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Deafening noise from heavy motorcycles announced the arrival of the new political party Nation, Opportunity, Wealth (NOW). Christopher Emmanuel, with his political sponsor Olivier Arrindell and NOW candidate Claudius 'Toontje' Buncamper at his side, led the yellow march from Clem Labega Square towards the Parliament Building.NOW has 21 candidates Read more

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Chris Asks Who Choose Lara Mateo To Represent Country In Miss World

St Maartens Miss World representative Lara Mateo.

 ~ Takes issue with delegate sitting on flag ~

PHILIPSBURG--Spain-born Lara Mateos representation of St. Maarten in the upcoming Miss World Pageant came under question on Monday when Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher Emmanuel asked who selected the d Read more

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Mp Emmanuel Questions How Ballast Nedam Won Airport Bid

MP Emmanuel refers to the Letter of Acceptance of the World Banks Anti-Corruption Guidelines.

PHILIPSBURG--In response to the news that Ballast Nedam has been awarded the contract for the airport reconstruction project, independent Member of Parliament (MP) Christophe Emmanuel questioned how Dutch firms with a criminal history continue to secure contracts on St Read more

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Emmanuel: Civil Servants Should Reject Salary Cuts

MP Christophe Emmanuel

PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher Emmanuel said on Tuesday that civil servants should not accept having their salaries cut by 12.5 per cent as outlined in the Dutch governments conditions for the second tranche of liquidity support.

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The new Government of St. Maarten will comprise a combination of the two parties that gained the most votes in last Thursdays snap parliamentary elections.

The National Alliance (NA) and United Peoples (UP) party on Saturday evening signed a coalition agreement to form the next government for St. Maarten. Read more

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Protest against Ministers draws only a small crowd

PHILIPSBURG--The angry sentiments expressed on radio and in some quarters of the community against the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet for not resigning in the face of the September 30 motion of no confidence passed by the new National Alliance (NA)-led coalition did not translate into a large turnout for the protest in front of the Government Administration Building on Wednesday morning.

Some people on the scene are planning to return to the site again today, Thursday, for similar action Read more

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It’s time to move on

Dear Editor,

If government officials cannot address the public in a sober and civil manner, then they need to reconsider their position and move on. It is totally unacceptable for representatives of the people to express themselves in ways that are substandard to effective leadership. This pattern of behaviour seems to be a developing trend - a style that exposes their state of mind – a mind that is overruled by frustration, which has lead them to the point where they are unable to guide their thoughts.

Politicians, who are called to lead, would be cognizant of their choice of words and actions 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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$68K figure for GEBE payment ‘never received’

PHILIPSBURG--Alfred Harley says he and his company SXM Services Provider are being dragged through the mud in connection with the ongoing problems at utilities company GEBE.

Harley is particularly angry about the allegations that have been repeated in media outlets, in Parliament and in court that the company was receiving hefty payments approved by GEBE Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Managing Director Romelio Maduro, against the wishes and to an extent against the knowledge of GEBE's Supervisory Board.

One figure being cited is US $68,000, which seems to be the total amount the company needs to be paid, but has received in full Read more

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Parliament committees to look into French/Dutch joint issues

Representatives of the French side Territorial Council with Members of Parliament in Parliament House on Tuesday.

PHILIPSBURG--A meeting between the French side Territorial Council and Members of Parliament (MPs) in Parliament House on Tuesday resulted in various topics discussed being sent to Parliament’s permanent committees for further deliberation and solution seeking.

Among the topics discussed was pensioners living on the French side, but who have contributed to the Dutch side’s General Pension Fund by working on the southern side of the island accessing their benefits Read more

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Govt. back to drawing board with Integrity Chamber Law

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament has sent Government back to the drawing board with the controversial draft National Ordinance on the establishment of an Integrity Chamber for the country.

Parliament sending Government back to make changes was not unexpected, as the majority of MPs had voiced their discontent with the draft when it was tabled in the Central Committee of Parliament about two months ago.

The reworking of parts of the law means the deadline of June 30 for Parliament to handle the law as stated in a recent protocol with the Dutch Government will not be met Read more

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Emmanuel: Connor must provide Checkmate contracts within week

~ Wants Mingo, board to step down ~

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher Emmanuel has issued a firm call for the resignation of Shareholder Representative of the Harbour Claret Connor, if he fails to provide all documents related to the contracts the harbour has with Checkmate Security Services within one week.

He has also issued a call for the resignation of the board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Harbour Mark Mingo over the controversial increase in Checkmate's contract.

Checkmate Security Services has been making headlines in recent days when news broke that the company is in line for a massive US $2.2 million increase in its contract at the Harbour Group of Companies this year Read more

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For St. Maarten or not for St. Maarten

Dear Editor,

I believe that all of these people including myself who voice their opinion do it with a purpose. My purpose is for the betterment of life on St. Maarten. If life gets better it will be better for me also. Simple as that.

Over the years too many of us would say how it should not be and go to lengths to explain why it should not be. This is also the case with the counterpart issue. Laws are written because someone realizes that something is not going well and in that spirit is motivated to correct it and puts a law together with that intention.

Also someone gets an idea how to better an existing situation and again in that spirit writes a law which goes through the procedures and is finally approved and ratified Read more

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Editorial - Clarity needed

Parliamentarian Christopher Emmanuel of the National Alliance (NA) no doubt dropped a bomb during Monday’s debate about the instruction by the Kingdom Council of Ministers to Governor Eugene Holiday on the screening of candidate ministers Read more

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Christopher Emmanuel says he was offered US $2M for his seat

~ Lloyd, de Weever deny being paid ~

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher Emmanuel said on Monday that he had been offered US $2 million for his parliamentary support as he stressed the point that St Read more

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Holiday says MPs play critical role to foster good governance

~ MPs sworn in ~

HARBOUR VIEW--The fifteen Members of Parliament (MPs) elected during the August 29 Parliamentary Elections took their oaths to serve in the presence of Governor Eugene Holiday on Friday.

Sworn in were United People's (UP) party MPs Theo Heyliger, Franklin Meyers, Silvio Matser, Tamara Leonard, Maurice Lake, Lloyd Richardson and Johan "Janchi Leonard; Democratic Party (DP) MPs Sarah Wescot-Williams and Cornelius de Weever; United St Read more

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National Alliance offers ‘responsible, honest, hardworking govt of integrity’

~ Tells voters ‘right the wrong’ with clean sweep ~

CUL DE SAC--The National Alliance (NA) profiled itself as a “serious” party committed to offering St. Maarten “a responsible, honest, hardworking government of integrity” at its last public meeting Wednesday evening, one day shy of Friday’s Parliamentary election.

The party’s 23 candidates drove home their message that NA was the party to lead St Read more

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