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>PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams and her party president Hasani Ellis told reporters on Sunday afternoon that they still do not know exactly why Minister Cornelius de Weever defected and why he signed an agreement with the seven members of the UPP Read more

Statement Minister De Weever: “Let My Work Determine My Contribution To Our Country”

St. Maarten – A “political statement” of 867 words Minister of Public Health, Social Affairs and Labor Cornelius de Weever issued last night makes clear that the counterpart policy was the breaking point that drove him to the decision to take up a seat in Parliament instead of continuing as a minister. The statement does not contain a single reference to his support for the coalition with the United People’s party.

De Weever states that he told Democratic Party leader Sarah Wescot-Williams on Tuesday that he would take up his seat in Parliament Read more

De Weever breaks silence on reasons for abandoning DP

~ Counterpart policy at centre of decision ~

PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament (MP)-elect Cornelius de Weever broke his silence Friday on his reasons for pulling his support from the slate on which he was elected to help the United People's (UP) party form a one-seat Parliamentary majority.

De Weever said in a press release that the counterpart policy was "a principle" on which he "was not willing to compromise," as it sought to protect the interests of "our nationals [who – Ed.] want to return home only to be told they do not have enough experience and are even sometimes told they have too much experience and the company cannot afford to pay them; all this while companies still want foreign work permits for the same position."

De Weever said that with all "the rumours and innuendo circulating," he wanted to inform the populace formally on the "reasoning" behind his decision.

He said he had informed DP party leader Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams that he would be taking up his seat in Parliament instead of serving as Minister.

"In this regard, I believe an explanation is warranted to the people of St Read more

style="text-align: center;">Audi Commences Construction of New Dealership in Cole Bay, St. Maarten

What: Ground breaking with St. Maarten Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams; Audi Latin America Vice President, Diego Ramos; Audi Latin America Sales Manager Gerardo Castillo-Flores, Tariq Amjad, Reza Amjad and Imran McSood Amjad from Caribbean Auto.Date: Thursday, September 25 at 9:00 a.m.Audi kicks off construction of new 2,690 square-foot dealership

ST Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- My fellow St. Maarteners, with all of the rumors and innuendo circulating, I want to inform you formally on a decision that I have made and some of the reasoning behind it. On Tuesday afternoon, I informed Honorable Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams that I will be taking up my seat in Parliament instead of serving as Minister and serve the people of St Read more

Political Statement Minister Cornelius De Weever

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - My fellow St. Maarteners, with all of the rumors and innuendo circulating, I want to inform you formally on a decision that I have made and some of the reasoning behind it.

On Tuesday afternoon, I informed Honorable Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams that I will be taking up my seat in Parliament instead of serving as Minister and serve the people of St Read more

De Weever prefers serving as MP, no longer wants to stay a minister

PHILIPSBURG--Incumbent Health Minister Cornelius de Weever has informed Democratic Party (DP) leader Sarah Wescot-Williams that he wants to serve as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the new government and no longer will be continuing as Minister of Health, Labour and Social Affairs as was originally the case.

De Weever was elected to Parliament on the DP slate in the August 29 election Read more

New coalition said imminent

PHILIPSBURG--Widespread but unconfirmed reports on Wednesday indicated that a new coalition government with a one-seat majority is in the making between the United People's (UP) party with its seven seats and Democratic Party (DP) candidate and incumbent Health Minister Cornelius de Weever.

It could not be ascertained whether De Weever has severed ties with DP, as up to early yesterday Wescot-Williams said she had not been informed of such, although he had indicated that he no longer wanted a ministerial post and would retain his parliamentary seat (see related story).

According to reports, De Weever has agreed to form a coalition with UP Read more

Holiday starts new consultations after end of ‘Marlin’ formation

PHILIPSBURG--Governor Eugene Holiday started new formation talks on Thursday after United People's (UP) party leader Theodore Heyliger submitted a signed "coalition agreement" for the governing period 2014-2018.

The agreement was signed by UP's seven elected Members of Parliament (MPs) and Democratic Party (DP) MP-elect Cornelius de Weever.

Holiday said in a press release that in view of these developments, National Alliance (NA) leader William Marlin had informed him that the majority in Parliament necessary for the formation of the planned NA/DP/US Party coalition government no longer existed Read more

Audi and Caribbean Auto break ground for $500,000 showroom

COLE BAY--Audi Latin America and Caribbean Auto broke ground for the construction of a US $500,000 new Audi dealership in St. Maarten on Thursday.

The dealership will be located at 153 Union Road Cole Bay, near Caribbean Auto. The centre will be Audi's St. Maarten/St. Martin dealership in the Caribbean region and will help strengthen its relationship with current and future four-ring customers.

"It's wonderful having a global company like Audi bring its quality-engineered vehicles to the island Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- With the current developments concerning the formation of a new government where incumbent Minister of Health and Labor also Member of Parliament (elect) Cornelius de Weever has led on the people of St. Maarten including his party leader and the leaders of the National Alliance and the United St. Maarten Party the question that comes to mind is "who really is making big mistakes"?
MP de Weever made everyone on St Read more

Rumors Run Amok In Local Politics: Coalition May Fall Apart With De Weever’S Departure

Finance Minister Martin Hassink confers with National Alliance leader William Marlin while (from left) Frans Richardson and Romain Laville look on Read more

Editorial - Better now than later

It seems the formation of a new government might not go as smoothly as expected after all. Although “formateur” William Marlin (NA) presented Governor Eugene Holiday with his report and the incoming NA/DP/US coalition’s governing programme yesterday, DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams confirmed that her party’s number two vote-getter Cornelius de Weever had indicated meanwhile that he preferred to occupy his seat in Parliament rather than remain Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs as intended.

