SXMElections.com

Pink October: Smmc Holds Open House For Breast Cancer Awareness

St. Maarten – Pink was the color of choice at the St. Maarten Medical Center’s open house on Saturday, Oct 4, which was held in honor of breast cancer awareness and the fight against breast cancer itself. Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Cornelius de Weever and PM Sarah Wescot-Williams were in attendance Read more

Thailand hits party scene to combat HIV among gay men

BANGKOK-- Bare-chested male models strutted through the glitzy ballroom in Bangkok to the beat of house music while dozens of young gay men waited anxiously, working up the nerve to have a blood test.

The mostly female health team taking samples seemed incongruous next to the shirtless models circling the party, but the health workers' presence at the TestBKK event, Thailand's first mass HIV testing for gays, was sending a powerful message.

Over the past decade, HIV has spread rapidly among gay men, transgender people and male sex workers in Bangkok to reach epidemic levels, fuelled partly by greater use of illicit party drugs that make people less cautious about sex, experts said.

Once touted as an HIV success story, Thailand is now faced with infection rates in its gay population comparable to those in Africa's AIDS hot spots.

Waking up to the scale of the problem, Thai authorities have embarked on a campaign to raise awareness about HIV and encourage testing among those most at risk: men who have sex with men and transgender people.

Frits van Griensven, an HIV researcher and adviser to the Thai Red Cross, said the initiative to focus on this key group was a positive step and long-awaited acknowledgement that Thailand - which successfully tackled HIV/AIDS in the 1990s - had failed to keep up with the spread of the virus into certain communities.

"For the government to take a stand in this epidemic and stand up for the rights of a minority population, I thought this was a big move," van Griensven told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview at his home in Bangkok.

He said it was only in the past year that Thai authorities had started to take this seriously and focus on HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) prevention in Thailand's gay community.

Perhaps the biggest step in the campaign was in March last year with the release of guidelines on how to prevent the spread of HIV in men who have sex with men and transgender people Read more

Caravanserai timeshare owners informed their rights annulled

~ Clients in disbelief, want Government to take action ~

SIMPSON BAY--Timeshare owners at Caravanserai Beach Resort are up in arms after being informed recently by the property's new owners Alegria Real Estate BV that all timeshare rights granted by the previous owners are being annulled and that instead the company will offer hotel units against payment.

The news, seemingly the only contact that has been made by Alegria so far, is causing considerable concern amongst timeshare owners who are overwhelmed with questions Read more

Public school teachers with perfect attendance receive financial award

~ Teachers lauded for work at WTD event ~

CAY HILL--Public school teachers with perfect attendance records during the last academic year were rewarded with a token of appreciation during the World Teacher's Day (WTD) ceremony at the Belair Community Center on Saturday evening.

The group of teachers were each presented with a cheque of NAf. 250 as well as a certificate of appreciation Read more

Heyliger weighs in on integrity report

PHILIPSBURG--United People's (UP) party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Theo Heyliger on Sunday issued a statement on the integrity report compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on instruction from Governor Eugene Holiday.

He said some were attempting to paint a picture of "an unwilling St Read more

Minister Lake says we need to raise the bar of politics. Says he supports implementation of integrity report recommendations.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake says we need to raise the bar of politics to a higher level.

"The voting population sent a strong message in this year's parliamentary elections to the candidates and also to the leaders of the different political parties Read more

style="text-align: center;">Johnson calls on community to support

DUTCH QUARTER:--- The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School which is located in the district of Dutch Quarter will soon start with their plans to create a new playground for their Cycle one students. "The initial discussions have commenced and we will be executing this plan within the shortest possible time," remarked School Manager Stuart Johnson.

School Management is working closely with the Parent Teacher Foundation (PTF) of the school to ensure this project is successfully completed Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- "Over the past two weeks much has been said about the PWC Integrity report locally and across the ocean. Unfortunately some are attempting to paint a picture of an unwilling St. Maarten, unwilling to address reported and alleged integrity issues highlighted in the report, a St. Maarten comfortable with the status quo. The volume on the noise has been increased, but it is important that we filter through this and focus.
"I thought it was important to point out that contrary to the opinion of some, you cannot wave a magic wand and address every reported issue overnight Read more

Mlk To Have New Playground For Cycle One Students, Johnson Calls On Community To Support

DUTCH QUARTER, St. Maarten- The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School which is located in the district of Dutch Quarter will soon start with their plans to create a new playground for their Cycle one students.

