SXMElections.com

Sxmgov Radio 107.9 Fm Back On The Air.

PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- SXMGOV Radio 107.9 FM, the official government radio station of Sint Maarten, is back on the air. The technical issue was addressed by station partner C3 on resolved on Saturday.

On Friday, radio listeners were informed that the station is off the air due to a transmission error at the antenna site.

Maurice Lake, Head of the Department of Communication (DCOMM), extended his sincere apologies to the people of Sint Maarten for the temporary inconvenience and assured them at that time that every effort was being made to resolve the issue promptly.

Government information and program could still have been accessed via DCOMMs internet stream, which can be accessed at www.sintmaartengov.org Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Sxmgov Radio 107.9Fm Temporarily Off Air Due To Transmission Error.

PHILIPSBURG:---  SXMGOV Radio 107.9FM, the official government radio station of Sint Maarten, regrets to inform its listeners that the station is currently off the air due to a transmission error at the antenna site. The technical issue is currently being addressed by our partners at C3, and we anticipate that 107.9FM will be back on air by the weekend.

Maurice Lake, Head of the Department of Communication, extends his sincere apologies to the people of Sint Maarten for the temporary inconvenience and assures the general public that every effort is being made to resolve the issue promptly.

In the meantime, we encourage our valued listeners to continue enjoying SXMGOV Radio 107.9FM's programming via our internet stream, which can be accessed at www.sintmaartengov.org Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Los Medios Locales Desacuerdan Firmemente Con La Poltica De Medios Publicada

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten El cuerpo de medios de St. Maarten est en total desacuerdo con la Poltica de Acreditacin de Medios 2022 publicada por el gobierno en la Gaceta Nacional el 16 de septiembre sin notificacin previa. Los medios explorarn todos los posibles recursos disponibles para que el gobierno rinda cuentas por lo que ven como una violacin de la integridad.

El mircoles 12 de octubre, durante la conferencia de prensa del Consejo de Ministros, la Primera Ministra Silveria Jacobs afirm que el gobierno no tiene que estar de acuerdo con los Medios y la Poltica de Acreditacin de Medios 2022, dijo, es una poltica del gobierno y hemos ajustado y enmendado todo lo que estbamos dispuestos a hacer.

La Primera Ministra declar errneamente que el grupo de trabajo tcnico que se lanz en mayo para mantener discusiones con los medios, tena un mandato del Gobierno para establecer la Poltica de Acreditacin de Medios Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Minister Doran Publicly Apologises For Insulting Ombudsman Mossell

PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Egbert Doran has publicly apologised for his letter to Ombudsman Gwendolyn Mossel.

  Doran had been urged to do so by Members of Parliament (MPs), who unanimously called his letter abominable.

  On Tuesday, Doran wrote to the ombudsman, who had asked the minister questions about Vineyard Heights/Over The Bank and announced a systemic investigation into the allocation of pieces of land, saying that he suspected that the ombudsman was not impartial in this matter.

  These properties and the allocations of same that you are seeking clarification on are directly tied into person that you were/are legally and/or physically involved with Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St. Maarten, through the Office of Disaster Management, hosted a conference at the Government Administration Building with VNG International, the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten), and communication and public relations personnel and officers from the Department of Communication, the Ministers cabinet, and various branches of the Emergency Support Function (ESF) members.

The name of the conference is: Crisis communications for Communications advisors, PR officers and DCOMM and the training was provided by the VNG organization, which represents since 1950 all Dutch municipalities, including, since 1995, the public bodies Bonaire, St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Dcomm Intensifies Covid-19 And Hurricane Season Public Awareness Campaigns

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) The Department of Communication (DCOMM), has intensified its public awareness campaigns for COVID-19 and the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.

Observations have been made where there are some persons within the community who are not adhering to proper public health hygiene protocols in connection with the national COVID-19 emergency. 

Even though the state of emergency has been lifted and the country went through four phases of re-opening, residents and the business community must adhere to public health measures that have been put in place to protect the health of the nations communities.

The wearing of face coverings, proper hand hygiene, sneeze and cough etiquette, and social distancing are key to preventing a resurgence of the COVID-19 infection.

DCOMM Department Head Maurice Lake said on Tuesday that DCOMM has been active since February where COVID-19 is concerned, with a multi-level awareness campaign that further intensified over the past five-months.

The campaign includes multi-language Public Service Announcements (PSAs) via various mediums (broadcast media e.g Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Dcomm Intensifica La Campaa De Sensibilizacin Pblica Covid-19 En El Interior De Las Comunidades Y Distritos

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten – El Departamento de Comunicacin (DCOMM) ha intensificado su campaa de sensibilizacin pblica para las comunidades y districtos.

El altavoz de promocin pblica de Eddy auto contina informando a travs de todos los distritos en ingls, espaol, francs y creole las medidas preventivas de COVID-19, la lnea directa de informacin CPS 914, mensajes de distancia social y sobre hacerse la prueba de la enfermedad por coronavirus.

El jefe del Departamento de DCOMM, Maurice Lake, dijo que es una forma muy efectiva de transmitir el mensaje a las comunidades desde el interiror del distrito en la isla y en diferentes idiomas, especialmente a aquellos que no tienen telfono o internet.

Obtener el apoyo de los lderes comunitarios informandoles de la comunidad latina y haitiana ha sido muy positivo y otra forma efectiva de llegar a las personas en esas reas Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Dcomm Intensifies Outreach Covid-19 Public Awareness Campaign Into Inner District Communities And Districts

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) The Department of Communication (DCOMM), has intensified its public awareness campaign for inner district communities and districts.

Eddy Promo Public Speaker car continues to drive through all districts broadcasting in English, Spanish, French and the Creole languages COVID-19 preventive measures, the CPS information hotline 914, Social Distancing messages and about getting tested for the coronavirus disease.

DCOMM Department Head Maurice Lake, said that this was a very effective way of getting the message out to the inner district communities on the island and in their own language, especially to those who don’t have a phone or internet.

Getting support from the informal community leaders from the Spanish and Haitian communities has been very positive and another effective way in reaching out to the people in those areas.  This is one of the most effective ways.  They have a good relationship with their people.  We have had the experience where somebody got sick, they called their informal leader and then they reached out to 914 or the Ambulance service Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Department of Communication (DCOMM), has intensified its public awareness campaign for inner district communities and districts.
Eddy Promo Public Speaker car continues to drive through all districts broadcasting in English, Spanish, French and the Creole languages COVID-19 preventive measures, the CPS information hotline 914, Social Distancing messages, and about getting tested for the coronavirus disease.
DCOMM Department Head Maurice Lake said that this was a very effective way of getting the message out to the inner district communities on the island and in their own language, especially to those who don't have a phone or internet Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

The St. Maarten Academy P.S.V.E. Hosted Its Annual Motivation Day

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The St. Maarten Academy P.S.V.E. hosted its annual Motivation Day in collaboration with the Student Care Department and the Business Department for the exam students on February 7th, 2020. The organizers were pleased and consider this event a great success. The students were engaged throughout the entire event and received vital information for future endeavors. The purpose of this annual event is to educate and motivate the students weeks before they sit for their National Exams.

This year, the aim was to foster positive awareness and growth of these students through educating them on relevant matters of importance to them Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Academy P.S.V.E. hosted its annual Motivation Day in collaboration with the Student Care Department and the Business Department for the exam students on February 7th, 2020. The organizers were pleased and consider this event a great success. The students were engaged throughout the entire event and received vital information for future endeavors. The purpose of this annual event is to educate and motivate the students weeks before they sit for their National Exams Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Sitting at table (from left): Eldelmiro Jansen of the VROMI Ministry, DComm Head Maurice Lake, Central Voting Bureau Vice-Chairperson Tamara Richardson, Central Voting Bureau Chairperson Jason Rogers, Department of Civil Registry Head Kathy Snijders, Police Chief Inspector Benjamin Gout, Police Chief Carl John and Acting Police Spokesperson Ethelwoldus Josepha Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- The leaders of six political parties submitted their lists to the Electoral Council on Friday paving the way for them to contest the upcoming Parliamentary Elections slated for February 26, 2018. They are SDM, SMCP, PPA, USP, NA and the UD.
The United People's Party and Democratic Party joined forces hoping to garner enough votes for a majority in Parliament Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

~ Bringing the DP stalwarts back together ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The United Peoples Party headed by Theodore Heyliger and Democratic Party headed by Sarah Wescot Williams have decided to merge the two political parties to contest the February 2018 snap elections.
Stuart Johnson who is representing the United People’s Party submitted the credentials of the new political party “United Democratic Party (UDP) to the Electoral Council on Thursday for vetting.
SMN News has learned that the main reason the leaders of the two political parties came together was to bring the former members and stalwarts of the Democratic Party back together on one slate since the Democratic Party has been losing votes these past years while the UPP could not muster enough votes on its own to win an election outright Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Solutions To Save Our Local University

Dear Editor,

As an Educator teaching 25 years at the University of St. Martin (USM), I would like to humbly give my advice and solution to the Minister of Education on how to save our University of St. Martin. I fully understand the situation our Government is being confronted with. The shortage of income for this year and the coming years for the entire country is something we all have to face and therefore it is impossible at this point and time to commit to any type of monetary assistance to the University, but we need to be creative in seeking a solution.

This is where creative financing comes into the picture within Government Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- Today, two months after the new Council of Ministers was sworn in, we still do not have a Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunication (TEATT). The blame for this has been placed on the vetting or screening process. However, in truth and in fact, the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of our parliament.

