SXMElections.com

Dutch Govt. To Propose Listing Iguana Species To A Higher Protected Status

The Lesser Antillean Iguana. Photo by Philippa King.

ST. EUSTATIUS--The Dutch government is set to officially propose moving the Lesser Antillean Iguana (Iguana delicatissima) from Annex III to Annex II of the Protocol concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) during the next conference of the parties for the Cartagena Convention on Aruba in Octobe Read more

Foresee Secures Funding For Its 3Rd Season Of Soualichi Stories

Part of the Soualichi Stories season three team, from left: Claudette Forsythe-Labega, Ralph Cantave, Jose Sommers, Kevin Suppa Petrona and Julia Grigg during one of their planning sessions.

PHILIPSBURG--Foresee Foundation announced on Sunday that it has secured funding for its third season of Soualichi Stories, which has the subtitle, Keeping Oral History Alive.

The money for Foresees project comes from the two million euros in funding that the Dutch government granted to the Dutch Cultural Participation Fund for the Memorial Year of Slavery, which runs from July 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024 Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Public Weather Forecast For St. Maarten

DATE ISSUED: Monday, May 29, 2023 @ 12:00 LST (16:00 UTC)

VALID UNTIL: Tuesday Midday (12:00 LST) May 30, 2023

WEATHER:    

This Afternoon through Tuesday midday: Partly cloudy to cloudy at times with a few showers.

Forecast High: 31C / 88F             Forecast Low: 25C / 77F

Sunset Today: 6:43 P.M.                Sunrise Tomorrow: 5:36 A.M. 

SURFACE WINDS: 
This Afternoon through Tuesday midday: East to east southeasterly with a light to gentle breeze of 04 to 12 mph.

SYNOPSIS:

The Atlantic high-pressure ridge will maintain a gentle east southeasterly winds across the region Read more

Gracita Arrindell

PHILIPSBURG--Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) leader Gracita Arrindell on Sunday expressed hope that the incoming Members of Parliament (MPs) and new Council of Ministers continue working on pending core issues including much-needed electoral reform that doesnt tolerate any more delays.

She said in a press release on Sunday that most importantly, we need political stability, and continuity in government.

PPA was not successful in its bid to obtain a seat in the new Parliament during last Thursdays snap parliamentary elections.

Arrindell congratulated the parties that obtained seats in Parliament Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Ppa Hopes New Parliament, Ministers Address Core Issues

Gracita Arrindell

PHILIPSBURG--Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) leader Gracita Arrindell on Sunday expressed hope that the incoming Members of Parliament (MPs) and new Council of Ministers continue working on pending core issues including much-needed electoral reform that doesnt tolerate any more delays.

She said in a press release on Sunday that most importantly, we need political stability, and continuity in government.

PPA was not successful in its bid to obtain a seat in the new Parliament during last Thursdays snap parliamentary elections.

Arrindell congratulated the parties that obtained seats in Parliament Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Excess Feral Cats Continue To Endanger Saba’S Tropicbird

By Suzanne Koelega

AMSTERDAM/SABA--Continuation of the monitoring of the nests of the red-billed tropicbird in Saba and the removal of feral cats is of vital importance to prevent future extinction. Despite these recommendations by scientists, not enough is currently being done to protect the local breeding sites of this extraordinary seabird.

The message of Dutch biologist Michiel Boeken is clear in his scientific article on the breeding success of the red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus mesonauta) in Saba, which has been published in Ardea, the official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists’ Union: as a major breeding place for this bird, Saba needs to continue past efforts to protect this species.

During his stay on the island as the Director of the Saba Comprehensive School SCS, Boeken in his free time monitored the breeding success of the red-billed tropicbirds in 2011 and 2012 Read more

Ombudsman Wants Solution For Duped Statia Employees

National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen.

THE HAGUE--National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen urged Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk on Tuesday to find a solution for all government employees, including teachers in the Caribbean Netherlands, whose pension money has disappeared.

  According to Van Zutphen, no difference should be made in the treatment of government employees and teachers, whether they work for the National Government Service Caribbean Netherlands RCN, the governments of Bonaire, St Read more

Gracita Calls On St. Maarten People To Continue Supporting Hurricane Relief For Haiti

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (October 24, 2016)—“The loss of human life and the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew in southwestern Haiti on October 4 are no longer among the hot news of the day. But we can still help to relieve the hardships that the storm piled on the people of our fellow Caribbean country,” said drs. Gracita Arrindell, leader of the People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA).

Arrindell, who personally responded to calls earlier this month from relief organizers to contribute hurricane relief goods for Haiti, said that she has faith in the St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Personal Votes Individual Candidates Sxm Parliamentary Election 2016

Click party name for total and Individual votes tally pdf

1 OSPP

2  UP

3  USp

4 SDM

5 Read more

It’S Election Day

By Alita Singh

PHILIPSBURG--The fate of the country of St. Maarten, just two weeks shy of its sixth birthday, and its 59,800 plus residents from more than 115 countries lies in the hands of 22,302 people. Those voters, privileged by birth or naturalisation with the Dutch nationality, head to the polls today, Election Day, to cast their ballots for one of the 125 candidates across the slates of nine political parties.

The number of eligible voters may change this morning when the Court of First Instance hands down its decisions on several petitions filed by people with Dutch nationality who registered in the Civil Registry after the Voters Register was closed on June 11 Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Ppa To Put People First

COLE BAY--People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) is determined that the electorate will vote for a change and elect a number of its candidates to parliament when voters go to the polls today, Monday.

