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Equipment for second water plant ordered

POINTE BLANCHE--The equipment and installations for the construction of the second seawater reverse osmosis plant in Pointe Blanche have been ordered.

The long-term Water Supply Agreement of Government with Seven Seas/AirFin, signed in November 2012, includes the supply, construction and operation of two new, state-of-the-art reverse osmosis plants. These plants are modular systems capable of producing 3,700 m3 per day each, a press release issued on Thursday said.

At an average, household consumption of half a cubic metre per day, one plant produces sufficient water to supply 7,400 homes on a daily basis.

The agreement states that the second plant shall be operational mid February 2016 Read more

Democratic Party holds its last public meeting

SIMPSON BAY--Democratic Party (DP) supporters turned out for one last public meeting at Kim Sha Beach in Simpson Bay last night. The nineteen candidates reiterated what they stood for, what needs to change in St. Maarten and what the party has been accomplishing so far.

Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams, DP #1, reiterated her views that the party had put United People’s party leaders where they are today, which was why they could shine Read more

Dutch, French to do joint health study, launch health observatory

~ 'Diseases don't stop at the border' ~

CONCORDIA--Dutch St. Maarten and French St. Martin health officials launched a regional Health Observatory on Friday and announced plans to embark on a joint public health study to assess the health situation amongst the population on both sides of the island.

Some work has already begun under the Health Observatory, which is based initially at the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital in French St Read more

Medical centre outlines expansion plan details

CAY HILL--St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) has provided Health Minister Cornelius de Weever with details of its expansion plan. The expansion plan is based on the NAf. 30-35 million government has allocated in its budget for the institution, SMMC Board of Directors Chairman Kees Klarenbeek said in a letter to De Weever dated August 13.

The plan contains four phases Read more

Number two candidates debate country matters

BELAIR--Coalition, government's essential duty to the people, reducing the country's debts, immigration and other topics were dealt with by the number two candidates on the slates of five parties contesting the August 29 Parliamentary Elections at the second Arts Video Studio (AVS) political debate in Belair Community Centre on Sunday evening.

Participating in the debate were Leona Marlin-Romeo (United St Read more

Labour Affairs to be accepting permit renewals as of Monday

~ Normal opening hours resume ~

PHILIPSBURG--The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA has engaged in a re-writing of its procedures to facilitate the manual intake of employment permit requests at the Department of Labour Affairs.

The ministry said this was being done due to "the continued ICT [Information Communications Technology – Ed.] challenges experienced at the department. The servers at the department went down about a month ago due to a power surge.

The Department of Labour Affairs will start with the manual intake of employment permit applications as of Monday, August 18, but only those permits up for renewal, it was stated in a press release issued by the Cabinet of Labour Minister Cornelius de Weever.

Vacancy registrations, unemployment registrations and labour registrations also will be offered and rendered by the department manually Read more

Editorial - Not without merit

Although the introduction of a visitor health fee proposed by Health Minister Cornelius de Weever (see related story) seems a bit "out of the blue" it shouldn't be discarded outright. Health-related services obviously are targeted in the first place toward local residents, but it does happen that guests make use of them.

As a tourism destination, maintaining quality medical facilities is important, especially for vacationers who may suffer already from some type of condition Read more

Labour, Social Services Dept servers sent abroad to be fixed

~ Consideration to avoid gaps in permits ~

PHILIPSBURG--The servers at the Departments of Labour and Social Affairs are expected to be "up and running" in about two weeks, says Labour Minister Cornelius de Weever.

The minister said on Wednesday that the servers had been sent abroad to be fixed. The system went down about four weeks ago due to a power surge and persons have been unable to submit employment permit renewal requests Read more

De Weever says visitor health fee can raise millions for health care

PHILIPSBURG--The introduction of a visitor health fee can raise millions for health care in St. Maarten, says Health Minister Cornelius de Weever.

