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St. Maarten issues Ebola travel ban

~ For travellers from West Africa ~

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten has issued an Ebola travel ban and will deny entry or transit to persons who have travelled in the past 21 days to, from and through countries where the outbreak is not contained.

Persons who have travelled to, from or through Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo will not be allowed to enter or transit St. Maarten.

The decision was made based on an advice from health officials of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA, Health Minister Cornelius de Weever said in a statement last night.

"This travel ban will also apply to persons who have been in contact with a suspected or confirmed Ebola case from affected Ebola countries Read more

Minimum wage to be indexed per Jan. 2015

PHILIPSBURG--The minimum wage will be indexed from NAf. 8.56 per hour to NAf. 8.75 per hour as of January 1, 2015.

A press release issued by Labour Minister Cornelius de Weever's Cabinet stated that consultation had been held with the Social Economic Council SER, which advised in December 2012 that with De Weever's vision coupled with the minimum hourly wage policy it had been agreed to index the minimum wage annually.

The Bureau of Statistics also had indicated that the price indices for household consumption "show that the figure for the month of the preceding year changed, thus a new minimum hourly wage."

Employers were requested to take note of the indexation and have it properly adjusted on their employees' pay-slips Read more

Parliament to meet Wednesday on Wit-Samson integrity report

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament is set to meet in a Central Committee meeting on Wednesday, starting at 10:00am, to discuss the findings and recommendations of the Wit-Samson integrity report, titled "Doing the right things right."

Chairwoman of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams said the meeting agenda also includes the handling of an invitation from the Netherlands for her as head of Parliament to attend the Kingdom Concert in December Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- While attending a recent function in benefit of the Mental Health Foundation, caretaker Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams again stressed the importance for the Mental Health Foundation; "As I have expressed in the past we have a Mental Health Foundation doing extremely good work but one that is faced with its challenges Read more

Prime Minister Wescot-Williams Attends Opening of the Oualichi Women’s Soccer Association Female High school competition.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Caretaker Prime Minister the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams attended the opening of the all-female high school competition organized by the Oualichi Women's Soccer Association on Saturday at the Raoul Illidge Sport's Complex. The Prime Minister opened the matches and wished the students much success and further encouraged the Women's Soccer association to build the sport of Women's Soccer on the island Read more

Princess Heights Hotel Named St. Maarten’s Leading Hotel for second year in a row by World Travel Awards.

>DAWN BEACH:--- For second year in a row, Princess Heights Luxury Boutique Hotel has been named "the Leading Hotel in St. Maarten", by the World Travel Awards (WTA) in its 2014 Caribbean & North America Gala Ceremony 2014, which was held at the CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa in Anguilla. Heralded by The Wall Street Journal as the "Oscar's of the travel industry," the WTA has developed into the most prestigious and comprehensive awards program in travel and tourism, and is known worldwide as the hallmark of industry excellence that recognizes the commitment to excellence that hospitality businesses worldwide have demonstrated in the last twelve months.
Emil Lee general manager stated "This latest award, combined with our fourth straight year TripAdvisor certificate of excellence, proves once again that only through hard work, consistency and real commitment to Customer service, we can ensure that our guests enjoy lavish accommodations with world class personalized service Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Caretaker Prime Minister the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams joined the Indian Community in attending the Diwali Celebrations held this past Saturday at the Belair Community Center. Diwali or Divali also known as Deepavali and the "festival of lights" is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year. Wescot-Williams stated that it was a pleasure for her to be able to share a cultural experience with the Indian Community of St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- On Sunday October 26th, 2014 a peaceful march that was organized by People United for True Democracy took place. This march started at approximately 2:00pm and lasted until 5:00pm. The march was attended by approximately two hundred persons and ended in front of the Government Administration Building on the Clem Labega Square. The Community Police Officer/Inspector Felix Richards used this opportunity at the end of the march to approach the onlookers and the participants attending the march, including prominent politicians such as Franklin Meyers, Dr Read more

style="text-align: center;">All Members of the Democratic Party did not support her decision but respected it as Leader of DP

PHILIPSBURG:--- Almost three weeks after signing an agreement with formateur Theodore Heyliger, leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams finally broke her silence on Monday at a press conference held at the House of Parliament Read more

Cpo Takes "Stop, Drop & Go" Projects To The Streets

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - On Sunday October 26th a peaceful march that was organized People United for True Democracy took place.

This march started at approximately 02.00 p.m. and lasted until 05.00 p.m.

The march was attended by approximately two hundred persons and ended in front on the Government Administration building on the Clem Labega Square.

The Community Police Officer/ Inspector Felix Richards used this opportunity and the end of the march to approach the onlookers and the participants attending the march, including prominent politicians such as, Franklin Meyers, Dr Read more

Prime Minister Wescot-Williams Stresses The Need To Support Mental Healthcare At Mental Health Foundation Function

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - While attending a recent function in benefit of the Mental Health Foundation, caretaker Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams again stressed the importance for the Mental Health Foundation; "As I have expressed in the past we have a Mental Health Foundation doing extremely good work but one that is faced with its challenges.

Government subsidizes the Foundation but indeed the needs of the organization are great.

"There are a lot of issues that are faced by people on a daily basis; some persons can conceal this state but others not.

More can be done on St Read more

Prime Minister Wescot-Williams Attends Diwali Celebrations

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Caretaker Prime Minister the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams joined the Indian Community in attending the Diwali Celebrations held this past Saturday at the Belair Community Center.

Diwali or Divali also known as Deepavali and the "festival of lights" is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year.

