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Blues legend B.B. King dies at age 89

LAS VEAGS--Blues legend B.B. King, who took his music from rural juke joints to the mainstream and inspired a generation of guitarists from Eric Clapton to Stevie Ray Vaughan, has died in Las Vegas. He was 89.
  King, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, had said in May he was in hospice care at his home after being hospitalized in April with dehydration related to diabetes.
  "The blues has lost its king, and America has lost a legend," President Barack Obama said in a statement, recalling how he sang "Sweet Home Chicago" with King at a White House blues concert three years ago Read more

The more things change, the more they remain the same

~ Police in the Windward Islands ~

By Jessica Vance Roitman

Two recent items in the media caught my attention: the first was Mr. Will Johnson’s latest post on his blog, The Saba Islander. He wrote about the fact that the Dutch colonial governor in Curaçao used to write to the Commander of Saba in English, thereby respecting the fact that he was governing an English-speaking territory. Mr. Johnson laments that things have changed since the 1860s. The understanding – exemplified by this employment of English in official correspondence – which used to exist between those who exercised Dutch colonial authority and those they governed in the Windward Islands, seems to have faded away Read more

SNSM sea rescue RIB christened at marina

MARIGOT--The volunteers of French-side sea rescue service SNSM savoured an uplifting moment Friday evening when their second-hand semi-rigid inflatable boat (RIB) was christened officially at a ceremony on the shore next to Marina Fort Louis in front of elected officials and many invited guests.

The yellow RIB came into view with its crew just before the ceremony began, followed by the lifeboats SNSM 269 from St. Barths and Rescue 2 from the St. Maarten Sea Rescue Foundation, both vessels sounding their horns for the celebratory occasion before tying up to the entrance dock.

The 12-metre-long 3.62-metre-wide RIB named Rescue Star is powered by two 275-horsepower outboard engines and in calm sea conditions can reach speeds of 35-40 knots Read more

Woman admits leaving baby to die on cruise ship docked here

HAMMOND, INDIANA--A Northwest Indiana woman has pleaded guilty to giving birth on Carnival Dream and leaving the baby girl to die under a bed.

The deceased infant was discovered in a guest cabin by a Carnival Dream employee while the ship was in port in St. Maarten on October 12, 2011. The cruise line informed authorities in St. Maarten about the incident. That same day Dutch authorities took custody of the infant's body and interviewed the mother Read more

Minister Teatt Connor Officially Opens Smart 2015

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Hon. Claret Connor officially opened the 14th Edition of St. Maarten/St. Martin Annual Regional Trade Show (SMART) 2015 on Wednesday at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino.

SMART is a three day event bringing together tourism stakeholders such as Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Travel Writers, and Event Planners to support, interact and promote tourism to the Eastern Caribbean.

International stakeholders come from as far as the United States of America, Canada, Europe, and Latin America.

During the Ministers address to SMART attendees, he pointed out the successes of 2014: a record two million plus cruise passengers; stay-over tourism visitors' increase of 10 per cent compared to 2013; overall hotel occupancy averaged upwards of 80 per cent; Port St Read more

SMART hosts 14th annual tradeshow

MAHO--The on-going fourteenth St. Martin/St. Maarten Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART), dubbed the most important tradeshow of the Northeastern Caribbean, hosted its main day of activities at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino yesterday, May 14.

Although attendance was not as high as the 2014 event, which boasted one of the best turnouts in years, even participants who did not make any new connections pointed to the importance and usefulness of the annual event that targets local, regional and international tourism stakeholders.

However, noticeable was the lack of participants from South America that had been a major characteristic in 2014, and the non-presence of some regional islands Read more

Multiracial coalition unseats Guyana ruling PPP/C party

GEORGETOWN--Guyana's multiracial opposition coalition has won a national election, breaking the ruling Indo-Guyanese party's 23 year-old grip on power, the election board said on Thursday, signalling a new era in the ethnically-divided South American nation.

The APNU+AFC coalition, led by former army brigadier and publisher David Granger, won 206,817 votes, versus 201,457 for President Donald Ramotar's PPP party, the election authorities said after all votes were counted.

Ramotar said the elections were rigged and demanded a recount, without giving more details of his accusations.

Diplomats from the United Kingdom and the United States said they were free and fair, and the Guyana Elections Commission said its first tally was unlikely to change on review.

Since gaining independence from Britain in 1966, the nation of just 740,000 people has suffered tensions, and occasional violence, between citizens of Indian and African descent.

The People's Progressive Party (PPP) has ruled since 1992 and Afro-Guyanese complain they are marginalized.

