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The more things change, the more they remain the same

~ Police in the Windward Islands ~

By Jessica Vance Roitman

Two recent items in the media caught my attention: the first was Mr. Will Johnson’s latest post on his blog, The Saba Islander. He wrote about the fact that the Dutch colonial governor in Curaçao used to write to the Commander of Saba in English, thereby respecting the fact that he was governing an English-speaking territory. Mr. Johnson laments that things have changed since the 1860s. The understanding – exemplified by this employment of English in official correspondence – which used to exist between those who exercised Dutch colonial authority and those they governed in the Windward Islands, seems to have faded away Read more

Airport breaks ground for cargo building renovation

AIRPORT--A symbolic ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday kicked off the US $4.6 million renovation of the Princess Juliana International Airport SXM cargo building. The more-than-three-decades-old building will be given a much-needed facelift and offices for eight new cargo handlers. The project is slated for completion in May 2016.

Airport Managing Director Regina Labega told the gathering at the ground-breaking ceremony in the building's parking lot that the building was "in need of an urgent facelift."

That facelift was described by Labega as "a complete multi-million-dollar makeover" that will be carried out by four contractors chosen via a public tender Read more

Tourism season better, but marketing concerns loom

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten's accommodation sector enjoyed a positive tourism season, which reportedly measured up to slightly better than last year's. Hotel General Managers (GMs) contacted by The Daily Herald were proud to report the good results, some specifically citing the (now halted) Thomas Cook (TC) charter from Sweden as a positive contribution. However, they also expressed some concern over the lack of destination marketing.

According to St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association's (SHTA's) most recent figures, the first quarter of 2015 saw a total occupancy of 82.1 per cent, of a total of 3,375 rooms belonging to SHTA members Read more

Charville appeals to François Hollande to understand ‘crisis’ facing St. Martin

MARIGOT--Independent Councillor and President of True Hope for St. Martin Jules Charville says he hopes President François Hollande will understand that behind a bright façade the community of St. Martin is in "deep suffering," and despite the change of status, "our ill-prepared community, with no support to adjust to new circumstances has lost its footing.

"The crisis affecting our community since July 2007, is unprecedented," Charville stated Read more

Charville appeals to François Hollande to understand ‘crisis’ facing St. Martin

MARIGOT--Independent Councillor and President of True Hope for St. Martin Jules Charville says he hopes President François Hollande will understand that behind a bright façade the community of St. Martin is in "deep suffering," and despite the change of status, "our ill-prepared community, with no support to adjust to new circumstances has lost its footing.

"The crisis affecting our community since July 2007, is unprecedented," Charville stated Read more

Cuba insists it has oil, US firms uninterested

HAVANA--Cuba unveiled new data on Wednesday it said confirmed there were billions of barrels of oil beneath its Gulf of Mexico waters but admitted there was little interest in new exploration even with the thaw in U.S. relations.

The United States and Cuba have vowed to restore diplomatic relations after more than 50 years of animosity, but the comprehensive U.S. trade embargo remains in place Read more

Visa lifted for Colombians to visit St. Maarten and Curaçao

~ Aruba, Caribbean Netherlands to follow ~

PHILIPSBURG--Colombians travelling to Curaçao and St. Maarten no longer will need visas as of July 1, 2015. Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the Netherlands reached an agreement on this in Curaçao on Tuesday.

The four countries decided to grant a visa exemption for Colombia, valid for Curaçao and St. Maarten, in anticipation of a possible future exemption for Europe's Schengen Area and in light of the harmonisation of the Dutch Caribbean visa policy.

The decision to allow Colombians to travel to the two countries will be evaluated in July 2016 Read more

Corallo says opening of Starz is ‘first step’ of ‘bigger project’

CUPECOY--The Atlantis Group inaugurated its Starz City concept and celebrated the rebranding of Atlantis Casino to Starz Casino on Friday.

The rebranding of the casino marks the "first step" of a bigger project that will include a hotel and commercial centre.

A large cross section of the community, including several dignitaries, attended the inauguration of Starz City. Atlantis World Group owner Francesco Corallo told The Daily Herald during the inauguration that plans were afoot to construct a 120-room hotel and commercial centre in the area.

