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HELPING OUR PEOPLE EXCEL ASSOCIATION [HOPE] In The News

helping our people excel association [hope]

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HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
01 Jun 2015 06:23 AM

Lee midway through CHTA tenure, outlines changes

DAWN BEACH--The first St. Maarten person to be elected to Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association's (CHTA's) highest post of President Emil Lee is approaching the halfway-mark of his two-year tenure, and says that he is happy to see the association moving in the right direction on a number of fronts.

In an interview with The Daily Herald he outlined both recent and on-going changes within the CHTA at varying stages of implementation, marking its move towards becoming more efficient and a transparent facilitator and thought leader, as well as his hopes for the future.

Lee first shared that what many people don't realise is that he had been elected for the post a year before starting in July 2014 Read more


Candidates in this article:
DP
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
01 Jun 2015 06:23 AM

With tough words for Wall Street, O'Malley launches White House bid

BALTIMORE, Maryland--Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley blasted social injustice and Wall Street excesses as he launched a White House bid on Saturday, casting himself as a younger, more liberal alternative to Democratic Party frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
  "Powerful, wealthy special interests here at home have used our government to create, in our own country, an economy that is leaving a majority of our people behind," said O'Malley, opening his 2016 presidential campaign with a rally at a waterfront park in downtown Baltimore.
  O'Malley, who has aggressively courted his party's liberal wing, began his political career in Baltimore, first as a member of city council and then as mayor.
  Decrying big banks as having been behind the financial crisis of 2008, O'Malley singled out Goldman Sachs for particular criticism Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
01 Jun 2015 06:23 AM

Editorial - Final obstacles

What was billed as the first-ever budgetary retreat in St. Maarten (see Saturday paper) seems like a good idea. Synchronisation among the seven ministries in that sense is certainly always desirable for obvious reasons.

Recent experience has shown it's also good to begin preparations well ahead of time and the meeting was about the 2016 budget. However, taking into account that the draft is supposed to be presented to Parliament at the start of September, it's actually not so early.

Of course, there are more immediate concerns, including remaining issues with the 2015 version, almost halfway into the year Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
30 May 2015 06:23 AM

No final agreement yet with SZV or APS

PHILIPSBURG--Government has not yet reached a final agreement with Social and Health Insurance SZV and General Pension Fund APS over outstanding arrears owed.

Finance Minister Martin Hassink told The Daily Herald on Friday that agreements have not yet been sealed. "We did not reach a final agreement yet, but [we are – Ed.] still talking in good cooperation," he said. "We are evaluating the proposals now on the table."

When asked about the approaching Committee for Financial Supervision CFT deadline for these matters to be finalised, Hassink said "I have no deadlines with APS or SZV Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
28 May 2015 06:23 AM

Kingdom Parliaments kick off three-day consultations

THE HAGUE--The Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations IPKO kicked off in The Hague Wednesday morning with the opening speeches of the President of the First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ankie Broekers-Knol and the delegation leaders of the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten.

Broekers-Knol and the three delegation leaders, Marisol Lopez-Tromp of Aruba, Mike Franco of Curaçao and Leona Marlin-Romeo of St Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
28 May 2015 06:23 AM

Abolition of slavery celebrated with speeches, song and dance

MARIGOT--The 167th anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery was commemorated Wednesday at the Agrément roundabout with Lady Liberty looking on approvingly as the scourge of slavery was re-enacted in dance, music and the spoken word by various performers.

Despite an overcast sky threatening rain, only a little came down from time to time but umbrellas were ready.

The audience comprising the entire Territorial Council, Préfet Philippe Chopin, MP Daniel Gibbs, former Mayor Albert Fleming, Economic and Cultural Council President Georges Gumbs, and representatives from the district councils were all seated under a tent to watch the activities.

The ceremony was opened by Malaïka Maxwell singing the song "when you believe" by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston before Percussionist Hélier Coquillas called out the freedom fighters with a conch shell and remained to provide the drumming for the different segments.

President of the Territorial Council Aline Hanson said in her address the commemoration is an opportunity to remember the big sacrifices made by the ancestors for freedom.

"Today we celebrate this freedom and all the people who fought body and soul to liberate our islands and get this precious freedom Read more


Candidates in this article:
PPA
HOPE
Source: SMN-News
28 May 2015 06:22 AM

Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean: Focus on the Caribbean

>PHILIPSBURG:---- FDI is a source of investment and employment. It can allow the transfer of technology and skills and knowledge from the FDI source country to the FDI recipient country. It provides funds to make up for a capital shortfall in the home country. And, very importantly, it is a source of foreign exchange.
FDI coming into the Caribbean
Now, why do investors come to the Caribbean? There are three basic reasons. First, resource seeking – investors seek access to natural resources Read more

Candidates in this article:
DP
NA
USP
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
27 May 2015 06:23 AM

St. Maarten Parliament annoyed over protocol

THE HAGUE--The days of St. Maarten’s Justice Minister Dennis Richardson may very well be numbered now that he has signed a protocol with the Dutch Government to establish an independent Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten and to strengthen the island’s law enforcement sector. Members of the St. Maarten Parliament are not accepting that Parliament is being sidetracked in the protocol.

