SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG:--- Head of New Projects Kurt Ruan told representatives that the project has been in the pipeline for quite a while. He said since these projects are financed by the European Development Fund (EDF) goes through a lengthy procedure. Ruan said he could remember that the current Prime Minister William Marlin was the one who signed off on this particular projects some years ago.
Ruan said the scope of work entails upgrading of Dutch Quarter main road which was identified by the EDF as a project that came into consideration for financing Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Mp Tamara Leonard Request Info About Government Consultants

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten  – United People (UP) party Member of Parliament Tamara Leonard has requested a list of all consultants working for Government and their associated consulting fees and benefits (housing, allowances and transportation etc.) per ministry.

MP Leonard urged Government in the letter to provide the information requested prior to the start of the Central Committee meeting on the draft 2016 budget Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Mp Tamara Leonard Request Info About Government Consultants

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – United People (UP) party Member of Parliament Tamara Leonard has requested a list of all consultants working for Government and their associated consulting fees and benefits (housing, allowances and transportation etc.) per ministry.

MP Leonard urged Government in the letter to provide the information requested prior to the start of the Central Committee meeting on the draft 2016 budget Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Sarah Calls On Gebe Board To Make Positions Available

PHILIPSBURG--The relationship between the supervisory board of utilities company GEBE and (past and present) Government is enough for reason for the board “to make positions available” to Government, said Democratic Party (DP) leader, Parliament Chairwoman Sarah Wescot-Williams on Thursday Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Plasterk About Dispute Regulation “Kingdom Cannot Deviate From Decisions, Unless …”

St. Maarten News:  The Kingdom Council of Ministers cannot deviate from an advice issued by a dispute regulator, unless such a deviation is properly motivated,” Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk said at a press conference yesterday at the end of his visit to St. Maarten. With this statement, Plasterk seems to come back from his earlier stance that the Kingdom Council of Ministers should always have the last word in disputes between the countries in the kingdom.

The only issue that separates Plasterk and the Caribbean autonomous countries St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Dp-Leader Wescot-Williams About Constitutional Court:  “A Comforting Thought To All Citizens”

St. Maarten – The President of Parliament, DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams was present at the Courthouse on Friday morning to observe the proceedings in the two cases put forward for the consideration of the Constitutional Court Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- The President of Parliament, DP leader Mrs. Sarah Wescot-Williams, was present at the Courthouse on Friday morning to observe the proceedings in the two cases put for the consideration of the Constitutional Court Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Minister Jacobs Welcomes Moot Court Team Back Home

St. Maarten News – Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Silveria Jacobs was on hand at the airport with many supporters to welcome the local Moot Court Competition team that returned from the Netherlands on Saturday night with a third place finish out of 16 teams from around the world.  

The St. Maarten team consisted of students: Tatia Brunings, Manaar Mohammed, Hilda Soares and Hailey Greaux of St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- Judge J (Bob) Wit during his visit to St. Maarten to preside over cases submitted to the Constitutional Court paid a courtesy visit to the Chairlady of Parliament, Mrs. Sarah Wescot-Williams (DP).
The DP leader seized the opportunity to discuss the feasibility of amending the law that governs the constitutional court of St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Public Health Ordinance Passed By Parliament On January 15Th, 2016

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — MP Wescot-Williams reflected on the public meetings held at Parliament last week on the now passed public health ordinance which was presented by Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Mr. Emil Lee (DP) and the team of his ministry.  MP Wescot-Williams understands how the talks came to be dominated by the  debate on the St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday, January 18th the Democratic Party of St. Maarten (DP) held its first press conference for the New Year. Party Leader, MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, touched on a number of important topics during her talk with reporters, as outlined below.

Public Health Ordinance passed by Parliament on January 15th, 2016
MP Wescot-Williams reflected on the public meetings held at Parliament last week on the now passed public health ordinance which was presented by Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Mr Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

“Electoral Reform Is A Race Against Time”

St. Maarten – Bringing about electoral reform that is applicable to the September 26 elections is “a race against time,” DP-MP Sarah Wescot-Williams said at a party press conference yesterday afternoon.

“The proposals I made to parliament will be part of the research,” the DP-leader said Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Wescot-Williams (Dp): “First Get The Hospital  On A Good Footing”

St. Maarten – “It is important to know where we stand. Before we start about a new hospital, the St. Maarten Medical Center must be on a good footing,” DP-leader Sarah Wescot-Williams said at a press briefing yesterday afternoon Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Broader Scope For Constitutional Court Under Consideration

St. Maarten News – DP-MP Sarah Wescot Williams is entertaining thoughts about broadening the scope of the Constitutional Court. The delegation of Curacao circulated a draft-initiative proposal from the Pais-faction during the recently held Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation (Ipko) in St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Local Financial Training Institute In The Making

St. Maarten – The Central Bank is working on plans for an institute for financial education in St. Maarten, DP-MP Wescot-Williams said yesterday, adding that she is pleased with this, as she proposed the idea in 2014 when she was the country’s prime minister.