"We have to upgrade our product and that is what I try to do myself with my small environment," Corallo said in a brief interview Read more

Survivors triumphant in Children, Grand Parade

Winning adult troupe Jasmine Philips’ Survivors dance their way through Front Street. (Darlene Hodge photo)

PHILIPSBURG--Survivors by Jasmine Philips won in both sections of the Children and Grand Carnival Parade held Thursday and the Labour Day Parade on Friday. Brightly coloured troupes in elaborate and diverse costumes once again danced their way to Carnival Village in the season’s annual highlights.

“The SCDF [St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation – Ed.] is very happy with the turnout of the Grand Carnival Parade 2015 Read more

Annual Fish Day

~ From the Sea to the Pot ~

A huge turnout is expected once again on Sunday, May 3, for the extremely popular Fish Day cultural extravaganza, now in its 13th year at French Cul-de-Sac Bay. The day-long schedule of activities, starting at 7am with the fish and conch sale and ending at 10pm, promises to be a fun-filled family occasion, reminiscent of days gone by. Everyone is welcome to spend the day, meet up with friends and family, enjoy the music, food and drinks; become a part of the village community and be entertained by the island's talented artistes.

The official opening commences at 9:30am with a tribute to St Read more

Nepal quake victims still stranded, PM says toll could be 10,000

JHARIBAR/SINDHUPALCHOWK, Nepal--People stranded in remote villages and towns across Nepal were still waiting for aid and relief to arrive on Tuesday, four days after a devastating earthquake destroyed buildings and roads and killed more than 4,600 people.

The government has yet to assess the full scale of the damage wrought by Saturday's 7.9 magnitude quake, unable to reach many mountainous areas despite aid supplies and personnel pouring in from around the world.

Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told Reuters the death toll could reach 10,000, as information on damage from far-flung villages and towns has yet to come in Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- His Excellency Governor Eugene B. Holiday decorated NAGICO Group Chairman Imran McSood Amjad as Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau on Friday evening, April 24th, 2015 during a ceremony held at the Cabinet of the Governor at Harbour View, St. Maarten.

Mr. McSood Amjad was awarded the Royal Decoration for his valuable contributions to St. Maarten's society over the many years Read more

The Evolving View of Cannabis

~ Many opinions expressed at St. Maarten’s first open forum ~

By Lisa Davis-Burnett

Marijuana is seen as a gateway drug, partly because it is illegal, meaning that in order to get it, one must go into situations, where other illegal activities are taking place and associate with dealers of various illegal substances. “If it was structurally controlled and properly distributed, we would eliminate this discussion about it being a gateway to harder drugs.” This opinion was expressed by Dr Read more

Chamber lends helping hand to entrepreneurs with Business Centre

PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry (COCI) has set out to lend a helping hand to entrepreneurs with its new Business Centre, which was officially opened on Friday.

The Centre is located adjacent to the Chamber's office on Cannegieter Street and has opened with two staffers, Tytania Archangel and another person. Archangel told The Daily Herald after the opening that the intention is to eventually strengthen the staffing capacity with a receptionist, a marketing manager, finance and budget manager and economist.

The Business Centre is a service centre for business development for entrepreneurs living in St Read more

The Evolving View of Cannabis

~ Many opinions expressed at St. Maarten’s first open forum ~

By Lisa Davis-Burnett

Marijuana is seen as a gateway drug, partly because it is illegal, meaning that in order to get it, one must go into situations, where other illegal activities are taking place and associate with dealers of various illegal substances. “If it was structurally controlled and properly distributed, we would eliminate this discussion about it being a gateway to harder drugs.” This opinion was expressed by Dr Read more

Foundation plans scholarship for highest scoring FBE pupil

PHILIPSBURG--Together We Can Foundation announced on Wednesday that it plans to grant a full highschool scholarship to the highest-scoring pupil of the 2015 foundation based education (FBE) exams.

This, the Foundation said via press release, is the mere reason of holding the Battle of The Fittest Tournament, amongst other types of fundraisers. “This tournament will take place in the month of July and we are encouraging companies to make a donation. Proceeds of these events will go towards the scholarship fund and other social projects we intend on executing in the near future.”

The foundation said that it hoped to be able to assist many more pupils in the future, possibly all who score a certain grade point average (GPA), if the foundation manages to raise sufficient funds Read more

Taiwan assisting St. Vincent with sheep, goat production

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent--Taiwan is providing support to St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ government in its efforts to boost small ruminant production through a project that will result in animals being impregnated within a week.

