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>CAY BAY:--- They made it! As agreed on Wednesday December 10th the official opening ceremony of the Miss Lalie Center, the first Caribbean Youth Care and Rehabilitation Center, took place.
All people have been working so hard to make this possible, and they've succeeded. The Miss Lalie Center is good to go from this day. The building that's situated on Venus Drive in Cay Bay is totally prepared for the intake of a maximum of 20 boys between the ages of 12 to 18.
The official opening ceremony started off with a warm welcome to all the guests from Mrs Read more

Public Invited to Open House at Miss Lalie Youth Care and Rehabilitation Center on Saturday.

>GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The general public is invited to an Open House at the Miss Lalie Youth Care and Rehabilitation Center (MLC) in Cape Bay on Saturday, December 13.

The Miss Lalie Center was opened on December 10th. The youth care and rehabilitation center is located at Venus Drive #1, Cape Bay.

The Miss Lalie Center is located behind the industrial laundromat on the main road leading to the NV GEBE Power Plant. After making a right at the intersection of Afoo Daily Extra Supermarket in Cole Bay to head into Cape Bay; continue driving until you approach the industrial laundromat on your left; take a left and the center is right behind the laundromat.

Members of the public will be given a tour of the facility and will have the opportunity to meet the staff and also receive information about the center Read more

Minister Lake Says Emergency Road Patchwork To Be Carried Out Before Christmas Holidays

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake says Windward Roads has won the public tender to carry out emergency road patchwork as phase one before the onset of the Christmas holidays.

Phase two will be carried out in the beginning of the New Year once the contractor returns from the holiday season.

Emergency road patchwork will be carried out on the main roads which have already been identified by Ministry VROMI officials from the infrastructure division of the ministry.

Work will also be carried out on Front and Back Street where bricks and tree mats are in a state of disrepair.

"With the holiday season coming up, and to ensure the safety of all, these emergency repairs will be carried out.

The country will see visitors and family and friends arriving for the holiday season and we need to ensure that the infrastructure is in good order, hence the emergency actions that are required to be taken." Minister Hon Read more

Minister Of Culture Lourens-Philip Invites Public To Sunday Christmas Celebration

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip is inviting the public to come out on Sunday December 14, 2014 at 4:00 pm where the streets of Philipsburg will come alive with sounds of music, laughter, joy, hope and good will to all mankind.

At center of the parade is compassion and joyfulness- what Christmas means to each of us Read more

Public Invited To Open House At Miss Lalie Youth Care And Rehabilitation Center On Saturday

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The general public is invited to an Open House at the Miss Lalie Youth Care and Rehabilitation Center (MLC) in Cape Bay on Saturday, December 13.

The Miss Lalie Center was opened on December 10th. The youth care and rehabilitation center is located at Venus Drive #1, Cape Bay.

The Miss Lalie Center is located behind the industrial laundromat on the main road leading to the NV GEBE Power Plant. After making a right at the intersection of Afoo Daily Extra Supermarket in Cole Bay to head into Cape Bay; continue driving until you approach the industrial laundromat on your left; take a left and the center is right behind the laundromat.

Members of the public will be given a tour of the facility and will have the opportunity to meet the staff and also receive information about the center Read more

Com Meets With Nv Gebe

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – On Thursday, December 11, 2014, the Council of Ministers met with the representatives of N.V. GEBE to discuss the contributions of the Water Company to the Government of Sint Maarten.

The Water Company is owned by the Government, but managed by N.V. GEBE.

At the meeting N.V. GEBE was represented by the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors Mr. René Richardson and its Members Mr. Patrice Gumbs, Mrs. Veronica Jansen-Webster and Mr Read more

Minister De Weever Resigns From The Democratic Party

GREAT BAY, St. Martin - Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius de Weever has notified the leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot-Williams that he has now officially resigned from the party.

Minister De Weever informed the leader that due to the manner in which she and/or the DP publicly tried to portray me in a negative light, I have decided to reconsider my future with the DP and hereby RESIGN my affiliation with the Democratic Party.

I campaigned as a New Democrat with a "new" Democratic Party but it is readily apparent to many that it is the same old political strategy of trying to shame and blame.

Minister De Weever further stated that he expected an internal "issue" to be handled internally, professionally and avoid giving others more ammunition against St Read more

Opening Ceremony Miss Lalie Center

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - They made it! As agreed on Wednesday December 10th the official opening ceremony of the Miss Lalie Center, the first Caribbean Youth Care and Rehabilitation Center, took place.

All people have been working so hard to make this possible, and they've succeeded.

The Miss Lalie Center is good to go from this day. The building that's situated on Venus Drive in Cay Bay is totally prepared for the intake of a maximum of 20 boys between the ages of 12 to 18.

The official opening ceremony started off with a warm welcome to all the guests from Mrs Read more

Mc Sood's cricket dream comes through in Carty

 CUL DE SAC--When the then president of St. Maarten Cricket Association, Imran Mc Sood announced that he wished that St. Maarten would provide her first player for a West Indies team by 2014, Kacey Carty was just three years at the time.
  Fifteen years later, Carty was selected to represent the West Indies U19 team in the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) NAGICO sponsored one-day tournament which bowls off in Trinidad and Tobago on January 15.
  At a press conference at the NAGICO Conference Hall, a beaming Mc Sood stated, "I just wanted to have the opportunity today to express to Kacey and also his father Kieth how very happy I am personally about his call up to represent the West Indies U19 team for the NAGICO Super50 tournament Read more

Editorial - As much about quality

Government’s personnel cost has increased more than foreseen, Finance Minister Martin Hassink told Parliament on Tuesday, and is fast becoming “unaffordable.” He gave no clear indication as to why, but a perceived lack of efficiency in certain cases resulting from sheer incompetence may well have something to do with it.

For example, in the US persons have to take a special exam to enter the civil service, where the rank and pay for those who pass it are determined at least in part by the result Read more

Youth Care Centre has opened its doors

CAY BAY--The eagerly anticipated Miss Lalie Youth Care Centre was officially opened December 10 by Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson in the presence of a number of dignitaries, invited guests and members of the Meyers family, in commemoration of Eulalie Meyers who the Centre is named after. The Centre is set to start receiving youths as of next week.

The modern Cay Bay building had been designed as a boarding school-type facility meant for foster care, and was then restructured for use as a closed facility for boys ages 12 to 18, who are to be detained whilst receiving counselling, treatment, guidance and education, in order to enable them to have the best possible chance of succeeding in society.

A closed institution, it provides 10 places for boys sentenced by the criminal court and another 10 for boys with severe behavioural issues who have not been sentenced but who have received a placement order by a civil court.

Until now, there has been no such facility available locally for this demographic, as explained by Angela Dekker of Dutch financing institution USONA who said that the lack of a youth rehabilitation centre was questioned over a decade ago by a Geneva committee during a conference on the Rights of the Child.

Team Leader Natasha Carty acted as Master of Ceremonies for the opening event, introducing various key decision makers and dignitaries, the Center's team comprising social and security workers, and guiding a tour of the facility.

The Centre was financed by the Ministry of Justice and USONA Read more

Minister Lourens-Philip receives Plan of Action Regarding Children Rights.

>GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip has just recently received the Plan of Action regarding Children Rights from the "Kingdom Taskforce" which was established during the Kingdom Conference held on April 2nd 2014 in Aruba.
The document termed "Plan van Aanpak Kinderrecthen "Eerste Aanzet" 20 November 2014 outlines proposed priority areas for cooperation between the Countries of the Kingdom, and were selected from the recommendations of the UNICEF reports previously presented last year to all governments.

The final chapter of this initial report advises that the "Way Forward" is to ensure that not only government but also the entire society is engaged in chartering said way forward.

This would be accomplished by means of round table sessions regarding the priority areas such being:

The family as the Central PointChild AbuseSafety Net/after school care of childrenThe role of the parents in the raising of the child.Stipulations/Criteria/Parameters and Infrastructure

This report will also be presented to the Council of Ministers and Parliament, Minister Lourens-Philip disclosed on Wednesday.
"It is the intention that after the process of engaging civil society and the final plan is established, that the Kingdom Taskforce will officially submit this to the various Governments at the next Kingdom Conference scheduled for April 2015," Minister Hon Read more

Minister Lourens-Philip Receives Plan Of Action Regarding Children Rights

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip has just recently received the Plan of Action regarding Children Rights from the "Kingdom Taskforce" which was established during the Kingdom Conference held on April 2nd 2014 in Aruba.

The document termed "Plan van Aanpak Kinderrecthen "Eerste Aanzet" 20 November 2014 outlines proposed priority areas for cooperation between the Countries of the Kingdom, and were selected from the recommendations of the UNICEF reports previously presented last year to all governments.

The final chapter of this initial report advises that the "Way Forward" is to ensure that not only government but also the entire society is engaged in chartering said way forward.

This would be accomplished by means of round table sessions regarding the priority areas such being:

a Read more

Emerging Technologies In Tourism Sector Could Offer New Employment Opportunities In The Caribbean

PORT-OF-SPAIN - The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, hosted a concluding workshop in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 8-9 December 2014, where participants shared findings from their respective countries on "Anticipating Skills Requirements in Tourism: Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands".

The findings are the result of a 7-month virtual training Programme, a South-South joint collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO/CINTERFOR), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the National Industrial Training Service (SENAI), Brazil.

The Workshop was attended by representatives from National Training Agencies (NTAs), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) from Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Sint Maarten, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, and facilitated by ILO/CINTERFOR, and SENAI, Brazil.

~ILO, ILO/CINTERFOR, ACS and SENAI review results of "Anticipating Skills Requirements in Tourism: Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands"~

The Programme has equipped participants to anticipate future skills requirements, based on analyses of technological, organizational and occupational trends, and emerging occupations, focusing on the Tourism sector, in order to design training programmes that will better match labour market opportunities in 5 to 10 years' time.

Using SENAI's methodology, the group highlighted the most important emerging technologies in the tourism sector, such as the use of an electronic tourist pass, personalized electronic guides, electronic booths, global IT booking systems, satellite-enabled environmental management, sustainable management of tourist resources, telecommunications integration, energy-efficient microsystems, food hygiene control systems for hotels and restaurants, equipment and systems to improve accessibility for disabled persons, electronic translation devices, and thalassotherapy equipment for hotels Read more

Opinion: Sensible Decision (Write-Off Tax Debts Pre 2006)

The Council of Ministers took a sensible decision by leaving a policy that takes all tax debts from 2006 and earlier years off the books in place.

Former Finance Minister Roland Tuitt published the policy in May 2013. It triggered a remarkable advice from the Social Economic Council (SER) that claimed that the policy left more than 4.5 billion guilders in taxes uncollected Read more

US says reduced defence role for atomic bombs

VIENNA--The United States said on Tuesday it is relying less on nuclear weapons as part of its defence planning, but Britain argued against banning such arms now.

Both powers, taking part for the first time in an international conference on the humanitarian impact of atomic bombs, spoke in support of pursuing the goal of a world free of such weapons of mass destruction.

The three other officially recognised nuclear weapon states -- Russia, France and China -- stayed away from the meeting Read more

Renovation Golden Rock Homes cancelled!

Dear Editor,

The working relationship with the Dutch housing corporation Woonlinie and St. Eustatius is again in jeopardy. Free advice and financial aid has been turned down by government, which makes the future of decent low-income housing for Statia's citizens dimmer than ever before. Particularly, the apparent reason behind all of this is baffling.

The agreed upon interim director, supplied by Woonlinie, who had as his mission the reorganisation and strengthening of the housing foundation has left the island after Commissioner Zaandam told him that his skin colour was not suitable to lead the foundation Read more

Leeward Islands lose in misplaced-ball match

JAMAICA--Leeward Islands cricket coach Ridley Jacobs reported a bizarre situation in which the match ball was misplaced by the umpires during the tea interval when Jamaica Franchise took on the Leeward Islands Hurricanes in the West Indies Cricket Board Professional Cricket League 4-day match in Jamaica over the weekend.

The umpires were Jamaican Christopher Taylor and Trinidad and Tobago Danesh Ramdhanie.

