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Telecommunication Union Accuses Telem Of Hiring Illegals:  Calls For Resignation Of The Board

St. Maarten – A vote of no confidence in the board of TelEm and the resignation of Raphael Boasman as the head of that board because of a conflict of interest, were among issues cited by the St. Maarten Telecommunication Union during a press conference yesterday.

The union called the press conference to air some of their grievances in the court of public opinion after having received no satisfaction from management and board of TelEm to their issues, chief among which is the employment of a Surinamese company to perform paid employment that the union feels can and should be done by local contractors Read more

Mp Wescot-Williams Keeps Focus On Healthy Lifestyle

St. Maarten -The U2 Can Move organization has planned a walkathon for Saturday, March 7th     towards their goal of a healthy life style for all. Former Prime Minister and Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, who has been one of the driving forces behind this project from its onset, yesterday reiterated her continued support for the different activities that are geared towards a healthy lifestyle for all.

The date for the walkathon has been chosen to coincide with International Women’s Day–  being commemorated under the theme Make it happen– which is annually celebrated on March 8th.

“Cognizant of the constraints many women face, especially where physical activity is concerned, I warmly endorse activities, business-sponsored or otherwise that offer women the opportunity to stay fit Read more

Major seafront project ready to go ‘full steam’

POINTE BLANCHE--St. Maarten Quarter, a major mixed-use waterfront development project by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) is ready to commence and "go full steam" once approval is given by the Council of Ministers. The project has been in the making for eight years and its presentation to Government seems to have been well received.

Time is of the essence, as RCCL and its partners must have approval to finalise funding commitments. RCCL and the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies (SHGC) want to announce the project at the global Seatrade Cruise Shipping Conference in Miami in the week of March 17, amongst international industry players and travel and trade media.

RCCL Vice President of Commercial Development John Tercek and his partners presented a full project overview, including its history, vision and impacts, to the Ministers and Parliament's Permanent Committee for Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT) on Thursday.

Main presenter Tercek was joined by consortium members Adam Petrillo of leading construction management company Hill International; Craig Baptiste and Ralph Ledee of Platinum Harbor, both local partners; SHGC Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo; and two harbour officials.

Tercek said he was happy to be able to deliver the presentation to the officials in an "appropriate and transparent way," and some Members of Parliament noted the same.

Feedback seemed positive with the exception of MP Franklin Meyers' comments that Dutch contracting companies "make hundreds of millions" in St Read more

Independence referendum possible in less than 4 years

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten could possibly see a referendum on independence before the current Parliamentary term ends in 2018. At least this is the hope of staunch independence advocates such as activists Jose Lake Jr., Leo Friday Sr., Elton Jones and Drs. Rhoda Arrindell.

This hope was expressed by representatives of Independence for St Read more

Second Chamber wants debate on islands’ Electoral College

THE HAGUE--It seems that Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk will be left little choice but to introduce a special Electoral College for the Caribbean Netherlands to safeguard the voting rights of both Dutch and foreign nationals in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.

The Permanent Committee for Home Affairs of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament decided during a procedural meeting on Thursday, that it wants a general debate with Minister Plasterk to discuss this matter on short term.

Committee Member Wassila Hachchi of the Democratic Party D66 urged to have this debate within the shortest possible time, so the Second Chamber can proceed to handle the law proposal to establish an Electoral College, through which Dutch citizens in the Caribbean Netherlands would (indirectly) vote for the First Chamber, or the Senate Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten is now the Regional Authorising Officer (RAO) for the 11th EDF Regional Program. The announcement was made at the Annual Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA) Ministerial Conference and the 13th Annual OCTA/EU Forum from February 25 to 27 in Tortola. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs signed the ratification document formalising this status.
This is the result of a nomination proposed by Montserrat in 2014 and ratified by the remaining 11 Caribbean OCTs in a vote by consensus Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs - Octa

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - St. Maarten is now the Regional Authorising Officer (RAO) for the 11th EDF Regional Program.

The announcement was made at the Annual Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA) Ministerial Conference and the 13th Annual OCTA/EU Forum from February 25 to 27 in Tortola.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs signed the ratification document formalising this status.

This is the result of a nomination proposed by Montserrat in 2014 and ratified by the remaining 11 Caribbean OCTs in a vote by consensus.

In this function St Read more

Digicel talks fruitless, TelEm talking to another company

PHILIPSBURG--The TelEm Group is currently engaged in partnership talks with a new prospective partner as talks with Digicel bore no fruit.