"The initial discussions have commenced and we will be executing this plan within the shortest possible time," remarked School Manager Stuart Johnson.

School Management is working closely with the Parent Teacher Foundation (PTF) of the school to ensure this project is successfully completed Read more

Minister Lake Says We Need To Raise The Bar Of Politics. Says He Supports Implementation Of Integrity Report Recommendations

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake says we need to raise the bar of politics to a higher level.

"The voting population sent a strong message in this year's parliamentary elections to the candidates and also to the leaders of the different political parties.

The people are looking for better representation, and the way the people's business is being handled should be in an open and transparent manner which I fully support.

"We need to raise the bar for the next four years and take care of our people Read more

“Justice Ministry Frontrunner In The Region” “Exemplary” Code Of Conduct

St. Maarten – “Working as a stripper or pole dancer.” That is on the “not-to-do-list” in the code of conduct for civil servants that work at the Ministry of Justice. It is an example among many, one that may speak more to the imagination than suggestions not to use a department-car to go to the beach, or not to print complete books on a printer in the office.

During a ceremony at the University of St. Martin, PricewaterhouseCoopers Dutch Caribbean presented the code of conduct, the first milestone in an integrity-journey that began six months ago with a presentation at the Claude Wathey Legislative Hall, followed by sessions at the Justice Academy, the prison and the airport Read more

Pwc Integrity Report: Unauthorized Payments Tourist Bureau Exceed Million Guilders

St. Maarten – The Tourist Bureau made in 2010 unauthorized payments for an amount of more than 1.1 million guilders (approximately $633,000). This appears from a case study in the PriceWaterhousCoopers integrity report. In November 2010, the director of the Tourist Bureau, Regina Labega, and marketing manager Edward Dest were suspended by then Minister Franklin Meyers Read more

Cosme Program Aims To Stimulate Local And Regional Economies

St. Maarten – Stakeholders from different Caribbean islands came together at the COSME (Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories Small and Medium Enterprises) 2-day Stakeholder Forum with the common goal of creating a healthy and stable economic environment within the Caribbean region for small and medium-sized enterprises through the development of a regional SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) program. Divi Little Bay Beach Resort hosted the event. Each country present developed and submitted its own individual SME program, based on its economy, to meet the needs of its local business enterprises Read more

Up Calls On The Nation To Take Part In Breast Cancer Awareness Activities

St. Maarten – The board of the United People’s Party (UP) is calling on the St. Maarten community to take part in various Breast Cancer Awareness activities that will be held for the month of October.

Countries around the world hold activities to help increase attention and support for the awareness, early detection and treatment as well as palliative care of this disease.

A Breast Cancer Awareness march organized by community based organizations is planned on Friday, October 3rd starting at the Festival Village in Philipsburg at 4.30pm Read more

Minister De Weever Balds His Head In Support Of Breast Cancer Awareness

St. Maarten – In solidarity with people undergoing treatment for breast cancer, Minister of Public Health, Cornelius de Weever continues to honor his tradition of balding his head. On October 1st breast cancer survivor and founder of Still Beautiful Foundation, Marcellina Loblack shaved off the Ministers hair.  Each year Minister de Weever takes part in this breast cancer awareness initiative to support and encourage breast cancer awareness

“October, Breast Cancer Awareness month provides an opportunity for us all to focus on breast cancer and its impact on those affected by the disease as well as raise awareness about the importance of early detection of breast cancer Read more

Editorial - As best they can

That the St. Maarten Seniors and Pensioners Association (SMSPA) reacted with some scepticism to congratulatory messages for International Day of Older Persons (see Thursday edition) is understandable. One can hardly dispute that especially those who depend solely on their general old age AOV pension don't have it easy.

Moreover, there is no denying that inequality exists within the Dutch Kingdom regarding the treatment of seniors, although it could be argued such is also the case for just about everybody else.

However, it does regard one of the most vulnerable groups in society, along with children, the disabled, etc Read more

Coup d'état by the Dutch Second Chamber

Dear Editor,

Noticeably was that one day after the Parliamentary Election that was held on August 29, that some members of the Second Dutch Chamber were already happy to know that a three-party government was formed and was very quick to let the world know of their preference.

