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Prof. van den Berg in favour of dissolving

THE HAGUE--Constitutional and parliamentary law professor Dr. Joop van den Berg has come to the defence of St. Maarten Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs in the Council of Ministers’ decision to dissolve the St. Maarten Parliament. He is the third Dutch professor to do so.

Van den Berg stated in a brief letter to Gumbs on Thursday that he fully supported the advices of his colleagues, Professors Arjen van Rijn and Constantijn Kortmann, in relation to the legality of the National Decree to dissolve Parliament following the termination of the Council’s majority support in Parliament.

Van den Berg stated that he had studied Van Rijn’s and Kortmann’s advices as well as a number of relevant documents in relation to the current political crisis Read more

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Lake says effective leadership is lacking

PHILIPSBURG--United People’s party (UP) Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake said on Wednesday that the country lacked effective leadership when it needs it most and noted that he had never experienced anything in his 23 years in the civil service, like he has in the past year and a half of him being an MP with the UP-led coalition.

Lake made the statements during a parliamentary meeting on Tuesday in which he supported a motion to send home the Gumbs cabinet via a no-confidence motion that was passed Read more

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Richardson to Schram: Prove underworld claims or ‘shut up’

PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister Dennis Richardson minced no words when he publicly called on Attorney-General Guus Schram to prove his claims about the mixing of the so-called underworld with civil society.

Richardson said in Monday's plenary session of Parliament that Schram should prove his claims or "shut the hell up."

Richardson was reacting to comments made by the Attorney-General on Friday at the swearing-in of a new judge for the Court of First Instance. Schram said, "The Friendly Island has lost its innocence."

He said another threat existed in St Read more

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Prime minister’s travel plans halt meeting about Zebec settlement

PHILIPSBURG--The “urgent” meeting of Parliament requested by opposition parties – National Alliance (NA) and Democratic Party (DP) about the out-of-court settlement reached by St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and developer Zebec has stalled before it could get started.

The meeting cannot be held this week, an official Parliament meeting week, because of an already packed Parliament schedule and due to the travel of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs from Wednesday, September 16, until Sunday, September 27, 2015.

DP leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams is not amused that yet another urgently requested meeting of Parliament has not been scheduled by Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

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Community Councils have a role to play regarding hurricane season pre-planning

Dear Editor,

I would like to see the different Community Councils play a more active role by advising the residents and helping the senior citizens protect their homes during the Hurricane season.

As the co-founder of the St. Peters Community Council, I am missing that community togetherness where we use to give out flyers and do a community walk through advising all residents, especially those that live in vulnerable prone areas within the districts to prepare for the hurricane season.

The Community Council leaders need to go around and check on the residents and senior citizens to make sure all flying debris are secure and help them protect against flying objects that can damage their homes.

Encourage clean-ups in the area Read more

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NA, DP call on Government to rework Governing Programme

PHILIPSBURG--Opposition National Alliance (NA) and Democratic Party (DP) have called on Government to rework the “Ready to Work for You” Governing Programme of the United People’s (UP) party-led coalition into “an executable and accountable programme.”

Debating the Governing Programme in Parliament would “inevitably lead to much rhetoric, but little substance,” said the two parties Read more

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Parliament to co-sign letter on shelving of dispute regulation

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Parliament will be a co-signer along with the legislatures of Curaçao and Aruba on a letter to the First and Second Chambers of the Dutch Parliament, seeking that body’s position on the Dutch Government in effect shelving the establishment of a dispute regulation, and a related body for the kingdom.

The letter, drafted by the Curaçao Parliament, came after last month’s Kingdom Conference -a meeting of the countries of the kingdom- saw the Dutch Government putting up a road block on the issue Read more

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Patrol to Eradicate Paedophilia urges MPs to make law changes

PHILIPSBURG--Change the laws to impose harsher punishment for paedophiles and institute a sex offenders registry were among the calls the group Patrol to Eradicate Paedophilia (PEP) made to the Petitions Committee of Parliament on Thursday.

PEP's request for laws to be changed now heads to the Permanent Committee for Justice. Committee Chairman Member of Parliament (MP) Johan Leonard said he would call the Justice Minister to the committee after Parliament's July recess.

PEP representative Peggy Ann Dros-Richardson urged MPs to have Government boost its assistance to the Mental Health Foundation, to help the foundation increase awareness about paedophilia and have the required treatment for the mental disorder Read more

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An Integrity Committee is most definitely needed

Dear Editor,

Okay, I have read the document on the establishing of the Integrity Committee (IC) and I must say that I CANNOT DISAGREE MORE with my good friend MP Christophe Emmanuel. I do not think that the establishing of this Committee is "bad for business" unless it is the business of nepotism and corruption that have plagued us for the last 25 years.

I also believe that some of the comments made by many members of Parliament misrepresent what is actually in the document. I am not saying they are lying but they are taking a very extreme view of what powers the Committee actually have.

MP William Marlin in his comments stated that a simple relationship with a Minister or MP can disqualify you from a contract or job, which according to me is really stretching the meaning of the document Read more

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I voted for improvement yet nothing has changed

Dear Editor,

Please allow me some space in your newspaper to address the United People’s party.

UP party, as a supporter of the united people’s party, I have a request in return for all my hard work and efforts in getting votes for the current government body.

It is only fair and understandable that while some other supporters/campaigners are benefitting from their input; Erno York has only received small but appreciated donations Read more

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UP board congratulates Hiro Shigimoto

Press release

Philipsburg -- The board of the United People's Party (UP) wishes to congratulate Hiro Shigimoto on his full acquittal from all charges by the Court of First Instance on Thursday. 

 "This is a clear indication of vindication as we know this has been a long judicial journey," the UP board declared. 