Asked about the talks during a press conference on Wednesday, St. Maarten Communications Union (SMCU) President Ludson Evers said he could not go into details of the discussions, but noted that the company is talking to another prospective partner as the talks with Digicel have been completed and had been fruitless.

He declined to give the name of the prospective partner and also declined to go into any details when asked Read more

SMCU accuses TelEm of using illegal Surinamese for Fibre to Home project

~ TelEm says help sought for pilot ~

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Communications Union (SMCU) has accused the TelEm Group of hiring eight undocumented Surinamese workers for a major Fibre to Home project, while there are competent locals including former TelEm technicians who can do the job.

TelEm however, said that the Surinamese workers were being used for the pilot fibre to home project and has assured that TelEm fully supports the use of local contractors and that the actual project will be open for bidding.

SMCU President Ludson Evers told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday that the company failed to put the project on bid to give locals a fair chance despite promises from TelEm official Helma Etnel that this would be done.

The union wants Government, Parliament, Immigration Department, the Labour Inspectorate and Labour Department to intervene in the matter Read more

Former tourism marketing head facing suspended prison sentence

~ Prosecutor: LaBega not off the hook ~

PHILIPSBURG--More than four years after criminal complaints were filed against him in his capacity as Head of Marketing of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Edward Dest finally had his day in court on Wednesday. He is facing charges of embezzlement in his capacity as civil servant.

Prosecutor Nanouk Lemmers found it proven that Dest had embezzled funds belonging to the St. Maarten Tourist Office in New York for promoting tourism to St. Maarten in North America and instead had used the money to pay for airfare, hotel rooms, daily allowances, the Tourist Bureau's Christmas dinner and Boardwalk Mas 2010 expenditures.

For these crimes, which allegedly were committed between June 1, 2009, and August 23, 2010, the Prosecutor requested a suspended sentence of two months, with two years' probation Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister responsible for Aviation Affairs Claret Connor and the Department of Civil Aviation and Shipping and Maritime would like to advise the public against the use of remote piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) in Sint Maarten, particularly in the area near Simpson Bay. This advisory comes in the wake of these aircraft systems being operated off vessels in the Simpson bay lagoon and in the Simpson Bay area adjacent to Runway 28.
These aircraft systems pose a danger to landing and departing aircrafts at the airport and should not be operated in the area or anywhere on Sint Maarten without the express approval from the Department Read more

style="text-align: center;">Calls on Raphael Boasman to vacate his seat as Chairman of the Supervisory Board since he is operating in Conflict of Interest.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Communication Union (SMCU) headed by Ludson Evers along with his other board members told reporters at a press conference held on Wednesday that he would like for the Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs (Shareholder representative of TELEM) and other entities they contacted to deal with an illegal situation that TELEM another government owned company has engaged in Read more

Smcu Says Local Contractors Being Side-Lined

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Local fiber optic contractors on the island are being sidelined, while Surinamese are brought in to execute work that could have been done locally.

One such person being sidelined is Alberto Arrindell, a former employee of the TelEm Group who is also an expert in the area of fiber optic cable.

While the Surinamese, who are said not to be in the possession of work permits have been awarded a contract to do the work, local qualified persons are being left out.

This was disclosed at a press conference held by the St Read more

Committee Puts Three Questions To Council Of State: Do Kingdom Instructions Violate Our Autonomy?

St. Maarten – On the day of the extended deadline, the permanent parliamentary committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations formulated three questions about the procedures around instructions by the Kingdom Council of Ministers to the governor. The questions will be added to those already formulated by the Dutch Second Chamber and sent for advice to the Council of State.

The instructions the governors of Aruba (about its 2014 budget) and of St. Maarten (about integrity-investigations and about the establishment of the Integrity Chamber) are still a hot topic in the autonomous Caribbean countries of the kingdom.

The questions the Second Chamber members have formulated are, in the opinion of the committee-members in St Read more

Editorial - Reassuring

That Arke will be flying to Princess Juliana International Airport SXM twice weekly from Schiphol in Amsterdam starting next winter (see related story) is obviously good news. After all, attracting more visitors from the Netherlands, but also the rest of Europe so far has proved a challenge for St. Maarten.

That is certainly the case compared to the ABC-islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao), which have been very successful in this regard. As a matter of fact, the alternative Arke provided to Royal Dutch airline KLM over there especially concerning fares no doubt played a big role in that development.

To be sure, St Read more

Netanyahu draws clear rebuke from Obama over Iran speech

WASHINGTON--Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United States on Tuesday that it was negotiating a bad deal with Iran that could spark a "nuclear nightmare," drawing a rebuke from President Barack Obama and exposing a deepening U.S.-Israeli rift.

