SXMElections.com

Editorial - Word of advice

"Only in St. Maarten," many no doubt will be saying about the most recent political twist since the end-of-August elections. To refresh everyone's memory, originally the coalition was to be NA/DP/US party, then UP/De Weever, subsequently UP/De Weever/Marlin-Romeo/DP, later UP/De Weever/Marlin-Romeo and now UP/De Weever/Marlin-Romeo/US party.

It seems a bit ironic that United St Read more

Ministry calls off search and rescue for missing ASL aircraft

GUYANA--Despite an intensive 21 days of aerial and ground searches in mountainous and densely forested terrain in Region Eight for the ASL Britten Norman Islander, the aircraft and its occupants have still not been found.

As such, a decision was taken on Monday, January 19, to end the search.

8R-GHE disappeared on routine shuttle operation Mahdia to Karisparu on December 28, 2014, with Captain Nicky Yakesh Persaud (27) and cargo handler David Bisnauth (51).

After the aircraft was reported overdue, five aircraft conducted reconnaissance over the Mahdia, Kaietuer, Karisparu and Taffy areas following the most probable track that the aircraft would have flown.

Three helicopters were deployed followed by an ASL Cessna Caravan and 11 GDF Special Forces officers on that day.

The Rescue Coordination Centre was established and supported by Minister of Public Works Robeson Benn; Major Mike Charles; Captain Gerry Gouveia along with several agencies including, GDF, Guyana Police Force, GGMC, CDC, Ministry of Health, Guyana Forestry Commission, Air Services Ltd, CJIAC, Civil Aviation Department – Suriname, CGX and the GCAA.

Information-gathering and planning was done from this centre and coordinated for execution by the sub centre established at Mahdia.search3.

During the last 21 days, extensive searches were conducted by three helicopters and two fixed-winged aircraft from a base established at Mahdia, to locations identified as high-probability areas determined as a result of sightings and more than 20 interviews with miners, villagers and relatives.

Over 230 hours were flown by the helicopters and fixed-winged aircraft over the Blackwater Creek basin, North Fork, Konawaruk River, Ebini, Eagle, Mowasi, Glendor mountains and the Kurungiku mountain range, including "Toucan Face" "Twin Towers" and Toucan Valley Read more

‘Common ground’ sought on integrity regulations

PHILIPSBURG--The Dutch and St. Maarten Governments will seek "common ground" on the implementation of measures to ensure integrity of public servants and politicians.

Technocrats on both sides of the ocean will have a video conference later this week to try to connect areas in the ordinance and the areas outlined in the kingdom regulation containing general measures related to integrity.

Following the work of the technocrats, officials of both governments will review the results with the hope of coming to a solid agreement.

"We will see how we can probably merge the two of them or fit the two of them Read more

Frans joins UP-led coalition, gets Justice Ministry portfolio

PHILIPSBURG--The United People's (UP)-led coalition again has the support of ten Members of Parliament (MPs) as of Monday morning when United St. Maarten (US) party leader MP Frans Richardson signed on to the coalition.

Richardson signed on with the "100 per cent support" of his party's board Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Saba Commissioners Chris Johnson and Bruce Zagers paid a courtesy visit to the Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Marcel Gumbs last week to congratulate the Prime Minister as well as discuss a number of pressing matters in the relationship between the countries.

One of the key issues discussed was the method of transportation of fish and lobster from Saba to St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk could not say whether or not he could convince the Kingdom Council of Ministers not to impose higher supervision on St. Maarten as planned. The Kingdom Council was supposed to discuss this matter last Friday but withdrew the agenda point to give Minister Plasterk the opportunity to further discuss the concerns of the Kingdom on his working visit here on St. Maarten. At a joint press conference held on Monday afternoon Minister Plasterk and Prime Minister of St Read more

Editorial - Louder than words

It appears St. Maarten and the Dutch Government are heading for a showdown again, judging from statements by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson in today's paper. This time it regards what he called a "draconic" proposal for an Integrity Chamber.

