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Parliament adopts ‘skeleton budget’

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament passed the 2015 budget with an 11-4 vote on Thursday night with just two days to spare before the deadline set by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.

The budget had to be established in December 2014. Government asked CFT for more time and was given the deadline of January 31.

Voting for the budget were the 10 Members of Parliament supporting the coalition and former coalition member MP Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party (DP)) Read more

Gov’t instructed to raise fee on money transfers

PHILIPSBURG--Increase or create an international transfer fee to be levied on money transfer services such as MoneyGram and Western Union was an instruction from Parliament to Finance Minister Martin Hassink. The motion was adopted by Members of Parliament (MPs) in the Plenary Session of Parliament dealing with the 2015 budget on Thursday evening.

Thirteen MPs voted for the motion.

MP Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party) voted against the motion, saying she could not support the piecemeal approach to changing the tax system Read more

SMTA calls for summit, decisive action on Timeshare Ordinance

SIMPSON BAY--"The time for decisive action is now," says St. Maarten Timeshare Association (SMTA) chairman Marcel Javois in relation to the Advisory Council's remarks on the Timeshare Ordinance brought to SMTA's attention recently. The SMTA is calling for a summit on the matter to discuss the best way forward.

"The SMTA has taken keen note of the recent comments and statements surrounding the Timeshare Ordinance. We believe that it is now time for urgent action, with this matter having been on the table for over 18 years," Javois was quoted as saying in an SMTA press statement released January 28.

SMTA said it had "just learned that the Advisory Council is unhappy with the Timeshare Ordinance Civil Code amendments and the Timeshare Authority Ordinance that will assist government and consumers in regulating the timeshare industry being drafted in the English language.

"At the time the laws were drafted for Member of Parliament [MP – Ed.] Leroy de Weever, the initiator of the laws, then-Minister of Justice Roland Duncan, and the supervising expert of the legislation, Judge Professor Jan de Boer, believed that there was ample justification for the laws to be drafted in English as it is one of our two official languages.

"In April of last year, the SMTA met with Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson, who said that many timeshare concepts were so English-specific and given that Holland has only one small timeshare property, that English should be used, but the law should be as a separate national law rather than part of the Civil Code, which needs to be as uniform as possible throughout the Kingdom.

"We understand that the Advisory Council is also not satisfied with using that as a solution.

"Given the late hour and the urgency of the issue as a national priority now that two large timeshare properties are having serious trouble and government has no tools to help, the SMTA hereby calls for an immediate summit to be convened."

SMTA called for the summit to include players that might have input, including current parliamentary initiator of the law Democratic Party (DP) through its leader MP Sarah Wescot-Williams, Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Claret Connor, Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson, the Advisory Council, the Ombudsman, Department of Legal Affairs and the SMTA, "in order to make a plan to get this legislation corrected and, if necessary, translated accurately to Dutch, and passed in the shortest time possible."

As reported in Tuesday's edition of The Daily Herald, the hold-up in the processing of the draft initiative laws to regulate the timeshare sector has come down to a matter of language Read more

Draft Budget is a silent cry --- Questions posed were not clear or properly answered.

style="text-align: center;">Ministers and MPs salaries should be cut by 5% - MP Leona Marlin

PHILIPSBURG:--- The 2015 draft budget was heavily criticized during the budget debate that started on Tuesday. The first speaker MP Leona Marlin made it clear that government should live by example and one of the ways they can cut cost and save monies is to let Ministers and Members of Parliament travel business class rather than first class. MP Romeo Marlin said that government including Parliament could further cut the traveling expenses by not attending certain meetings but use technology instead Read more

Advisory Council wants timeshare law in Dutch

PHILIPSBURG--The hold up in the processing of the draft initiative laws to regulate the timeshare sector has come down to a matter of language. The two draft laws are written in English, one of the official languages of the country, but the Advisory Council has requested the law to be re-submitted by the Democratic Party (DP), the initiator, in Dutch.

All of the country's laws are in Dutch and the judicial system, which executes the laws, is almost entirely in Dutch.