They delivered dueling messages within hours of each other. Netanyahu made his case against Obama's Iran diplomacy in a speech to Congress that aligned himself with the president's Republican foes. Obama responded in the Oval Office, declaring in a frustrated tone that Netanyahu offered "nothing new."

In its response, the Iranian government denounced Netanyahu's 39-minute speech as "boring and repetitive," the state news agency IRNA said.

In an appearance boycotted by dozens of Obama's fellow Democrats, Netanyahu said Iran's leadership was "as radical as ever" and could not be trusted and the deal being worked out by the United States and other world powers would not block Iran's way to a bomb "but paves its way to a bomb."

"It will all but guarantee that Iran will get those nuclear weapons, lots of them," the Israeli leader said Read more

BlackBerry unveils new mid-market smartphone

BARCELONA/TORONTO--BlackBerry unveiled a new mid-market smartphone on Tuesday dubbed the BlackBerry Leap that is set to replace the Z3 device launched a year ago, in a move to woo buyers in certain emerging markets where BlackBerry still has a fairly large client base.
  The Waterloo, Ontario-based company said the phone, unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, would initially hit stores in U.S and European markets around April and be priced around $275.
  The company also said it planned to roll out two more models over the course of the next months, both with a keyboard Read more

Simpson Bay: Parliament must investigate land deal

SIMPSON BAY--Simpson Bay residents are pulling together after again being faced with uncertainty concerning the area's development.

The latest stir surrounds the possibility of long-term resident and business owner's eviction from a plot of land on Simpson Bay Road. After fighting in court, the community will submit a petition to Parliament today, March 4, demanding a thorough investigation into the "fishy business" surrounding the land deal.

Marlon Halley is facing the possibility of another court case or eviction after operating his maintenance business on the plot of family land for some 28 years Read more

Govt to clamp down on ToT, wage tax defaulters

PHILIPSBURG--Businesses that are in default of their turnover tax (ToT) and wage tax payments can expect a visit from Tax Administration Marshals.

The Tax Administration has started to clamp down on businesses that are in default of their payment of these two taxes, department head Sherry Hazel said on Tuesday.

Some eight marshals already have started to visit businesses.

Tax Administration will also use the opportunity to clean up its database by removing businesses that have ceased operation, as it is suspected that some businesses have closed their doors and have not informed the Tax Administration Read more

Sarah calls for discussion on companies’ annual accounts

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams has called for the examination of the annual accounts of all government-owned companies in a meeting of Parliament's Permanent Committee for Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication.

This urgent meeting request has been communicated to committee chairman MP Frans Richardson (United St Read more

Arke Airline returns to St. Maarten November

RIJSWIJK--After ceasing service to St. Maarten six years ago, Arkefly (Shortened to Arke in the current corporate design to match the travel agency) is resuming flights to St. Maarten per November this year, the Dutch airline announced on Tuesday.

Flights from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport to St. Maarten will be carried out with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner at considerably lower fares, some twenty per cent cheaper at least, than competitors Royal Dutch Airline KLM and Air France.

Arke, a subsidiary of travel organisation TUI Netherlands, will be scheduling two flights per week, on Wednesdays and Sundays Read more

MPs call for clarity on taxi, bus permits

PHILIPSBURG--Government is called on to make the register of bus, taxi and tour-bus permits public and to give an explanation of the current moratorium on issuance of permits for those types of businesses by two Members of Parliament (MPs).

Independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo said in a press statement issued late Monday night she "wants clarity" on the moratorium Read more

Teacher’s union concerned over Cité Scolaire schedule

MARIGOT--Teacher’s Union Syndicat National Enseignants Second Degré (SNES-FSU) has voiced a number of concerns about Cité Scolaire’s timetable in an open letter to President Aline Hanson, indicating it has been left in the dark, deprived of progress reports from the various committees, and says questions have been met with “silence,” “evasiveness,” or answers have been changed from what the union was originally told.

   The Collectivité has previously boasted the 17-million-euro project La Savane is “well on track” for an opening this coming September, just six months away Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo said a request was sent on Monday February 23rd 2015 to the Chairman of the Committee Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommuncation Member of Parliament Frans Richardson for a meeting to be held on the current Moratorium Policy on Bus, Taxi, and Tour Permits.

"Clarity is being sought on this matter because despite having a moratorium policy, exceptions were made in the past and permits were still awarded based on the discretion of the minister.

"It is in this aspect that this faction is seeking changes in the process and encouraging the current minister to review the current Moratorium Policy on Bus, Taxi, and Tour Permits Read more