The project, which will be fully rolled out in May, hopes to increase the nation’s sheep and goat population by 40 per cent by 2020, thereby reducing imports of mutton and lamb.

The project includes the use of female synchronisation – bringing several animals into heat at the same time – then inseminating them artificially.

Veterinary officer with responsibility for animal production Amelia Jack said synchronisation and artificial insemination would be beneficial to St Read more

In Florida's Everglades, Obama wades into climate change politics

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Florida--President Barack Obama strolled past reedy sawgrass and twisted mangrove tree roots in Florida's Everglades on Wednesday, part of a push to get Americans thinking and talking about the damage climate change is causing close to home.

Obama took a half-hour walk on the Anhinga boardwalk trail on the western edge of the vast 1.5-million-acre (607,000-hectare) park, past alligators slinking around the edge of porous limestone pinnacle rocks.

Rising sea levels are killing grasses and threatening the unique ecosystem Read more

SZV positive agreement will be reached on arrears by deadline

PHILIPSBURG--Social and Health Insurances SZV official Reginald Willemsberg is confident that an agreement will be reached with government on the outstanding arrears owed to the insurance service provider by the May deadline set by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.

Willemsberg said parties have been meeting on the matter, but declined to go into details on the discussions. A meeting was held last week and another is set for this week.

"We are talking Read more

Jamaica just planted its first legal marijuana plant

KINGSTON, Jamaica--Jamaica just planted its first-ever legal marijuana plant.

The first legal cannabis plant in the country was planted on the grounds of the University of the West Indies Mona campus on Monday.

The University has been accorded an order by the government to cultivate marijuana for medical research and to "set the pace for the development of a legal cannabis industry."

That follows the passage of the Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act 2015, which recently became effective and provides for the development of a medical marijuana industry in the country.

A similar licence will also be granted to Jamaica's University of Technology, according to a statement from the government.

"I want to know when you start to do the experimentation, and what is found in the plant," Science Minister Philip Paulwell told researchers Read more

Norissa Richards is new Mature Carnival Queen

Mature Carnival Queen 2015 Norissa Richards (centre) with runner-up Lisette Carty (right) and second runner-up Micheline Warner. Photos by Fiona Van Kampen.

CARNIVAL VILLAGE--Norissa Richards was crowned the new Mature Carnival Queen in a packed Carnival Village on Monday night. First runner-up was Lisette Carty and Micheline Warner named as second runner-up by judges Grace Bleijden, Ife Badejo, Clara Reyes, Anushka Lopes and head judge Nzinga Lake. Masters of Ceremonies were Chet Euton and Gina Bruni.

The event started with an introductory dance in which the candidates wore red evening wear before stripping off their dresses to reveal tight lycra suits Read more

Benches For De Weever School From Island Gems

HOPE ESTATE, St. Maarten - M. Genevieve de Weever Primary School is now the proud owner of twenty-four locally made, brightly coloured benches thanks to a donation from Island Gems Charity Foundation.

The school approached the all-woman foundation with a request for benches to place outside each classroom for pupils to utilize prior to classes or at recess.

The school sourced a local woodworker to build the benches and paint them in fun bright colours.

Island Gems, which focuses on education and projects with long term impact in the community, was happy to fund the project Read more

Two Cubans lose bids to become first opponents elected to office

HAVANA, Cuba--Two Cuban dissidents on Sunday lost attempts to become the first openly declared political opponents to win election in Cuba since the 1959 revolution, each failing in races for Havana municipal assemblies.

Hildebrando Chaviano, 65, and Yuniel Lopez, 26, both said they had fallen behind by insurmountable margins and had no hope of winning.

The two were among of 27,379 candidates competing in midterm elections for 12,589 nationwide municipal assembly posts, the first rung on Cuba's political ladder.

"The vote was clean Read more

Republican presidential hopefuls target US middle-class insecurity

NASHUA--Facing a recovering economy and a tumbling jobless rate, Republican presidential candidates honing their economic message are trying tap into a lingering sense of insecurity among Americans seven years after the global financial crisis.
  And some are striking a sympathetic tone with lower-income workers in a way that contrasts with four years ago when Mitt Romney struggled to overcome perceptions that he was largely the candidate of the wealthiest Americans Read more