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Caribbean Travel Marketplace 2016 Expands Outreach To Latin America, Emerging Destinations & Niche Markets, Appointment Requests Now Open; Educational Sessions Added

THE CARIBBEAN - The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) is raising the global profile of Caribbean Travel Marketplace providing opportunities for hoteliers attending the event to find new contacts and sources of business. CHTA is targeting wholesalers in Latin America and emerging destinations as well as tour operators specializing in niche markets. Caribbean Travel Marketplace is scheduled Jan. 21-23, 2016 at the Atlantis, Paradise Island in The Bahamas.

Building upon the existing and longstanding portfolio of global operators conducting business in the Caribbean, CHTA is focusing on securing the participation of Latin American tour operators in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela and emerging destinations Russia, India, Scandinavia, Ukraine and the Middle East.

            With the growth and importance of the niche travel segments to its membership, CHTA is inviting niche tour operators to attend Caribbean Travel Marketplace Read more

Seven New Political Parties Report For 2016 Elections

St. Maarten – An astonishing number of seven new political parties reported to the offices of the Electoral Council yesterday to submit their request to be registered for the February 9 elections. Among them is the St. Maarten Christian Party, led by Pastor Wycliffe Smith. On the other hand, the party of European Dutch residents did not show up, reportedly because they did not have enough time to prepare their documentation.

With the seven new parties – if they get all their formalities in order – the field for the elections will consist of eleven and possibly twelve parties Read more

Mp Leona Marlin-Romeo Commends Mental Health Foundation On Successful Turnout At 2015 Conference

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten  – The giving back to the community project is not limited to only financial contributions. This was illustrated on the successful turn out and positive feedback of the Mental Health Foundation 2015 Conference. 

Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo, gave the opening speech on the second day of the conference and spoke of how a discussion two years ago materialized, “Bringing Life into thought, Bringing passion into purpose”. 

The workshops though organized by the Foundation, the MP facilitated in making the connection with a close college associate Pascale Jean-Noel, a licensed Masters level Social Worker from New York State.

Pascale Jean-Noel, was more than willing to make a contribution to Sint Maarten by participating in bringing awareness on person centered treatment planning, trauma informed care, working with substance use disorders and understanding the practitioner’s role while providing mental health service as it relates to our community.  

Jean-Noel is a second generation Haitian, and understood what it means to connect with an audience of Caribbean background Read more

Idominate 360 Takes Businesses To The Next Level, Two Day Experience For Those Who Are Serious About Transforming Business And Lives Is Held 20-21 Nov

GREAT BAY, St. Maarten – Over the course of two days, November 20 and 21, entrepreneurs, innovatives, and leaders on St. Maarten and in the region, will get to transform their businesses and lives with internationally acclaimed speakers and entrepreneurs at iDOMINATE 360, which is a key activity during Entrepreneurship Week 721.

Designed by Foundation INFOBIZZ to assist people to achieve new levels of success, iDOMINATE 360 Experience hosts a series of experiential workshops on November 20, 2015 and a dynamic interactive evening with networking, a mini expo, and sales pitch competition on November 21, 2015 with internationally acclaimed entrepreneurs and speakers Read more

President Of Parliament Wescot-Williams Wishes Indian Community Happy Diwali

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Activities to mark Diwali – the Festival of Lights – started this weekend with the annual “Diwali Nite” show on Saturday, at the Belair Community Center.

Diwali, is considered to be one of the most sacred of Hindu festivals and is fervently celebrated by people in all parts of India and across the world over a five-day period.

The Festival of Lights is celebrated every year between mid-October and mid-November, depending on the lunar cycle.  It coincides with Hindu New Year and light.

The festival is observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains.  Houses are decorated with candles and colourful lights; people share gifts and say prayers.

This year the actual day of Diwali will take place on Wednesday, November 11.

President of Parliament Hon Read more

Minister Plenipotentiary Fleming-Artsen Makes National Statement At 38Th Unesco General Conference

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister Plenipotentiary Josianne Fleming-Artsen, addressed the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recently at the 38th UNESCO General Conference in Paris, France, where she presented country Sint Maarten’s National Statement.

Honorable President, Honorable Director General

Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Mr. President, it is an honor and distinct pleasure for me to stand here at this 38th

Session of the UNESCO General Conference and its 70th Anniversary to share the vision and accomplishments of Sint Maarten.

