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PHILIPSBURG:--- The Coordination Team behind SXM DOET is very proud to announce that over 60 community projects were completed on May 28 & 29. Twenty-five projects have been postponed and will be completed later this year.

Some examples of completed projects by community organizations participating during SXM DOET 2021 included: K1 Britannia Foundation who held an impressive food drive to support their food assistance program, RISC Takers, who collaborated with New Start for Children's Foundation to complete some much-needed playground renovations, and the National Institute of the Arts who brought colour and joy to their building and the surrounding area on Longwall Road.

With the help of hard-working volunteers, other projects spruced up schools with a new layer of paint, plants, benches, and more Read more

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~ Says financial controller had limited info ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Sunday called for an update on the Ombudsmans inquiry into the awarding of garbage contracts to five companies for the next five years. He said though the Minister of VROMI has gone quiet on the issue, it remains unresolved with several questions unanswered.
The MP explained that at least two companies filed complaints at the Ombudsman who in turn contacted the Minister with several inquiries based on those concerns Read more

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~ Asks if corporate changes at PJIA imminent ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten has to finally tell the truth and lay it all out on the table for the people of St. Maarten, says Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel after what he called an embarrassing showing by the PM and the Minister of Finance in the Netherlands. He said the message from the Kingdom Council of Ministers was clear and to the point: No, go home.
MP Emmanuel said that after trying to go around State Secretary Knops to get the agreed-upon liquidity support, the Prime Minister of St Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament George Pantophlet says that the United Nations General Assembly met some 65 years ago in several sessions. The discussions related to whether the Netherlands were permitted to cease providing information under Article 73 e of the charter of the United Nations. According to the Member of Parliament, what was also highly disputed during those meetings were the Kingdom Charter and specifically its effects on the then territories of Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles.

The countries, though having the same documents in hand still came up with different interpretations Read more

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~ Knops knowingly violated RMR rules of order ~

The Hague, Netherland:---  Based on the proposal of demissionair State Secretary Knops to further delay liquidity support to St. Maarten, the Kingdom Council of Ministers (RMR) on Friday, May 28, 2021, has reversed its decision approved on April 23, 2021. This decision to grant St. Maarten the much-needed 39 million guilders due since April 1, 2021, was meant to cover the months of April, May, and June. Knops felt that it was within his right to go against the decision based on allegations of corporate governance issues at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), even though this had not formed part of the conditions to receive this tranche Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On a sunny day last year 2020, a group of pensioners Police Officers came together with the idea to form a Pensioners and Retiree Association.
This Association will bring together the former workers of the Police Department and will be able to look out for their and their family needs.
A temporary board was installed to be able to get the Statute and House Rules in order.
On May 27th, 2021 there was an election to elect the official Board of the Association.
On the same day, May 27th, 2021, the Association held a General Membership meeting at Bute Hotel Read more

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~ Continues round of meetings with key stakeholders in The Hague ~

The Hague, Netherlands:--- On Wednesday, May 26, and Thursday, May 27, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs met with various members of the Second Chambers Kingdom Relations Committee chaired by Member of Parliament Jan Paternotte. Prime Minister Jacobs used the opportunity during these two days to provide the committee members with information on many high-profile topics currently affecting Sint Maarten Read more

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Pond Island:--- TelEm Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Kendall Dupersoy, has graduated as a Master of Business Administration (MBA), from the University of Illinois, in Chicago, USA.

Mr. Dupersoy pursued the two-year online MBA degree course in Marketing & Business Administration at the University of Illinois, considered to be one of the foremost Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) institutions in the world Read more

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Candidates in this article:

~ Asks what Knops specifically wants with PJIA ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Friday said that while he can empathize with the position the Prime Minister finds herself in after the Kingdom Council of Ministers decided to hold off on releasing liquidity support, it is, unfortunately, a reflection of her weakness as a leader, no cohesion in the coalition and the results of her government playing dangerous games with the Dutch. I have warned this government to be direct, to be forthcoming, to be honest Read more

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Candidates in this article:

No 5Th Tranche For St. Maarten Unless Tangible Improvement Of Corporate Governance At Pjiae.

~ Meetings on Dispute regulations hold off on handling~

PHILIPSBURG: --- The Kingdom Council of Ministers has given their support to State Secretary Raymond Knops to continue withholding the 5th tranche of liquidity support from St. Maarten until there is tangible improvement with Corporate Governance at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE). St. Maarten was given until May 26th, 2021 to regulate the issues at PJIAE however, the deadline has not been met according to the requirements the Dutch demanded.
The scheduled meetings to debate the Dispute Regulations have also been placed on hold with the First Chamber supporting the Caribbean Countries of the Dutch Kingdom since the regulation has not gotten any support from St Read more

