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Local Audi branch inaugurated Friday

COLE BAY--World-renowned German car brand Audi inaugurated its St. Maarten establishment amongst business partners, dignitaries and invited guests Friday night with a formal gathering culminating in the unveiling of five luxury cars, one of which was custom-made for company Chairman Imran Mcsood Amjad.

Audi set up the new location in collaboration with Caribbean Auto in Cole Bay. Latin American Sales Manager Martin Port welcomed it to the Audi family. Imran and Managing Director Tariq Amjad shared the unique selling points of Audi and some of the history making the launch possible.

Customisation, down to the colour of the threading of the leather seats, was just one of the possibilities Tariq described Read more

Rita and Claret join support for DigiKidz

PHILIPSBURG--Foresee Foundation, founder and operator of the DigiKidz Project which aims to bring 21st century information and communications technology (ICT) education to all classrooms, announced recently that it has received the official endorsement of Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs Rita Bourne-Gumbs and Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Claret Connor.

Foresee Foundation and the DigiKidz Project Team said they were excited and encouraged with the ministers' support.

According to Foresee President Jose Sommers, these endorsements support the core concept of Foresee (also abbreviated as "4C"): setting up innovative projects through communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking, what she calls "the way forward for 21st-century learning."

The endorsements, in joining the foundation's plans to raise funds for upcoming projects, are "fully in line with the modern vision that in strong communities, government, the business sector and other organisations and non-governmental (NGOs) jointly work together on achieving the ambitious goal of bringing ICT into all classrooms in St Read more

Justice Minister calls on Dutch to prove underworld connection

PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister Dennis Richardson minced no words when he issued a call to the Dutch Government and anti-St. Maarten fractions in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament "to put the facts on the table" if they exist about the continuous, but so far baseless claims about St. Maarten being controlled by the "underworld."

Richardson was in the St. Maarten Parliament Friday, along with Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, to discuss the draft law to establish an integrity chamber for the council Read more

Mp Lake Commends Nv Gebe On Senior Citizens Relief Program For 2015

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United People's (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Hon. Maurice Lake would like Government to commend NV GEBE for starting the second program bringing relief to the senior citizens of the country by reducing their electricity bills.

"I applaud NV GEBE Board of Directors and Management to continuing the relief program for seniors citizens age 62 and older for another six months.

"The first pilot senior relief program in 2014 was started when I was the Minister of Energy Affairs, and it was considered a success, and I applaud the Managing Board for continuing with the programme through the end of 2015.

"Our seniors have until May 1 to apply for the relief according to information NV GEBE submitted to the media Read more

Minister Connor Proud Of Civil Servants Taking The Oath As Servants Of The People

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (Ministry TEATT) Honorable Claret Connor was present for the oath-taking ceremony of civil servants from the Ministry TEATT that took place recently.

"I am very proud to be able to work with these professional women and men who have taken an oath to serve the people of this country.

"I have a great team to work with Read more

Free Digital Lottery Ticket Available At Funmiles.Net Entire Streets Will Win In Fun Street Lottery

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Fun Miles and its partners are going all-out these coming months, with a free lottery as it has never before been seen on our island.

The monthly drawings will not merely produce individual winners, but an entire winning street.

All Fun Miles cardholders living there will share the street prize of no less than 150,000 Fun Miles.

In addition, there are several great partner prizes, which include a BBQ Grill from Kooyman, a WIB gift card, and a gift certificate from ENNIA Read more

Audi St. Maarten Opens Doors Friday, Quality Brand And Service Comes To St. Maarten/St. Martin

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Audi brand is now available on St. Maarten. Audi officially opened their doors on Friday evening with a large group of family, Friends and government officials from both French and Dutch as well as officials of the Audi brand in attendance.

Chairman of the board Imrand MacSood gave some history about the process that led up to the brand now being established on the island.

He also spoke about the hard work that went into the process, for which he gave special thanks to his son Tariq Amjad.

Apart from hard work he also spoke about the quality that Audi brings to a quality island such as St Read more

Dennis: Integrity Chamber law ‘strengthens’ country’s position

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament's adopting the draft law to establish an Integrity Chamber "strengthens" the country's position when ministers go before the Kingdom Council of State in a week's time to present St. Maarten's case against the Dutch Kingdom Government's use of Article 51 of the Kingdom Charter to impose a measure on the country. This is the belief Justice Minister Dennis Richardson shared with Members of Parliament on Friday.

"It [the law – Ed.] strengthen our position on the legality" of St Read more

> Cole Bay:--- St. Maarten along with its visitors have lost a familiar face who has served the community in many ways. Harold Jack (75) passed away peacefully at the St. Maarten Medical Center early Friday morning after being ill for about a month. Jack as he is familiarly known as was a casino controller who retired about 16 years ago, he also served drinks and snacks at the Lookout Point for over 40 years said his son Alex Jack.
Alex said his father became ill about a month ago but died peacefully without suffering from any pain Read more

Obama, Castro shake hands as US, Cuba seek better ties

PANAMA CITY--U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro shook hands on Friday at a summit in Panama, a symbolically charged gesture as the pair seek to restore ties between the Cold War foes.
  A photograph showed Obama and Castro, both wearing dark suits, chatting in a small group of leaders at the summit's opening ceremony. A White House official confirmed the two men shook hands and spoke briefly.
  "This was an informal interaction and there was not a substantive conversation between the two leaders," the official said.
  Obama and Castro are expected to meet again on Saturday and talk about their efforts to restore full diplomatic relations and boost trade and travel between the two countries Read more

Nigerians vote for powerful governors in state elections

LAGOS--The final stage of Nigeria's election will begin on Saturday with state governorship polls, two weeks after a presidential vote saw an incumbent leader unseated at the ballot box for the first time.
  The 36 governors are among the most powerful politicians in Africa's biggest oil producer and top economy, controlling budgets larger than those of small African nations and wielding influence that can decide who goes on presidential tickets. Voting starts at 8 a.m.
  With so much at stake, candidates in past polls have often played dirty, snatching ballot boxes, manipulating voter turn-out and engaging in thuggery and intimidation.
  Muhammadu Buhari beat President Goodluck Jonathan last month with 15.4 million votes against 13.3 million, in a vote that was considered free and less violent than past polls Read more

Editorial - Preferred option

How much is enough? The Dutch side alone currently has 480 taxis and 263 buses (see Friday paper). This certainly sounds like a lot for such a small territory, but readers should keep in mind that it regards a one-pillar tourism economy and tens of thousands of visitors without their own means of transportation are present at any given time.

Nevertheless, there is a reason moratoriums were placed on these types of licences. This becomes all the more evident when one takes into account that there were 321 taxis and 211 buses prior to 2012, but respectively 69 and 14 were added that year, plus another 87 and 38 in 2013.

That seems questionable at best, as the apparent oversaturation of the market must have been pretty clear by then, certainly to the local associations representing the drivers Read more

Integrity chamber law now to be handled on Monday

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament will continue its handling of the draft national ordinance to establish an Integrity Chamber on Monday starting at 10:00am. The Central Committee meeting resumed on Friday morning after its suspension on Wednesday evening, but was suspended again after coalition Members of Parliament (MPs) requested time to compare the draft law with the version suggested by the Dutch Government.

MP Tamara Leonard (United People's (UP) party) made the request for time to review the two versions to Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

Country has 480 taxis and 263 bus licences

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten has a total of 480 taxi licences and 263 bus licences on the roads. There are 39 large “tour” buses with “T” (tour bus) licence plate numbers and a total of 31 “G” licence plate numbers. This is based on numbers given to Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Transportation by Transport Minister Claret Conner on Thursday.

He also informed MPs the moratorium on the issuance of bus and taxi licences remains in place until a study on the state of the industry is conducted Read more

High Court rejects all but one Standard Trust appeal

PHILIPSBURG--The High Court in The Hague this week rejected all but one appeal filed in the so-called Standard Trust case. Only the case of Standard Trust Company (STC) NV director co-director Jodi Lynn Garner (42) was referred back to the Joint Court of Justice in St. Maarten for retrial.

In November 2012, STC and its directors Allard Stamm, Corinne De Tullio-Stamm and Garner were acquitted by the Appeals Court of money laundering, but found guilty of violation of the Ordinance on Unusual Transactions.

