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Swept Under The Rug

I presented a motion in June of 2021 almost 3 years ago asking that the subject of debt cancellation for St. Maarten be discussed. I was moved to do so after discovering that St. Maarten was paying 12.7 million guilders annually on an almost 1 billion guilders debt. It is no secret that it would take some 100 years to pay it off, hence my motion which was unanimously supported.

The International Monetary Fund had also suggested that the Dutch government look at Debt cancellation, however what came afterwards due to the covid19 pandemic is additional loans of some 300 million guilders Read more

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We Live In A World That Is Becoming More And More Anti-Social

The world we live in is becoming more and more Anti-Social as time passes and it will continue to increase. What is the cause of this you might ask and my simple answer is the fast advancement of technology.

I wish I knew about the presentation of Ms. Julia Davich (forgive me if the spelling is wrong) that she gave at the University of St. Maarten. I heard part of her presentation this week on the radio and I think one of the things she mentioned was the matter of paying online and what this does to the physical interaction of people with each other Read more

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~Legislative Package co-signed.~

PHILIPSBURG:---  In a momentous event, guests and online audiences gathered to witness the Minister of Justice co-sign the Justice legislative package. The official signing of the National Decrees was hosted at the Government Administration Building on Wednesday, December 27, 2023. The signing of the National Decree containing General Measures for the Legal Position of officers with police tasks and the new police salary scales, along with the National Decree to enact the legal position and also enact the approved Function Book.

The journey to this significant milestone began in September 2020, when the Minister embarked on the journey of completing the legislative package Read more

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Minister Of Justice Co-Signs Justice Legislative Package On Wednesday

Minister of Justice Anna Richardson signing the justice legislative package during Wednesday's ceremony.

PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Justice Anna Richardson co-signed the justice legislative package at the Government Administration Building on Wednesday, December 27.

The official signing of the national decrees solidified the legal position of officers and established essential structures for human resources management in the Ministry of Justice.

The signing encompassed the national decree containing general measures for the legal position of officers with police tasks, the new police salary scales and the national decree to enact the legal position and approved function book.

In her address, Richardson acknowledged the challenges faced on the journey to this point and expressed her pleasure in bringing it to a successful conclusion Read more

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Parliament Approves 2023 Budget Amendment, 2 Motions

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament on Thursday unanimously approved the 2023 budget amendment as well as passed two motions tabled by United Peoples (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Rolando Brison.

  Only eight of the 15 MPs were present for Thursdays public meeting of Parliament in which the budget amendment was voted upon. Present were United Peoples (UP) party MPs Brison and Sidharth Cookie Bijlani, Party for Progress (PFP) MP Melissa Gumbs, National Alliance (NA) MPs George Pantophlet, Angelique Romou, Hyacinth Richardson and William Marlin and independent MP Ludmila de Weever Read more

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Pantophlet:And The Bullying Continues

The repayment of the loans acquired because of covid19 were due on October 10, 2023. If one was following statements I made in the past, I made it quite clear to the then Director of the Committee for Financial Supervision Mr. Gradus that doing so was impossible to which he agreed. I mentioned to him the issue of Debt Cancellation and his response was it is a political matter, to which I responded, It is not political, it is social.

What I can conclude however is that the bullying and blackmailing by the Dutch government being executed by State Secretary Alexander van Huffelen continues Read more

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~ St. Maarten still looking towards debt cancellation for COVID loans. ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said in response to questions regarding the proposal of the Dutch government to grant St. Maarten, Curacao, and Aruba loans with conditions to bail out Ennia that the government of St. Maarten will still continue to fight for the interest of its people.
Asked if the government believes that the people of St Read more

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Reality And Justice

It was brought to my attention a couple of days ago that an article was published entitled Negative for the image of St. Maarten. The author being Mr. Robby Ferron. I believe he was commenting on article I wrote on debt cancellation. Had I seen it earlier I would have remarked sooner. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and that is a given. I do maintain that the best thing for the Netherlands to do is to cancel the entire debt, not only that of the liquidity support but also prior loans Read more

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Action Speaks Louder Than Words

On December 19, 2022 the Dutch government apologized for slavery or their part in the slave trade. This took place in Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, St. Eustatius, Saba St. Maarten, Suriname and the Netherlands. But what tangible actions have been taken so far? St. Maarten owes some 300 million guilders for liquidity support. This amount is to be paid in October of this year including the annual payment of 12.7 million owed from a prior debt of some 1.2 billion guilders. It has been concluded that St Read more

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George Says Manner In Which Taxes Are Collected Should Be Looked Into

NA MP George Pantophlet.

~ Pre-2017 taxes should be written off ~

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Read more

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Tax Compliance Can Lead To Tax Write Off

This topic can be or is very controversial but it has to be addressed says Member of Parliament George Pantophlet. He believes that Tax compliance can lead to Tax write offs. This statement might sound like an oxymoron but the member says there is great possibility in this aspect. He also feels that the manner in which taxes are collected should be looked into Read more

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No Meeting To Approve Ipko Delegation Due To No Quorum

MP Ludmila de Wever, standing, about to sign in for the meeting, which could not be held due to no quorum, on Thursday morning.

 PHILIPSBURG--Thursdays scheduled meeting of Parliament to approve the composition of the delegation to participate in the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations IPKO and Tripartite, did not take place due to a lack of quorum.

IPKO Is scheduled to be held in The Hague, Netherlands from May 31 to June 5.

Chairperson of Parliament Sidharth Cookie Bijlani opened a gathering of Parliament, and told MPs present that the meeting was not able to start as there had been no quorum Read more

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Mps Want The Diamond Estate Ruins Rebuilt At Offenders Expense, Rubble On Monument List

MPs preparing to vote on the motion during Thursdays meeting.

~ Pass motion to this effect ~

PHILIPSBURG--Taking legal action against the persons who demolished the Diamond Estate ruins, rebuilding the historical site at the offenders expense and having government expedite efforts for the area and the remaining rubble to be placed on the protected monument list were among the actions Members of Parliament (MPs) want to see executed in a motion passed on Thursday.

  The motion, which was tabled by United Peoples (UP) party MP Rolando Brison, was passed by 10 MPs voting in favour and none against Read more

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Pfp Submits Draft Lb-Ham To Prime Minister

MP Peterson: Parliament changing Election Ordinance would be rats minding the cheese

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten Via a letter penned by Member of Parliament Melissa Gumbs, the Party for Progress faction in Parliament submitted a draft LB-HAM (national decree containing general measures) to Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs on Thursday, 23 February 2023, prior to leaving for the IPKO session Read more

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SIMPSON BAY:--- Four (4) parliamentarians graciously accepted an invitation to tour the construction site of the Airport Terminal Reconstruction Project at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) on Friday, February 17, 2023.

The tour served as an integral component of the Public Outreach Campaign by the PJIA Corporate Communication and Project Management Unit (PMU), to offer the necessary stakeholder engagement by way of information disclosure.

Readily available to take the invited tour were the President of Parliament, MP Cookie Bijlani, MP Angelique Roumou, MP George Pantophlet, MP Ludmilla Duncan, and support staff.

The revised timeline, the phased-planned approach, and the cost overview of the construction project were among the many factors presented by the Airport Chief, Mr Read more

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Mp George Pantophlet: Irresponsible Behavior

There is no plausible argument for the irresponsible behavior displayed on Monday November 7, 2022 by the so called representatives of the people of St. Maarten who were present but did not sign in to allow the meeting to discuss the Unity Flag to be held. It is an insult to the persons who were present and more so an act of self above country when it comes to the people of St. Maarten both North and Southern side.

To add insult to injury, when it was decided to hold an informal meeting or gathering these perpetrators decided to attend and some even took pictures which is total hypocrisy Read more

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La Parlamentara Grisha Heyliger-Marten Es Despedida Como Presidenta Del Parlamento

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – El Parlamento de Sint Maarten se reuni en una reunin pblica urgente el jueves 27 de octubre.

El propsito de la reunin fue agradecer a la Presidenta del Parlamento por sus servicios y relevarla de sus funciones.

Este punto de la agenda fue solicitado por los miembros del Parlamento, a saber, William Mar Read more

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~Removal from Chair is not gender-based --- Marlin~

 PHILIPSBURG: --- The majority of 8 members of parliament voted out Grisha Heyliger Marten from the chair of parliament on Thursday during a public meeting. The national alliance members of parliament made it clear that their decision to remove Marten Heyliger has nothing to do with gender but mostly because of the way Heyliger Marten treated her coalition members Read more

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George Believes Employer Should Have To Submit Exemption Letter, Not Worker

NA MP George Pantophlet.

 ~ Not fining employers is giving them free pass ~

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Read more

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Pop Job On The Line Again Next Week Thursday.

PHILIPSBURG:--- It seems that the current President of Parliament United Peoples(UP) Grisha Heyliger-Marten will have to deal with her job being on the line on Thursday, October 27. According to a schedule sent out by parliament on Friday, a public meeting will handle the agenda points, Incoming documents, Ratification of the decision list of the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultations (IPKO) held from September 27-30, 2022 in the Hague, the Netherlands (IS/048/2022-2023 dated September 30, 2022) and Thank the Chair for her services thus far and relieve her from her duties (IS/026/2022-2023 dated September 20, 2022)
The latter agenda point was requested by MP W.V Read more

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Parliament Strikes Down Mp BrisonS Proposal Of Order To Sack Chairlady Of Parliament

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten – On Monday, October 17th, the Parliament of Sint Maarten handled to proposal of order to thank and relieve the Chairlady of Parliament, the Honorable Grisha Heyliger Marten of her duties.

The proposal, which was supported by MPs William Marlin and George Pantophlet and presented by leader of the United Peoples Party, the Honorable Rolando Brison on Monday, September 19th was finally put to a vote on Monday Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- As the motion on no confidence facing the Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran and the return of Member of Parliament William Marlin for the continuation of the meeting of parliament Read more

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Mps Buscan Respuestas Sobre Acusaciones De Mala Conducta En La Escuela Secundaria

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Los miembros del Parlamento (MP) plantearon docenas de preguntas al Ministro de Educacin, Cultura, Juventud y Deporte (ECYS) Rodolphe Samuel con respecto a las denuncias de conducta sexual inapropiada que ocurrieron entre el exdirector de la escuela secundaria St. Dominic y un estudiante, y qu ha sido el enfoque del ministerio para manejar el asunto.

Samuel abri la reunin pblica del jueves con una presentacin sobre el proceso del ministerio de informar incidentes que involucran a figuras de autoridad escolar y estudiantes al ministerio Read more

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Negotiations To Broaden Coalition Ongoing.

~ 4 MPS off-island signed prior to leaving. ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Some members of parliament namely those from the current National Alliance and United Peoples Party (NA/UP) coalition continue to meet in order to strengthen their coalition after MP Solange Ludmilla Duncan resigned from the National Alliance.
The formation meetings began after an urgent meeting of parliament was called on Wednesday, June 29th, 2022, where the Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran was invited to discuss the most recent report from the Ombudsman Read more

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