The protocol Minister Richardson and Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk signed on Saturday states that the St Read more


Candidates in this article:
DP
PPA
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
26 May 2015 06:23 AM

Parliaments set on resolving dispute regulation dilemma

THE HAGUE--Delegations of the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are resolute to conclude the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations IPKO this week with a solution for the design of a dispute regulation (geschillenregeling).

"We want to get this solved for once and for all. More and more things are getting stuck in a dilemma in the relations between the Kingdom partners," said Member of the St. Maarten Parliament and Chairperson of Parliament's Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party (DP)) on Monday.

The three Dutch Caribbean Parliaments held tripartite meetings in The Hague on Monday in preparation for the IPKO which starts on Wednesday Read more


Candidates in this article:
DP
NDP
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
26 May 2015 06:23 AM

Suriname election: Bouterse leads, but too early to tell

PARAMARIBO--At 10:00pm Monday, three hours after polling stations closed, it was still hard to get a clear indication who would emerge the winner of the elections.

Only about 10 per cent of all votes cast at the 623 polling stations had been counted and while these seemed to favour President Desi Bouterse’s National Democratic Party, the number was too low to base a prediction on.

A spokeswoman for the Central Voting Bureau expected all votes to be counted by midnight to 1:00am Tuesday, after which it would not be long before a winner would be declared Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
25 May 2015 06:23 AM

Education, St. Maarten’s primary emergency

Dear Editor,

Allow me to first of all inform you that I am not an educator nor do I pretend to have all the answers. I will try as much as possible to steer clear of the clichés and any semblance of personal attacks, however, should some feathers be ruffled so be it.

We have all heard or read in the wisdom of our forefathers the adage "those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail." This seems almost prophetic looking at the St. Maarten experience in the building of a nation. The narrative and the actions coming from the halls of power in Philipsburg are ambiguous and sometimes wilfully puzzling.

Government in justifying its lack of a policy on immigration declares that we don't have or haven't created what we need to move our economy forward Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
23 May 2015 06:23 AM

Campbell-Brown ready to run faster than ever

KINGSTON--Veronica Campbell-Brown, the first lady of Jamaican sprinting, believes she will run faster than ever after enduring an ordeal she trusts no other athlete will have to suffer.

The triple Olympic champion turned 33 last week but said her "best days are still ahead" now she has recovered from the traumatic episode which saw her pilloried as a drugs cheat before she was cleared of a potentially career-ending doping offence.

"It was very unfair and I hope no athlete will ever go through what I went through," Campbell-Brown reflected in an interview with Reuters after starting her 2015 campaign in impressive form in China Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
23 May 2015 06:23 AM

Willemsberg reports progress being made in talks with Govt on arrears

PHILIPSBURG--Social and Health Insurance SZV and Government are making progress on their talks to hammer out an agreement on the outstanding arrears owed to the insurance service provider by the deadline set by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.

The deadline is this month, which ends next Friday. The progress of talks with APS could not be ascertained. Government and SZV have been engaged in talks and have had several meetings to reach an agreement.

In an invited comment on Thursday on the progress of the talks, SZV official Reginald Willemsberg told The Daily Herald that parties had come to “some concrete proposals” during meetings held so far Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
22 May 2015 06:23 AM

Willemsberg reports progress being made in talks with Govt on arrears

PHILIPSBURG--Social and Health Insurance SZV and Government are making progress on their talks to hammer out an agreement on the outstanding arrears owed to the insurance service provider by the deadline set by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.

The deadline is this month, which ends next Friday. The progress of talks with APS could not be ascertained. Government and SZV have been engaged in talks and have had several meetings to reach an agreement.

In an invited comment on Thursday on the progress of the talks, SZV official Reginald Willemsberg told The Daily Herald that parties had come to "some concrete proposals" during meetings held so far Read more


Candidates in this article:
DP
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
21 May 2015 06:23 AM

Still no consensus on dispute arrangement

THE HAGUE--The four countries of the Kingdom generally agree that the Council of State would be an ideal body to handle the dispute arrangement. However, the negotiations to reach an agreement have not been successful thus far.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk confirmed during a debate with the Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Wednesday that no consensus had been reached on establishing a dispute arrangement Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
20 May 2015 06:23 AM

Foster homes outline challenges to MPs

~Midwives withholding birth paper a concern~

PHILIPSBURG--Midwives withholding the birth certificates of babies, whose parents did not pay for the delivery was one of several concerns expressed by representatives of three children's homes during a meeting of Parliament's Permanent Committee of Justice on Tuesday morning.