But the coalition, a recent fusion between the traditional black party and a smaller third party, had campaigned to break that hegemony, cheered on by youth less hung up on ethnicity and increasingly fed up with the status quo.

"We are a six-party coalition and we are the closest Guyana has ever gotten to a government of national unity and that makes me very happy," said a beaming Granger at his Georgetown home after results were announced.

The 69-year-old has a degree in history and received military training in Nigeria, Brazil and the United Kingdom Read more

Management of SMHDF fights suspension, seeks compensation

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation's (SMHDF's) Finance Manager Emilio Kalmera and Executive Assistant Miurica Williams challenged their suspensions by the foundation's Supervisory Board in the Court of First Instance on Wednesday.

Managing Director Henry Lynch saw his service agreement with SMHDF end on February 4, based on a host of allegations concerning financial mismanagement and embezzlement.

Representing Kalmera and Williams, attorney Cindy Marica called her clients' suspension invalid and illegitimate, as only the Board of Directors, not the Supervisory Board, would be entitled to make such a decision.

Marica said furthermore that SMHDF had not worked diligently in dealing with the cases against her clients Read more

Parliament must do its job

Dear Editor,

Never have I witnessed such a degrading meeting of the people's business in parliament as that meeting held last week regarding the Checkmate Security contract at the St. Maarten Harbour. This meeting was called by the opposition because the people of St. Maarten wanted to know how such a contract could have been approved by the management and the supervisory board of directors of the Harbour Holding Group of Companies.

Those members of parliament supporting the government want the people to believe that because it is a local that owns Checkmate Security it is alright to pay them any amount of money and no questions should be asked Read more

Editorial - Something has to give

That St. Maarten must “pay its own debts” as stated again recently by Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk (see Wednesday paper) is nothing new to the population. The Dutch side over the decades had never seen much of the development aid sent from The Hague to the Central Government in Willemstad and – contrary to Curaçao – was not allowed to contract loans.

Its share in the Antillean national debt was also relatively small, particularly compared to that of the Island Territory Curaçao Read more

DP Faction says Central Committee meeting on Harbor and Checkmate Security was disrespectful to Parliament.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The continuation of the Central Committee meeting on May 7th 2015 on the Harbor Security contract was a show of total disregard for the Parliament of this country.
Unfortunately I could not attend that particular meeting due to the funeral of my mother, however what I heard and read of Government's representation was outright embarrassing.
With all that has been written and said in the media, government still refuses to present Parliament with a copy or at the very least with the factual details of the contract the harbor has entered into with Checkmate Security company.
To add insult to injury, a document that was provided in the meeting of May 7th to members of Parliament for their "eyes only", was allegedly the working copy of the Minister of TEATT, the honorable Claret Conner Read more

Hanson urges citizens to pay their income tax

MARIGOT--President of the Territorial Council Aline Hanson reminded citizens that the 2014 Income Tax Return forms will be delivered to every household shortly.

"As well as being an administrative formality, paying taxes is a citizen act that directly impacts the future of our territory in terms of implementation of development projects," she said Read more

Semsamar gives tour of social housing projects

MARIGOT--Officials from mixed-capital company Semsamar including its President Wendel Cocks gave the media a tour on Friday of some of the ongoing social housing projects in Concordia and French Quarter, including an overview of maintenance in existing residences.

A recent development has been the realisation of eight playgrounds in the different homes that have been financed 50 per cent by Semsamar and 50 per cent by Caisse Allocation Familiale (CAF).

Cocks explained the housing schemes each have their own tenants associations that include a member from Semsamar which enables the company to get feedback on needs and social activities in each area Read more

Top Dutch lawyer critical of vote-buying case ruling

PHILIPSBURG--Where the Court of First Instance had provided a "beautiful motivation" for throwing out the Prosecutor's cases in the so-called vote-buying case, the Joint Court of Justice made a "somewhat artificial" decision last week in referring the case back to the lesser court for retrial, said top lawyer from the Netherlands Cees Korvinus on Monday.

Korvinus and his partner at their Amsterdam law office Alexander van Roy presented a lecture at the Courthouse Monday afternoon on recent developments in jurisprudence by the High Court in The Hague.

Referring to recent developments in connection with the inadmissibility of cases presented by the Prosecutor's Office, Korvinus told his audience, among whom was Court of First Instance Vice-President Judge Koen Luijks, that the Court's decision of August 2014 to throw out the case against four persons suspected of having sold their votes to United People's (UP) party in the September 2010 election "was exactly in line with High Court jurisprudence."