The Hague apparently is not satisfied with the current local plans that call for one representative of the Netherlands in the three-member chamber as well as one in the Progress Committee that is to monitor the integrity improvement course. Instead, the intention is reportedly for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to appoint the Integrity Chamber's chairperson and his cabinet a second member, leaving St Read more

China new home prices slip, sombre omen for 2014 GDP

BEIJING--China's new home prices fell significantly in December for a fourth straight month even as year-end sales volumes surged, a sombre omen for fourth-quarter 2014 economic growth data due out later in the week.
  Sunday's gloomy National Bureau of Statistics' data foreshadowed weak economic figures set for Tuesday, with expansion expected to slow to 7.2 percent, the weakest since the depths of the global financial crisis.
  Falling property prices are likely to keep pressure on policymakers to head off a sharper slowdown this year Read more

Connected and interdependent

Dear Editor,

This community is wrought with issues that need addressing in a no-nonsense manner to truly give relief to our people and stop the continuous slide of large parts of the society to sub poverty line. This government has got to come to grips with a crazy and ill-advised adherence to a policy adapted from the Dutch that simply makes no sense, and if it makes no sense it can't be right.

I am of course referring to the so-called arms length policy with government-owned companies or NVs Read more

Japan opposition Democrats turn to familiar face to try to turn fortunes

TOKYO--Japan's opposition Democratic Party elected former foreign minister Katsuya Okada as its leader on Sunday, turning to a familiar face to try to persuade voters it can again become a viable alternative to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling party.

Okada, 61, must try to repair the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) battered image two years after Abe led his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power pledging to revive the economy and strengthen defence policies.

"I want to make the DPJ a party that the people believe can take responsibility for a change in government, and fight fairly and firmly with Abe's LDP," Okada told a party convention after his election to the post he held a decade ago.

A mix of former LDP members, ex-socialists and centrists, the DPJ surged to power in 2009 on a promise to focus on consumers rather than big firms and other vested interests Read more

Middle class decline looms over final years of Obama presidency

DALTON, Georgia--Barack Obama enters the final two years of his presidency with a blemish on his legacy that looks impossible to erase: the decline of the middle class he has promised to rescue.
  The revival of middle-class jobs has been one of Obama's mantras since he took office in 2009 fighting the worst economic crisis in generations. It was a major theme of his last State of the Union address and is expected to feature in the one scheduled for Tuesday.
  Administration officials said on Saturday the president would propose higher capital gains taxes, new fees on large financial firms, and other measures to raise $320 billion for programs and tax breaks aimed at the middle class.
  Obama's administration can take credit for stabilizing the U.S Read more

Parliament starts budget handling this Thursday

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament will begin its handling of the draft 2015 budget in a Central Committee as of Thursday from 9:00am in Parliament House. Finance Minister Martin Hassink is expected to make a presentation on the budget to Parliament.

The draft budget stands at some NAf. 445 million with investments and capital expenditures set at some NAf Read more

Gumbs: Screening of ministers under Wescot-Williams’ watch

PHILIPSBURG--Minister-candidates who are now ministers in the Gumbs Cabinet were screened during the tenure of now-former Prime Minister/General Affairs Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, said Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs in response to questions posed by the same Wescot-Williams, now a Member of Parliament, about the screening and the involvement of the Dutch Secret Service in the process.

Wescot-Williams sent her questions about the screening to Gumbs on January 13 via Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

PM submits declarations of assets to Advisory Council

PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has submitted to the Advisory Council his declarations and notifications of assets, holdings, secondary positions and interests, those of the other five new ministers and of ministers who served in the Wescot-Williams III Cabinet.

The submission is in accordance with the National Ordinance Promotion of the Integrity of Ministers.

The declarations were submitted on Friday, three days before the stipulated 30-day deadline for submission by new ministers and persons who have ceased to be ministers.