Representatives of the homes outlined the challenges that children in foster care, who are without the birth paper, face during the meeting. I Can Children's Home President Cassandra Gibbs said there were two undocumented children in I Can who do not have birth certificates, as these were withheld by the midwife for lack of payment for the delivery.

She said not having a birth certificate is an impediment to many things for these children Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
18 May 2015 06:23 AM

Candlelight Memorial

A large gathering reflected on this year’s theme “Supporting the future” at the annual St. Maarten AIDS Foundation and Helping Ourselves in a Positive Environment HOPE International Candlelight Memorial at Carl’s Unique Inn on Sunday. The event was attended by several government officials, including Health Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs and Member of Parliament Cornelius de Weever, donors, well-wishers and supporters from all walks of life Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
16 May 2015 06:23 AM

The more things change, the more they remain the same

~ Police in the Windward Islands ~

By Jessica Vance Roitman

Two recent items in the media caught my attention: the first was Mr. Will Johnson’s latest post on his blog, The Saba Islander. He wrote about the fact that the Dutch colonial governor in Curaçao used to write to the Commander of Saba in English, thereby respecting the fact that he was governing an English-speaking territory. Mr. Johnson laments that things have changed since the 1860s. The understanding – exemplified by this employment of English in official correspondence – which used to exist between those who exercised Dutch colonial authority and those they governed in the Windward Islands, seems to have faded away Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
13 May 2015 06:23 AM

Airport breaks ground for cargo building renovation

AIRPORT--A symbolic ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday kicked off the US $4.6 million renovation of the Princess Juliana International Airport SXM cargo building. The more-than-three-decades-old building will be given a much-needed facelift and offices for eight new cargo handlers. The project is slated for completion in May 2016.

Airport Managing Director Regina Labega told the gathering at the ground-breaking ceremony in the building's parking lot that the building was "in need of an urgent facelift."

That facelift was described by Labega as "a complete multi-million-dollar makeover" that will be carried out by four contractors chosen via a public tender Read more


Candidates in this article:
PPA
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
09 May 2015 06:23 AM

Tourism season better, but marketing concerns loom

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten's accommodation sector enjoyed a positive tourism season, which reportedly measured up to slightly better than last year's. Hotel General Managers (GMs) contacted by The Daily Herald were proud to report the good results, some specifically citing the (now halted) Thomas Cook (TC) charter from Sweden as a positive contribution. However, they also expressed some concern over the lack of destination marketing.

According to St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association's (SHTA's) most recent figures, the first quarter of 2015 saw a total occupancy of 82.1 per cent, of a total of 3,375 rooms belonging to SHTA members Read more


Candidates in this article:
RSM
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
08 May 2015 06:23 AM

Charville appeals to François Hollande to understand ‘crisis’ facing St. Martin

MARIGOT--Independent Councillor and President of True Hope for St. Martin Jules Charville says he hopes President François Hollande will understand that behind a bright façade the community of St. Martin is in "deep suffering," and despite the change of status, "our ill-prepared community, with no support to adjust to new circumstances has lost its footing.

"The crisis affecting our community since July 2007, is unprecedented," Charville stated Read more


Candidates in this article:
RSM
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
08 May 2015 06:23 AM

Charville appeals to François Hollande to understand ‘crisis’ facing St. Martin

MARIGOT--Independent Councillor and President of True Hope for St. Martin Jules Charville says he hopes President François Hollande will understand that behind a bright façade the community of St. Martin is in "deep suffering," and despite the change of status, "our ill-prepared community, with no support to adjust to new circumstances has lost its footing.

"The crisis affecting our community since July 2007, is unprecedented," Charville stated Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
07 May 2015 06:23 AM

Cuba insists it has oil, US firms uninterested

HAVANA--Cuba unveiled new data on Wednesday it said confirmed there were billions of barrels of oil beneath its Gulf of Mexico waters but admitted there was little interest in new exploration even with the thaw in U.S. relations.

The United States and Cuba have vowed to restore diplomatic relations after more than 50 years of animosity, but the comprehensive U.S. trade embargo remains in place Read more


Candidates in this article:
HOPE
Source: The Daily Herald
07 May 2015 06:23 AM

Visa lifted for Colombians to visit St. Maarten and Curaçao

~ Aruba, Caribbean Netherlands to follow ~

PHILIPSBURG--Colombians travelling to Curaçao and St. Maarten no longer will need visas as of July 1, 2015. Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the Netherlands reached an agreement on this in Curaçao on Tuesday.

The four countries decided to grant a visa exemption for Colombia, valid for Curaçao and St. Maarten, in anticipation of a possible future exemption for Europe's Schengen Area and in light of the harmonisation of the Dutch Caribbean visa policy.

The decision to allow Colombians to travel to the two countries will be evaluated in July 2016 Read more


Candidates in this article:
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