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Van Dam Has Deep Concerns About St. Maarten Police Cells

Chris van Dam

THE HAGUE--Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Chris van Dam of the Christian Democratic Party CDA has again expressed his deep concern about the conditions in the holding cells at the Philipsburg police station.

Van Dam on Thursday submitted a set of written questions to Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops and Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker about the December 17, 2019, decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to declare the detention of a detainee in a St Read more

Government Saves Millions Of Naf On Water Purchase.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — “The amount of water that has to be purchased under the current ‘take or pay’ clauses of the purchasing agreements have resulted in substantial financial losses for the country. Seven Seas Water was approached to see if Sint Maarten could get some relief from the minimum take or pay clause and their response was both immediate and positive.” – Emil Lee, Minister VSA.

Emil Lee as the Minister of VSA, who is responsible for the supply of safe drinking water, began an investigation into the financial situation of the government’s position as owner of the public water supply as part of the post-Irma assessments Read more

Government Saves Millions Of Naf On Water Purchase.

PHILIPSBURG:--- “The amount of water that has to be purchased under the current ‘take or pay’ clauses of the purchasing agreements have resulted in substantial financial losses for the country. Seven Seas Water was approached to see if Sint Maarten could get some relief from the minimum take or pay clause and their response was both immediate and positive.” – Emil Lee, Minister VSA.
Emil Lee as the Minister of VSA, who is responsible for the supply of safe drinking water, began an investigation into the financial situation of the government’s position as owner of the public water supply as part of the post-Irma assessments Read more

Emil Lee Plans To Hold Ground Breaking For New General Hospital Despite The Lack Of Finances.

~ Says he will not heed the advice given by SZV Supervisory Board since it's all about votes ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Interim Minister of VSA Emil Lee is hell-bent on fooling the populace of St. Maarten in order to garner enough votes on Monday for his re-election. Lee plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the New General Hospital on Friday despite not having the finances in place.
According to information provided to SMN News and the advice given by the Supervisory board of SZV to the Minister in 2017 Read more

William: Draft Law Short Term Contracts Watered Down To Primarily Benefit Businesses

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Former Prime Minister William Marlin says the draft national ordinance to amend the civil code to stem the abuse of short term labor contracts has been watered down to such an extent that the original intention of the law is no longer visible.

The current draft on the table, he adds, primarily benefits businesses and seems to make a mockery of the system Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Former Prime Minister William Marlin says the draft national ordinance to amend the civil code to stem the abuse of short-term labor contracts has been watered down to such an extent that the original intention of the law is no longer visible.

The current draft on the table, he adds, primarily benefits businesses and seems to make a mockery of the system Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Former Prime Minister William Marlin on Thursday attempted to clear the air on what he says are outright lies being planted in the community by members of the United Democrats to gain political mileage in the run-up to snap parliamentary elections.

Marlin made clear that his intention is to simply correct the lies being peddled by the party to gain sympathy from the electorate.

Members of the party have been using issues such as the container at the border, the 2017 St Read more

Marinka Gumbs: The Way I See It….

Is this what the former Prime Minister Mr. William Marlin resorted to?

I have mentioned this before on the Facebook post of a candidate on the NA, where I asked what was the added value in this so-called ‘scandal video’?
It is certainly old news that back in October 2014, I a member of the Democratic Party tendered my resignation, and seeing that this is/ was my prerogative, I gave full disclosure to my Leader and board of my reasons and stood firm of my decision.

This is not even news worthy, further more to belittle one self by forwarding this ‘scandal video’ to your contacts on whatsapp gives me pause.

So much happened since then, I not only reapplied to become a member of the Democratic Party, but postulated myself, and became the party’s President, in addition to running  as the Anchor, the #18 candidate in the September 26, 2016 Parliamentary Election.

My suggestion to you Mr Read more

Marinka Gumbs: The Way I See It….

As I ponder over the latest campaign rhetoric, coming out of the USP camp, I wonder about the use of some words and terms by the USP’s political leader. I want to give the author and the presenter of the latest USP release the benefit of the doubt, because surely had both these persons given any serious thought to the use of the word MANIPULATION, as an accusation directed to members of the United Democrats, the USP would have refrained from the word manipulation. Imagine, accusing others of manipulation and this coming from the one who is best known to have orchestrated the “Carnival Coupe” Read more

Dictatorship Of The Majority!

In the Daily Herald of Friday January 19th there was an article about the island council meeting in Statia held on the day before. In the article the reporter mentions that the faction of the Democratic party walked out the meeting. The reporter deemed it not necessary to also report on the reasons why the faction walked out the meeting or if it was not clear to him or her to seek clarity by the DP faction Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- The leaders of six political parties submitted their lists to the Electoral Council on Friday paving the way for them to contest the upcoming Parliamentary Elections slated for February 26, 2018. They are SDM, SMCP, PPA, USP, NA and the UD.
The United People's Party and Democratic Party joined forces hoping to garner enough votes for a majority in Parliament Read more

History Made….United Democrats Launched!!!!

Philipsburg– Leaders of the United People’s Party (UP) and the Democratic Party (DP) have unified under one banner and founded the United Democrats, a powerhouse political movement formed to take St. Maarten through the critical reconstruction phase the island faces in 2018. The newly formed party, United Democrats is the historical joining of UP Honorable Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger and DP Honorable President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams. “If we take a look at the unaddressed realities since the passage of Hurricane Irma, of our crippled economy and our people desperately needing leadership and hope, all lead to the coming together of the United Democrats.” Leading the United Democrats will be MP Theodore Heyliger, with MP Sarah Wescot-Williams as the number two candidate. St Read more

Exclusive: Minister Of Vsa Approved Naf. 25,000.00 As Remuneration For Szv Director.

Carty and Felicie made payments without the approval of Board of Directors.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VSA Emil Lee approved NAF. 25,000.00 as remuneration for the Director of SZV Glen Carty which was recently paid to Carty without the approval of the Board of Directors of SZV.
Information reaching SMN News states that Glen Carty and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Elton Felicie signed off on the payment which was made last week to Carty while the members of the board of directors sat back and allowed the management team to continue draining the accounts of SZV Read more

History Made With The Launch Of The United Democrats

PHILIPSBURG - Leaders of the United People's Party (UP) and the Democratic Party (DP) have unified under one banner and founded the United Democrats, a powerhouse political movement formed to take St. Maarten through the critical reconstruction phase the island faces in 2018.

The newly formed party, United Democrats is the historical joining of UP Honorable Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger and DP Honorable President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams.

"If we take a look at the unaddressed realities since the passage of Hurricane Irma, of our crippled economy and our people desperately needing leadership and hope, all lead to the coming together of the United Democrats."

Leading the United Democrats will be MP Theodore Heyliger, with MP Sarah Wescot-Williams as the number two candidate.

St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leaders of the United People's Party (UP) and the Democratic Party (DP) have unified under one banner and founded the United Democrats, a powerhouse political movement formed to take St. Maarten through the critical reconstruction phase the island faces in 2018.

The newly formed party, United Democrats is the historical joining of UP Honorable Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger and DP Honorable President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams.

"If we take a look at the unaddressed realities since the passage of Hurricane Irma, of our crippled economy and our people desperately needing leadership and hope, all lead to the coming together of the United Democrats."

Leading the United Democrats will be MP Theodore Heyliger, with MP Sarah Wescot-Williams as the number two candidate.

St Read more

New Year’S Message From President Of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams

PHILIPSBURG – Leader of the Democratic Party (DP) and President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams said in her New Year’s Day message: ‘Don’t let the disaster that befell us get the better of us.’ “It would take more than a few words to adequately describe the year which has become last year and a year we have put behind us Read more

Sarah: “The Fall Of The Marlin Cabinet Justified By The Horrific Financial And Economic Outlook Of St. Maarten”

PHILIPSBURG - That the financial state of the country is worrisome is a no-brainer. But we all should be alarmed, Leader of the Democratic Party (DP), Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams said on Friday.

“This dismal picture is all the more clear with the presentation of the amendments to the 2017 budget by the minister of Finance Read more

HARBOUR VIEW:--- On December 22, 2017, the Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency drs. E.B. Holiday, requested the fraction leader of the Democratic Party, Mrs. Sarah Wescot-Williams, to finalize the formation of an interim government as formateur.
After Mr Read more

Response To Usp

The Democratic Party has been one of the longest serving parties in the history of St. Maarten.  We have had our ups and downs, but we have been there for the people of St. Maarten, now more than ever before. Our main goal was and continues to be, “how can we make our island a better place for the people of St. Maarten”.

To hear a political party, who welcomed the leader of the Democratic Party as the chairlady in one breathe and denounce her in the next, say some of the most unprofessional things is a shame to say the least.  This berating article from the USP board comes as no surprise, because the same lowdown type of message was previously shared in the NA/USP/DP coalition WhatsApp chat.

Yes, the “testicular fortitude” message from the hand of a TEATT cabinet staffer, singling out 2 leaders of the coalition and calling the other (female) leader “spineless” Read more

The Democratic Party has been one of the longest-serving parties in the history of St. Maarten. We have had our ups and downs, but we have been there for the people of St. Maarten, now more than ever before. Our main goal was and continues to be, "how can we make our island a better place for the people of St. Maarten".
To hear a political party, who welcomed the leader of the Democratic Party as the chairlady in one breathe and denounce her in the next, say some of the most unprofessional things is a shame to say the least Read more

Exclusive: Up/Dp/Brownbill Coalition Pulled Back Candidate Minister George Willems.

~ Michael Ferrier next possible candidate Minister ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The UP/DP/ Brownbill coalition recently pulled back George Willems as the candidate Minister for the interim position as Minister of Finance Read more

~ Bringing the DP stalwarts back together ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The United Peoples Party headed by Theodore Heyliger and Democratic Party headed by Sarah Wescot Williams have decided to merge the two political parties to contest the February 2018 snap elections.
Stuart Johnson who is representing the United People’s Party submitted the credentials of the new political party “United Democratic Party (UDP) to the Electoral Council on Thursday for vetting.
SMN News has learned that the main reason the leaders of the two political parties came together was to bring the former members and stalwarts of the Democratic Party back together on one slate since the Democratic Party has been losing votes these past years while the UPP could not muster enough votes on its own to win an election outright Read more

HARBOUR VIEW:--- On Friday, November 17, 2017, His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. E.B. Holiday, met with and received an update from formateur Mr. Franklin Meyer as a follow-up to the formation assignment of November 7, 2017.
During the meeting, the formateur updated the Governor on the progress of matters related to the formation of the interim government. The formation of the interim government is supported by a coalition consisting of the United Peoples Party, the Democratic Party and Member of Parliament C.E Read more

All is well, that ends well, one could quickly say, following the news that the government of St. Maarten finally signed the agreement with the Netherlands on the border control. However, we are not at the end of this “stand-off”, that started with Prime Minister Marlin’s blunt refusal to even discuss the preconditions set by the Dutch government to the release of reconstruction funds. A lot of valuable time has been lost.
And the government continues to spend money it does not have Read more