A disappointed Jacobs explained, "The ball that we were bowling with was 16-overs and the ball they came back out with was 34-overs – that's a big difference Read more

Hassink: Country operating in financial ‘crisis management’

PHILIPSBURG--"We are operating in a crisis management situation," Finance Minister Martin Hassink said in describing the country's financial situation to Members of Parliament (MPs) when he outlined the government's earnings and expenditures for the first three quarters of 2014 in a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Tuesday. The meeting will continue on Friday.

Government expenses are growing while its income has shrunk in some areas and stayed flat in others in spite of the economic growth forecast by the Central Bank of Curaçao and St Read more

St. Maarten spot on CFT vacant

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten representative on the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT Richard Gibson Sr. has resigned from his post as of December 1. This leaves the country without a member on the committee that oversees its budget and finances.

The CFT confirmed Gibson Sr.'s resignation to The Daily Herald on Tuesday.

Prior to this, CFT Chairman Age Bakker had said during the committee's quarterly visit to the country last week that Gibson and CFT had agreed to keep some "distance for now." No information about the resignation was given during that visit.

Gibson's resignation possibly was linked to his candidacy for the post of Finance Minister in what is said to be the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet Read more

EXCLUSIVE: More Trouble for UPP/De Weever/LRMarlin Coalition.

style="text-align: center;">Fifth Minister has problem with screening --- Three years of taxes were not paid. De Weever to appoint his sister as Minister of VSA --- Reliable Sources.

PHILIPSBURG:--- As the days go by there seems to be more trouble for the UPP/De Weever/LRMarlin coalition government when it comes to forming a government.
SMN News understands that a fifth candidate that was submitted to the governor did not fully pass the screening because that person who is currently acting as a caretaker Minister did not pay his taxes for at least three years Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday December 19 and Saturday December 20, the National Institute of Arts presents The Sunshine Theatre production of "One of my sons is Missing" a classic Caribbean production written by Godfreyd Sealey about the Pandemic HIV and AIDS. Now in its 20th year, noted theatrical director Felix Fleming of the Sunshine Theatre Company Foundation is once again revisiting the Play.

According to Director Felix Fleming, "One of my sons is Missing" is still relevant today to keep the community aware of HIV and AIDS Read more

style="text-align: center;">ILO, ILO/CINTERFOR, ACS and SENAI review results of "Anticipating Skills Requirements in Tourism: Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands"

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad:--- The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, hosted a concluding workshop in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 8-9 December 2014, where participants shared findings from their respective countries on "Anticipating Skills Requirements in Tourism: Occupational Trends and Emerging Demands".
The findings are the result of a 7-month virtual training Programme, a South-South joint collaboration between the International Labour Organization (ILO) Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in Vocational Training (ILO/CINTERFOR), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the National Industrial Training Service (SENAI), Brazil.
The Workshop was attended by representatives from National Training Agencies (NTAs), Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) from Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Sint Maarten, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, and facilitated by ILO/CINTERFOR, and SENAI, Brazil.
The Programme has equipped participants to anticipate future skills requirements, based on analyses of technological, organizational and occupational trends, and emerging occupations, focusing on the Tourism sector, in order to design training programmes that will better match labour market opportunities in 5 to 10 years' time.
Using SENAI's methodology, the group highlighted the most important emerging technologies in the tourism sector, such as the use of an electronic tourist pass, personalized electronic guides, electronic booths, global IT booking systems, satellite-enabled environmental management, sustainable management of tourist resources, telecommunications integration, energy-efficient microsystems, food hygiene control systems for hotels and restaurants, equipment and systems to improve accessibility for disabled persons, electronic translation devices, and thalassotherapy equipment for hotels Read more

Dp Leader Says Some Par Latino Sessions Focused On Women

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - In addition to the regular committee meetings of Parlatino last week (already reported on), Thursday and Friday Parlatino's activities centered around the empowerment of women.

Several simultaneous discussion forums were held, allowing female parliamentarians from the different countries to discuss ?topics such as leadership and the position of women in politics.

Some challenges faced by women in politics are universal, other challenges are exacerbated b Read more