First Responder (EMR) course at the Dutch Quarter Community Centre starting Tuesday, September 1, 7:00pm. For more information: www.wiems.org . To register: email Marcel Gumbs , I cannot but express utter disappointment in the document that should have spelled out government's vision for the remainder of this governing term.

Considering that the government has presented the program to Parliament, I consider this the program of the Gumbs-cabinet Read more

No response yet from Harbour to Prosecutors Office inquiries

PHILIPSBURG--The Harbour has not yet responded to the inquiries from the Prosecutors Office regarding its policies and that of its closely linked companies.

Prosecutor Karola van Nie told The Daily Herald on Thursday that the office had not yet received a response from the harbour.

In a letter dated July 13, the Prosecutor’s Office requested information regarding the policies and “course of affairs” from the St. Maarten Harbour Holding NV and from its closely linked companies Read more

Obama dines with Kenyan family after arriving in father's homeland

NAIROBI--U.S. President Barack Obama dined with his step grandmother, his sister and other extended family members after arriving in Kenya for his first presidential visit to his father's homeland on Friday.
  Obama's plane, Air Force One, landed in the evening in the Kenyan capital, where he will co-host a conference on boosting entrepreneurs in Africa before travelling on to Ethiopia Read more

Editorial Bare necessity

Again a public warning has been issued about the lack of marketing for the island, this time by its top bookings producer Expedia (see Friday paper). Both the Dutch and French sides are showing figures that were called sub-par.

In fact, the combined destination was just one of two within the Caribbean to achieve only single digit growth in nights booked via the company and its brands such as Travelocity, Hotwire, Trivago and Hotels.com so far this year compared to 2014. In addition, competitors such as Aruba are also able to get better average room rates.

It’s not entirely clear how this relates to somewhat more optimistic visitor arrival and resort occupancy numbers released in recent times locally, but sometimes it’s good to also hear from others “outside looking in” to get a balanced view Read more

Armed men rob Helena Jewelers

PHILIPSBURG--Three armed men carried out a brazen daylight robbery at Helena Jewelers on Front Street around 11:20am on Friday.

Acting police spokesperson Inspector Steven Carty said in a press release that the robbers managed to steal an undisclosed amount of merchandise from the store. After the robbery, the armed men fled the jewellery store Read more

Chief Minister Banks takes over chairmanship of Monetary Council

ANGUILLA--At a ceremony on Friday, July 24, the chairmanship of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) was handed over from Ralph Gonsalves Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Anguilla’s Chief Minister Victor Banks. Members of the Monetary Council from the eight countries represented were preceded by the country’s flag held by members of the Pathfinders as they walked into the ceremony.

Governor of the ECCB Sir Dwight Venner welcomed those present to the 82nd meeting noting that the ECCB started in 1983 and since that time has maintained a stable Eastern Caribbean currency and low inflation Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:----- Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs invited Tracy Blijden who recently graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management from Johnson and Wales University.
Blijden spent one month in Singapore and is now off to Germany to further gain experience and expand her craft in culinary arts. To hig Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs earlier in the week received the Ombudsman 2014 Annual Report from Ombudsman Dr. Nilda Arduin. Also present for the presentation was student and former chair of the Youth Parliament, Rochana Richardson, who is currently on a summer job stint at the Ombudsman Bureau. The report has been sent to Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- 89 years later the late Albert Claudius Wathey also known as Claude Wathey was honored with a wreath laying ceremony in front of the Government Administration Building on Friday moring.
Family members of the late politician and supporters flocked by his statue to pay tribute to the “ole man” Erno Labega started out the wreath laying session with some words about the late politician.
Al Wathey laid the first wreath along with Michaela Hodge on the part of University of St Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Receives 2014 Ombudsman Annual Report

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs earlier in the week received the Ombudsman 2014 Annual Report from Ombudsman Dr. Nilda Arduin.