He told reporters at Wednesday's Council of Ministers press briefing that a health fee of US $1 could be considered to be charged on airline tickets or cruise ships. With the 1,700,000 to 1,800,000 and projections for 2,000,000 cruise ship passengers and 500,000 stay-over visitors, St Read more

De Weever: New budget cuts nearly impossible

PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Cornelius de Weever says budgetary amendments from his ministry are near impossible, as the ministry has reached a bare minimum and any additional cuts would not enable the ministry to execute the legislative tasks with which it is tasked.

He was attempting to explain why his ministry had not been able to comply with the budget demands as stated by the Committee for Financial Supervision.

"In order to pass the 2014 Budget, the private sector now pays its own fair share of health care premiums which provides medical insurance to their clients and family members for such a low price," De Weever said in a press release Tuesday.

De Weever made a request to amend the budget as it relates to the health care expenses of civil servants; to transfer these costs from the budget of Public Health, Social Development and Labour VSA to the budget of General Affairs or allocate them to the personnel budget of each respective Ministry by means of an allocation key.

He said the budget of VSA in particular was pegged to a year plan, including key performance indicators, and to an end-of-year report that accounts for every penny spent.

"I believe all other ministries that function without a year plan should reform and provide more accountability Read more

Minister of Justice tours police facilities in progress

SUCKER GARDEN-- On Wednesday, August 6, Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson was given a guided tour of the ongoing construction of the new police training centre, and also visited the new Joint Emergency Dispatch Centre, which is presently being completed.

Present during the tour of the new training centre was Chief of Police Peter de Witte, Acting Chief of Police, Commissioner Carl John and police advisor Klaas Groen.

The training centre is being built at the former B.B.W. building on Sucker garden road, which is currently being rebuilt.

The new training centre will include several classrooms where theoretical instruction can be given Read more

Parliamentarians irked at De Weever’s ‘condescending’ remarks in meeting

~ De Weever will offer 'no apologies' for telling truth ~

PHILIPSBURG--Several Members of Parliament (MPs) condemned on Wednesday the manner in which Minister of Health, Labour and Social Affairs VSA Cornelius de Weever addressed Parliament during the Central Committee meeting, with some MPs saying the minister had been "condescending," "disrespectful" and 'sarcastic."

De Weever responded by saying he had "sat quietly" and "took it all" from MPs in his three years going to Parliament to answer questions, while watching some MPs put on a "grand performance." De Weever said he would not sit and allow anyone to "play politics" with the work his ministry had done Read more

Duty officer: Fire Department was dispatched immediately

~ Call 919 for faster fire response ~

PHILIPSBURG--"Call 919 in case of a fire, not 911," is an important message from the Fire Department.

Although 911 may also be utilised, calls are taken by a controller. When people dial 919, the calls are answered by fire officers who are on duty 24/7 and have specific training and knowledge that a non-Fire Department controller does not have.

Calling 919 enables the fire officer to ask specific questions that will help determine whether the fire is a threat to life or property, or whether it is caused, for example, by someone burning garbage.

In the case of the house fire in St Read more

Editorial - The right balance

The signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) between Labour Minister Cornelius de Weever and five businesses to train and hire unemployed persons (see Saturday paper) is certainly a positive development. It regards a combined total of 23 trainees annually, which may not be much compared to the many jobless youngsters out there. However, each case that can be helped to achieve gainful employment, and thus kept from roaming the street with all possible consequences, should be considered a worthwhile investment Read more

80 students bid farewell, leave to pursue studies

AIRPORT--Some eighty students left home to continue their tertiary education in the Netherlands after an emotional goodbye amongst family, friends and dignitaries at SXM Airport on Sunday. Friends and family gathered for the bittersweet milestone departure, which brought on a range of mixed emotions. Last-chance pictures and videos were captured amidst tears, long hugs and bright smiles. The well-wishers enthusiastically waved goodbye to the students until they were out of sight. SXM Airport, in collaboration with Domino's Pizza, bade the students farewell during the third annual "Bon Voyage" event, providing music, entertainment, pizza, snacks and a photo booth they were free to use Read more

Roy: Heyliger not leading by example

PHILIPSBURG--United People's (UP) party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Theo Heyliger is "not leading by example" with his challenge to Justice Minister Dennis Richardson about the guidelines for election campaigning, says Democratic Party (DP) MP Roy Marlin Read more