Firstly, I wish to extend congratulations to you Mr Read more

Caribbean Congress Of Labour And Caribbean Employers’ Confederation Agree To Establish Formal National Bipartite Forums

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - A Regional Bipartite Meeting attended by representatives from senior trade union and employer organizations from fifteen Caribbean countries was held 3-5 November 2015 in Grenada, under a Project* funded by the European Union and executed by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

In a joint statement, David Massiah, President of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) and Wayne Chen, President of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) announced the agreement to establish formal bipartite forums in each of the fifteen Caribbean States Read more

Stalling Planned Elections Would Be Unconstitutional Says Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Can the incoming government take a decision to annul the decree as has been signed by the Governor and the Prime Minister to dissolve parliament and hold elections?

That question was put to outgoing Prime Minister, the Honorable Marcel Gumbs this week.

The Prime Minister noted that the process towards the snap elections is now law and as such it is the right of the people to vote on the 9th of February Read more

John Maxwell Coach To Host Live 2 Lead Rebroadcast: November 8Th On St. Martin

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - “We need good leadership,” appears to be the buzz word locally and internationally, over the past several years.

On the local front, instability in Government, and other leadership challenges involving integrity issues, point to the necessity for each of us to raise our leadership lids.

Consequently, Victorious Living whose mission is to empower, enlighten and reconcile individuals and communities has joined a global movement to improve the leadership in our nation on every level by introducing leadership simulcasts; Leadercast and Live 2 Lead to St Read more

Mp Lake Calls For Constitutional And Electoral Reform Before Elections

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - MP Maurice Lake calls all political leaders to show political maturity and raise the bar to address the amendment to the Constitution.

I have listen keenly to the caretaker PM and the Minister of Justice and I have to say for two senior officials I have lost great respect for them for playing politics and making mockery of our Constitution.  

The caretaker Minister of Justice should know better as being part of the constitutional process for Country St Read more

February Elections Will Cost Almost 230,000 Guilders

St. Maarten – The cabinet has budgeted 229,763 guilders ($128,359) for the upcoming elections on February 9. The money comes from the budget of the Ministry of General Affairs.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs said yesterday that the voter registry will close on November 23 and that the members to the Central Voting Bureau will be appointed on December 23.

Postulation Day is on December 22 and a day later, parties will have to submit the signatures of voters who support their list.

The elections will take place on February 9 – a Tuesday Read more

Dp Pushes Again Membership Of Open Government Partnership

DP policy advisor Emil Lee at the summit in Mexico City. Photo contributed

St. Maarten – The Democratic Party is once more pushing the country’s membership of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), an issue it made a core element of its election campaign last year Read more

Retired Politician Dave Levenstone: Saba, Statia And St. Maarten Have To Strengthen Their Ties

Dave Levenstone. Photo Caribisch Netwerk

THE BOTTOM, SABA – The Saban political veteran Dave Levenstone says that his fellow-Sabans do not speak up enough, because the evaluation report about constitutional reform states that Saba does better than the other islands, Hazel Durand reports on Caribisch Netwerk.

“But I do not think that we have to see this as a setback,” he says. “The Island Council must establish an independent committee to study the evaluation and to arrive that way at solutions that are in the best interest of the island.” Levenstone is the former leader of the Saba Democratic Party and the presenter of the poplar political radio program Good Day Saba Read more

Cpa Leader Advocating One St. Maarten/ St. Martin Parliament

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Leader of the Concordia Political Alliance (CPA), Jeffery Richardson is advocating that St. Maarten/St. Martin is represented in one Parliament.

Speaking on the “Lady Grace Morning Show” on Tuesday he also stated that he is busy talking to politicians on the French side of the island in his effort.

More now via PodCast.

Read more

Citiva And Uwi Join Forces To Lead Global Charge In Marijuana Research

KINGSTON, Jamaica - CITIVA Jamaica (CITIVA) has made another major step in their ongoing relationship with the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus (UWI).  The medical research company held its first Continuing Medical Education (CME) Seminar on October 15, 2015, during which CITIVA's Chief Medical Officer, Jack D'Angelo MD, MBA, delivered a lecture on Cannabinoids and the Management of Multiple Disease States. CITIVA is focused on advancing the study of marijuana and its efficacy in the field of medicine Read more

Mp Leona Marlin-Romeo Commends Bes Islands For Including Neonatal Screening In Health Care Prevention

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten  – Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo, says on October 21st 2015, a letter was sent by her to the president of Parliament requesting information from the Minister of Health on the inclusion of Neonatal Screening or Heel Prick Screening for babies born on Sint Maarten. 

The meeting to discuss the draft Public Health Law was adjourned and still needs to be reconvened, however, Neonatal Screening was not included at that time as a preventative measure. 