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~ For the love of Carnival, vaccinate! ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) on Wednesday endorsed the governments Island-wide vaccination awareness campaign The Drive to 85%, SXM race to normalcy. The initiative of Minister of Public Health Omar Ottley, the objective of the campaign is to encourage at least 85% of the community to go out and get vaccinated, in efforts to achieve herd immunity.
President of the SCDF Alston Lourens and Minister Ottley met briefly on Wednesday at which time Lourens assured the Minister that the foundation will do everything it can and use its entire platform to raise awareness and push the vaccination drive Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Health and Labor Omar Ottley made clear on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers press briefing that employers cannot dismiss employees that have not taken the COVID-19 vaccination. Ottley said that even the government of St. Maarten cannot force the vaccination on any of its civil servants, however, the only thing government and employers could do is to encourage its staff to get vaccinated and those that have questions about the COVID 19 vaccinations should seek out more information from their general practitioner.
The Minister of Health and Labor said that he is fully aware that some businesses have been giving their employees incentives if they take their COVID-19 shots but these employers cannot force or dismiss the employees that have not taken the vaccine.
Businesses he said can arrange for frequent testing at their own expense while they should continue with implementing the guidelines such as wearing masks and sanitizing constantly.
Ottley said since taking office he has enhanced the vaccination drive, right now 38% of the population has taken their vaccinations Read more

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Candidates in this article:

~ Dr. Sharine Daniel to resume helm of company~

PHILIPSBURG: --- The government of St. Maarten has taken a decision on the candidates that will be occupying the seats of the management team of N.V GEBE. Those persons are Chief Internal Auditor Dr. Sharine Daniel that has been appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO). George Willem as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Merrill Jimmy Timmer as Chief Operations Officer (COO).
The candidates that have been selected are from the initial advice given to the shareholder after the recruitment process was completed Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs and Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion traveled to the Netherlands yesterday, May 25, 2021, to rectify the non-payment of the fifth tranche of liquidity support Read more

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Vmt Announces The End Of Mass Vaccination With Pfizer After July 31St.

PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):---The Vaccination Management Team (VMT) announced on Monday, May 24th, that the mass vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine at the Belair Community Center, and the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour (Ministry VSA) Collective Prevention Service (CPS) office will stop after July 31st.
The vaccination campaign started on February 22nd, and to date, the VMT has vaccinated 16.410 persons with the Pfizer vaccine, 35% of the set goal. The aim remains to reach 85% of the adult population (herd immunity) to be sufficiently protected against the COVID-19 virus and mutations Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, Member of Parliament (MP) Claudius Toontje Buncamper, faction leader of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) in parliament submitted a letter to the chair lady of the Committee of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports (ECYS) in parliament MP Angelique Romou, requesting that a meeting of the committee is convened and that the board of the National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) is invited to attend said meeting Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Omar Ottley hereby informs the public that there were no laboratory reports received today. The total number of confirmed cases remains at two thousand three hundred sixty-six (2366).

Minister Ottley extends his sincere condolences to the family and friends of Sint Maartens 28th COVID-19 victim, who passed away today Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Using airport employees as a political football and for sound-bites is unbecoming, but very typical of the opportunistic method of operations by the governing National Alliance (NA)-United People (UP) coalition. Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel over the weekend said he was astonished to hear the Prime Minister and the President of Parliament mention the airport employees in Parliament last Thursday, in what he says was a transparent ploy at playing politics with peoples emotions and lives Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday morning, Member of Parliament (MP) Claudius Buncamper, faction leader of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) in parliament, together with his faction staff Fernando Clark met with a number of vendors operating on the Ring Road side of the Walter Nisbeth Road Read more

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Candidates in this article:

~ No more off-island referrals needed for MRI exams ~

CAY HILL:--- St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) officially opened its brand new, state-of-the-art MRI department, dubbed the MRI Suite, during an opening ceremony on May 19, 2021, which was attended by several staff and invited guests including the Minister of VSA, Omar Ottley.

The MRI Suite, which is part of SMMCs Radiology Department, has been a project that started last year with the lease of a special MRI housing unit in the Netherlands and MRI machine from General Electric in the United States.

SMMCs Medical Director Dr Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Omar Ottley hereby informs the public that we have been seeing a steady rise in the number of confirmed cases.

A total of 44 confirmed cases has been recorded over the past three days. The total active cases have now increased to 63 persons. Minister Ottley stated; it is time for a tough decision to be made, to ensure the safety of our population.

CPS has conducted extensive contact tracing and as a result, 4 clusters have been reported Read more

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PHILIPSBURG: --- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said on Wednesday that St. Maarten still did not receive the NAF39M liquidity support from the Netherlands neither the loan agreement even though St. Maarten has fully complied with all conditions set forth by the Dutch Government, said liquidity support since April 2021.

The countrys Prime Minister further stated that the goalposts are being moved for different reasons that have nothing to do with the conditions and agreements made between the government of St Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Defense lawyer Sjamira Roseburg addresses false statements made in the media against the client, Mr. Frans Richardson in the ongoing Aquamarine case.
Given the fact that the case is ongoing, we will not comment extensively on the matter in the media. However, considering the nature of the statements made in The Daily Herald of May 18 and the fact that these are false, we deem it necessary to provide clarity in a transparent manner in order to move forward.

Currently, the Emerald case is in appeal and will be trialed by three judges Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- As part of the vaccination campaign, The drive to 85%, SXM's race to normalcy, the Minister of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor, Omar Ottley in collaboration with Port St. Maarten, held a bumper sticker handover at Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise Facility.

The bumper stickers were handed over to the president of the Dutch St Read more

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