Now, the USP will have to present another candidate minister and the screening process will start all over again Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Coalition Government seems to be in shambles --- unconfirmed reports

PHILIPSBURG:--- The USP candidate Minister Cecil Nicolas has failed the screening process SMN News understands. Reliable sources within the current coalition said that USP leader Frans Richardson was informed of the screening results on Wednesday Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

We Have A Long Way To Go In 2017

Mr. Editor,

I foresee 2017 as a very challenging year for St. Maarten in which it is going to define the future of our beautiful island and our leaders. We are right now in the eye of the storm, which is January where there is calm before the storm.

Mr. Editor, this letter is not to scare our people, but to prepare them for the hard and uncertain times we’re living in. These are times where we have to stay strong for the tough times that lie ahead of us. The good thing about going through the eye of the storm is that the tough times don’t last forever because we are resilient people that rise above these times.  But as good leaders we have to prepare our people and trust God during these difficult times Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

My Person Of The Year 2016: The Ombudsman

Dear Editor,

I would like to congratulate all the person(s) who have been nominated by the different media houses on St. Maarten.

I believe any person(s) or organization that had been nominated as Person of the Year should play a key role within the public, private sectors and community in general.

As a Community Spirited person, if I had to vote for the Person(s) of the Year, I would have selected the Ombudsman and her team as the Person of the Year for 2016.

The Ombudsman was very active in all areas of the public by educating and explaining Government, Parliament and the general public of their roles within the community Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Time To Take Gebe To Another Level To Better Serve The Community

As a community-spirited person, I am not here to criticize or pass the blame, but to address the issues and come with solutions. NV GEBE needs to start thinking like a consumer and put themselves in the people’s position and address the issues as soon as possible with a permanent solution.

As we all know, load shedding should be something of the past. This is why the new Board and Management have accepted the challenge and now is the time to turn our local company around with a strategic plan for the next 5 to 10 years.

I have gotten so many calls from local business persons, acquaintances about what’s the issue with this constant load shedding Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Implement Short And Long-Term Solutions To Ease Traffic Situation On Both Sides

As the high tourist season is here and Christmas is just around the corner, I would like to advise both the Dutch and French Governments to start implementing short and long-term solutions to ease the traffic situation on both sides of the island.

I think it is high time we address our traffic bottlenecks with quick wins to ease the traffic congestion for the tourists during the Christmas season.

On the Dutch side, a short-term solution is to make the Ring Road drivable by fixing the road all around the pond and put proper signs from the Soualiga Roundabout, behind Ketty’s Snack to inform motorists they can use this alternative route to ease the traffic flow on the Pond fill.

You will be amazed that a lot of motorists don’t know the road is open for vehicular traffic, but the road needs to be fixed as soon as possible of potholes for the Christmas season.

Another short-term solution is to make a filter lane by the intersection by Zagersgut before you reach the bridge by the Seventh Day Adventist Church Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Implement Short And Long-Term Solutions To Ease Traffic Situation On Both Sides

As the high tourist season is here and Christmas is just around the corner, I would like to advise both the Dutch and French Governments to start implementing short and long-term solutions to ease the traffic situation on both sides of the island.

I think it is high time we address our traffic bottlenecks with quick wins to ease the traffic congestion for the tourists during the Christmas season.

On the Dutch side, a short-term solution is to make the Ring Road drivable by fixing the road all around the pond and put proper signs from the Soualiga Roundabout, behind Ketty’s Snack to inform motorists they can use this alternative route to ease the traffic flow on the Pond fill.

You will be amazed that a lot of motorists don’t know the road is open for vehicular traffic, but the road needs to be fixed as soon as possible of potholes for the Christmas season.

Another short-term solution is to make a filter lane by the intersection by Zagersgut before you reach the bridge by the Seventh Day Adventist Church Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- As the high tourist season is here and Christmas is just around the corner, I would like to advise both the Dutch and French Governments to start implementing short and long-term solutions to ease the traffic situation on both sides of the island.
I think it is high time we address our traffic bottlenecks with quick wins to ease the traffic congestion for the Tourist during the Christmas season.
On the Dutch side, a short term solution is to make the Ring road drivable by fixing the road all around the pond and put proper signs from the Soualiga Roundabout, behind Ketty's Snack to inform motorists they can use this alternative route to ease the traffic flow on the Pond fill.
You will be amazed a lot of motorists don’t know the road is open for vehicular traffic but the road needs to be fixed as soon as possible of potholes for the Christmas season.
Another short term solution is to make a filter lane by the intersection by Zagersgut before you reach the bridge by the Seventh Day Adventist Church Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Start Making Firm Decisions And Governing In The General Interest Of Our People

As a former Member of Parliament, I must say that our ancestors must be turning over in their graves with the type of leadership and cooperation we displayed during our St. Martin Day Celebration by boycotting the people’s celebration.

France and Holland must be smiling to see the recent dispute between the French and Dutch local Governments where they are fighting over the border lines in which it is documented and written in the Dutch Side Cadastre registry. There is a court case decision on this.

The Captain Oliver dispute where the judge – based on the French documents – said that the water rights is owned by the Island Government of St Read more

---

Candidates in this article: