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St. Maarten owed NAF 165M to both entities --- Parties agree to reduce the amount --- Building sold for NAF45M while another NAF15M have to spent on finishing it.

PHILIPSBURG:---Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr Read more

Gibson: Naf. 20M ‘Reserve’ Projected In Draft Budget

PHILIPSBURG--The draft 2016 budget, though “lean and mean,” is projected to have a NAf. 20 million “reserve” should all projections become reality, according to Finance Minister Richard Gibson. That reserve will be funnelled to paying a part of Government’s debts to Social and Health Insurance Fund SZV and the General Pension Fund APS Read more

Finance Minister Gibson: “Very Frugal Budget With Room For Expansion”

St. Maarten News:  The government intends to sell the new administration building on Pond Island for around 50 million guilders to social insurance agency SZV. With the building, SZV will also acquire the adjacent terrain of more than 15,000 square meters and the parking lot that borders on the TelEm property of 5,000 square meters. A parcel of land bordering on this parking lot of 1,800 square meters is also part of the deal. This appears from the explanatory notes with the draft 2016 budget that Governor Holiday submitted to the parliament on Monday.

In the preface, Finance Minister Richard Gibson Sr Read more

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

Prime Minister William Marlin And The Council Of Ministers Met Today With Minister Plasterk And His Dutch Delegation

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Prime Minister William Marlin and the Council of Ministers met today with Minister Plasterk and his Dutch delegation for an introductory meeting.

Later in the day, Prime Minister William Marlin met with Minister Plasterk, Minister of Justice Edson G Read more

Prostitutes Become Entrepreneurs

St. Maarten News: – Today reported already on January 9, after a presentation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation (Ipko) that the ministry of justice would not issue any more permits for prostitutes to local brothels. In that sense, reports about a ban on these permits are nothing new. Because there are two types of permits involved – residence and work permits – this newspaper asked a clarification in Wednesday from Minister Emil Lee (Public Health, Social Development and Labor).

Work permits for prostitutes are issued under the euphemistic moniker of animeermeisje (exotic dancer) Read more

Leonard, Meyers, Marlin-Romeo Request Urgent Parliament Meeting About Police Insurance

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten –– United People’s (UP) party Members of Parliament Tamara Leonard and Franklin Meyers along with independent MP Leona Marlin-Romeo have requested an urgent Central Committee meeting on insurance coverage for police officers and their families, the regulation of officers’ positions and security measures for the country.

Come and enjoy a great BBQ at mambo’s We serve chicken,ribs, fry snapper fillet , chicken and shrimps brochettes with creole sauce …all that served with rice and peas or fries and 2 differents sides of salads Read more

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

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

Vks Commander Presents Scott Memorial Lecture

St. Maarten News – VKS commander Antonio Rogers will present the fourteenth Lionel Bernard Scott Memorial Lecture on January 28 at the PMIA Hall on Back Street. Past, present and future development of crime as it relates to the self-esteem and reliance of the people of St. Maarten is the topic of this year’s lecture.

The annual lecture honours the memory of L.B Read more

Pm Marlin And Minister Gibson Met With Anguilla Government Officials To Operate Late Night Ferry Services Between St.Maarten And Anguilla

Anguilla Government Officials

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Prime Minister William Marlin and Minister Richard Gibson met with Chief Minister Victor Banks and his delegation from Anguilla on Monday January 11th. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of implementing of a late night ferry between Sint Maarten and Anguilla during the peak season.

Currently, the last ferry out of Sint Maarten leaves at 10pm from the port of entry located near the Princess Juliana International Airport Read more

PHILIPSBURG:---- Prime Minister William Marlin and Minister Richard Gibson met with Chief Minister Victor Banks and his delegation from Anguilla on Monday January 11th. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the possibility of implementing of a late night ferry between Sint Maarten and Anguilla during the peak season.

Currently, the last ferry out of Sint Maarten leaves at 10pm from the port of entry located near the Princess Juliana International Airport Read more

PHILIPSBURG - Prime Minister William Marlin and Minister Richard Gibson Sr. met with Anguilla Government officials on Monday in the Dr. A.C. Legislative Hall at the Government Administration Building.

An agreement has been reached with the Anguilla Government to operate late night ferry services between Sint Maarten and Anguilla, during the high season, after 10pm up until 1am Read more

Heyliger Predicts Gloom And Doom

UP-leader hints at election delay and casino licenses

St. Maarten News – Governor Eugène Holiday may have said September 26 is the final date for elections in the December 14 national decree, but United People’s (UP) party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Theo Heyliger says there is “a huge possibility” the Coalition of Eight, at least by mid-year, will request “yet another postponement” of the ballot.

The postponement of the elections, issuance of at least new two casino licenses, the formation of new marketing firms, rather than the implementation of the tourism authority, the non-institution of the Integrity Chamber and the resulting silence of the Dutch Government are among the top ten things that will happen in 2016, Heyliger said in a press release..

“The National Alliance leader said in a past Council of Ministers press conference he will seek the support of the kingdom government on electoral reform Read more

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

St. Maarten Port Inaugurates Gottwald Crane

On the left is the boom of the Terex Gottwald Model 6 Crane and the CMA CGM Container Vessel, the largest to dock at Port St. Maarten, MV Marseille. Photo contributed

St. Maarten – During the inauguration on Saturday of the newly acquired Terex Gottwald Model 6 Crane, and the welcome ceremony for the CMA CGM Marseille Container Cargo Vessel – the largest vessel to operate at Port St. Maarten Cargo Facility – the buzz coming from various stakeholders was about the strategic investments that have been made by Port St Read more

Position Airport Director Labega Under Pressure

Managing director Regina Labega at her desk at Princess Juliana International Airport. File photo SXM

Court rejects suspension of government-decision

St. Maarten – Starting tomorrow, Regina Labega is no longer authorized to function as the managing director of Princess Juliana International Airport, but it is at this moment uncertain whether she will be removed from her position, her attorney Cor Merx told this newspaper yesterday. “It is unclear what is going to happen on November 13.”

Labega’s position requires a certificate of no objection, but Minister of General Affairs Marcel Gumbs refused to give this to her, based on the result of a screening by the national security service VDSM.

The airport risks a fine of 1,000 up to 500,000 guilders – per violation – if it allows Labega to stay on as managing director Read more

Governor will not sign Resolution to call new elections --- What type of stand-off do we have now? (UPDATED)

style="text-align: center;">Several Candidates selected to be screened for Ministerial Posts.

PHILIPSBURG:--- According to information provided to SMN News the Governor of St. Maarten drs. Eugene Holiday convoked Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs to his office on Friday where he informed him that he will not be signing the resolution for new elections since there is a majority in Parliament Read more

Maria Plantz tipped as country’s CFT rep

PHILIPSBURG--Committee for Financial Supervision CFT will soon have a member from St. Maarten. Tipped for the post is Corporate Legal Expert Maria van der Sluijs-Plantz.

The St. Maartener, who lives in the Netherlands, has already served the country as the vice chairwoman of the first Corporate Governance Council (CGC) that was established in 2010. She serves as Vice Chairman of Strategic Development at TMF Group Holding BV, a company that focuses on corporate compliance. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CFT Chairman Age Bakker said in a press conference on Thursday that a nominee to fill the vacant St Read more

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

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Well placed information reaching SMN News states that Minister of Finance Maarten Hassink has sent an email to the leader of the United Peoples Party Theodore Heyliger informing him that he has taken the decision to make his position as Minister of Finance available to the UPP Read more

Sarah calls for urgent filling of open CFT post

PHILIPSBURG--“Government has really dropped the ball,” says Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams about the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet’s failure to find and appoint candidates to represent St Read more

Shigemoto pleads not guilty in Piranha case

PHILIPSBURG--Former Minister of Finance Hiroshi Shigemoto (44) and Global Advisor Services (GAS) BV Director R.A.G. (62) both claim they are innocent. Their lawyers pleaded for their clients' full acquittals on Thursday during the second day of hearings in the so-called Piranha case.

Both men are accused of having committed fraud in connection with invoices sent in for payment of GAS services in connection with the recruitment of highly-skilled staff members for the Department of Fiscal Affairs and with a one-year USONA-financed project to hire staff for the new Tax Department to the maximum all-inclusive amount of NAf Read more

Progress Committee to give report to Parliament

PHILIPSBURG--The Progress Committee, monitoring St. Maarten’s development since it became a country within the Dutch Kingdom, is keen to present its report to Parliament. Parliament Chairman Dr. Lloyd Richardson (United People’s party) is “very pleased” about this request of the Progress Committee Read more