This creates a problem, because DP quickly will have to choose another nominee to become one of its two cabinet members, while the names of all seven candidate ministers already had been submitted Read more

No Quorum for Budget Debate --- UPP, De Weever, Illidge Absconded.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The budget debate that was scheduled for Wednesday September 24th, 2014 to amend the 2014 budget could not take place due to a lack of quorum. Members of Parliament from the United Peoples Party, Member of Parliament Petrus Leroy de Weever and Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge did not show up to the meeting.
While the UPP and DP are in government it is clear that the United Peoples Party will not attend the meetings to amend the budget until they know who will be in government and if things will go their way Read more

Pastor Smith urges incoming coalition govt, ‘make it work’

~ Governing programme finalised ~

CAY HILL--The incoming coalition partners have completed the governing programme and will be presenting it to formateur William Marlin today, Wednesday. Marlin is expected to report to Governor Eugene Holiday on the formation of the new government on the deadline today.

St. Maarten United Ministerial Foundation (SMUMF) President Pastor Wycliffe Smith, who met with the coalition leaders and their representatives as they finalised the document at Bearing Point yesterday, urged the coalition to "make it work."

He said a coalition of three was much more challenging than a coalition of two, noting that in this case the margin was thin as there was just a one-seat majority Read more

style="text-align: center;">Self Interest Rules on St. Maarten

PHILIPSBURG:--- The people of St. Maarten is facing yet another problem with the formation of a government they voted for. While three of the political parties that received the majority votes when combined were busy forming a broad based government which had to be finalized on Wednesday September 24th, 2014, Minister Cornelius de Weever has decided that he will put his own interest and the interest of his families first instead of the people of St Read more

style="text-align: center;">"Agree to disagree agreeably" - Pastor Wycliffe Smith

CAY HILL:--- Several Pastors from various churches came together on Tuesday afternoon and prayed for the three leaders of the three political parties that came together to form the coalition government for 2014-2018. The short but powerful prayer service took place at Bearing Point in Cay Hill where several persons including nine persons appointed by the three political parties have been working on the Governing Program for the next four years.
Pastor Wycliffe Smith the main organizer of the event said that the churches have been praying throughout the election period, on Election Day and even up to today as the political parties worked on forming the new government they have been praying Read more

TelEm, Digicel sign financial information-sharing contract

POND ISLAND--St. Maarten Telephone Group of Companies TelEm and regional telecom company Digicel are said to have signed an agreement to share financial information and pursue further talks. The agreement is said to be a precursor to possible merger talks between the two companies.

It is unclear at this point what will happen with the partnering talks TelEm already had underway with United Telecommunication Services (UTS).

St. Maarten is entitled to between 12 and 25 per cent of UTS' operation as a result of the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles Read more

‘Champions of Peace’ march through town

PHILIPSBURG--A rally dubbed "Champions of Peace" was held on the afternoon of September 19. Participants marched through the streets of Philipsburg and held a small presentation at Clem Labega Square, which served as the beginning and ending point.

Students of various schools participated in the rally. Still dressed in uniform, they formed small groups holding banners for the march.

Offering kind words and touching on the significance of acting as "champions of peace," Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams addressed the crowd briefly, as did Jorien Wuite on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Affairs and Marcellia Henry on behalf of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Addressing the crowd, Henry shared a poem called "I dream of a world of peace" by a Nepalese high school student before sharing a reflection on whether peace is really possible or an ideal concept Read more

MPs concerned about TelEm-Digicel accord

PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) have expressed concern about the signing of a financial information sharing contract between the St. Maarten Telephone Group of Companies TelEm and regional telecom company Digicel.

Democratic Party (DP), National Alliance (NA) and Independent MPs Frans Richardson and Patrick Illidge expressed concerns during a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Friday, to handle amendments to the 2014 budget.

Neither United People's (UP) party MPs nor independent MP Dr Read more

Editorial - Solid enough

The names mentioned in today's paper as the reported candidates for the various positions of the incoming NA/DP/US-party coalition inspire confidence. The screening process will have to determine whether they all qualify in the end, but for now the apparent nominees certainly sound adequate.

It was already clear that NA leader William Marlin would be the next Prime Minister in charge of General Affairs, while the party's number three candidate and top vote-getter Silveria Jacobs had been a "shoo-in" to again become Minister of Education, Culture and Sports.

Whom NA would make its Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Development and the Environment VROMI was not known, but Rodolphe Samuel with his experience as President of Parliament certainly had been among the frontrunners for the job on the party's election list Read more

“Budget Security Service Under Scrutiny”

St. Maarten – The contract of the former head of the national security service VDSM, James Richardson, expired a couple of months ago, Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said at yesterday’s Council of Ministers press briefing. While an ad inviting applications for a successor appeared in local media some months ago, no new head has been appointed yet.

“The process has started, but the budget has to be taken into consideration Read more

Resignation of cabinet Wescot-Williams III.

>HARBOUR VIEW:--- Prime-Minister Wescot-Williams submitted a letter dated September 9, 2014 to His Excellency, the Governor of Sint Maarten, drs. E.B. Holiday, making the portfolios of the Ministers and the Minister Plenipotentiary available and tendering the resignation of her entire Cabinet. This resignation takes place in the light of the Parliamentary elections of Friday August 29th and the current formation of a new cabinet by formateur Mr Read more

Prime minister tenders resignation of Cabinet

HARBOUR VIEW--Prime Minister Wescot-Williams has tendered the resignation of the entire Wescot-Williams III Cabinet to Governor Eugene Holiday. The governor, according to a statement from his Cabinet, has informed the prime minister that he will consider her request.

The governor also reiterated his call to the ministers and the minister plenipotentiary in The Hague to continue their duties in the interest of St Read more