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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

Editorial - Something tangible

That the Parliament of St. Maarten has agreed to co-sign a letter to the First and Second Chambers of Parliament in the Netherlands on a kingdom dispute regulation (see related article) is in itself good news. After all, there is strength in numbers, so an initiative in combination with Curaçao and Aruba is bound to make a bigger impression than separate actions by each of the individual countries.

There was a bit of discussion about the letterhead, because the Dutch Caribbean is, of course, not a constitutional entity and has no shared legislature Read more

>PHILIPSBURG: --- The entertainment industry on St. Maarten is surely seeing some movements yet again.

Stuart Johnson has officially taken up the responsibility of being Manager for X-plosion Band. A well known St.Maarten band with endless hits is busy restructuring for a "epic come back."

"I feel humbled and honored to become a manager for a band that is no stranger to St.Maarten, the region and around the world," Johnson stated.

Johnson resigned from his post of Manager of the junior carnival band 4M HD a couple weeks ago.

"In a few days we will be releasing new songs as our commitment to the local music industry which is year round and not only during carnival time," Johnson added.

Johnson's role as manager is further supported by well-known local singer Theo De Weever who will work with him to manage the band.

Johnson added, "Theo is a dynamic singer who knows music first hand from his many performances and I'm glad he accepted the opportunity from me to co-manage the band."

The band is busy with the completion of its next album Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- United People’s (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake is calling on Government to come up with creative financing ideas and to foster stronger more meaningful public-private partnerships. Such partnerships will increase the development of the economy and improve services for the entire country.
“The private sector has been the driving force for years as an essential pillar of the economy and to the economic achievements of our country Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- The annual wreath laying ceremony, commemorating the life of the late Dr. A. C Wathey will be held on July 24th at his statue in front of the Government Administration building in Philipsburg at 9.00 a.m.
July 24this the birthdate of the “Old Man”, as Claude was affectionally called.
During the short annual ceremony, wreaths are laid by the Government of St. Maarten, the Democratic Party, which he co-founded, the United People’s Party, the University of St Read more

Transparency International Launches Integrity Report Next Week

St. Maarten – Transparency International will launch St. Maarten’s National Integrity System assessment next week Tuesday at the University of St. Martin.

Alejandro Salas, the regional director for the Americas at Transparency International will speak at this event, as will invited government officials, Transparency International said in a press statement.

The integrity assessment has been long in the making, ever since Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk sent the first signals to then Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams in April 2013 that St Read more

Ebenezer Residents Want Clean Trenches

A scene from a trench in Ebenezer on Wednesday. Photo Today / Andrew Dick

St. Maarten – Residents from the Ebenezer District are disappointed that their trenches are filled with bush and debris. Grass and small threes can be seen budding from the bridge close to the Milton Peters College and behind in the trenches at the St. Maarten Academy PSVE. Daniela Richardson expressed her disappointment yesterday about the situation. She calls on public works to do something about it.

It is customary for the public works department to carry out major trench clean ups efforts before the beginning of the hurricane season Read more

Mp Lake Calls On Government To Foster Public-Private Partnership

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United People's (UP) Party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake is calling on Government to come up with creative financing ideas and to foster stronger more meaningful public-private partnerships. Such partnerships will increase the development of the economy and improve services for the entire country.

"The private sector has been the driving force for years as an essential pillar of the economy and to the economic achievements of our country Read more

Be The Change Presents Donation To St Maarten Aids Foundation

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Be the Change recently presented a check in the amount $1141.00 to the St Maarten AIDS Foundation.

The Foundation was the spotlighted organization of Be the Change for the month of June.

The funds will be used to continue to offer free HIV testing to the community. Rajesh Chintaman and Rebecca Low accepted the check on behalf of the AIDS Foundation.

Chintaman thanked Be the Change for its support and commitment to community work and awareness.

St Read more

Woman stabs ex at airport

AIRPORT--A woman stabbed her ex-boyfriend during an incident in the vicinity of Princess Juliana International Airport SXM on Tuesday afternoon.

Acting police spokesperson Inspector Steven Carty confirmed that the incident had occurred on Tuesday, but did not have details at the time. Carty said it was believed that the woman had boarded a bus after the incident Read more

Kurd militants kill two Turkish police to avenge Islamic State bombing

ANKARA--Kurdish militants claimed responsibility for the killing of two Turkish police officers on Wednesday in what they said was retaliation for a suspected Islamic State suicide bombing which killed 32 mostly young students.
  The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said in a statement on one of its websites that the two police officers were killed at around 6 a.m. in the southeastern town of Ceylanpinar for "collaboration with the Daesh (Islamic State) gangs."
  Security sources earlier told Reuters the officers were found dead with bullet wounds to the head in the house they shared in Ceylanpinar, on the border with Syria about 160 km (100 miles) east of Suruc, the site of Monday's suicide bombing.
  Many of Turkey's Kurds and opposition supporters suspect President Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling AK Party of covertly backing Islamic State against Kurdish fighters in Syria, something the government has repeatedly denied Read more