SXMElections.com

St. Maarten Government Falls – Three Coalition Members Defect

Picture: St. Maarten Parliament

NEWSFLASH!! St. Maarten– The Gumbs government fell shortly after 12.30 p.m. today (Wednesday, September 30, 2015) after the parliament passed a motion of no-confidence submitted by Democratic Party MP Sarah Wescot-Williams with an 8-7 vote Read more

MPs defer talk on double taxation

PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) have deferred discussions about the new tax treaty between St. Maarten and the Netherlands until they can hear from Finance Minister Martin Hassink.

The treaty, said to be in conformity with internationally accepted regulations, was on the agenda of Tuesday's Central Committee sitting in Parliament House. However, independent MP Cornelius de Weever said he had questions about the treaty, especially the effects of it on St Read more

Meeting About Zebec-Deal Continues: Opposition Questions Deal, Coalition Praises Harbor

St. Maarten – Parliament will have to wait until this afternoon for answers to the questions it posed yesterday in a public meeting about the settlement between the Harbor Group of Companies and real estate developer Zebec over the failed Harbor Village project.

As Today reported on Monday, September 14, social insurance agency SZV borrowed the harbor $10 million on a short 3-month loan to settle the dispute with Zebec.

Yesterday’s meeting did not bring anything new to light Read more

Meeting About Zebec-Deal Continues: Opposition Questions Deal, Coalition Praises Harbor

St. Maarten – Parliament will have to wait until this afternoon for answers to the questions it posed yesterday in a public meeting about the settlement between the Harbor Group of Companies and real estate developer Zebec over the failed Harbor Village project.

As Today reported on Monday, September 14, social insurance agency SZV borrowed the harbor $10 million on a short 3-month loan to settle the dispute with Zebec.

Yesterday’s meeting did not bring anything new to light Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the Democratic Party and Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Wlliams said in a press release that she took note of the presentation to government of the initial report by the tripartite group, consisting of VSA ministry, St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) and SZV. This report is in keeping with the protocol signed by these entities in March 2015, the basis of this protocol being to put SMMC back on a solid footing Read more

Garbage Meeting Fizzles: Many Questions, No Answers And No Solutions

St. Maarten – At the end of a long meeting, finally there were some fireworks when opposition MP asked Vromi-Minister Claret Connor to answer one question: “Is there a contract with a company to build the waste-to-energy plant and how does this jive with your visit to a project in Miami?”

Minister Connor, who had just said that he would be able to inform the parliament on Monday when he would be able to answer the more than one hundred questions MPs had asked, did not bite Read more

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

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

Members of Parliament wanted more speaking time in Zebec/Harbor debate.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of Parliament were called to vote on Monday when a member of the opposition asked for speakers time to be extended and a member of the coalition opposed the extension. MP Frans Richardson who supports the government voted in favor of the extension citing that he believes that Members of Parliament should be given extra time if they need when debating certain topics Read more

Minister Richardson Criticizes Attorney-General Schram: “Justify Your Claims Or Shut The Hell Up”

Justice Minister Richardson is tired of accusations about corruption. Photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten – “My position has changed: it is put up or shut up. Justify your claims or shut the hell up. This has to stop,” Justice Minister Dennis Richardson said yesterday afternoon in parliament about the statements Attorney-General Guus Schram made last Friday about the interconnection between the underworld and the legitimate part of St. Maarten’s society.

“There are numerous indications showing that the underworld and the legitimate society in St Read more

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

Hundreds Show Up For Job Registration Drive

This 20-year-old job hunter is eagerly awaiting the processing of names and applications. Photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten – The Department of Labor Affairs and Social Services hosted a registration drive yesterday at the Clem Labega Square in the parking lot in front of the Government Administration Building. The Start Here Campaign: Your Path to Employment and Career Development“, with the theme “Your Path Starts Here” attracted 317 job seekers. Their information will be processed; others can still register today at the labor office on the Pondfill.

The campaign is geared towards boosting economic viability of a large segment of the population while also changing the perception and attitudes regarding the meditative role of the department, in the world of employment Read more

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

Faction leaders outline their achievement and failures during parliamentary year 2014 -2015.

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Faction leader of the United Peoples Party Franklin Meyers in his remarks during the closing of parliamentary year 2014-2015 said that the moment the UPP and MP De Weever formed the coalition that formed the current government they got all sorts of pressure from the Dutch Government (Kingdom Partners) which includes an instruction Read more

>MARIGOT:--- The Health Observatory of St.Martin was created in October 2010 under the leadership of the Collectivité of St. Martin. This project was born of a cooperation between the Collectivité, the Government of Sint Maarten and Louis Constant Fleming Hospital. It is financed with European INTERREG IV Caribbean funds. The general meeting held on Friday, September 4, 2015 helped to formalize the functioning of the association that rules the Health Observatory.

The mission of the Health Observatory is to conduct public surveys and health studies on the both sides of the island in order to inform local institutions on priority needs for the population Read more

Mp's Questions Need For Ipko Consultations

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Members of the Parliament of St. Maarten are now questioning the need for the IPKO consultations based on its perceived effectiveness and the financial constraints of the Country St. Maarten.

On Monday the Permanent Committee of Kingdom Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations met to discuss the preparations for the upcoming January meeting of the IPKO.

This meeting comes in the wake of a meeting by Curacao’s Parliament last week during which they voted in favor of using the Par Latino platform to bring the problem of the democratic deficit within the Dutch Kingdom to the attention of the United Nations, an issue which is the major sore thumb sticking out of the relationship between Holland and their so-called equal partners in the Caribbean Read more

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