“Congratulations goes out to Saba and St Read more

Emil Lee Attends Open Government Partnership Summit On Behalf Of Dp

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The DP was represented at the recent OGP Summit by Emil Lee.   Unfortunately, due to the current political crisis, DP Party Leader and Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams had to cancel her planned attendance. According to MP Sarah Wescot Williams, “The DP supports having St Maarten apply for membership to the OGP.  In order for St Maarten to become a member, there are a number of requirement with which St Maarten would need to comply.  Although St Maarten doesn’t currently qualify for membership, this provides the country with an excellent road map to follow in our path towards becoming more open.  There is an undeniable connection between the degree of openness and the level of prosperity of any country.  The more open and transparent the government, the more the people participate in and benefit from the economy.  We felt that this conference was such a valuable learning experience that Emil and I funded the trip at our personal expense.”According to Emil Lee, “the amazing thing for St Maarten is that we don’t need to reinvent the wheel.  Many countries have similar problems to St Maarten.  Many have issues with how to make the budgeting process more transparent and inclusive.  How to make procurement and government contracts less susceptible to corruption?  By participating in OGP, St Maarten can benefit from all of the experiences and work of other countries.”Use of Confidentiality Clauses: A great exampleAccording to Lee, “In St Maarten, there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the use of confidentiality clauses in contracts with government and government owned companies.  There are countries where the contracts are not even legally binding until they have been placed on line for anyone to review.  Additionally, there are clear guidelines for what items are able to be covered by confidentiality clauses.  Pricing and financial information typically does not quality as items that would be able to be shrouded by confidentiality clauses.  This clause is usually reserved for proprietary processes and trade secrets.”OGP SummitThe OGP or Open Government Partnership hosts the OGP Global Summit every two years in the Country of the current Chair, this year in Mexico City.  Representatives from government, academic institutions, civil society and multilateral organizations come together to exchange experiences and share best practices and major developments in open government.OGP Mission:“OGP’s vision is that more governments become sustainably more transparent, more accountable, and more responsive to their own citizens, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of governance, as well as the quality of services that citizens receive Read more

Safe Haven Marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Safe Haven Foundation would hereby like to Officially open and mark the Month of November in St. Maarten as Domestic Violence Awareness month.

The Safe Haven Foundation which offers services and shelter for abused women and their children was started in 1998, however in 1999 the shelter was opened and it is exactly in 1999 the UN General Assembly designated November 25th as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The Safe haven Foundation has observed this day in St Read more

Reduced Ticket-Tax Boosts Revenue And Employment

St. Maarten – Robin Hayes, President & CEO of JetBlue Airways and keynote speaker at the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) State of the Industry Conference (SOTIC), held last week in Curacao, stunned his audience with a message to which few had paid much attention before. Hayes stated: “At JetBlue, we are very much thinking about the relative tax burden on our customers as we allocate capacity.”

For countries that rely heavily on the air transportation of visitors for up to 70% of their GDP, few tourism planners in the Caribbean have ever considered examining their relative position within the region concerning taxes on airline tickets Read more

Winners And Losers: Who Will Survive The Polls In February?

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – February 9, 2016 is crunch day for politicians and those who aspire to become one. The parliamentary elections – for some mysterious reason perceived by some as ‘snap elections’, whatever that may be – will give voters the opportunity to speak their mind about the constitutional drama that concluded on Wednesday when the ministers of the Marcel Gumbs cabinet tendered their resignation and Governor Drs Read more

President Of Parliament Visits The "Lady Grace Morning Show" Friday

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Leader of the Democratic Party and Chairperson of the Parliament of St. Maarten, the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams stated on Friday that the matter of election has been used by the outgoing Prime Minister, Marcel Gumbs as a trump card Read more

Port St. Maarten Congratulates Incoming Nation’s Top Cop on Appointment

>POINTE BLANCHE:----  Port St. Maarten Supervisory Board and Management would like to congratulate Carl John who has been appointed the nation’s top cop to become Chief of Police of the Sint Maarten National Police Force.
Port St. Maarten has a very good working relationship with the Police Force and with Carl John in particular. John was part of a delegation a few months ago that participate in a Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) security conference where a strategic security alliance had been formed.
RCCL allowed a team of security and law enforcement professionals from country St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:----  By virtue of Article 22 of the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties, the Electoral Council is required to delete the registered reference to be placed above the list of candidates of a political party if the party failed to submit a list of candidates for the last parliamentary election.
Both the Citizens for Positive Change and the Concordia Political Alliance Association, which have been registered with the Electoral Council, did not participate in the 2014 parliamentary elections.
Consequently, by Decision No Read more

Mixed growth in the monetary union

>WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG:--- The government of Curaçao has embarked on a path of reducing the costs of the government apparatus and the social insurances while stimulating economic growth, that contributed to a real GDP growth of 0.4% during the second quarter of 2015.” the president of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten, Dr. Emsley Tromp, said in the Bank’s Quarterly Bulletin Read more