It makes me wonder if they were involved in the Parliamentary election from the start.

Quick to notice also was the fact that after such three-party government formation was mentioned and known there was no accusation and witch-hunt for the leader of the United People's (UP) party Read more

Global seafloor map reveals details of Earth's depths

WASHINGTON-- Scientists have devised a new map of the Earth's seafloor using satellite data, revealing massive underwater scars and thousands of previously uncharted sea mountains residing in some of the deepest, most remote reaches of the world's oceans.

The researchers said on Thursday they used gravity measurements of the seafloor from radar equipment aboard the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite and NASA's Jason-1 satellite to capture underwater geological features in unprecedented detail.

"The pull of gravity reflects the topography and tectonics of the seafloor," said David Sandwell, a geophysicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego who led the study.

University of Sydney geophysicist Dietmar Müller, another of the researchers, said about 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water and roughly 90 percent of the seafloor is uncharted by survey ships that employ acoustic beams to map the depths.

"We know much more about the topography of Mars than we know about Earth's seafloor," Müller said Read more

Code of Conduct signed during Integrity Ceremony

PHILIPSBURG--The Ministry of Justice and its various departments held a ceremony at University of St. Martin on Thursday afternoon to celebrate the completion of a six-month Justice Integrity Programme that led to the development of a Code of Conduct.

The Code of Conduct, in its introduction, states that it "provides a common framework to perform the important tasks within the field of Justice in a responsible manner and with integrity" and explains that it "applies to all those employed by the Ministry of Justice, both directly and indirectly." Its aim is to raise awareness of the necessity of displaying integrity and to provide employees guidance on dealing with integrity.

The Code of Conduct is based on six key principles of behaviour: Incorruptibility, trustworthiness, perceptibility, being meticulous, fairness and public interest, and expands by giving examples of how to deal with matters such as relationships at work, gifts, favours and bribes, confidential information and side jobs Read more

Casino licences for harbour, airport have Bosman worried

THE HAGUE--Plans to construct a casino at the airport and the harbour in St. Maarten have Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party very worried.

Bosman submitted written questions to Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk on Thursday in response to media reports stating that St. Maarten had expanded its casino policy in order to grant four additional casino licences. The Harbour Group of Companies and Princess Juliana International Airport SXM already have submitted applications for casino licences.

Bosman asked Plasterk how in "God's name it was possible" that permits were being granted while there is a moratorium on the issuing of casino and lottery permits Read more

Governor Holiday receives final report of informateurs

HARBOUR VIEW--St. Maarten Governor Eugene Holiday received the final report of the current information process from informateurs Joe Richardson and Marcel Gumbs on Friday.

The informateurs presented the Governor with a 2014-2018 governing accord signed by eight incoming Members of St. Maarten Parliament, seven of whom are members of the United People's (UP) party Read more

Hanson reacts to assault on teacher

MARIGOT--President of the Territorial Council Aline Hanson gave her reaction Thursday to the assault on a teacher in the French Quarter primary school on Tuesday around 4:00pm, which led to a brief strike by fellow teachers.

"I would like to share my indignation at the assault of teacher C.P. on Tuesday, September 30, 2014, in a primary school in Quartier d'Orléans," she said Read more

PVV submits law to send back criminal ‘Antilleans’

THE HAGUE--The Party for Freedom PVV in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Wednesday submitted an initiative law which aims to send persons from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten who have been convicted of a crime back to their island.

An expulsion law is needed to "protect" the Dutch society against the excessive and often violent, criminal behaviour of persons from the islands, contended PVV Members of Parliament (MPs) Sietse Fritsma and Machiel de Graaf, the initiative takers of the law proposal.

The law proposal puts the protection of victims of violence, robberies and other severe crimes in the centre by expelling violent and trouble-causing Dutch Caribbean persons, Fritsma and De Graaf stated in the explanatory note Read more

Plasterk pledges to work on dispute arrangement

THE HAGUE--Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk on Wednesday promised the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament to work on a dispute arrangement ("geschillenregeling") for the Kingdom.

Plasterk did so during the handling of the draft 2015 Kingdom Relations budget, on the insistence of the Democratic Party D66, the Christian Democratic Party CDA and the ChristianUnion (CU).

Plasterk said that he would try to reach a consensus with all four countries in the Kingdom before the next Kingdom Conference which takes place in Curaçao in April 2015 Read more