DP Leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams said at a press conference held in Parliament House on Monday, she intends to take up the law with Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Claret Connor, when they meet on February 5 Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams told reporters on Monday afternoon at a press conference that she is of the opinion that the deal with Rainforest Adventure to develop the Emilio Wilson Park is a done deal. "I believe this government has placed their stamp of approval on the project. This is my opinion because there is a lot not said when questions are being posed to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs regarding this project, however, the people of St Read more

Opening Day 23rd annual SMSEF Interscholastic soccer tournament.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- On Saturday, January 24th, the 23rd annual edition of the St. Maarten Soccer Educational Foundation (SMSEF) Interscholastic Soccer Tournament, sponsored by the TelEm Group of Companies, commenced at the Johan Cruijff Court in Belvedere.
The highly anticipated tournament by the primary school youths was officially opened by the Honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs, Mrs. Rita Bourne-Gumbs, during a short opening ceremony after the first games had already been played earlier that morning Read more

It’s time to pay back, in politics there is nothing call a free lunch.

style="text-align: center;">Two faced or screw faced politicians. Do what you want now and the people will forget after seven days. Now we know why so many people say that all the politicians are alike. Horse trading started after the election in 2010 but has continued even more after 2014 election. There are ship jumpers, church jumpers and now we have party jumpers seeking betterment for themselves. We must establish a Credibility Chamber for most of our politicians to regain some type of credibility before the next election Read more

It's Time To Pay Back, In Politics There Is Nothing Call A Free Lunch

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – It has been rumored for some time that the US party was planning to support the UP led coalition but I had to read it to actually believe it.

Now we can understand why during the election so many voters stick their hands out and say give me something for my vote now. Because after the election the horse trading will continue and all the elected officials are thinking about what and how much they can get for their seat.

It is never about improving the quality of life of the people Read more

Lynch’s attorney requests injunction against Bloem

PHILIPSBURG--According to a leaked legal document, St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) Director Henry Lynch's Attorney Cindy Marica, in defence of her client, has requested an injunction on January 16 against SMHDF, St. Maarten Housing Finance Foundation (SMHFF) and attorney Jairo Bloem for undue/unjustified suspension, and unrightfully taking a bag and other personal possessions.

In the injunction request to the Court of First Instance, Bloem was also blasted for writing an explanatory press release on the case which Marica called "incorrect" and "unjust." The case has caused "enormous damage" to his reputation, she argued.

The request calls for a public apology and correction, and suggested a penalty of some US $1,000 daily in the case of non-compliance Read more

Lake wants to raise fees on remittances

PHILIPSBURG--Increase the one-per-cent foreign exchange levy to five per cent for remittances to bring in more government revenues, suggested United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament Maurice Lake in the Central Committee meeting of Parliament on Thursday.

“Everybody must pay their fair share, and this is one way to tap into this sector, where hundreds of thousands, if not millions, leave the country annually for other islands or countries,” Lake said in the meeting dealing with the draft 2015 budget Read more

William agrees with CFT’s lower budget assessment

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament (MP) William Marlin says his party agrees with the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT estimate of the draft budget. CFT has tagged the budget at NAf Read more

2015 Draft Budget not Realistic – Council of Advice.

style="text-align: center;">Governing Accord, NIPA, AUC and SMMC highlighted in Budget Debate

PHILIPSBURG:--- The central committee meeting held on Thursday to debate the 2015 draft budget was intense as several Members of Parliament even those supporting the coalition asked various questions on the Naf. 445M draft budget that was presented to them for discussion.
Member of Parliament Leona Marlin in her presentation said that she agrees with her colleague MP Sarah Wescot Williams who highlighted that the Council of Advice already indicated to government that the draft budget for 2015 is not realistic Read more

Demand For Report About Bureau Telecommunication And Post: Btp-Statement Exasperates Mp Sarah Wescot-Williams

St. Maarten – Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams has reacted rather exasperated at the press release the Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP) sent to the media just before the weekend. In the release, the BTP-board denies fraud-allegations and claims that the responsible minister (the now departed Ted Richardson) has failed to provide integrity-researchers with the appropriate information, even though this information is available.

“Events in rapid succession are demanding Parliament’s attention,” Wescot-Williams writes in a press release, “and government is called to respond with equal urgency.”