For this crime, committed between June 1, 2006, and July 21, 2006, each defendant was sentenced to suspended NAf Read more

Community meets police on escalating burglaries, violence

SOUTH REWARD--About thirty concerned residents of Waymouth Hill and South Reward gathered Thursday evening for a meeting with Police Force representatives concerning a serious and escalating string of break-ins in the area.

Some of the residents, discontented and having lost some faith that a solution was being found, say they would have been very disappointed had it simply been a "lock your windows and doors" type of meeting. However, they said they found it informative, and found the police representatives to be "open, frank and candid," as put by one resident.

"They didn't make excuses," and came across as approachable Read more

‘St. Maarten still uncooperative to solve Saba, Statia dilemmas’

THE HAGUE--The St. Maarten Government is still uncooperative in certain areas of the relations with St. Eustatius and Saba. Areas include (double) taxation of goods for the two smaller islands, the medical evacuation of patients and the airport taxes.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated this in a letter that he sent to the Dutch Parliament on Thursday. The letter, which was released on Friday, dealt with a number of obstacles in the relations between St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (Ministry TEATT) Honorable Claret Connor was present for the oath-taking ceremony of civil servants from the Ministry TEATT that took place recently.
"I am very proud to be able to work with these professional women and men who have taken an oath to serve the people of this country.
"I have a great team to work with Read more

Central Committee meeting to further discuss the Integrity Chamber Ordinance Adjourned to Monday.

style="text-align: center;">Polices, Legislations and Guidelines needed to strengthen the Purpose of the Integrity Chamber.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of Parliament mostly from the governing coalition requested that the chairman of Parliament adjourn the central committee meeting that was supposed to continue on Friday morning to discuss the draft ordinance to establish an Integrity Chamber on St. Maarten. The Members of Parliament from the governing coalition wanted more time to study the additional documents that were presented to them on Friday morning Read more

>Cole Bay: --- Caribbean Auto Sales owned and operated by the Amjad family has added another top of the line brand of vehicles to their fleet as they are one of St. Maarten's biggest auto dealer on the island. When one hears the name Masood, the first thing they think about is insurance as he is the architect that built NAGICO Insurances from scratch.
However, the Amjad's "Mac and Rena" are dedicated business people that are not afraid to take chances, while working endless hours to build the businesses they own Read more

Foreign Id Accepted When Voting Confirms Chairman Of Main Voting Bureau

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - "The electoral ordinance does not prohibit the use of foreign identification for voting purposes," stated chairman of the Main Voting Bureau, attorney Jason Rogers.

Attorney Rogers was at the time speaking on the floor of Parliament discussing the issue of alleged discrepancies during and in preparation of the August 29th parliamentary elections last year.

The meeting was at the request of MPs Read more

Harold Jack Passes Away Friday

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Well known entertainer Harold Jack passed away at the St. Maarten Medical Center on Friday afternoon.

The late Harold Jack in his later years was well known for his operation on the "look out point" from where he sold refreshments to the islands visitors who stopped at the location to take picture and enjoy the scenic view of the islands South and Western coastline including Cay Bay, Cole Bay, Simpson Bay and the Lagoon.

At the "look out point" Harold would only sell non-alcoholic beverages.

Harold Jack died who was in his 70s, died after a short illness at the St Read more

The Case Against Dollarization

The fact that there is still a discussion on the dollarization issue is somewhat strange to me and not because I think it would the worst thing that can happen to us in St. Maarten but because of the total lack of actual benefits proposed by those supporting dollarization.

The symposium on dollarization organized by the Council on Advice at the University of St. Maarten only confirms what I have believed all along, that dollarization is not a valid option for St. Maarten. Although I am basing my article on what was published in the media since I was unable to attend the actual meeting.

In the media, supporter of dollarization, Mr Read more

Implementation Counterpart Policy Is Still Far Away

Ministry publishes rules in National Gazette

St. Maarten – The labor department will deny work permits to companies that refuse to hire “a counterpart found suitable by the department and made available to the employer.” This is one of the rules laid down in the counterpart policy the government published in the National Gazette last week. It will still take some time though, before the private sector is going to feel the effects of the controversial counterpart policy because the ministry first wants to do a pilot project that will last one year from the moment it begins.

“The quality of the execution of the policy by the labor department is a determining factor for the success of the counterpart policy Read more