 Hiro Shigimoto was a former Minister of Finance Hiro Shigimoto under a UP supported government. 

 "We strongly believe this positive news will be well received by his family and longstanding well-wishers," the UP board added. 

"May Mr Read more

Ministers to face MPs this week about missing info

PHILIPSBURG--Ministers of the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet are to be called before Parliament's Permanent Committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations to provide information the committee has requested for several months.

The committee became displeased two weeks ago with the sluggish pace of government's response and issued a 48-hour deadline for all information to be submitted Read more

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Progress Committee to give report to Parliament

PHILIPSBURG--The Progress Committee, monitoring St. Maarten’s development since it became a country within the Dutch Kingdom, is keen to present its report to Parliament. Parliament Chairman Dr. Lloyd Richardson (United People’s party) is “very pleased” about this request of the Progress Committee Read more

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Sarah: Coalition ‘suddenly lost interest’ in Integrity Chamber

PHILIPSBURG--It appears, said Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams, that the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet and by extension the governing coalition have "suddenly lost interest" in the establishment of an integrity chamber for the country.

"It is revealing that suddenly the urgency is no longer there for our own 'thing,'" the MP said.

She has drawn this conclusion from the response of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs to her inquiry Thursday about the timeframe for the tabling of the draft national law to establish the integrity chamber in Parliament.

Gumbs, in an immediate response on Thursday to Parliament President Dr Read more

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Country has 480 taxis and 263 bus licences

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten has a total of 480 taxi licences and 263 bus licences on the roads. There are 39 large “tour” buses with “T” (tour bus) licence plate numbers and a total of 31 “G” licence plate numbers. This is based on numbers given to Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Transportation by Transport Minister Claret Conner on Thursday.

He also informed MPs the moratorium on the issuance of bus and taxi licences remains in place until a study on the state of the industry is conducted Read more

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MPs to discuss ‘alleged’ election discrepancies

PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) will discuss alleged discrepancies in the August 29, 2014, parliamentary elections during a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, April 8, at 10:00am.

The meeting was requested by MPs Leona Marlin-Romeo and Cornelius de Weever (both independent) and Tamara Leonard (United People's party) in correspondence dated November 6 and 7, 2014.

Main Voting Bureau and Civil Registry Department representatives will be present to discuss alleged discrepancies that occurred in preparation of and during the August 29 parliamentary elections Read more

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Former MP arrested for threats, firearms found

PHILIPSBURG--Former Member of Parliament Romain Laville was arrested on Thursday morning, following allegations made against him in two unrelated cases.

The first case concerns gun threats made against Isidore York, better known as steel pan musician Mighty Dow, in an argument over local artistes not having been paid the same rate as foreign artistes during an event Read more

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Parliament Ad Hoc Integrity Committee meeting stalled

PHILIPSBURG--The second meeting of Parliament's Ad Hoc Committee for Integrity stalled on Thursday, when sufficient Members of Parliament (MPs) failed to show up for the session to have a quorum.

Ad Hoc Committee Chairman Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. Lloyd Richardson opened the meeting just to announce that three MPs were signed in and present in the General Assembly Hall of Parliament House Read more

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St. Maarten advised to object to Sanction Law

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament's Permanent Committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations has been advised by legal expert Ralph Richardson to object to the draft kingdom law regulating sanctions imposed by the European Union.

Richardson gave his advice in a meeting of the committee in Parliament House on Monday morning. He said if St. Maarten agrees to the kingdom law, the country "will no longer have the possibility to say anything about sanctions imposed."

St. Maarten will just have to take over EU sanctions with "no freedom of choice." He used the example of a sanction being imposed on a country with which St Read more

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Lake debunks talk about breaking UP

PHILIPSBURG--"Untrue and baseless" is how United People's (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake described rampant "rumours" in the community about him being "involved in a plot to throw down government and send home the Cabinet of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs."

Since Friday, there has been persistent talk that spun into blogs about Lake breaking with this party over differences Read more

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De Weever wears bullet-proof vest after Bosman statement

THE HAGUE--Member of St. Maarten Parliament Cornelius de Weever (independent) took safety measures, which included wearing a bullet-proof vest, late 2014 following threats against his person when he left the Democratic Party (DP) in support of the United People's Party (UP).

This became clear during a court injunction in The Hague on Friday by De Weever against Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party Read more

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De Weever, Bosman face-to-face in court

   By Suzanne Koelega

THE HAGUE--In what can be called a historic case, Members of Parliament Cornelius de Weever of St. Maarten and André Bosman of the Netherlands faced each other in court on Friday on allegations of slander. De Weever took Bosman to court to have the latter retract his statements of bribery in a rectification in the newspapers.

Main reason for the court case, which took place in The Hague in De Weever's presence, was an article of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published on September 29, 2014, headlined "Corrupt St Read more

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Parliament approves 2011 annual accounts

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament unanimously approved the 2011 Annual Accounts of Government on Thursday. The approval comes three years after the period the accounts cover and well past the deadline stipulated by law.

The late tabling of the accounts was due to a severe backlog in the Finance Ministry; that backlog has since been cleared by current Finance Minister Martin Hassink who was at the plenary session of Parliament.

Hassink told the Members of Parliament (MPs) the backlog in the annual accounts is now a thing of the past Read more

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Schotte, Heyliger met with security service man in 2010

~ Ronald van Raak publishes online article ~

THE HAGUE--Secret documents, supplied to Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) and published on Tuesday on the website ThePostOnline.nl, revealed a meeting on or around the 2010 elections in St. Maarten between a member of the Curaçao Security Agency VDC, candidate Curaçao Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte, candidate minister George Jamaloodin and United People's Party Leader Theo Heyliger.

The meeting in St Read more

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