SXMElections.com

Editorial - Regardless of the result

That the electoral reforms discussed in Parliament not too long ago were never realised is old news by now. Other than the police and VROMI officials regulating how close to each voting bureau the candidates can promote themselves, employees receiving two instead of four hours to vote and the polls staying open until 8:00 rather than 7:00pm, not much has changed since four years ago as far as Election Day goes.

Even concerns about the use of electronic devices to take pictures of filled-in ballots as invoices to collect when selling votes was not tackled Read more

Equipment for second water plant ordered

POINTE BLANCHE--The equipment and installations for the construction of the second seawater reverse osmosis plant in Pointe Blanche have been ordered.

The long-term Water Supply Agreement of Government with Seven Seas/AirFin, signed in November 2012, includes the supply, construction and operation of two new, state-of-the-art reverse osmosis plants. These plants are modular systems capable of producing 3,700 m3 per day each, a press release issued on Thursday said.

At an average, household consumption of half a cubic metre per day, one plant produces sufficient water to supply 7,400 homes on a daily basis.

The agreement states that the second plant shall be operational mid February 2016 Read more

Theo announces finalisation of National Energy Policy

PHILIPSBURG--Member of Parliament and leader of the United People's (UP) party Theo Heyliger announced on Wednesday the completion of the National Energy Policy for St. Maarten. The policy contains a list of measures and procedures necessary to mitigate the impact of energy usage on the environment while offering consumers lower tariffs for energy use.

"This represents building a new energy future for St Read more

Dennis outlines challenges of National Detective Agency

~ No response from Dutch for assistance ~

PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister Dennis Richardson outlined on Thursday some of the challenges facing the National Detective Agency (Landsrecherche) of St. Maarten.

Richardson said he had asked Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten in early 2014 for temporary operational assistance of four detectives from the National Detective Agency (Rijksrecherche) in the Netherlands. The request was made in view of the Landsrecherche's workload Read more

Govt agrees that suspected directors should step down

PHILIPSBURG/THE HAGUE--The Government of St. Maarten agrees with the Wit-Samson Committee that directors of government-owned companies, who are a suspect in a criminal investigation, need to step down until this investigation is completed.

Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams and Justice Minister Dennis Richardson stated this in their formal response to the July 2014 report of the Wit-Samson integrity committee Read more

Prosecution Appeals Class Justice Ruling

St. Maarten – The prosecution filed an appeal yesterday against the ruling in the 2010 election fraud case (the so-called Masbangu investigation). On Monday, the court declared the prosecution inadmissible in the prosecution of three suspects who are accused of selling their vote to the United People’s party and one suspect who gave these suspects money on behalf of the UP. The court ruled that the decisions the prosecutor’s office made in this investigation –excluding the UP and its party leader Theo Heyliger from the investigation – have “the semblance of class justice.”

The court declared the prosecution inadmissible because it violated the principle of equality and the ban on arbitrariness.

“The Public Prosecutor’s Office agrees with the vision of the court that the role of the UP has not been sufficiently investigated, but it has provided an explanation for this during the trial Read more

Investigation At Prosecutor’S Office

St. Maarten – Justice Minister Dennis Richardson will consult with the chairman of the Law Enforcement Council– former Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards – about a possible investigation into the practice of class justice within the Public Prosecutor’s Office in St. Maarten.

The initiative follows on the heels of the court ruling in the Masbangu-case that revolves around selling and buying of votes before the 2010 elections. The Court in First Instance declared the prosecution inadmissible in this case and remarked in its ruling that, by not investigating the role of the United People’s party and its leader Theo Heyliger, the prosecutor’s office had called upon itself ‘the semblance of class justice.”

“I cannot allow that observation to stand without proper investigation,” Minister Richardson said at yesterday’s Council of Ministers press briefing Read more

Opinion: Up Party Causes Real Estate Bubble

Dear Editor,

The UP led government has created a real estate bubble that will burst and hurt many real estate investors. Let us take a look at the real estate transaction by Minister Lake of the UP party from an auditor’s view:

Before a minister can sign a document or contract that binds government financially he has to obtain at least 3 approvals from different control units:

He has to obtain the approval from the minister of finance, because the minister of finance has higher supervision on all the ministries in government. He has to obtain the approval from the Council of Ministers. He has to obtain the approval from the Governor of St Read more

Court Allows Hearing Additional Witnesses In Bada Bing Case

St. Maarten – The Court in First Instance granted yesterday morning close to all requests defense attorneys made last week in the run-up to the Bada Bing bribery trial that is scheduled to take place in the spring of 2015. The court referred the case back to the Judge of Instruction for hearing witnesses the defense had asked for.

Judge Koos van de Ven dismissed the argument of public prosecutor Gonda van der Wulp, who said during the pro forma hearing last week Thursday that the defense should have notified the prosecutor’s office three days before the hearing about the witnesses they want to hear Read more

Up Party Inadmissible In Quest For Complete Voting Register

St. Maarten – The Court in First Instance declared the United People’s party and its president Sylvia Meyers-Olivacce inadmissible yesterday in a lawsuit that the party filed in an effort to obtain a full copy of the voters register.

The UP, represented by attorneys Peggy Ann Brandon and Brenda Brooks, filed the lawsuit against the Minister of General Affairs and the Government of St Read more

Telem Group Providing Streaming Links For "Live" Coverage Of Friday's Parliamentary Elections

POND ISLAND, St. Maarten – The Election Watchnight Association (EWA) has thanked TelEm Group for assisting with online streaming arrangements which will allow the foundation to broadcast election results worldwide as soon as they come in during Friday's Parliamentary elections.

EWA has covered Island Council and Parliamentary elections since 1990, thanks to the dedication of the late Edgar Lynch and brother Egbert Lynch.

Family and friends associated with EWA aim to continue his legacy by providing the most comprehensive coverage and analysis of election results whenever elections are called.

Edgar's son, and now producer of this year's EWA coverage says with online streaming provided by TelEm Group, coverage will begin at 8:00 pm once the election polling stations have closed Friday.

The program will be aired live online thanks to the streaming links and will also be available to a worldwide audience.

Along with an extensive team working behind the scenes, viewers and listeners online will get historical outlook, up to date developments and pre-recorded interviews from program hosts, Gina Bruney, Myrna Lynch and Henry Lynch.

Edgardo thanked TelEm Group management for making the online streaming possible and for assisting in the family's aims to keep the Association relevant as an educational tool to present day St Read more

Ukraine accuses Russia of new troops incursion

KIEV/DONETSK, Ukraine--Ukraine accused Russia of launching a new military incursion across its eastern border on Wednesday, as hopes quickly faded that Tuesday's talks between their two presidents might mark a turning point in a five-month-old crisis.

Accusations of direct Russian support for pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine have prompted Western governments to impose sanctions on Moscow, despite its denials, and fanned tensions with NATO to levels not seen since the Cold War.

Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said a group of Russian soldiers had crossed the border in armoured infantry carriers and a truck and entered the town of Amvrosiyivka, not far from where Ukraine detained 10 Russian soldiers on Monday.

Ukraine's Security Services also said in a statement it had detained another Russian soldier in the east of the country who has confessed his unit provided military support to separatist rebels.

Lysenko said fighting in two other towns, Horlivka and Ilovaysk, had killed about 200 pro-Russian rebels and destroyed tanks and missile systems Read more

Class justice

Dear Editor,

I am writing this article with sadness in my heart. I have worked for forty years in the Justice system, and based on the position I held during my last 12 years in service, I worked very closely with the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that I, during my lifetime, would hear that our local Prosecutor's Office has been accused of class justice by a resident judge in a criminal court case. This accusation is a serious matter and I believe that the Minister of Justice, posthaste, should appoint a committee of persons of knowledge and integrity to investigate what went wrong in the case of vote buying and selling, and who really took the decision not to prosecute the United People's Party and its leadership.

Those who bungle up should bear the consequences Read more

UP loses voters register case again, ordered to pay costs

PHILIPSBURG--On Wednesday, the Court once again declared the case launched by United People's (UP) Party Association and its chairperson and Member of Parliament (MP) Sylvia Meyers-Olivacce inadmissible in the injunction it had filed to obtain a copy of the voters register.

After having been told on Tuesday by the judge that the injunction should not have been filed against the Minister of General Affairs and the Government of St Read more

Prosecutors agree that UP leaders not sufficiently investigated in vote-buying

~ Appeal court ruling ~

PHILIPSBURG--The Public Prosecution services said on Wednesday that it shares the view of the Court that the role of United People's (UP) party leaders was "not sufficiently investigated" in the Masbangu vote-buying case, but said it had already made a statement in court.

The Prosecutor's Office has appealed the Court's decision to throw out the case. The Masbangu investigation surrounds the UP paying persons to vote for the party in the September 2010 elections.

The judge had declared the case inadmissible and held it against the Prosecutor's Office that it had decided to prosecute only five suspects, but had failed to investigate the roles of UP and its leadership in the scheme.

Prosecutor Tineke Kamps said in a press release on Wednesday that the prosecutor had explained during the August 4 hearing that the investigation could not have included the leadership of UP as well, "given the limited capacity of the Landsrecherche," the release said Read more

St. Maarten restates objections to Rutte

THE HAGUE/PHILIPSBURG--The Government of St. Maarten has informed the Kingdom Council of Ministers that it will adopt many of the recommendations by the Wit-Samson Integrity Committee, but not without reiterating its objections to the way The Hague imposed an integrity audit via the governor of St. Maarten and the "continued blurring of norms on the Kingdom level."

In the letter dated August 21, 2014, St. Maarten Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams and Justice Minister Dennis Richardson informed Chairman of the Kingdom Council of Ministers, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the position of the St Read more

NAPB says failure to ratify police structure has resulted in instability

~ Union will work with incoming minister ~

PHILIPSBURG--The failure of government to ratify and introduce the new police structure almost four years since St. Maarten assumed its new constitutional structure has resulted in "instability, unrest and infighting" between personnel in the Police Force, says NAPB police union president Ethelwoldus Josepha.

NAPB has been lobbying for a number of benefits and rights for officers over the years with little progress, but Josepha said the union would be working with whoever the incoming minister and relevant officials would be.

"Over the last four years, different meetings were kept with the two different ministers of justice with the idea to have the police structure ratified and implemented Read more

Court hears girl’s attacker ‘paranoid schizophrenic’

PHILIPSBURG--Another chilling reminder of the lack of a closed mental health facility was highlighted yesterday as the court heard the case of A.S.P. (37), born in Curaçao, who stood accused of the attempted murder of nine-year-old girl S.B.

Five years' imprisonment of which two years are suspended with a three-year probation period and a condition to be treated as an inpatient by the Mental Health Foundation for a minimum of 12 months was the demand of Prosecutor Tineke Kamps for P., who was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and as such, was deemed to suffer from diminished responsibility at the time of the offence.

Relatives of the young girl sat in court as the judge heard the case, in which it was described how S.B Read more

NASA’s heavy-lift rocket debut not likely until 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida--NASA's new heavy-lift rocket, designed to fly astronauts to the moon, asteroids and eventually Mars, likely will not have its debut test flight until November 2018, nearly a year later than previous estimates, agency officials said on Wednesday.

NASA is 70 percent confident of making a November 2018 launch date, given the technical, financial and management hurdles the Space Launch System faces on the road to development, NASA associate administrators Robert Lightfoot and Bill Gerstenmaier told reporters on a conference call.

NASA estimates it could spend almost $12 billion developing the first of three variations of the rocket and associated ground systems through the debut flight, and potentially billions more to build and fly heavier-lift next-generation boosters, a July 2014 General Accountability Office report on the program said.

While the rocket might be ready for a test flight in December 2017, as previously planned, the new assessment showed the odds of that were "significantly less" than the 70 percent confidence level NASA requires of new programs, Gerstenmaier said Read more

UP seeks full mandate, no coalition on Friday

PHILIPSBURG--A full mandate for the United People's (UP) party, not a coalition government, in Friday's Parliamentary Elections was collective message of the party's 23 candidates to supporters at the final public meeting of the campaign held on the ring road Wednesday night.

UP leader Theo Heyliger told the gathering that from the start of the campaign all the other political parties had focused their attack on UP Read more

National Alliance offers ‘responsible, honest, hardworking govt of integrity’

~ Tells voters ‘right the wrong’ with clean sweep ~

CUL DE SAC--The National Alliance (NA) profiled itself as a “serious” party committed to offering St. Maarten “a responsible, honest, hardworking government of integrity” at its last public meeting Wednesday evening, one day shy of Friday’s Parliamentary election.

The party’s 23 candidates drove home their message that NA was the party to lead St Read more

Democratic Party holds its last public meeting

SIMPSON BAY--Democratic Party (DP) supporters turned out for one last public meeting at Kim Sha Beach in Simpson Bay last night. The nineteen candidates reiterated what they stood for, what needs to change in St. Maarten and what the party has been accomplishing so far.

Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams, DP #1, reiterated her views that the party had put United People’s party leaders where they are today, which was why they could shine Read more

Democratic Party Presents Party Platform On Sports And Culture, Emphasizes Sports And Culture As A Means To Promote National Identity

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Democratic Party on Tuesday presented its Party Platform on Sports and Culture to the electorate on St. Maarten, highlighting its standpoint on the development of national culture and the support of sports as a vehicle for national identity on St. Maarten; "It is the conviction of the Democratic Party that Sports and Culture should feature prominently as we pursue national development.

"True to this conviction, where sports is concerned, during the D.P.'s most recent governing period the Department of Sports was created to exclusively concentrate on, stimulate and support developments in the area of sports.

Whereas the Department of Sports is charged with the policy and planning aspects with regard to sports development, the National Sport Institute has been recently established to execute planned projects and sport programs.

The N.S.I Read more

Rotary Club Of St. Maarten Presents Leg Press To The White & Yellow Cross Foundation

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The Rotary Club of St. Maarten presented a Leg Press to the White and Yellow Cross Foundation. Funds for purchase of the Leg Press were raised by the Rotary Club of St. Maarten courtesy of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.

All departments of the White and Yellow Cross Foundation, which includes the St. Martin's Home, will use the Leg Press.

Pictured (see attached picture) from left to right (standing): Jeffrey "Soc" Sochrin, Macfolda Gumbs, Department Manager of the St Read more