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NIPA board refuses to sign agreement with ministry

~ MP tells minster to fire board ~

PHILIPSBURG--The Advanced Vocational Education (AVE) board of National Institute of Professional Advancement (NIPA) has refused to sign an agreement with the Education Ministry geared at improving the institute.

The board also has refused to adhere to a seven-point plan of action to improve things at the institute, Education Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs told Members of Parliament (MPs) during the continuation of a parliamentary session on NIPA and other issues on Tuesday Read more

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Can we get financing?

Dear Editor,

I started to comment on a different topic when, what has become a nuisance, the days current went again, this time for almost two hours. Last week G.E.B.E. promised us that there would not be any outages for a while because the problem causing the load shedding was solved. That was like telling us that the mouse will not eat the cheese anymore because we bought a mousetrap.

And then, two days later no Cable TV. The lady at customer service said that they did not have any current because of a G.E.B.E Read more

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NA: Marlin’s waste-to-energy plan called for zero investment

PHILIPSBURG--The still-pending waste-to-energy (WTE) plant would have cost taxpayers “a total of zero investment” under the plan left behind by National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament William Marlin after his tenure as Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI in 2012-2013, said the NA board in a press statement on Wednesday.

The terms of reference were designed so that the WTE supplier would be granted a concession for 20-25 years and utilities company GEBE would buy the energy produced by the WTE plant, said the board as they chided United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger for saying in Parliament recently that projects require investment.

“So you see, MP Heyliger, you are not correct Read more

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MPs question Dennis on Zebec settlement at Port

~ Sarah’s call for more speaker’s time voted down ~

PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) fired off numerous questions seeking clarity on the Harbour’s settlement with Zebec Development during an emergency meeting on Monday.

The meeting was adjourned after the first round of questions to give Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson a chance to obtain answers. The meeting will continue at 2:00pm today, Tuesday.

A proposal by Democratic Party (DP) MP Sarah Wescot-Williams at the start of the meeting for the speaking time to be increased to 30 minutes in the first round and 20 minutes in the second round was voted down with eight MPs voting against the proposal and six voting for it.

The vote was called after United People’s (UP) party MP Franklin Meyers said he opposed Wescot-Williams’ proposal Read more

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Court to decide on SHHC appeal against Dock Maarten in October

POINT BLANCHE--After a failed attempt in Civil Court in December to halt Dock Maarten N.V. construction plans, St. Maarten Harbour Holding Company (SHHC) N.V. filed an appeal centred on a building permit and was heard in administrative court on Monday. The Court will give its decision October 19.

The Harbour is against a building permit for expansion issued by the Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI on July 21, 2014. The Harbour argues that the construction forms both a hindrance to vessels and a danger.

Attorney Marcha Woudstra also argued that the decision by the ministry to issue the permit had not taken into careful consideration previous reports made, and that the decision was at odds with the law Read more

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Win some, lose some

Member of Parliament Christopher Emanuel (NA) during his press conference on Thursday (see related article) openly questioned why grocery prices are considerably lower on the French side, using receipts with concrete examples. His colleague Maurice Lake (UP) had touched on the issue earlier, at the end of July.

This matter actually has been the “talk of the town” among shoppers lately, especially since a new supermarket was established in Marigot with a house brand Read more

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Achievements and lack thereof highlighted as MPs close year

PHILIPSBURG--The achievements or lack thereof in the first Parliamentary year of the second Parliament came into focus as Members of Parliament (MPs) closed off the 2014-2015 legislative year in Parliament House on Monday. The 2015-2016 year opens today, Tuesday, with much pomp and ceremony.

The call to work together was issued by fraction leaders representing the coalition partners while the two opposition fraction leaders MP William Marlin (National Alliance) and Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party) were straightforward with their criticism about lack of action by the United People’s (UP) party-led coalition.

Destiny impaired

UP fraction leader MP Franklin Meyers laid the blame for the country’s stagnated growth and development in the past year at the door of The Hague saying that government and Parliament have spent the past year battling instructions and financial constraints due to financial supervision Read more

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