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World Tourism Day Awards 2024 In St. Maarten

GREAT BAY, St. Maarten — Honor to Whom Honor is Due:For World Tourism Day 2024, eight individuals who have significantly contributed to the development of tourism on the island were honored by Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport, and Telecommunication Grisha Heyliger-Marten, along with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Read more

If Only Everybody Could Have Done His Or Her Share, We All Would Be Better Off.

Let start with the public roads. Some people think that the public roads are for their personal use and think that they can park their car wrecks on the road. Therefore, when driving around one can see different car wrecks parked on the side of the road. The Department of VROMI does keep clean-up campaign but does not go with all the wrecks. I do not know what the criteria is, but there are wrecks parked for years in the same (Maracas drive, Cay bay) spot.

There are 2-way roads that became inaccessible because there is a line-up of car wrecks and so the road became a narrow passage where as only one car can pass at a time Read more

Prime Minister Jacobs Attends Trust Fund Steering Committee Meetings

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten — The Trust Fund Steering Committee (SC) meeting commenced on Monday, March 7, 2022, with the Prime Minister of St. Maarten, Honorable Silveria E. Jacobs present with the team of the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) team for the first physical meeting at the World Bank main office in Washington D.C., since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

Present at the SC meeting was the St. Maarten Steering Committee member Mr. Marcel Gumbs, World Bank Country Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Ms Read more

Site Visit Marks The Start Of The Renovation Of The Belvedere Towers

BELVEDERE, Sint Maarten Major renovation work to severely damaged social housing in Belvedere has now begun, marked by todays informal site visit by several key stakeholders.

In total, exactly 64 apartment units in the six residential towers of Sint Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) will be fully renovated under this contract. This activity prioritized by the Government of Sint Maarten is part of the Emergency Recovery Project (ERP-1) of the Sint Maarten Trust Fund, which is financed by the Government of the Netherlands, managed by the World Bank, and implemented by the NRPB.

The units – locally known as The Towers – were damaged during the passage of the 2017 hurricanes Read more

Sint Maarten Hosts Trust Fund Steering Committee

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs and the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) are hosting a visit of the Steering Committee of the Sint Maarten Recovery and Resilience Trust Fund, from Wednesday, December 1, to Friday, December 3, 2021.

Following the devastating effects of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria in 2017, the Netherlands allocated approximately 470 million Euros to help Sint Maarten rebuild and increase its resilience to future natural disasters Read more

Us $45 Million In Additional Financing Allocated To Erp-1

Philipsburg World Bank Country Director for Caribbean Countries Lilia Burunciuc and National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) Director Claret Connor on Tuesday afternoon signed a grant agreement allocating US $45 million in additional financing to the Emergency Recovery Project (ERP-1).

ERP-1 is one of the flagship projects of the Sint Maarten Recovery and Resilience Trust Fund, which is financed by the Government of the Netherlands, managed by the World Bank, and implemented by the NRPB.

The signing took place in the presence of Sint Maarten Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs directly after a meeting with the Council of Ministers, World Bank representatives, and NRPB officials at the Government Administration Building.
The additional funding is necessary to complete the wide range of activities under ERP-1, which include repairs to homes, schools, and critical Government buildings that were damaged during Hurricane Irma in 2017 Read more

Emmanuel Urge Pm Not To Bend Her Knee To Schiphol

~ Blackmail to fire locals unacceptable ~

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Sunday once again urged Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs to let Schiphol go and not accept the indignity of having her entire country bow down to an institution like Schiphol. The MP said if there was any time the PM would have his support on anything, this would be it Read more

The Facts Regarding Sint Maarten Decolonization, Puerto Rico Is Fully Decolonized, But Not An Independent Country

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The Parliament of St. Maarten’s recent petitionto the United Nations regarding racial bias on the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles has come under great scrutiny by varying members of the public. As a matter of fact, the topic of decolonization seems to have caused a lot of anxiety, as well as, confusion amongst the general public which is quite understandable. When discussing and analyzing decolonization, it is imperative to focus on the facts presented by the United Nations, the United Nations Charter, and the Kingdom Charter. What Then Is Decolonization? In his letter of September 15, 2015, to the Dutch Prime Minister, Marcel Gumbs, along with the Prime Ministers of Aruba and Curacao recalled that the United Nations had great doubts about whether or not the Kingdom Charter had really brought about decolonization Read more

Parliament Follows Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs Decolonization Initiative While Adopting Dutch Jurists Claims Of Racism In The Caribbean

Former Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — In September of 2015, former Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs became one of the first St. Maarteners to question the Netherlands regarding the United Nations’ doubts as to whether the Kingdom Charter had decolonized the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles.

