SXMElections.com

The Road To The Gumbs I Cabinet: “Peddling Seats To The Highest Bidder”

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – When Governor Drs. Eugene Holiday administers the oath of office to the five ministers of the Gumbs I cabinet this afternoon, it marks the end of a tedious process that started during the night after the parliamentary elections on August 29. How did we get where we are today? A review.

To avoid any misunderstandings, the governor also administers the oath to the minister plenipotentiary today – but that is not a ‘real’ minister – it is the representative of St Read more

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Robbery Victim Speaks Out: “We Have To Stop These Guys.”

St. Maarten – “This guy is lurking around, looking for people to scam. We have to stop these guys, they have become a nuisance to society, and they are a growing criminal gang – from stealing bags to mugging workers to armed robberies,” said a night worker in the Maho area, who was recently robbed by three armed men. The robbery took place while he was giving an “acquaintance” of his a ride home.

The gentleman believes he was the victim of an elaborate and premeditated ploy organized by his acquaintance, who is said to go by the name of Jean, and is of Haitian descent Read more

Letter From St. Maarten’S Council Of Ministers To Rutte And Plasterk: No Cooperation With Additional Screening

St. Maarten – The Council of Ministers will not cooperate with the instruction to Governor Holiday to subject candidate-ministers for the new cabinet to additional screening. In a letter, signed by outgoing Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, the council makes this position clear to Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald Plasterk Read more

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Mps Unable To Give Update On Government Formation To Youth Parliament 

St. Maarten – As President of the St. Maarten Youth Parliament, Dwayne Griffith submitted to St. Maarten Parliament a motion, requesting an update on the current situation with government and the steps being taken to establish the new Council of Ministers. However, the MPs present were unable to give any information on the developments to the Youth Parliament, as many were not privy to what was taking place. Members of the Youth Parliament met with Parliament members at the Central Committee meeting on Tuesday to discuss the developments in government formation with regard to the instruction for the screening of candidate-ministers from the Kingdom Council of Ministers in The Hague.

“Our faction cannot provide any insight as to whether a list of ministers has been put forward… neither do we know the standards by which they will be screened,” said MP William Marlin Read more

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Mosquito Fogging Moved Forward; Commences October 28

St. Maarten – The fogging of mosquitoes originally carded for November 1 has been moved forward to October 28, according to the Collective Preventive Services (CPS).

Residents are asked to bear in mind that fogging is not a total solution to eliminate mosquitos and that fogging activity is kept to a minimum in order to prevent the mosquito population from developing immunity to the chemicals that are deployed.

Fogging is one intervention of several, and the main measure is for every household and business to take action by removing potential mosquito breeding spots in and around their premises on a daily basis Read more

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Icon Mike Ferrier Resigns From Democratic Party

St. Maarten – Mike Ferrier has terminated his membership of the Democratic Party out of disappointment over the way party-leader Sarah Wescot-Williams handled the defection of her number 2 candidate Cornelius de Weever to a coalition with the United People’s party and the subsequent decision by Wescot-Williams to follow suit.

“I cannot subscribe to abandoning all that we campaigned on and claimed to stand for prior to August 29, 2014, by joining a government that has been given life by a person, or a couple of people from within our DP-ranks who seem to be driven only by power, greed and self-interest,” Ferrier – who was the party’s public relations officer – writes in a letter to Wescot-Williams dated last Friday, October 17 Read more

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Efforts To Increase Tax Compliance Fail

Audit Chamber report Optimizing Tax Revenue

St. Maarten – All efforts to increase tax compliance and tax revenue during the past three years have failed. This appears from the performance audit Optimizing Tax Revenue the General Audit Chamber published last week.

The Finance Minister in the first Wescot-Williams cabinet, Hiro Shigemoto, stated in the 2011 budget “that improvement of the functioning of the organization for assessment and collection together with the introduction of a simplified system should lead, in the coming years, to an additional 20 million guilders in tax revenue Read more

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Lively Political Debate On Laser 101: Connor (Up) Estimates Gray Economy To Be 50 Percent

St. Maarten – “The government has a debt of 500 million guilders to the Netherlands, and 200 million to creditors. The 2015 budget is expected to be around 465 million. Unemployment is 11.5 percent. It is your first day in office. What will you do?”

This is how moderator Glen Carty started the political debate on radio station Laser 101 on Saturday evening with participants Emil Lee (number 4-candidate Democratic Party), George Pantophlet (number 2-candidate National Alliance), Claret Connor (number 10-candidate United People’s Party) and Harlec Doran (number 6-candidate United Sint Maarten Party).

The lively debate outshone earlier debates on AVS and the political mixer at the St Read more

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Level Of Political Debate Shta Mixer Disappoints

St. Maarten - The political mixer organized by the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) at the Sonesta Great Bay Beach Hotel began with a disappointment when the leader of the United St. Maarten party did not show up. Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, who was expected to attend, was also absent. Five parties were represented: NA (Rodolphe Samuel), UP (Miguel De Weever), DP (Roy Marlin), SRP (Jacinto Mock) and OSPP (Lenny Priest).

Parties first got the opportunity to explain in broad strokes what they stand for Read more

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Up-Candidate Terry Peterson: “A Vote For Frans Means Four More Years Of Laville”

St. Maarten – “A vote for Frans (Richardson – ed.) and the US Party is a vote for another unstable Romain Laville government,” Terry Peterson, the number 8 candidate on the list of the United People’s party (UP)  stated in a press release yesterday Read more

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