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Former Teatt Minister Romeo Pantophlet Passes Away, Pm Luc Mercelina Pays Tribute

The late Romeo Pantophlet.

PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina has expressed deep condolences following the passing of former Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, T Read more

Muo Between St Maarten And Anguilla Was Signed In 2013

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On February 5th, 2021 Member of Parliament (MP) Claudius Buncamper sent a letter to the minister of Justice, the honorable Anna E. Richardson regarding Anguilla Boats entering St. Maarten. In his letter to the minister, MP Buncamper pointed that it had come to his attention that boats registered in Anguilla are picking up and dropping off passengers at pier at the Simpson Bay ferry, while boats registered in St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:---On February 5th, 2021 Member of Parliament (MP) Claudius Buncamper sent a letter to the minister of Justice, the honorable Anna E. Richardson regarding Anguilla Boats entering St. Maarten. In his letter to the minister, MP Buncamper pointed that it had come to his attention that boats registered in Anguilla are picking up and dropping off passengers at the pier at the Simpson Bay ferry, while boats registered in St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:---On February 5th, 2021 Member of Parliament (MP) Claudius Buncamper sent a letter to the minister of Justice, the honorable Anna E. Richardson regarding Anguilla Boats entering St. Maarten. In his letter to the minister, MP Buncamper pointed that it had come to his attention that boats registered in Anguilla are picking up and dropping off passengers at the pier at the Simpson Bay ferry, while boats registered in St Read more

Exclusive:--- Is The Minister Of Vromi Sleeping On The Job? What Is Going With Chairman Of Gebe Supervisory Board, When Will Buncamper Be Appointed?

Was agreement signed with AES in Dominican Republic for L&G Gas?

PHILIPSBURG: --- It appears as though the Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel is sleeping on the job. There are numerous matters that need the Minister’s attention at the Government owned company GEBE.
The Minister is supposed to appoint a member to the Supervisory Board, already he selected Claudius Buncamper for the position but it is understood that the Minister is being blocked by at least one member of the Council of Ministers to make the appointment Read more

Three New Mps Sworn In Tuesday

 HARBOUR VIEW--Governor Eugene Holiday on Tuesday administered the oath to the three new National Alliance (NA) Members of Parliament (MPs) Romeo Pantophlet, Read more

Governor Holiday Swears In Three New Mps

Harbour View – On Tuesday, January 10, 2017, Governor Eugene B. Holiday administered the oath to new Members of Parliament Romeo Pantophlet, George Pantophlet and

Hyacinth Richardson at the Governor’s Cabinet Read more

Harbour View:--- On Tuesday, January 10, 2017, His Excellency Governor Eugene B. Holiday administered the oath to new Members of Parliament Mr. Romeo Pantophlet, Mr. George Pantophlet and Mr Read more

Update: Four New Mps To Be Sworn In Soon

~ Credentials to be checked today ~

PHILIPSBURG--The four vacant seats in Parliament will soon be filled. The four persons to whom the seats were offered by the Central Voting Bureau by virtue of the votes they gathered on their parties' slates have accepted their posts.

Voting Bureau Chairman Jason Rogers told The Daily Herald that as of Thursday morning all four had accepted their seats to serve as Members of Parliament (MPs).

Perry Geerlings of the Democratic Party (DP) had not yet accepted his seat up to late last Wednesday night.

Now that Geerlings has accepted the seat, Rogers will inform Parliament of his acceptance Read more

Four New Mps To Be Sworn-In Soon

PHILIPSBURG--The four vacant seats in Parliament will soon be filled. The four persons to whom the seats were offered by the Central Voting Bureau by virtue of the votes they gathered on their parties' slates have accepted their posts. 

  Voting Bureau Chairman Jason Rogers told The Daily Herald as of this morning all four had accepted their seats to serve as Members of Parliament  (MPs). 

  Up to late last night, Perry Geerlings of the Democratic Party (DP) had not yet accepted his seat, Rogers had told the paper on Wednesday night. 

  Now that Geerlings has accepted the seat, Rogers will inform Parliament of his acceptance Read more

National Alliance Wants 10 Seats For Stable Govt.

SUCKER GARDEN–The white party, National Alliance (NA), presented 23 candidates to its supporters at the new party headquarters in Sucker Garden on Sunday afternoon. The party will present its list on Monday, led by veteran politician and sitting Prime Minister William Marlin.

  The inclusion of younger candidates shows the party’s vision for the future, according to Marlin, who presented the candidates Read more

Newly Installed Supervisory Board Of Gebe To Hold Their First Board Meeting On Saturday.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The seven persons that were appointed by the shareholder as Supervisory Board of Directors will be holding their first board meeting on Saturday morning at 9am.
SMN News learnt that the SBOD of GEBE began working behind the scenes as soon as they were appointed last week.
SMN News learnt that several employees of GEBE are running scared of the new board since they are asked to provide certain documents in order for the board to get a clear picture of what has been taking place at the government owned company.
The seven new members are as follows:-

1 Read more

GEBE  Supervisory Board of Directors lost court case.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Shareholder representatives of GEBE will be holding their shareholders meeting on Thursday morning May 26th 2016 as ordered by the Court of First Instance and they will dismiss the three remaining members of the supervisory board of directors namely, Rene Richardson, Ed Gumbs, and Zylena Barry. The shareholder will then appoint the seven new members of the board namely:-

1. Oral Gibbes
2. Tazio Bervoets
3 Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Shareholder representative of GEBE is expected to hear the three board members of GEBE Supervisory Board sometime next week. SMN News learnt that as soon as Prime Minister William Marlin and the Minister of VROMI Angel Meyers return to the island they will hear the three board members as advised by the Corporate Governance Council Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Reliable information reaching SMN News states that the Council of Ministers will appoint former Minister of TEATT Romeo Pantophlet Temporary Manager of GEBE. The appointment is expected to take place as early as Wednesday. According to the information SMN News received is the Council of Ministers will appoint Pantophlet to the position until the screening process until the suggested candidate for the Chief Executive Officer position Veronica Jenson Webster is completed Read more

Samuel And Richardson Return To Parliament

Rodolphe Samuel and Hyacinth Richardson (third and second from right) wait to be sworn in. Photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten – Rodolphe Samuel and Hyacinth Richardson took the empty seats of National Alliance faction leader William Marlin and Silveria Jacobs yesterday afternoon in parliament, after a small committee of three, consisting of MPs Leona Marlin-Romeo, Dr Read more

Winners And Losers: Who Will Survive The Polls In February?

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – February 9, 2016 is crunch day for politicians and those who aspire to become one. The parliamentary elections – for some mysterious reason perceived by some as ‘snap elections’, whatever that may be – will give voters the opportunity to speak their mind about the constitutional drama that concluded on Wednesday when the ministers of the Marcel Gumbs cabinet tendered their resignation and Governor Drs Read more

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs: “I Will Not Back Down”

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs (left) makes his position perfectly clear while Ministers Hassink, Sams and Connor look on. Photo Today / Andrew Dick

St. Maarten – “I will not back down,” Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs told this newspaper yesterday afternoon while he was walking back to the government building, where earlier yesterday he shed his light once more on the constitutional crisis that holds the country in a deadly embrace.

Professor Arjen van Rijn repeated yesterday in the Antilliaans Dagblad his firm position on the constitutional crisis: when the parliament hits, the cabinet is allowed to hit back Read more

Government has ‘autonomous right’ to dissolve Parliament

~ Governor wrote in 2013 letter ~

PHILIPSBURG--“The right to dissolve Parliament by national decree is a constitutional and autonomous right of the Government,” wrote Governor Eugene Holiday in a letter dated May 16, 2013, to then-Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams when she tried to stopped the then-National Alliance (NA)-led Council of Ministers from invoking Article 59 of the Constitution.

The letter came to light this week as political tension intensified between the newest NA-led coalition with a majority in Parliament and the UP/De Weever/Marlin-Romeo-supported Council of Ministers, after the crumbling of the United People’s (UP) party-led coalition.

The current Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has held tight to the view that it is its right to dissolve Parliament in the face of the shifted majority in Parliament Read more

Only 6 Of 22 Motions Since 2012 Yielded Results: Motions Carry The Day – But Only In Parliament

St. Maarten – The motions Members of Parliament submit during the annual budget debate seldom yield results. This newspaper examined 28 motions a host of parliamentarians tabled since 2012. With 22 of them successive government did absolutely nothing. Six of them yielded (some) results.

When governments fail to execute motions, parliament never retaliates. In the Netherlands, a cabinet that refuses or neglects to execute a motion that is carried by a majority in parliament, could lead to a cabinet crisis Read more

Country has 480 taxis and 263 bus licences

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten has a total of 480 taxi licences and 263 bus licences on the roads. There are 39 large “tour” buses with “T” (tour bus) licence plate numbers and a total of 31 “G” licence plate numbers. This is based on numbers given to Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Transportation by Transport Minister Claret Conner on Thursday.

He also informed MPs the moratorium on the issuance of bus and taxi licences remains in place until a study on the state of the industry is conducted Read more

Upgrade Dutch Quarter Delayed, Not Forgotten

European subsidy-millions remain available until December 5

St. Maarten – What happened to the European funds St. Maarten supposedly received for the upgrading of Dutch Quarter? Former Vromi-Minister William Marlin announced at a “simply yet significant signing ceremony” on the De Weever property on June 25, 2012 that the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) had committed €4.75 million ($6.1 million) to the project and the government put up an additional 1,73 million ($2.25 million) Read more

Illidge to sit for bribery, loses right to be elected

PHILIPSBURG--Former independent Member of Parliament (MP)Patrick Illidge (49) was sentenced Friday to eighteen months in prison, six of which were suspended, on two years' probation for bribery. The Judge also revoked Illidge's right to be elected and imposed a ban from holding public office for five years.

During the hearings in this case, which took place February 11-13, the Prosecutor's Office had requested 30 months, 10 of which were to be suspended.

Illidge and Bada Bing brothel owner Jaap van den Heuvel were the main suspects in the so-called Orca investigations Read more

Lawyer: ‘Patrick Illidge used influence to get things done’

PHILIPSBURG--Former Member of Parliament (MP) Patrick Illidge is not guilty of bribery but has only done his duty as an MP in “assisting citizens in their attempts and efforts to persuade ministers and civil servants to do what they are supposed to do,” lawyer Ralph Richardson said Thursday.

Together with Bada Bing night club owner Jaap van den Heuvel (49) Illidge (49) is the main suspect in a case of bribery in which Illidge allegedly accepted bribes for the total amount of US $150,000 between March 2011 and October 2012.

In exchange for the money, Illidge was to use his power and influence to favour the Bada Bing owner in ensuring the Ministry of Economic Affairs or other government agencies would grant an operational licence to the nightclub and seek a change in its official registered address from Maho Shopping Centre to Sr Read more