“In Curacao such a program is already in place that started years ago” Wescot-Williams said yesterday Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Delegations Content With Ipko-Results

By Today Newspaper

GREAT BAY – There were only happy faces at the conclusion of the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation yesterday. Desiree de Sousa-Croes left the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino on her way back to Aruba with a smile on her face and elsewhere, still in the building, Dutch delegation leader Jeroen Recourt was all satisfaction too.

“It is about working together and achieving results,” Zita Jesus-Leito from Curacao said. The time that delegations walked out of the Ipko-meetings in a huff is seemingly a thing of the past Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Ipko Parliamentarians Receive Seven Seas Water Presentation

POINT BLANCHE, St. Maarten – Members of delegations attending last week’s IPKO meetings in St. Maarten, were also treated to a presentation hosted during a visit visited to the Seven Seas Water PB plant in Point Blanche.

During the event, held on Thursday, a power presentation was provided by Frederick Hung (VP-Business Analysis of SSW) and Lester Brian (local Operations Manager).

During that occasion, Franklyn Richards, managing director of Seven Seas Water (St. Maarten) highlighted the role of the company as a good corporate citizen, characterized among others by its regular donation program Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Ipko: No Time For Debate About Dispute Regulation

St. Maarten News – The Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Consultation (Ipko) did not get around to a discussion about the dispute regulation yesterday. Due to time constraints, chairlady Sarah Wescot-Williams closed the meeting shortly after 4.30 p.m. to allow members of the Dutch delegation to meet unspecified commitments outside of the meeting.

St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PORT ST. MAARTEN – Members of Parliament (MPs) attending this week’s Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO) had the opportunity on Thursday afternoon to visit the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facility.

After visiting the Seven Seas Water Desalination Plant, the delegation of MPs from the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten gathered at the Cruise Terminal Building which overlooks the cruise piers and Great Bay where Port St. Maarten Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo gave a brief overview of port operations.

In port was the Celebrity Silhouette and Allure of the Seas as well as two giga-yachts.  This provided an opportunity to see cruise operations underway where thousands of passengers and crew were moving around either heading back to the ship or patronizing one of the gift stores at the port or making use of the internet Wi-Fi services.

Mingo explained about the distribution network that is in place in order to get passengers from one point to the next which includes walking to Philipsburg, taxi service, tour busses, and water-taxi.

The delegation which also included MPs Hon Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Timeshare, The Sick Cousin Of The Tourism Industry

After many years, legislation remains in limbo

St. Maarten – Trouble in the timeshare industry probably dates back further than December 2010, when the controversial sale of the Pelican Resort caused uproar among employees and timeshare owners alike, but it is a good starting point for getting an impression of the state of this industry and the lack of action on the part of successive governments.

When the Pelican Resort changed ownership in December 2010, the jobs of 182 employees were suddenly on the line Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Academy Closes Year By Graduating 81

CUL DE SAC, St. Maarten - St. Maarten Academy’s academic campus closed the calendar year with a bang by graduating 81 of its students who successfully completed their CSEC examinations, offered by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) in May/June.

The ceremony was held on December 16, 2015 at the Belair Community Centre under the theme, “Education: The Passport to Our Future”.

Clifford Francois emerged as valedictorian and recapped the years of hard work that brought him and his fellow graduates the successes they have achieved Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Former Pm Marcel Gumbs Reacts To Dr. Martha “Not Possible To Revoke Dissolution Decree”

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – “I think that not all the facts were presented to him,” former Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs told this newspaper yesterday in a reaction to the interview with Dr. Rutsel Martha. “He is a good friend and very clever, though somewhat controversial, but his specialty is not in constitutional law.”

Gumbs said that he had acquired advice from three constitutional experts – professors Arjen van Rijn, Tijn Kortmann and Joop van den Berg Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Government About To Collect 13 Million From Casino Sector

Parliamentarians happy with withdrawal increased road tax

St. Maarten – By providing the receiver’s office with a mandate, the government is able to collect 13 million in tax arrears from the casino-sector, Finance Minister Richard Gibson said yesterday afternoon during a meeting of the Central Committee where he, as announced on Wednesday, withdrew the draft law to increase the road tax in 2016.

In a brief introduction, the minister told parliament that he would like to make some changes to the draft the previous government had submitted Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Mp Leona Marlin-Romeo Queries Mp Wescot-Williams On Climate Change And Sint Maarten’S Role

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo, has sent a letter to the President of Parliament requesting answers to the statement/comment made by MP Sarah Wescot Williams in her capacity as member of the CKAIR committee Read more

---

Candidates in this article: