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Minister Lake wants ministers to vote on Vorst land purchase

PHILIPSBURG--Outgoing Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure VROMI Maurice Lake wants the Council of Ministers to vote in its upcoming meeting on the pending purchase of the Vorst land in Cay Hill.

He is preparing an advice on the land purchase to take up in the Council of Ministers' meeting. The decision on whether or not the land should be bought for US $4.5 million "should be a council decision," instead of outgoing Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams "deciding for the entire council."

Wescot-Williams told the press on Wednesday of the offer to government of a reduced purchase price for the land from the property heirs Read more

Sarah withdraws her support from coalition

PHILIPSBURG--Just over a month after gaining the support of ten Members of Parliament (MPs), the United People's (UP) coalition has lost the support of one partner: Democratic Party (DP) leader MP Sarah Wescot-Williams.

The withdrawal of support for the coalition has been considered a foregone conclusion since earlier this month, after Wescot-Williams announced that her party's minister candidates had been passed over in favour of those submitted by DP parliamentarian Cornelius de Weever to formateur of the new cabinet UP leader Theo Heyliger Read more

DP moves to ‘expel’ De Weever from ranks

PHILIPSBURG--The Democratic Party (DP) has moved to expel Member of Parliament (MP) Cornelius de Weever from its ranks. The party has given De Weever until 5:00pm today, Friday, to appeal his expulsion if he so wishes.

De Weever, who is off-island, has not responded to requests for a comment on what he intends to do in the face of his pending expulsion.

De Weever was informed of his pending expulsion from St Read more

style="text-align: center;">DP Expelled MP De Weever from Democratic Party

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams sent an official letter to the leader of the UPP Theodore Heyliger informing him that she has withdrawn her support from his coalition government.
The letter sent to Heyliger is dated November 18th, 2014 Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake welcomed on Tuesday Emmalexis Velasquez to Ministry VROMI as its Public Relations Officer (PRO).

Minister Lake met with Velasquez to discuss a number of things and is very pleased with her work to date.

"There is a lot of information that needs to be communicated from time to time, and I am very happy that Ministry VROMI continues to move upward and improving its services to the Sint Maarten community.

"The ministry has completed the Plans of Approach monitored by the Progress Committee, and this is a very positive development of the ministry Read more

Minister Lake would like a Council of Ministers Vote on Vorst Property Purchase.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake said on Thursday that the current Council of Ministers (COM) should be the one to conclude the Emilio Wilson Estate purchase and the Vorst property in Cay Hill.

"I was not surprised by the comments of our Prime Minister about the Vorst and Emilio Wilson land purchases Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Caretaker Prime Minister the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams attended the launch of the African Caribbean Heritage Alliance ACHA at the Belair Community Center on Thursday. The ACHA is an organization founded with the vision to create unity and linkages amongst people of African decent living in St. Maarten and between Africa and the Caribbean in general Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Caretaker Prime Minister the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams joined in commemorative Thanksgiving Lunches at the St. Maarten Senior Citizens Recreational Center in Hope Estate on Thursday. The events also recognized various businesses and members of the community that contributed to various programs centered on the enrichment of the lives of senior citizens Read more

style="text-align: center;">UPP candidates fuming because they got no Ministerial Positions

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the United Peoples Party (UPP) and formateur Theodore Heyliger has shuffled the deck of cards again as he tries to form the next government Read more

Minister Lake Would Like A Council Of Ministers Vote On Vorst Property Purchase

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake said on Thursday that the current Council of Ministers (COM) should be the one to conclude the Emilio Wilson Estate purchase and the Vorst property in Cay Hill.

"I was not surprised by the comments of our Prime Minister about the Vorst and Emilio Wilson land purchases Read more

Prime Minister Attends Launch Of The African Caribbean Heritage Alliance

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Caretaker Prime Minister the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams attended the launch of the African Caribbean Heritage Alliance ACHA at the Belair Community Center on Thursday.

The ACHA is an organization founded with the vision to create unity and linkages amongst people of African decent living in St Read more

Minister Lake Welcomes New Pro For Ministry Vromi

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake welcomed on Tuesday Emmalexis Velasquez to Ministry VROMI as its Public Relations Officer (PRO).

Minister Lake met with Velasquez to discuss a number of things and is very pleased with her work to date.

"There is a lot of information that needs to be communicated from time to time, and I am very happy that Ministry VROMI continues to move upward and improving its services to the Sint Maarten community.

"The ministry has completed the Plans of Approach monitored by the Progress Committee, and this is a very positive development of the ministry Read more

Prime Minister Joins In Thanksgiving Lunch With The Elderly

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Caretaker Prime Minister the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams joined in commemorative Thanksgiving Lunches at the St. Maarten Senior Citizens Recreational Center in Hope Estate on Thursday.

The events also recognized various businesses and members of the community that contributed to various programs centered on the enrichment of the lives of senior citizens.

The Prime Minister wished all present a Happy Thanksgiving and a delicious lunch and thanked those present for their contribution to building the country and laying the foundation of St Read more

Dp Board Seeking Expulsion Of Minister De Weever From Party

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The board of the Democratic Party of St. Maarten Tuesday sent a letter to MP the Honorable Cornelius de Weever in which they have clearly stated their intentions to expel him from the folds of the party.

