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Academy Closes Year By Graduating 81

CUL DE SAC, St. Maarten - St. Maarten Academy’s academic campus closed the calendar year with a bang by graduating 81 of its students who successfully completed their CSEC examinations, offered by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) in May/June.

The ceremony was held on December 16, 2015 at the Belair Community Centre under the theme, “Education: The Passport to Our Future”.

Clifford Francois emerged as valedictorian and recapped the years of hard work that brought him and his fellow graduates the successes they have achieved Read more

Mp Lake Wants Update On Emilio Wilson Estate

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake has sent a letter to Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Angel Meyers, via the President of Parliament seeking an update about plans for Emilio Wilson Estate. 
 â€œThe Estate is of invaluable natural, cultural, historical and social significance Read more

New Parties Come With Joint Statement About Elections

St. Maarten – The five newly established political parties will come with a joint statement about the decision to move the elections from February 9 to September 26, Christian Party leader Wycliffe Smith told this newspaper yesterday evening. He declined to make an individual comment on the situation, but it stands to reason to assume that the five parties are not happy with the outcome of the process.

The Christian Party, Hope, led by Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt (aka Elektra),MAP, led by Peter Gittens, SMD, led by Benjamin Ortega and Beyond St Read more

Nagico 2016 Calendar Features Artwork From Local Students

NAGICO Insurances CEO Dwayne Elgin presents winners Carina Alcin and Tracey Aloma with a copy of the 2016 calendar displaying their handy work and a gift certificate for Boolchands. Photo contributed

St. Maarten – Nagico Insurances launched its 2016 calendar, entitled My Heritage, My Culture – a compilation of art submitted by students from across the Caribbean, two (2) of whom are from St Read more

Carpha Continues To Battle Dengue And Chikungunya And Prepares For Zika

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - Vector borne diseases, such as Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika, continue to emerge in the Caribbean, threatening health, tourism, social and economic development. 

According to Dr. Joy St. John, Director of Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control at CARPHA “in the last decade, the Caribbean has been wrestling with wave after wave of vector borne diseases Read more

Upnext Starts To Give Back

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - UPNext, the youth wing of the United People (UP) party, have begun their annual holiday tradition of giving back to the less fortunate children in the community.

This past weekend the group visited Antonia Hodge and the Hope Outreach Home in St. Peters to deliver gifts, setup and decorate a Christmas tree, also provided by UPNext.

The group will visit a number of children's homes in the coming days.

The expressed thanks to the businesses and individuals who continue to work with them as they try to give St Read more

New Parties Urge Governor To Hold February Elections

St. Maarten – The five newly established political parties have, as they announced last week, sent a protest letter to Governor Drs. Eugene Holiday, demanding that the elections on February 9 of next year take place and will not be postponed. The letter is dated November 30, but its authors are still awaiting an answer from the Governor.

“We are hearing rumors that the new government will first seek a decision from parliament on the postponement of the elections,” the five parties write in their letter Read more

New Political Parties Balk At Postponement Of Elections

From left Peter Gittens, Daniel Ortega, Loekie Morales, Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt and Wycliffe Smith. Photo contributed

St Read more

People’S Progressive Alliance Banned From 2016 Elections

St. Maarten – The People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) of Don Hughes will not be allowed to contest the February 9 elections. This appears from a decision by the electoral council.

Already in the day Hughes came to the council’s offices on Back Street to register the party it appeared that there was a problem Read more

Former Minister Ernest Sams: “This Country Still Has Great Potential”

St. Maarten – “My brief term in office has been an accelerating learning experience as well as one of recognizing that there is an urgent need for Government to restructure and optimize its organizational processes to become more effective and efficient, and above all eliminate waste,” former Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Ernest Sams said in a statement he issued this weekend.

“Entering with an energetic team of a tourism expert, a transportation expert, an economist, a junior policy adviser and secretary our hopes were high to accomplish many of the existing, shelved projects and some of our own ideas-one main one being developing a sound strategy to market St Read more

Message Of Condolence From The Democratic Party

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Our prayers and thoughts are with the government and people of the French Republic as they try to put the pieces together after the horrendous attacks throughout the French capital on Friday, November 13th.

Their personal and collective loss is immeasurable and we  hope and pray that they will find strength, peace and comfort in the coming days and weeks.

We look closer to home and extend words of comfort to our French St. Martin brothers and sisters.

This is not only an attack on the French capital, but one on humanity itself Read more

St. Maarten Day Speeches Focus On Cooperation

From left: Collectivité President Aline Hanson, Préfète Délégué Anne Laubies, Governor Eugène Holiday, Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, Chief Inspector Denise Jacobs, Franklin Richards, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, MP Cornelius de Weever, Justice Minister Dennis Richardson and Education Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs at the border monument in Cole Bay Read more

Sxm Airways Gets Support From Parliamentarians

SXM Airways Managing Director Rolando Brison during his presentation to Parliament. Photo contributed

Upstart airline SXM Airways received encouraging words of support from Members of Parliament on Tuesday as management and shareholders briefed the Central Committee on the airline’s plans and vision. The MP’s urged management to “keep pushing” and not to be afraid of competing with other airlines including Winair.

Managing Director Rolando Brison and shareholders Elvis Queeley, Michel Carter and Jeff Oliver, gave a comprehensive presentation about everything from the origins of the idea for the on-demand airline, to educational initiatives, market analysis, market share, share availability for local purchase and operational perspectives Read more

Seven New Political Parties Report For 2016 Elections

St. Maarten – An astonishing number of seven new political parties reported to the offices of the Electoral Council yesterday to submit their request to be registered for the February 9 elections. Among them is the St. Maarten Christian Party, led by Pastor Wycliffe Smith. On the other hand, the party of European Dutch residents did not show up, reportedly because they did not have enough time to prepare their documentation.

