SXMElections.com

SHTA welcomes, outlines tasks at hand for new government

~ Narrows in on finances, govt-owned companies ~

PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) has issued a statement welcoming new Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and the newly appointed ministers, amidst what it says has been a time of widespread lack of trust in St. Maarten's unstable government. The largest business representative on the island has taken notice of the increased discussion of late – both in and out of the media – about the instability of the Dutchside's government and the damage it is doing to the economy.

"The lack of trust in our current governing system has led to a widespread belief that transparency and integrity are seriously lacking Read more

Bahamas authorities investigate alleged rape of Jamaican detainee

NASSAU, Bahamas--The Bahamas government says it is prepared to let the "chips fall where they may" after an immigration officer was placed on administrative leave with immediate effect "pending investigation of a sexual assault alleged by a detainee who is a Jamaican citizen."

Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell told a news conference that while he would not speak "more to this matter" he was nonetheless prepared to allow the "chips [to – Ed.] fall where they may."

In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration said that "a diplomatic note .. Read more

Education for children who urgently need special education

Dear Editor,

Please allow me some space in your newspaper to address the Government and Parliament of St. Maarten and Ronald Plasterk, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

St. Maarten Government, Parliament and Minister Plasterk, my name is Reinder Torrenga and I'm a proud father of a daughter with Down syndrome. This is not the first time I need to use the media to speak about my frustration and make a plea to our Council of Ministers and the parliament of our country St Read more

Russia growls across border as Lithuania readies for euro

KYBARTAI, Lithuania--Geopolitics plague Lithuanians at this frozen Russian border post, where a return trip by car can mean 48 hours of queuing. It is a reminder for some of why the former Soviet republic will cement its move to the West by joining the euro zone next month.

Tensions with Moscow have simmered ever since Lithuania became the first republic to declare independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, although only 6 percent of the population are Russian speakers, far fewer than in its Baltic neighbours Read more

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

Henry Lynch suspended as Housing Foundation Director

~ Lake called to correct 'erroneous' statements ~

BELVEDERE--St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) Director Henry Lynch has been placed on non-active duty as of December 12 by the foundation's supervisory board pending the outcome of "an independent forensic investigation" by Government Accountant Bureau SOAB "into certain business and management activities" of SMHDF and of St. Maarten Housing Finance Foundation (SMHFF).

However, that investigation is now on hold due to the intervention of Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Maurice Lake Read more

Jamaica PM under fire for multi-million NHT spending

KINGSTON, Jamaica--Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller is facing increasing pressure from the Parliamentary Opposition and local interest groups to dismiss the board of the state-owned housing agency, the National Housing Trust (NHT), following its decision to purchase a cash-strapped tourist attraction called the Outameni Experience.

The debacle began in late October when news broke that the NHT had acquired the nine-acre property for J $180 million (US $1.6 million) nearly two years earlier Read more

Leeward Islands lose in misplaced-ball match

JAMAICA--Leeward Islands cricket coach Ridley Jacobs reported a bizarre situation in which the match ball was misplaced by the umpires during the tea interval when Jamaica Franchise took on the Leeward Islands Hurricanes in the West Indies Cricket Board Professional Cricket League 4-day match in Jamaica over the weekend.

The umpires were Jamaican Christopher Taylor and Trinidad and Tobago Danesh Ramdhanie.

A disappointed Jacobs explained, "The ball that we were bowling with was 16-overs and the ball they came back out with was 34-overs – that's a big difference Read more

Families of the Disappeared suffer as Northern Ireland drags feet on past

GLENAVY, Northern Ireland--As Brendan Megraw's coffin was lowered into his family grave 36 years after he was kidnapped and shot by the IRA, the mourners at the cemetery felt relief but also anger at Northern Ireland's reluctance to investigate its past.

Among those gathered at the graveside were relatives of a dozen other people "disappeared" by the Irish Republican Army in the 1970s and 80s Read more

Mexico says evidence now proves missing students were burned up

MEXICO CITY--Mexican authorities on Sunday said that mounting evidence and initial DNA tests confirmed that 43 trainee teachers who were abducted by corrupt police 10 weeks ago were incinerated at a garbage dump by drug gang members.
  Attorney General Jesus Murillo told reporters that one of the students had been identified by experts in Austria from a bone fragment in a bag of ash and bits of burned tire found in a river where drug gang members said they tossed the students remains.
  "This scientific proof confirms that the remains found at the scene coincide with the evidence of the investigation," Murillo said Read more

ICC prosecutor withdraws charges against Kenyan president

AMSTERDAM/NAIROBI--Prosecutors dropped charges of crimes against humanity against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, marking a failure for the International Criminal Court in the highest-profile case in its 11-year history.

Judges in The Hague had on Wednesday given prosecutors a week to decide whether to proceed against Kenyatta, who was accused of fomenting ethnic violence after the 2007 election, or withdraw the charges.

Prosecutors have said Kenyatta, the first sitting president to have attended a session of the court, used his powers to obstruct the investigation, especially since becoming head of state last year Read more

Caravanserai timeshare owners lose injunction against Alegria

BEACON HILL--Timeshare owners at Caravanserai Beach Resort have lost the injunction they had filed against the property's new owner, Alegria Real Estate BV, concerning ownership rights.

The Court of First Instance ruled in the injunction on Friday, and stated that Timeshare Owners at Caravanserai Association (TOCA) had no case against Alegria, because association members had not closed timeshare agreements with Alegria or with the former resort owner, but with Endless Vacation NV.

As a result, TOCA was ordered to pay Alegria's legal fees, which were estimated at NAf Read more

Immigrants to lose medical aid under pending law amendment

PHILIPSBURG--Immigrants, whether they hold permanent residence or temporary residence, will see their possibility of accessing medical and financial aid disappear if Parliament passes the draft National Ordinance on improving financial management of social security and care. The ordinance's general goal is cost savings for government.

The draft law is not yet in Parliament's hands, but an overview of it was given to Members of Parliament (MPs) by representatives of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA in a public Central Committee meeting on Friday.

The draft ordinance has as its motives introduction of measures to generate income for the Sickness Fund, protecting the country's budget, measures for improved management of health care-spending, improving the quality of care and a stepwise approach to National Health Reform.

To achieve those motives, changes are required to multiple existing legislations – Financial Assistance Ordinance, Medical Aid Ordinance, Social Health and Insurance SZV Ordinance and Sickness Insurance Ordinance.

Proposed change to the Financial Assistance Ordinance seeks to adjust the regulation to coincide with the ordinance regulating admittance and expulsion of immigrants LTU Read more

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

Plasterk prefers cooperation to new instruction for St. Maarten

THE HAGUE--Issuing another instruction to St. Maarten, this time in the area of Justice, does not have the preference of Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk. He would rather strengthen St. Maarten's Justice System and improve integrity together with the local government, he told the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Wednesday.

"That doesn't have my preference," Plasterk replied to the question of Member of the Second Chamber Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA, who asked the minister whether a new instruction for St Read more

De Weever again seeks retraction from Bosman

THE HAGUE/PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten attorney-at-law Jairo Bloem by letter dated November 10, 2014, has reminded Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party of his demand to retract his "slanderous" statements in relation to his client caretaker Minister Cornelius de Weever.

Mid-October 2014, Bloem sent an open letter to Bosman asking him to do the "honourable thing" and to retract his "erroneous and defaming remarks." On October 1, during the handling of the 2015 draft Kingdom Relations budget in the Second Chamber he stated that De Weever was "simply bought" by United People's Party (UP) Leader Theo Heyliger to join the UP in Parliament as an independent member.

On behalf of his client, Bloem asked Bosman to refrain from making such remarks in the future 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

Editorial - Shape up

Once again there was no quorum for a scheduled plenary session of the Parliament of St. Maarten (see related article). On this occasion it regarded formalising the Intellectual Property Bureau, which may not seem like an urgent matter but is no doubt important for whoever is in need of its services.

Moreover, for Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister Ted Richardson it was an obvious waste of precious time. Only six of the 15 elected representatives signed in for the meeting, two fewer than required.

Of the five opposition members, US leader Frans Richardson and NA's Christophe Emmanuel were present Read more

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

A Minute With: Sean Hannity on 'disconcerting' election, matchmaking

LOS ANGELES--Sean Hannity, the longtime Fox News Channel anchor and strong voice for American conservatives, is used to taking criticism from all comers, but it was his own unhappiness with his flabby self last year that pushed him to take up a new fight - that of "street" martial artist.

"It's a tough, tough workout," the 52-year-old said of his regimen of jiu-jitsu, blade and firearm training. "It's also really great self-defense ... I'm building muscles that I've never had before."

Hannity, whose eponymous weeknight show averages 1.7 million viewers and ranks in the top five of cable news programs, spoke to Reuters about the upcoming U.S Read more

Mosquito fogging to commence Thursday weather permitting

>GREAT BAY (DCOMM):---  The Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a government agency under the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labour, announced on Wednesday that the country-wide mosquito fogging campaign could not commence as planned on Tuesday, October 28 due to rain and a malfunction of equipment.

In the meantime, the contractor has informed the ministry that fogging will start on Thursday, October 30 weather permitting. The technical problem with the fogging equipment has been resolved.

Minister of Public Health, Social Development & Labour Hon Read more

Mosquito Fogging To Commence Thursday Weather Permitting

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a government agency under the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labour, announced on Wednesday that the country-wide mosquito fogging campaign could not commence as planned on Tuesday, October 28 due to rain and a malfunction of equipment.

In the meantime, the contractor has informed the ministry that fogging will start on Thursday, October 30 weather permitting. The technical problem with the fogging equipment has been resolved.

Minister of Public Health, Social Development & Labour Hon Read more

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

Cuban economists press for deeper reforms

HAVANA--Some of Cuba's best-known economists are openly questioning the very core of the Soviet-style command economy and saying market reforms under way are too modest to boost weak growth.
  Emboldened by freer debate in the country, they are increasingly vocal in criticizing rigid instructions coming down from the top and the uneven management of policies across the economy, from banking to agriculture Read more