He went on to profess that the United Nations had serious doubts regarding the sincerity of The Netherlands to decolonize the former Netherlands Antilles Read more

Emmanuel Questions Construct Trust Fund Steering Committee

~ Says Marcel Gumbs a failure for St. Maarten ~

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Tuesday said that considering the lack of progress on Trust Fund projects for St. Maarten, the entire construct of the Trust Fund Steering Committee should be re-evaluated. He also questioned if the three members of this committee will be replaced considering the slow progress on St Read more

Former Pm Marcel Gumbs Questions Whether Netherlands Antilles Were Ever Decolonized

In aletteraddressed to Prime Minister Rutte in September of 2015, former Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, along with former Prime Ministers Eman of Aruba and Whiteman of Curacao questioned whether the Netherlands Antilles were ever decolonized. In theletter, all three Prime Ministers reminded Mr. Rutte that the United Nations had serious doubts about the sincerity of the Dutch State to decolonize these islands and questioned whether the Kingdom Charter had decolonized the islands.

The honorable Prime Ministers pointed out that the UN General Assembly had warned of the danger of abusing the position of governor to violate the autonomy of the islands Read more

Letter To The Editor: Know Better?

Michael Ferrier: Know Better? Do Better. Most of the questions you ask, you should ask yourself or the same people you endorse:

1. Fix the potholes in our roads.

Perhaps if you paid the NAF 1.4 millionyou owe to the government we wouldn’t have an issue of potholes. You really think people forgot about this, and you begging the Council of Ministers back then to right it off?

2 Read more

The Laws Of St. Maarten Books In English Are “Going Like Hot Bread”

 

PHILIPSBURG – The Laws of St. Maarten is a set of five books just published here. And the attractive, reader-friendly design publications are “going like hot bread” at Van Dorp bookstores and from the InfoMedia distributors, said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).

Each volume of The Laws of St. Maarten describes the book project on its cover as, “a five-volume English ‘Translation of the Official Publication’ of the Constitution and other laws established for governing St Read more

Info Media Foundation Presents Laws To Council

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On Wednesday, April 12, 2017 Info Media Foundation represented by Keith Franca presented the Council of Ministers with the English translation of the 38 Organic Laws of St. Maarten.

Prime Minister William Marlin stated at the presentation that we are heading in the right direction as a country with these 38 Organic Laws now available in English, because we are an English speaking society, and there is a disconnect between the laws of the country, which are in Dutch and the community speaks English.

“Currently there is a motion at Parliament to make English more prominent in government, in official publications and in our society,” said Prime Minister Marlin.

Franca stated that the English version of the 38 Organic Laws was the brainchild of Marcel Gumbs, and has been made possible through the House of Nehesi Publishers and Ennia Insurances, along with review by the Department of Legal Affairs.

The English version of the 38 Organic Laws is a five volume set of books that are vision friendly and the letter type and size is easy to read Read more

The Role Of Your Elected Parliamentarian

As a politician, campaigning for the elections on September 26th, I am constantly bombarded with questions such as, what can you do for me? Will you fix my papers? Can you make sure that I get a job? Will you increase the pension of my aged mother who is unable to survive on such a meager income?

I truly understand the plight of these persons and I wish I could tell them yes. But that would be only telling them lies, making empty promises and giving them false hope. Unfortunately, this is what the majority of parties and politicians are doing Read more

St. Martiner At Memorial Acte: “An Expression Of Pain And Pride”

MARIGOT/GREAT BAY – “An expression of pain and pride is the best way to describe the Memorial ACTe,” said Shujah Reiph on his recent return from visiting the state-of-the-art museum in Guadeloupe.

The Memorial ACTe museum was built on the seaside grounds of the former Darboussier sugarcane refinery, said Reiph, president of St. Martin’s Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF).

The museum’s black box façade and silvery mesh crown houses a permanent exhibition that “explores slavery and the European slave trade of African peoples in the Caribbean and the Americas,” said Reiph.

“I see my visit to the museum as a pilgrimage of memory, which was necessary to do as part of the 25th anniversary of the Black History Celebration in St Read more

Time Is Still On Our Side To Make It Right For Our Young People!

Middle Region – The Board of the OSPP welcomes every and all initiatives that are geared towards the curbing of unemployment in general but in particular amongst our young people. Throughout all the districts we see our young boys and girls seeking job opportunities but can hardly find any.

Our Prime Minister the Honorable William Marlin has proposed the implementation of an employment fund to stimulate youth employment Read more