In what Korvinus described as a "beautiful motivation," Judge Luijks had declared the Prosecutor's Office's cases against suspects inadmissible Read more

Hanson re-confirms decisions of President Hollande during visit

MARIGOT--In her first reaction to President François Hollande's official visit on Friday, President Aline Hanson first thanked the population for giving the Head of State a cordial welcome. Many people had lined the roads from Grand Case, La Savane, Rambaud and Cripple Gate to wave to the motorcade as it passed.

The President in turn reciprocated by chatting with well-wishers on his arrival at Hotel de la Collectivité.

Hanson said she was pleased with the outcome of the Presidential visit Read more

Writers from India to Brazil heading for Book Fair 2015

PHILIPSBURG--The thirteenth annual St. Martin Book Fair is set for June 4 to 6, said book fair coordinator and president of Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF) Shujah Reiph. Novelists, poets, historians, scholars, drama and performance word artists from India, United Kingdom, Brazil, St. Lucia and the United States, to name a few countries, "are heading our way," said Reiph.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has already extended a welcoming hand to book fair guests and is encouraging the island's people to, "Have a very successful St Read more

Airport breaks ground for cargo building renovation

AIRPORT--A symbolic ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday kicked off the US $4.6 million renovation of the Princess Juliana International Airport SXM cargo building. The more-than-three-decades-old building will be given a much-needed facelift and offices for eight new cargo handlers. The project is slated for completion in May 2016.

Airport Managing Director Regina Labega told the gathering at the ground-breaking ceremony in the building's parking lot that the building was "in need of an urgent facelift."

That facelift was described by Labega as "a complete multi-million-dollar makeover" that will be carried out by four contractors chosen via a public tender Read more

Rita supports decriminalisation of marijuana for medicinal use

PHILIPSBURG--Acting Minister of Public Health Social Development and Labour Rita Bourne-Gumbs said on Tuesday that she "is completely for the decriminalization of marijuana and cannabis-related products for medicinal use."

She was at the time responding to several questions posed by this newspaper on the subject via the Press Secretariat. In her brief response, the Minister said as well that she "is completely against the decriminalization of marijuana for personal abuse." She said however, that the actual decriminalisation or changing of the law must happen in Parliament.

When asked to weigh in on the issue, Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson said he was unable to comment at this time as this topic needed careful consideration and consultation with all persons and organisations involved.

There have been some talks about the subject lately Read more

>POINTE BLANCHE:---- Port St. Maarten – In order to enhance port operations and have a seamless operation that operates as efficient and as effective as possible, five department heads at Port St. Maarten completed a four-day PFSO (Port Facility Security Officer) course related to the International Ship and Port Facility (ISPS) Code.
The department heads expressed enthusiasm for the training and now they possess renewed understanding of the ISPS Code and its applicability, and pledged their continued support to compliance efforts in ensuring that the country's seaport meets all international requirements and obligations therefore ensuring the safety of all those who use the nation's port and at the same time protecting the populace of the country where it relates to border security.
Maritime security in the Caribbean is taking on a new shape Read more

style="text-align: center;">New Building Expected to Create 115 jobs.

Airport:--- The Managing Director and other staff of the management team of the Princess Juliana International Airport held the ground breaking ceremony on Tuesday to commence the building of the Cargo Building. While the project is deemed as facelift for the cargo building, Managing Director of PJIAE Regina Labega said that the project is a multi-million dollar project that will create about 115 jobs which will cost the PJIAE $4.6M Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  Hon. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs led a delegation to Anguilla on Monday to attend the 1st Meeting of the First Session of the 11th Anguilla House of Assembly on Monday afternoon at the Atlin Noraldo Harrigan Parliamentary Building. Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications Hon. Claret Connor and Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports Hon Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  President of Parliament Hon. Dr. Lloyd Richardson, Vice President and Member of Parliament (MP) Hon. Leona Marlin-Romeo, and Vice President MP Hon. Cornelius de Weever, who form the Presidium of Parliament, met with Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Read more

style="text-align: center;">Where is the Management Team that was appointed by Former Minister Roland Duncan?

PHILIPSBURG: --- Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson said in an invited comment that the Council of Ministers recently approved an organization structure (plan) for the Pointe Blanche Prison and the Police Department of St Read more

style="text-align: center;">Five Years After St. Maarten Acquired Its' Separate Status On October 10, 2010 And Nothing Has Changed. After The 2014 Election We Have Changed A Few Of The Players In Parliament But The Leadership Remained The Same, Therefore We Should Not Expect Anything Different. This Brings Us To The Meeting Of Parliament Where The Checkmate Contract Should Have Been Debated.

PHILIPSBURG:---– Never have I witnessed such a degrading meeting of the people business in parliament as that meeting held last week regarding the Checkmate Security contract at the St Read more