The DP-MP notes that the BTP has been created by law to execute a public task and that it is considered an independent organization Read more

Gumbs To Wescott-Williams: Screening Happened Under Your Tenure

St. Maarten —Current Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has pointed out to former Prime Minister that the screening of candidate ministers was done under her tenure and that since taking office he has not made any statements regarding the role of the Dutch Secret Service in the screening process.

The Prime Minister responded, via official letter, to the questions by former Prime Minister and Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams as submitted to the Chairman of Parliament via letter dated January 13.

“It should be noted that I am not accountable for statements of Minister Plasterk or for publications of the media Read more

Editorial - Structural approach

Parliament will debate the draft 2015 budget today in an effort to meet the end-of-January deadline set by the Kingdom Council of Ministers. The total amount is 445 million guilders, but the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT still wants this reduced to 426 million due to what it considers realistic income projections based on collections in 2014.

Finance Minister Martin Hassink has maintained up to now that further cuts are hardly possible because it's already a "skeleton budget." He instead wanted to try to convince CFT that the current, higher revenue estimates are legitimate and supported by, for example, findings of the Central Bank.

In that light the recent suggestion of UP leader Theo Heyliger that government should demand that all its companies that are able to pay concession fees do so begs the question whether that's how the 19-million-guilder shortfall, according to CFT, will be covered Read more

Country St. Maarten ordered to pay indemnities to lawyer

~ For unreasonable dismissal ~

PHILIPSBURG--The Court of First Instance on Wednesday ordered Country St. Maarten to pay NAf. 25,000 in indemnities to attorney-at-law Ellen Knoppel. The lawyer had filed a lawsuit against her former employer, because she contested her dismissal at the Ministry of Justice, which had caused loss of income.

On May 10, 2013, one week before then Justice Minister Roland Duncan was to leave office, he granted Knoppel a permanent labour agreement with the Justice Ministry Read more

Sarah: Gumbs twisted truth about screening

PHILIPSBURG--"I had nothing to do with the actual screening of the Gumbs Cabinet ministers, and the Prime Minister knows this full well," stated Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a statement Tuesday.

"After all, he was not only informateur, he himself was candidate minister Read more

Pledges of cooperation to new Dutch Representative

PHILIPSBURG--New Representative of the Netherlands in Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten Henk Brons was welcomed with pledges of cooperation and communication during an informal brunch at Sheer Restaurant in Philipsburg on Tuesday morning.

Hosted by acting Dutch Representative in Philipsburg Gert Versluis, the gathering also served to bid farewell to Dutch Representative Gerard van der Wulp, who served the Dutch Government in this capacity during the past three years and six months. He is now going into retirement.

Many dignitaries and government officials sat in on the brunch Read more

Court Denies Attorney’S Claim For Damages: Departure-Policy Makes Labor Contract Invalid

St. Maarten – Eight days before Justice Minister Roland Duncan left office on May 18, 2013 he granted attorney Ellen Knoppel a permanent labor contract. The incoming government however – Wescot-Williams III – considered the contract invalid, arguing that this was part of so-called departure policy and it fired the attorney Read more

Dp-Leader Criticizes Heyliger’S Statements On Concession Fees

St. Maarten – Democratic Party MP  Sarah Wescot-Williams questions that United People’s party leader Theo Heyliger has no knowledge of the draft 2015 budget that has been sent to the governor and is from thereon on its way to parliament Read more

Dp Wants Answers About Housing Foundation

St. Maarten – Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams has repeated her questions about the Sint Maarten Housing Foundation, wondering when Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs will find the time to answer them Read more

Frans joins UP-led coalition, gets Justice Ministry portfolio

PHILIPSBURG--The United People's (UP)-led coalition again has the support of ten Members of Parliament (MPs) as of Monday morning when United St. Maarten (US) party leader MP Frans Richardson signed on to the coalition.

Richardson signed on with the "100 per cent support" of his party's board Read more

Editorial - Louder than words

It appears St. Maarten and the Dutch Government are heading for a showdown again, judging from statements by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson in today's paper. This time it regards what he called a "draconic" proposal for an Integrity Chamber.

The Hague apparently is not satisfied with the current local plans that call for one representative of the Netherlands in the three-member chamber as well as one in the Progress Committee that is to monitor the integrity improvement course. Instead, the intention is reportedly for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to appoint the Integrity Chamber's chairperson and his cabinet a second member, leaving St Read more