Also present for the presentation was student and former chair of the Youth Parliament, Rochana Richardson, who is currently on a summer job stint at the Ombudsman Bureau.

The report has been sent to the Council of Ministers for further review and handling.

In Photo: L to R: Prime Minister Hon Read more

Minister Connor Lays Wreath On Behalf Of Com At 89Th Birthday Commemoration Of Dr. A.C. Wathey

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications Hon. Claret Connor, on behalf of the Council of Ministers, Friday, July 24th 2015, laid a wreath at the statue of Dr. A.C. Wathey in front of the Government Administration Building in commemoration of his 89th birthday.

Wreaths were also placed at the statue by representatives of the Wathey family, the United People's (UP) party, Democratic Party (DP), A.C Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Invites Culinary Student To Showcase Talents

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs invited Tracy Blijden who recently graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management from Johnson and Wales University.

Blijden spent one month in Singapore and is now off to Germany to further gain experience and expand her craft in culinary arts.

To highlight the accomplishments of this young local professional, Blijden just 22 years of age, was invited by the Prime Minister to prepare lunch for the Council of Ministers.

In Photo: L to R: Prime Minister Hon Read more

Man shot in back during attempt to steal his chain

NAZARETH--A man was shot in his back while he was fleeing to safety after a brazen attempt by two armed men to steal his gold chain in Nazareth in the wee hours of Monday, July 13.

The victim told police he had been sitting in a car when he suddenly was attacked by two armed men who attempted to rob him of his gold chain. A struggle ensued, but the victim managed to free himself from the robbers' grip and ran towards his car that was parked nearby Read more

No arrest in threats, shots fired at harbour, matter under investigation

PHILIPSBURG--Authorities have not yet made any arrests in the incident which occurred outside the Harbour in mid-July where two armed men, one of whom is said to be a taxi driver, threatened a licensed taxi driver of Haitian descent with guns and fired two shots into the air over the transport of passengers.

Prosecutor Karola van Nie told The Daily Herald on Thursday that the Prosecutor’s Office is aware of the incident and noted that the case is under investigation. Acting Police spokesperson Inspector Steven Carty said he could not confirm any details of the incident when contacted on Wednesday and again on Thursday Read more

Expedia urges marketing efforts during workshop

LITTLE BAY--The island's top trip-booking producer Expedia highlighted an urgent need for the destination to invest in marketing – currently non-existent with the global company – to improve its sub-par growth performance as compared to regional destinations, in a presentation at Divi Little Bay Resort on Thursday.

More than 40 tourism accommodation and tourism stakeholder representatives received the presentation, which showed local partners how to strategise in various areas of business and make the most effective use of Expedia's website resources, and honed in on key market trends Read more

Parliament to co-sign letter on shelving of dispute regulation

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Parliament will be a co-signer along with the legislatures of Curaçao and Aruba on a letter to the First and Second Chambers of the Dutch Parliament, seeking that body’s position on the Dutch Government in effect shelving the establishment of a dispute regulation, and a related body for the kingdom.

The letter, drafted by the Curaçao Parliament, came after last month’s Kingdom Conference -a meeting of the countries of the kingdom- saw the Dutch Government putting up a road block on the issue Read more

Chris Columbus recruits arcade nerds to save the world in Pixels

LOS ANGELES--As an alien race wages war on Earth using vintage arcade games, Adam Sandler leads the nerds taking the spotlight in director Chris Columbus' visual effects spectacle "Pixels".
  In "Pixels," opening in U.S. theaters on Friday, aliens mistake old arcade games sent into space in a NASA time capsule as a declaration of war, and they challenge mankind to "play for the planet" with larger-than-life video games attacking Earth.
  The president, modeled on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and played by Kevin James, recruits his childhood arcade friends - Adam Sandler's dorky Brenner, Josh Gad's eccentric Ludlow and Peter Dinklage's over-confident 'Fire Blaster' - to battle alien arcade games Read more