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MPs meet about Schram’s comments on Wednesday

PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) are set to give their views in a plenary session of Parliament on Wednesday on the comments made by Attorney-General Guus Schram at the installation of a new judge on September 11.

Justice Minister Dennis Richardson has been invited to the session in Parliament House slated to start at 10:00am.

Richardson already has called on Schram to produce evidence of his claims of a serious mixing of the underworld and civil society.

This urgent public meeting was requested by Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams and National Alliance MPs William Marlin, Silveria Jacobs, and Christophe Emmanuel.

The parliamentary session will be aired live on St Read more

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Minister Richardson answers MPs on Harbour/Zebec settlement

PHILIPSBURG--Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson provided answers on Tuesday to questions Members of Parliament (MPs) had asked about the Harbour’s settlement with Zebec Development in a first round of questions during an emergency meeting the day before.

Richardson first tackled the reasoning for both the court case and the settlement, then went on to more individual questions asked.

Case/settlement

The core issue is that Zebec intended to develop the Dutch Village on long-lease land of the Harbour Read more

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Minister to answer MPs’ dump questions by Friday

PHILIPSBURG--New Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Claret Connor has confirmed with Parliament that answers to the pertinent questions about the landfill, as discussed in the urgent plenary session on Friday, can be expected on Friday, September 25.

Therefore, another follow-up plenary session scheduled tentatively for Thursday, October 1, depending on the status of these answers, should be able to go forward as planned Read more

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Editorial - Costly oversight

The answers on the settlement between the Harbour Group of Companies and Zebec provided to Parliament on Tuesday afternoon were to the point and clear. Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson, assisted by Port St. Maarten Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo, said there was nothing sinister about the matter and it basically boiled down to a dispute over giving further content to a general property lease agreement for a Dutch Village to be built by the developers of Blue Mall.

The latter’s interpretation of the deal was not deemed favourable for the Harbour, particularly its separate arrangement with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) that initiated an own US $100-150 million venture, including a hotel near the area in question Read more

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MPs question Dennis on Zebec settlement at Port

~ Sarah’s call for more speaker’s time voted down ~

PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) fired off numerous questions seeking clarity on the Harbour’s settlement with Zebec Development during an emergency meeting on Monday.

The meeting was adjourned after the first round of questions to give Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Richardson a chance to obtain answers. The meeting will continue at 2:00pm today, Tuesday.

A proposal by Democratic Party (DP) MP Sarah Wescot-Williams at the start of the meeting for the speaking time to be increased to 30 minutes in the first round and 20 minutes in the second round was voted down with eight MPs voting against the proposal and six voting for it.

The vote was called after United People’s (UP) party MP Franklin Meyers said he opposed Wescot-Williams’ proposal Read more

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Wescot-Williams: Connor ‘intimidated’ by coalition

PHILIPSBURG--Recently appointed Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure VROMI Claret Connor “seemed intimidated” by the coalition partners who appointed him in the post when he appeared before Parliament on Friday to answer questions from, in particular, opposition National Alliance and Democratic Party Members of Parliament about tackling the country’s garbage mountain Read more

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MPs pass motion to make English ‘mother tongue’

PHILIPSBURG--Minister of General Affairs Marcel Gumbs and Minister of Education Rita Bourne-Gumbs have sixty days to present a plan to Parliament to establish English as "the first and mother tongue" of the country.

This was the instruction given to Government via a unanimously adopted motion that was tabled in Parliament on Thursday by Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams.

The motion also instructs government to develop "a plan of approach to gradually introduce the use of the mother tongue as the first official language of St Read more

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Parliament adopts Constitution Day

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten officially has ditched Kingdom Day, December 15, as an official holiday and replaced with it Constitution Day, which is to be observed annually on the second Monday in October, starting this year.

Parliament unanimously adopted the law on Thursday to make the day official and strike Kingdom Day from the calendar. The establishment of this newest holiday comes ahead of the fifth anniversary of St. Maarten’s attainment of country-within-the-Dutch-Kingdom status and the coming into force of the St Read more

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MPs want Constitution Day on 2nd Monday in October

PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) want Constitution Day to be observed annually on the second Monday of October instead of the actual day – October 10 – when the St. Maarten Constitution came into force.

The proposal to make October 10 a holiday and to have it replace Kingdom Day, December 15, by amending a number of laws, including the labour ordinance, was tabled by Education and Culture Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs in a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Tuesday afternoon.

The minister is slated to be back in Parliament for a vote on the law changes Thursday Read more

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Sarah: No 'earth-shattering' plans in governor's speech

PHILIPSBURG--There was "nothing earth-shattering" in Governor Eugene Holiday's speech about government's plans for the 2015-2016 parliamentary year, but it was heartening to see that the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet is "making use of the goodwill and leadership" created by the former government in the region and further afield, said Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams on Monday.

The former prime minister and her fraction's advisor Emil Lee called on government at their bi-weekly press briefing to continue with the National Development Plan (NDP) and were happy to note that government, based on the governor's speech, was still keeping the plan for which a lot of time and money has already been invested.