Parties Awarded Numbers And Colours For Ballot

St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) leader retired pastor Wycliffe Smith presents his party's request for brown to the Main Voting Bureau. 

List Numbers and Colours for Sept. 26 Parliamentary Elections

1 Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Hope Gets A Second Chance For Signatures

POND ISLAND--Helping Our People Excel (HOPE) may yet get on the ballot for the September 26 Parliamentary Elections.

  The party, headed by former radio personality Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt, has been given three days, starting Tuesday, to get 80 more signatures of endorsement for its slate of three-candidates.

  Van der Waals-Wyatt told The Daily Herald she was informed on Monday of the additional time by the Main Voting Bureau Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Smcp Gets Needed Signatures To Be On Ballot.

PPA has 75

SDM 77

OSPP 76

HOPE 38

Ppa 14 Committed To 'Strong Stable, Secure St. Maarten'

PHILIPSBURG--People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) will contest the September 26 Parliamentary Elections with a slate of 14 candidates, who are committed to getting elected and working to make St. Maarten “strong, stable and secure.

The endorsement of lists in 2014, when each window was designated for a particular party. This will not occur for this election. On Tuesday, a voter can go to any window to endorse any list. (File photo)

~ Civil Registry closed for regular service Tues. ~

PHILIPSBURG--Voters heading to the Civil Registry Department on Tuesday to endorse the lists of the five new political parties will not have to select a specific window to do so any longer. They will be able to go to any window to sign for the party of their choice, giving their voting or support preference anonymity Read more

Dp Disgruntled With New Island Council Deadlock

ST. EUSTATIUS--Tuesday’s meeting of the Island Council of St. Eustatius met the same fate as the two other meetings called by the opposition Democratic Party (DP) to discuss the state of the island’s finances. For the second time in a row parties failed to agree on the agenda, after which the meeting was declared closed.

Tuesday morning’s meeting was called on the request of the DP in connection with the letter of July 19, sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations concerning the Island Government’s finances.

Acting Island Governor Julian Woodley chaired the meeting Read more

Ppa, Cpa Join Forces For Sept. 26 Elections

PHILIPSBURG--The orange party People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) and the gold party Concordia Political Alliance (CPA) have joined forces for the September 26 Parliamentary Elections.

Ppa Plans Real Estate Tax And Flat Income Tax Levy

PHILIPSBURG--A 2.5 per cent “real estate” tax and the levying of a flat ten per cent income tax are proposed by People’s Progressive Party (PPA), headed by former Member of Parliament (MP) Gracita Arrindell, in its manifesto themed “Strong, Safe and Secure St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Ppa Presents ‘Clear Vision’ For September 26 Election

SUCKER GARDEN--People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) held its first party congress Saturday, at the Lion’s Community Centre in Sucker Garden. In her congressional speech, party leader Gracita Arrindell rallied supporters behind the PPA’s goals in the run-up to the September 26 parliamentary election.

PPA joined forces with the United People’s (UP) party in the 2014 election, but will be contesting the upcoming election on its own Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Gracita Leaves Up Due To Lack Of Leadership

~ To contest election under PPA ~

PHILIPSBURG--People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) party leader Gracita Arrindell says she resigned from United People’s (UP) party in 2015 due to the party’s lack of leadership, its failure to live up to its commitments and its turning its back on the people Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Debt Standard Proposed For Curaçao, St. Maarten

~ CFT advices in 2015 annual report ~

By Suzanne Koelega

THE HAGUE--A debt standard with a maximum threshold should be introduced for Curaçao and St. Maarten to keep the debts of the countries manageable in case the interest rates of capital loans increase.
The Committee for Financial Supervision CFT for Curaçao and St. Maarten drafted an advice to this effect early in 2016 on the request of Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk. The advice was mentioned in the CFT 2015 annual report which was presented in The Hague on Wednesday.
The CFT advised Plasterk that the two countries should be able to maintain a debt quota standard of 40 per cent on a medium term Read more

Dutch Mps Laud Vote Buying Investigation

THE HAGUE--The liberal democratic VVD party, the Labour Party PvdA, Socialist Party (SP) and the Party for Freedom PVV in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament lauded the move of the St. Maarten Prosecutor’s Office in Wednesday’s arrest of St. Maarten Member of Parliament (MP) Silvio Matser and two others in the vote buying investigation.

Members of the Second Chamber André Bosman (VVD), Roelof van Laar (PvdA) and Ronald van Raak (SP) were especially content that the Prosecutor’s Office and other local law enforcement agencies were moving ahead with the active investigation and prosecution of illicit acts by elected/government officials.

Sietse Fritsma (PVV) stated that Matser’s arrest in connection with election fraud didn’t come as no surprise as “vote buying has been the common practice for many years in the banana republic St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Orient Beach Tenants Mull Legal Action If Satisfaction Not Obtained

~ Architect insists project has ‘been done by the book ~

ORIENT BAY--Three local proprietors of the new restaurant units on Orient Beach who have not signed contracts with the Collectivité based on their claims the buildings have not been constructed to French code in addition to contesting what they view as prohibitively high rent said Monday this was their “final stand.”

They alluded to a legal action if satisfaction is not obtained from the Collectivité. Meanwhile, other restaurants and boutiques in the new complex have signed contracts and opened, giving the project a half-opened look Read more

---

Candidates in this article: