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St. Dominic High School winner Moot Court 2015

PHILIPSBURG--After a Friday afternoon filled with pleadings, arguments and rebuttals in a high-profile and legally highly complicated case involving crimes against humanity and human rights violations, the legal team of St. Dominic High School emerged as winners in the first SXM Moot Court Competition for high school students. They received a trophy from Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs.

Against the opposition of students of Learning Unlimited (LU) Preparatory School, Caribbean International Academy (CIA), St Read more

Sarah questions Govt on integrity protocol

THE HAGUE--"Does the government consider the maintenance of law and the other judicial parts in the document part of the Integrity Chamber? If not, why are those agreements part and parcel of the protocol regarding an Integrity Chamber?" was one of several questioned posed by Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a letter to the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet via Chairman of Parliament Dr Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---  Hon. Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Marcel Gumbs expresses his deepest sympathy to the family of Pieter Hooft, a civil servant who worked with the Government of Sint Maarten for more than 25-years.
"My condolences on behalf of the Council of Ministers also go out to civil service corps of country Sint Maarten Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Expresses Condolences To The Hooft Family And The Civil Servant Corps

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Hon. Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Marcel Gumbs expresses his deepest sympathy to the family of Pieter Hooft, a civil servant who worked with the Government of Sint Maarten for more than 25-years.

"My condolences on behalf of the Council of Ministers also go out to civil service corps of country Sint Maarten Read more

style="text-align: center;">PM now investigating Bidding Process.

Airport: --- The board and management of the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) was given three weeks to provide a number of documents to the Acting Minister of VROMI and Prime Minister of St. Maarten Marcel Gumbs before he would take a decision on issuing the building permits for the construction of the Fixed Based Operations (FBO) project at PJIAE and the Fire Station Read more

Charlotte Brookson Academy to relocate from USM year end

~ LaBega saddened by MP's remarks ~

PHILIPSBURG--Charlotte Brookson Academy (CBA) of the Performance Arts will be relocating from its current home at the University of St. Martin (USM) to another location at the end of the year.

USM Dean of Academics and Interim President Dr. Francio Guadeloupe said the contract between CBA and USM ends in June and the tertiary institution has given CBA until December to find another suitable location.

CBA has been occupying classrooms at USM since it first opened its doors almost three years ago to provide education for students with a strong interest in the arts and with a strong focus on academics.

A source close to CBA said the intention was never for the school to be permanently housed at USM Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, May 22nd 2015, the Ombudsman, Dr. Nilda Arduin left for Curacao to attend the 8th Caribbean Ombudsman Membership Conference.
The theme of the conference is "Human rights –the measuring rod for Good Governance."
Renown speakers will be will be making presentations on the topic. Dr. Arduin will be speaking on "Human Rights an Intrinsic element of Good Administration"; other speakers will be addressing other areas of human rights in relation to the role of the Ombudsman.
Another topic that will be presented is "Corporate Governance and State-Owned Enterprises".
A highlight of the conference is a two day Anti-Corruption Training sponsored by the International Ombudsman Institute (I.O.I.).
"Following the very successful anti-corruption training program conducted by the International anti-corruption Academy (IACA) at its seat in Austria in 2013, the I.O.I Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs congratulates Sint Maarten Guyanese Community on Guyana’s 49th Independence and President Granger

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Hon. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs would like to congratulate the Sint Maarten Guyanese community with respect to Guyana's celebration on May 26 of their 49th independence celebration of statehood.

At the same time, Gumbs would also like to extend congratulations to the 8th Executive President of Guyana Hon. Brigadier David Granger (69) who was sworn in on May 16 after his A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) won the 2015 national general and regional elections on May 11.

President Granger will be inaugurated at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence on Tuesday.

"I take the opportunity to congratulate President Hon Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Congratulates Sint Maarten Guyanese Community On Guyana's 49Th Independence And President Granger

PHILIPSBURG – Hon. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs would like to congratulate the Sint Maarten Guyanese community with respect to Guyana's celebration on May 26 of their 49th independence celebration of statehood.

At the same time, Gumbs would also like to extend congratulations to the 8th Executive President of Guyana Hon. Brigadier David Granger (69) who was sworn in on May 16 after his A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) won the 2015 national general and regional elections on May 11.

President Granger will be inaugurated at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence on Tuesday.

"I take the opportunity to congratulate President Hon Read more

Lake: ‘High time’ for two missing ministers

PHILIPSBURG--United People's (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake has issued a call to his coalition partners that it is "high time" the two missing ministers be appointed to the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet "to get this country moving."

The Gumbs Cabinet, sworn in in December 2014, has had two ministers carrying double portfolios Read more

Sarah to lobby opposition for audit chamber investigation

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams said she will be lobbying her fellow opposition members to bring about an investigation by the General Audit Chamber into the security contract between St Read more

EXCLUSIVE: GEBE Supervisory Board got three separate reports on COO and CFO

style="text-align: center;">Supervisory Board soon to take decision on how they will deal with CFO.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The supervisory board of GEBE was presented with three reports on May 13th 2015. The first report dealt with the misuse of GEBE's credit cards that were allotted to the company's Chief Operations Officer (COO) Romelio Maduro and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Rene Gartner. Based on the contents of the first report which addressed the misuse of the credit cards the COO Romelio Maduro used the company's credit card on an open tab at the cigar lounge and at several brothels on the island.
While Gartner used the credit cards to purchase airline tickets, and a satellite for his office Read more

George wants info about civil servants

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament George Pantophlet has written to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs in his capacity as General Affairs Minister enquiring about a number of topics related to civil servants.

Pantophlet wants a list of the vacancies filled in the ministries during the past two years, the names of the people who have taken up those posts and whether they are on government contract or in permanent employment.

In the letter sent to Gumbs via Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Hon. Marcel Gumbs opened the 10th Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS-X) conference on Tuesday at Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort, Casino and Spa.
The Government of Sint Maarten is proud to host this important regional meeting that has brought together disaster management officials from across the region Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Member of Parliament George Pantophlet has dispatched two letters to the Chairman of Parliament where he posed several questions regarding civil servants and other persons that currently working for the government of St. Maarten and those that have left. MP Pantophlet wants to know how many Ministries were filled in the last two years and by whom Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Hon. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs expresses his deepest sympathy on behalf of his family and the Government of Sint Maarten to his wife Irma Mulder-Beauperthuy, members of the family circle and friends of social/community-minded Frans Mulder who passed away over the weekend.

The Prime Minister pointed out that Mulder will be remembered for his contributions made to the Sint Maarten community especially to the While and Yellow Cross Foundation which he served for 35-years.

Mulder arrived on the island in the 1960s and established Sint Maarten as his home.

He built several businesses, and was a Managing Director of the former Spritzer and Fuhrman, and played a key role in the development of the former St Read more

Prime Minister Gumbs Expresses Condolences To The Families Of The Late Frans Mulder

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Hon. Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs expresses his deepest sympathy on behalf of his family and the Government of Sint Maarten to his wife Irma Mulder-Beauperthuy, members of the family circle and friends of social/community-minded Frans Mulder who passed away over the weekend.

The Prime Minister pointed out that Mulder will be remembered for his contributions made to the Sint Maarten community especially to the While and Yellow Cross Foundation which he served for 35-years.

Mulder arrived on the island in the 1960s and established Sint Maarten as his home.

He built several businesses, and was a Managing Director of the former Spritzer and Fuhrman, and played a key role in the development of the former St Read more

Putting people first focus of ICG/CARIBE EWS Meeting

 PHILIPSBURG--The need for a paradigm shift in disaster risk management to “put people at the centre” of preparedness, “instead of the last” was expounded on by Christa Hillebrandt-Andrade, Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions ICG/CARIBE EWS-X.

Hillebrandt-Andrade, speaking Tuesday morning at the opening in the group’s three-day meeting at Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort and Spa, added that the community must be kept “front and centre” in preparedness, especially with more and more people moving to coastal areas.

“Tsunami is no longer a forgotten danger in the Caribbean,” she said, calling for “the development of a culture of evacuation” to reduce risks in times of disaster 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

>PHILIPSBURG:--- SMN News received two phone calls on Monday  from two adults in Colombia who wanted to know if there is any restaurant or club by the name of "Lucky Shot" on St. Maarten. The two adults said that since the Minister of Foreign Relations of the Kingdom and Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs announced that they have decided to waive the visa requirements for Columbians travelling to Curacao and St Read more

Confiscation of PCs, phones bottleneck for Police Force

PHILIPSBURG--The confiscation of items such as computers and telephones was cited as one of the main bottlenecks for the Police Force in a Council for Law Enforcement report on the daily confiscation of items by the police.

The report was one of two the Council presented to Justice Minister Dennis Richardson on Friday. According to the report, these items “are not centrally managed or registered. With the absence of an administrator, there is no overview of such items and the storage is scattered.”

The report also said management safeguarded insufficiently the interests of security and transparency in the confiscation of these items Read more

Minister Teatt Connor Officially Opens Smart 2015

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Hon. Claret Connor officially opened the 14th Edition of St. Maarten/St. Martin Annual Regional Trade Show (SMART) 2015 on Wednesday at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino.

SMART is a three day event bringing together tourism stakeholders such as Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Travel Writers, and Event Planners to support, interact and promote tourism to the Eastern Caribbean.

International stakeholders come from as far as the United States of America, Canada, Europe, and Latin America.

During the Ministers address to SMART attendees, he pointed out the successes of 2014: a record two million plus cruise passengers; stay-over tourism visitors' increase of 10 per cent compared to 2013; overall hotel occupancy averaged upwards of 80 per cent; Port St Read more

SMART hosts 14th annual tradeshow

MAHO--The on-going fourteenth St. Martin/St. Maarten Annual Regional Tradeshow (SMART), dubbed the most important tradeshow of the Northeastern Caribbean, hosted its main day of activities at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort and Casino yesterday, May 14.

Although attendance was not as high as the 2014 event, which boasted one of the best turnouts in years, even participants who did not make any new connections pointed to the importance and usefulness of the annual event that targets local, regional and international tourism stakeholders.

However, noticeable was the lack of participants from South America that had been a major characteristic in 2014, and the non-presence of some regional islands Read more

Writers from India to Brazil heading for Book Fair 2015

PHILIPSBURG--The thirteenth annual St. Martin Book Fair is set for June 4 to 6, said book fair coordinator and president of Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF) Shujah Reiph. Novelists, poets, historians, scholars, drama and performance word artists from India, United Kingdom, Brazil, St. Lucia and the United States, to name a few countries, "are heading our way," said Reiph.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has already extended a welcoming hand to book fair guests and is encouraging the island's people to, "Have a very successful St Read more