The submission to the Advisory Council followed a similar submission to the Electoral Council that was tied to the National Ordinance Registration and Finances of Political Parties Read more

‘Specialised structures for youth in difficulties needed’ says General

MARIGOT--General Bertrand Soubelet, Head of the Gendarmerie in the Overseas Territories has called for more specialised structures to assist youth in difficulties in the on-going quest to reduce delinquency, at a closed meeting held with President Aline Hanson on Friday.

"The Brigade for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (BPDJ) intervenes in the schools, but it is more important to create these specialised structures to prevent re-occurrences of crimes, which will also work on re-integrating these young offenders into society again," he suggested Read more

Sarah: Hassink has ‘no choice’

~But to release BTP report~

PHILIPSBURG--The recent call by Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP) to government to make publicly available the Government Accountants Bureau SOAB report, appraisal reports and advice on the bureau to put an end to fraud allegations has left Finance Minister Martin Hassink "no choice" but to explain to Parliament the hierarchical structure of BTP, said Democratic Party (DP) Leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a statement Sunday.

"I eagerly await the Finance Minister's reaction to this sudden outburst by BTP," Wescot-Williams said.

BTP said in a press statement on Friday that neither its present supervisory board nor management "ever took a decision to purchase a building Read more

Camelia-Römer substitute for law review committee

WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG--Former Netherlands Antilles Prime Minister Suzy Camelia-Römer has been nominated as a substitute member for St. Maarten on the Committee for Evaluation of the Kingdom Laws. She will deputize for committee member Judge Jacob "Bob" Wit.

The office of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs confirmed on Sunday evening that Camelia-Römer has been approached to substitute for Wit.

The committee will evaluate four consensus kingdom laws covering the police, the Prosecutor's Office, the Joint Court of Justice and the Council for Law Enforcement Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Parliament has been asked in an indirect way to give the Government of St. Maarten some time to get its feet wet, but events in rapid succession are demanding Parliament's attention, and government is called to respond with equal urgency.
How else can one explain the sudden outburst by the Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP) in the press of Saturday, January 17th?
To understand the anomaly of this and put this matter in perspective, we need to understand the organization of the institution BTP.
This institution is created by law to execute a public task Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has submitted to the Council of Advice the written declarations and notifications (assets/holdings, secondary positions/interests) of the new Ministers as well as those of the Ministers of the former cabinet in accordance with the National Ordinance Promotion of the Integrity of Ministers (Landsverordening Integriteitbevordering Ministers).

The declarations were submitted on Friday, January 16, three days before the legally stipulated deadline of 30 from when the Ministers were sworn in and accepted the appointment as a minister and within 30 days of the date on which the former Ministers ceases to be a Minister Read more

PM Gumbs responds to Wescot-Williams on Dutch Secret Service.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister the Hon. Marcel Gumbs has responded, via official letter, to the questions by Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams as submitted to the Chairman of Parliament via letter dated January 13, 2015 Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Finance the Hon. Martin Hassink on Friday, January 16, presented the 2015 draft Country Budget to Parliament. Minister Hassink presented the budget to the Chairman of Parliament Dr. Lloyd Richardson and the Presidium of Parliament in the persons of Member of Parliament Cornelius DeWeever and Member of Parliame Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Marcel Gumbs welcomed Dutch Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk to St. Maarten on Sunday afternoon. Minister Plasterk is on a working visit to St. Maarten, Saba and Statia from January 18 until January 21. On Monday morning he will meet in a formal session with Prime Minister Gumbs Read more

style="text-align: center;">Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson to be replaced by Edward Kiridongo

PHILIPSBURG:--- Another shake up in the current coalition government will soon force Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson out of office. Last week Member of Parliament Frans Richardson confirmed to SMN News that he was approached by persons representing the coalition to join them as they move to strengthen the current government Read more

Draft 2015 Budget Present To President Of Parliament By Finance Minister

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Minister of Finance the Hon. Martin Hassink on Friday, January 16, presented the 2015 draft Country Budget to Parliament.

Minister Hassink presented the budget to the Chairman of Parliament Dr. Lloyd Richardson and the Presidium of Parliament in the persons of Member of Parliament Cornelius DeWeever and Read more