Wescot-Williams stated that it was a pleasure for her to be able to share a cultural experience with the Indian Community of St Read more

Mosquito Fogging Moved Forward; Commences October 28

St. Maarten – The fogging of mosquitoes originally carded for November 1 has been moved forward to October 28, according to the Collective Preventive Services (CPS).

Residents are asked to bear in mind that fogging is not a total solution to eliminate mosquitos and that fogging activity is kept to a minimum in order to prevent the mosquito population from developing immunity to the chemicals that are deployed.

Fogging is one intervention of several, and the main measure is for every household and business to take action by removing potential mosquito breeding spots in and around their premises on a daily basis Read more

Editorial - What then?

An estimated 200 people showed up for Sunday's demonstration against the intervention by the Kingdom Council of Ministers in the process to form a local government. The crowd may not have seemed that large in absolute numbers, but for St. Maarten, where people rarely take to streets to protest anything, it was significant.

Some who disagree with the participants might argue that they were mostly UP sympathisers, as the instruction from the Netherlands to Governor Eugene Holiday obviously is aimed at that party and its leader Theo Heyliger, to prevent him from becoming prime minister Read more

What democracy?

Dear Editor,

What democracy was the march on Sunday held for? Was it for the democracy that this island never experienced? Those of us who have lived on this island for the last 5½ decades know that this island was never governed in a democratic manner. This island was ruled during the last 5½ decades, with the exception of a few years after 1979, by a clan. The members of this clan are of the firm belief that only the clan should run this island.

To achieve their goal, this clan has used and is still using unconventional methods Read more

It’s just us!

Dear Editor,

After hearing the many varying opinions on our stance against continuous meddling and intervention by the Dutch in our affairs without any legal basis, I wondered and asked why the silence in Philipsburg is so deafening. And the thought came to me then of the prayers of our forefathers, especially their cry for divine intervention in times like these.

It was rather ironic that our country was hit by a hurricane and we heard no enquiries or queries from the Dutch on the damages or state of affairs on the island Read more

UK ends Afghan combat role, last US Marines hand over base

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan--British troops ended their combat operations in Afghanistan on Sunday as they and U.S. Marines handed over two huge adjacent bases to the Afghan military, 13 years after a U.S.-led invasion launched the long and costly war against the Taliban.

Their coming departure leaves Afghanistan and its newly installed president, Ashraf Ghani, to deal almost unaided with an emboldened Taliban insurgency after the last foreign combat troops withdraw by year-end.

At the U.S Read more

Minister praises ‘quick’ recovery efforts on visit

MARIGOT--French Minister of Overseas Territories George Pau-Langevin has praised the "very quick" efforts of the territory to get back on its feet following the passing of Hurricane Gonzalo, on her visit to St. Martin and St. Barths on Sunday.

She especially thanked law enforcement, SNSM sea rescue, EDF and all service providers for working flat out to assist the population in getting back to normal daily routines.

"As the tourist season is starting shortly, it was important for us to see areas like Orient Beach that depend on tourism," she said before departing for St Read more

Marchers call for ‘respect’ and end to Dutch ‘insult’

PHILIPSBURG--"We didn't vote for Bosman or Van Raak" and "Enough is enough. This is our country" were some of the messages on the placards carried by an estimated 200 marchers who took to the street Sunday afternoon to express their discontent with the Kingdom Council of Ministers' instruction to Governor Eugene Holiday to carry out what has been deemed an invasive, boundless screening into the lives of minister candidates.

The march started off from the ring road with the sizable group heading down W.J.A Read more

PSS N.V. says personalized stamps can be a fun and unique way to capture unique moments and communicate them not only within the St. Maarten community, but also around the world via traditional postal systems.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS) N.V. is encouraged by early interest in the launch of personalized stamps for visiting and residential customers.

The personalized stamps service was officially launched at the A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facilities on October 17, 2014 along with the official opening of a new post office location at the Harbour.

To mark the occasion, PSS staff produced a series of personalized stamps for their invited guests during the opening ceremonies to demonstrate how quickly and easily a sheet of official stamps can be produced and instantly make use of an historic moment.

According to PSS N.V Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The OSPP has been paying keen attention to the recent developments regarding the instructions given to Governor Holiday by the Dutch Kingdom Council of Minister. This instruction in our opinion is baseless to say the least. After the 2014 election the NA/DP/US government was being formed and they had reached a point of signing an agreement to work together Read more

>POINT BLANCHE:--- On Thursday, a delegation from the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labour (Ministry VSA) headed by Minister Hon. Cornelius de Weever, Port St. Maarten Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo and port representatives, met in Miami, Florida with Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) President Michele Paige and representatives from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), regarding Ebola screening protocols for cruise ship passengers and crew.

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal illness in humans Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Hon. Maurice Lake of the United People's (UP) Party says the country already has screening laws for candidates proposed to become a member of the Council of Ministers.

"This whole thing is not about that anybody is afraid of being screened Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Fire in Babylon, Love is better than wine and The Power of the Tongue were titles of presentations delivered by Clayton Felix, Ted Richards & Rolande Tobias during Men Empowerment Night. The event was organized by St Maarten Toastmasters to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Toastmasters International. Having started back in 1924 as a Men's only organization, the organizers decided to place emphasis on the men and the importance of men stepping up in the organization. Held at the Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School in Cay Hill this past Saturday evening, the event saw an impressive attendance and participants thoroughly enjoy the evening's presentation.
The presentation by Clayton Holiday dealt with the challenges encountered by the West Indies cricket team and the determination of the players to make a statement on the international cricket stage Read more