The letter which is signed by the President and leader states that they have given MP de Weever the opportunity to appeal the decision of the board, however this appeal must be submitted by five 0'clock Friday afternoon.

According to the Leader of the Democratic Party MP the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams, MP C Read more

Murder suspect acquitted, still on trial for robberies

PHILIPSBURG--The Joint Court of Justice acquitted a 32-year-old man Wednesday of involvement in the killing of well-known Indian businessman Haresh "Danny" Dayalani on May 26, 2009, at his Cole Bay home. However, Robertson Peter of Dominica remains a suspect of involvement in two armed robberies at Pelican Marina's administrative offices May 13-14, 2009, the Court added.

In acquitting the defendant, the Joint Court followed the Court of First Instance, which had also acquitted him of murder and manslaughter in its decision of April 15.

The defendant and the Prosecutor's Office had both appealed the original sentence Read more

Plasterk wants ‘sit down’ on integrity recommendations

PHILIPSBURG--Dutch Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk wants a "sit down" with the St. Maarten Government to talk about the execution of recommendations from the Integrity Reports, particularly the one compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Caretaker Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said Plasterk's letter stated that he would make "no decision" on government's approach to the recommendations until such a meeting takes place Read more

Vorst heirs offer a reduced land price

PHILIPSBURG--Government has been offered the Vorst land in Cay Hill for US $1 million less by the heirs to the property. This now puts the purchase price at US $4.5 million.

Caretaker Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said the Council of Ministers has not taken a decision on whether to accept the offer. Her preference is to leave the offer for the incoming cabinet to make a decision.

Outgoing Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure VROMI Minister Maurice Lake had come under much fire for opting to purchase the land, instead of following an earlier proposal with the heirs for government to lease land.

The purchase price was higher than the lease price Read more

Hassink: Govt seeks more tax compliance to generate income

PHILIPSBURG--Generating income through more tax compliance, rather than increasing taxes continues to be the aim of government. Reducing expenditures is also an integral part making government financially stable, says outgoing Finance Minister Martin Hassink.

Both of those approaches were employed in drafting the 2015 country budget. The budget is deemed "far too late already" to meet all the required deadlines. "This year it was very challenging to handle budget as all the ministries had plans and wish lists that far exceeded the available ceilings," Hassink said.

Some final steps need to be taken before budget is presented to Parliament for ratification Read more

Please provide more options for higher education in St. Maarten

Dear Editor,

As a student studying abroad I think it’s really difficult to cope with so much. I really wish that St. Maarten can invest in their Education System. This implementation would highly benefit government in its expenditures, to save much more. If the USM can just expand their study options, most students would not have to go away. This will highly increase the flow of income prior to not only depending on tourism, but also the GDP, the island will produce for itself Read more

Broadway finds a new stage in an old venue: Cuba

HAVANA--In Bob Nederlander Jr.'s mission to export Broadway to new markets around the world, he found an old one where the American art form lay dormant for a least 50 years - communist Cuba.

After testing the Cuban appetite with a 2011 concert of Broadway show tunes, Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment decided to stage a three-month run of "Rent," the first Broadway musical exported to Cuba in decades.

"We were all blown away by the reaction," Nederlander said of the 2011 show Read more

style="text-align: center;">If the candidate fails screening and I am asked to stay on I will only do so for three months --- Hassink.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Finance Martin Hassink informed reporters on Wednesday that his appearance at Wednesday's weekly press conference will be his last appearance as Minister of Finance since he is a caretaker Minister. SMN News asked the Minister of Finance whose name came up during the formation of the first government that was in the making to remain as the Minister of Finance if the candidate that was submitted by the UPP/De Weever/ Marlin government fails the screening for any reason and he is asked to remain as the Minister of Finance if he will refuse the position Read more

style="text-align: left;">PHILIPSBURG:--- Caretaker Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams announced at the Council of Ministers weekly press briefing on Wednesday that the Vorst family has submitted a new proposal for the sale of their property located in Cay Hill. Wescot Williams said that the new proposal submitted to government is one million dollars less than the first proposal Read more

Editorial - Immediate and direct

For the second time in three months a worker fell from a height while doing his job in St. Maarten (see related article). This time there was no serious injury, so the victim could be treated on the spot by ambulance personnel and didn't require hospitalisation.

It was different story on August 27, however, when Haitian mason Diuecel Bosse (54) of S&R Construction toppled into an empty elevator shaft at the former Ocean Terrace building in Maho then under renovation and died. There were rumours that he had been fleeing from an immigration raid held there that day, but this never was confirmed.

In general, one regularly can see people working at heights on the island without any safety line or even a helmet Read more

Nearly-expelled pupil now at sister Hillside campus

ST. PETERS--A nine-year-old child has returned to school after an attempt to expel him from Hillside Christian Schools Asha Stevens Campus.

After a line-up of warnings by the school on the child and his brother, and a meeting with Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs (ECSY) Inspection Division Truancy Officers, a Court of Guardianship (CoG) representative and the child’s parents, the Hillside Christian Schools board arranged for the child to be enrolled in its Helmich Snijders Campus.

Switching the child to a school with Dutch as the language of instruction was not a preferred solution, but the school board made the decision after the meeting on the urgent case and a subsequent notification that the board would be solely responsible for enrolling him in another school Read more