With the seven new parties – if they get all their formalities in order – the field for the elections will consist of eleven and possibly twelve parties Read more

Citiva And Uwi Join Forces To Lead Global Charge In Marijuana Research

KINGSTON, Jamaica - CITIVA Jamaica (CITIVA) has made another major step in their ongoing relationship with the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus (UWI).  The medical research company held its first Continuing Medical Education (CME) Seminar on October 15, 2015, during which CITIVA's Chief Medical Officer, Jack D'Angelo MD, MBA, delivered a lecture on Cannabinoids and the Management of Multiple Disease States. CITIVA is focused on advancing the study of marijuana and its efficacy in the field of medicine Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Aristotle said: "the only way to avoid criticism is to say nothing, do nothing and be nothing." When some members of the DP criticize the counterpart law and policy without reviewing the implementation guidelines then they are too quick to criticize and assume that it "is a sure recipe for massive lay-offs. " This once again proves that they were not in support of my vision to provide the much needed opportunity of our youth to take on top positions in our community Read more

Marcel Gumbs Cabinet Tenders Resignation On Wednesday

St. Maarten- The Council of Ministers will meet this coming Wednesday with Governor Drs. Eugene Holiday at the Governor’s Cabinet to tender its resignation.

At this meeting all ministers will make their positions available and the national decree to dissolve parliament will be signed by the governor and countersigned by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, the prime minister’s cabinet states in a press release last night Read more

Serious Measures Ahead To Generate More Revenue

Draft 2016 budget stands at 485 million guilders

St. Maarten – “We have tremendous challenges and we need to take serious measures to increase income and to cut costs,” Finance Minister Martin Hassink said earlier this week.

How tremendous those challenges are appears from the cold figures. The budgets the seven ministers of the Gumbs cabinet submitted for 2016 totaled 510 million guilders. That number has been brought down to 85 million, and that is the budget the Council of Ministers approved this week,

Minister Hassink pointed out that the expected income for 2015 is 440 million guilders and that begs the question how the country will bring revenue to the 485 million level next year.

Personnel costs exceed 200 million guilders next year Read more

Gumbs cabinet expected to submit their resignation on Wednesday next week.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Reliable information reaching SMN News states that the ousted Prime Minister of St. Maarten Marcel Gumbs will be taking in the resignation of his cabinet latest Wednesday next week.
It is not yet known why the Prime Minister and the other Ministers making up his cabinet choose to stay a few more days in office after being notified of the Governor’s final decision on Wednesday.
SMN News could not reach Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs on Friday for a confirmation on whether or not he will submit the resignation of his cabinet or if he will wait for the police to knock on the doors of the Ministers to remove them from office forcefully.
Former Minister of Constitutional Affairs and also former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan told SMN News that the Gumbs cabinet has committed a criminal act and they can be held accountable for their actions Read more

Council Of Ministers Gives Status Update, Pm Addresses Constitutional Issue

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Council of Ministers of St. Maarten held a press conference Wednesday morning in which they outlined the various plans which they had for implementation as well as a status report of ongoing matters.

VROMI

Minister of VROMI the Honorable Claret Conner stated on Wednesday that the street repair program is now in progress. The Minister stated that more extensive work will be done next year when the season is over. He also stated that most of the work will be done at night.

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Minister Ernest Sams who is responsible for Economic Affairs gave an outline Wednesday of the islands Economic Development plan Read more

Budget 250,000 Guilders For St. Maarten Day Celebrations

The St. Maarten Day committee at the A.C Legislative hall. Photo Today / Andrew Dick

St. Maarten – The committee in charge of organizing the November 11 St. Maarten Day celebrations has been working for the past months to organize and execute a well thought out program starting November 8. Minister of Culture Rita Bourne-Gumbs says this year the focus is on the people being proud of the heritage the island has to offer. “The community needs to be reminded of the rich culture the island has and we hope to depict this at this year’s festivities,” said the minister.

The highlight of the day will be a cultural parade consisting of 30 groups according to committee member Urmain Dormoy Read more

SHTA poll: Businesses want anti-ship-jumping legislation

Click here for SHTA graph pdf

PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA), in light of the “current political dilemma,” invited its members to take a poll which showed that the largest single group of respondents wish both for new elections and for new legislation to prevent political “ship-jumping.” However, new legislation was the strongest sentiment expressed overall.

Responses quickly started coming in for the one-question survey sent out to members by e-mail on Tuesday and SHTA released the results on Thursday Read more

Do we serve democracy by not holding new elections?

Dear Editor,

Much has been said about the matter of a motion of no confidence in the members of the Gumbs I cabinet by the Parliament of St. Maarten. There has also been much said about that same cabinet's choice not to resign and call for new elections. The prevailing question is "Even if there is an election, what fundamental difference will it make, especially in the light of the fact that the laws relating to the exact process after such a motion of no confidence is passed have yet to be created, and the fact that there will still be no rules to prevent the ship jumping that has led to this point and preceded other changes in government?" This letter seeks to advance two arguments in favor of these new elections Read more

style="text-align: center;">“I was thrown under the roller by the UPP”

PHILIPSBURG:---- Member of Parliament Silvio Matser who left the United Peoples Party also showed up in front of the Government Administration Building on Wednesday to show his support to the people whom he said elected him Read more