While the governor's speech was "short on specific," Wescot-Williams hopes to gain more insight into the plans for tax reform, when Finance Minister Martin Hassink is in Parliament this week to meet with Parliament's Permanent Committee for Finance.

DP has "ideas for changes" to the tax system, beginning with the often talked about simplification of the tax system, she said.

The party plans to put emphasis on an "economic reform agenda" that is necessary and that is needed to make tax reform workable.

Wescot-Williams expressed satisfaction that Parliament's Permanent Committee for Finance will finally handle the 2013 annual accounts of government-owned companies this week Read more

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Richardson to Schram: Prove underworld claims or ‘shut up’

PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister Dennis Richardson minced no words when he publicly called on Attorney-General Guus Schram to prove his claims about the mixing of the so-called underworld with civil society.

Richardson said in Monday's plenary session of Parliament that Schram should prove his claims or "shut the hell up."

Richardson was reacting to comments made by the Attorney-General on Friday at the swearing-in of a new judge for the Court of First Instance. Schram said, "The Friendly Island has lost its innocence."

He said another threat existed in St Read more

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Prime minister’s travel plans halt meeting about Zebec settlement

PHILIPSBURG--The “urgent” meeting of Parliament requested by opposition parties – National Alliance (NA) and Democratic Party (DP) about the out-of-court settlement reached by St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and developer Zebec has stalled before it could get started.

The meeting cannot be held this week, an official Parliament meeting week, because of an already packed Parliament schedule and due to the travel of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs from Wednesday, September 16, until Sunday, September 27, 2015.

DP leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams is not amused that yet another urgently requested meeting of Parliament has not been scheduled by Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

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Sarah requests MOU on pending boxing match

PHILIPSBURG--A copy of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between government and Keaton Corporation for the Miami 2 St. Maarten Showdown featuring a boxing card of Roy Jones Jr. versus Danny Santiago is still being sought by Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams Read more

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NA, DP request meeting on harbour settlement

PHILIPSBURG--Opposition National Alliance (NA) and Democratic Party (DP) have requested an urgent meeting of Parliament about the out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount made by St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and Zebec, the company that was contracted to develop th Read more

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Achievements and lack thereof highlighted as MPs close year

PHILIPSBURG--The achievements or lack thereof in the first Parliamentary year of the second Parliament came into focus as Members of Parliament (MPs) closed off the 2014-2015 legislative year in Parliament House on Monday. The 2015-2016 year opens today, Tuesday, with much pomp and ceremony.

The call to work together was issued by fraction leaders representing the coalition partners while the two opposition fraction leaders MP William Marlin (National Alliance) and Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party) were straightforward with their criticism about lack of action by the United People’s (UP) party-led coalition.

Destiny impaired

UP fraction leader MP Franklin Meyers laid the blame for the country’s stagnated growth and development in the past year at the door of The Hague saying that government and Parliament have spent the past year battling instructions and financial constraints due to financial supervision Read more

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DP calls on Harbour to disclose amount paid in Zebec settlement

POINTE BLANCHE--The Democratic Party (DP) is “demanding transparency” in the out-of-court settlement reached between the Harbour and Zebec Development and wants the Harbour to disclose the amount paid in the settlement.

“Given the seriousness of the accusations and the sizable financial consequences to the Harbour, the DP believes the details of the settlement should be made public, after all if the Harbour had to pay serious penalties for contractual failures, the people have a right to know,” DP Leader Sarah Wescot-Williams said in a press release on Sunday.

In August last year, Zebec Development filed a legal claim for more than US $100 million against the St Read more

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Kingdom Committee supportive of law to digitize court process

PHILIPSBURG--The draft Kingdom law to allow the digitization of court processes has the support of the Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Affairs and Kingdom Relations. The draft law was before the committee on Tuesday and after getting the nod of approval was forwarded to the Central Committee of Parliament for further handling.

Committee Chairwoman Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party) explained that the law amends several other Kingdom laws to allow for the digitization in the courts across the Kingdom Read more

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Sarah determined to get timeshare law moving

PHILIPSBURG--Too much time has been wasted on moving forward with the draft timeshare legislation while the country’s reputation has sustained damage. For those reasons, Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams is determined to see the draft initiative law to protect timeshare owners and buyers that her party proposed in the last parliamentary terms moving in full swing Read more

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Where is the Timeshare legislation that would have helped prevent this disaster?

Dear Editor,

We celebrate the legal victory of the handful of timeshare tourists who were willing to organise against a well-funded and larger opponent, put up their own money, and fight for their rights to keep their timeshare weeks as purchased, but what we don’t see are the thousands of timeshare owners at the former Caravanserai who gave up and as a consequence signed away their rights. Sadly, the collateral damage to our tourism industry translates into a tainted reputation for St Maarten, lost jobs and lost contributions into St Maarten’s economy.

The draft legislation which would regulate the Timeshare industry and has been working its way through our Parliamentary system for many years is still not approved Read more

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