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Dissolution decree corrected, sent back to Governor for his signature

PHILIPSBURG--It looks like elections on December 8 may still be in the cards. The Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has made adjustments to its draft national decree to dissolve Parliament and has sent it back to Governor Eugene Holiday for his signature.

The draft decree was sent to Holiday on the night of September 30, hours after the new National Alliance (NA)-led coalition passed a motion of no confidence against the seven-member Cabinet Read more

Former MP De Weever stands trial for stealing blogger’s tablet

PHILIPSBURG--Former Member of Parliament (MP) Petrus Leroy de Weever (61) stood trial Wednesday on allegations he had stolen blogger J.R.’s tablet during an altercation on Front Street on January 11, 2014.

The Prosecutor’s Office considers the case proven and requested that the Court sentence the senior politician to payment of a NAf Read more

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Editorial - Its very existence

Wednesday's Central Committee of Parliament session to discuss a comprehensive approach to achieve short-term results against the current spate of crime is certainly timely in light of recent events (see related stories). Within the past week alone two armed robbers were shot dead by money transport security guards of whom one also was injured, someone fired several bullets into the cashier's window of a casino and made off with cash, while a man was gunned down at a pool bar in Cay Hill.

According to reports from Curaçao, the latter is believed to have been a gang member there of the No Limit Soldiers (NLS) in Koraal Specht who also was said to have been detained, but later released, for the fatal shooting of Jean-No Sanon in Cole Bay on October 27, 2014 Read more

PRESS RELEASE: NATIONAL ADDRESS BY PM GUMBS

My fellow St. Maarteners,

I want to address you now directly, after a week of political turmoil which has culminated in a constitutional crisis. The outcome of this crisis will determine the democratic future of St. Maarten. So it is extremely important that everyone, young and old, understand what it constitutes.

The legal nature of this crisis however is very complicated, although for some of us it seems to be so simple. You may have followed the discussions in the press Read more

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Tourist who gave birth prematurely in DR faces US $280,000 bill for ‘time difference’

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic--After enduring the trauma of a premature delivery in a foreign country and all the attendant concerns about her tiny newborn baby, a British tourist now faces a potential US $280,000 medical bill.

Sharon Halls, of Ipswich in Suffolk, was 28 weeks and six days pregnant when she unexpectedly went into labour and gave birth to a daughter, Evie, in a private hospital in the Dominican Republic on September 28.

But after paying over US $13,000 for initial emergency care, Halls (36) learned that her travel insurance provider may not come up with the money.

Infinity Insurance Solutions said it had not decided whether it would cover the cost because the time difference between the Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom meant that when she gave birth she was over the 29-week mark, which was when the cover ceased to be valid.

Halls and her partner Daniel Compton (35) have now been forced to set up a GoFundMe page in a desperate bid to raise enough money to move Evie from a public hospital, which they say is dirty, according to a report in The Mirror.

The couple were attending a friend’s wedding in Punta Cana when Halls was taken to hospital with early contractions, which she later learned had been brought on by an infection.

Halls said she had been given clearance to travel by her hospital in Britain, The Mirror reported.

Writing on the fundraising site, Halls gave a compelling account of the events of September 28 and continuing.

“Little Evie was born breach before I could even lay flat,” she said.

“She was so tiny and blue, it took them a few minutes to get a response, but we then heard to our delight a little cry.”

But while Evie “looked healthy,” she could not breathe on her own.

Halls went on to describe the “substandard conditions” in the public hospital they were forced to move to.

“The sanitation and level of care is next to nothing; she was placed in dirty incubator lined up next to other sick newborn babies (15 plus in room).

“The equipment was old and even the blanket she laid on was stained and ripped Read more

Editorial - Eyes on the ball

It appears St. Maarten is again caught in a “Mexican standoff,” as NA leader William Marlin called it back in 2013 when much of the cabinet with his party’s signature wanted to dissolve Parliament and call early elections after losing its majority support Read more

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