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Marlin Commends Parliament’S Planned Tour Of Lagoon

PHILIPSBURG – Prime Minister William Marlin is heartened that the Parliament of St. Maarten is taking time out to tour the Simpson Bay Lagoon and visit the proposed site for the sewage plant.

He believes that Parliament will get a greater understanding of the government’s position regarding the construction of the sewage plant Read more

On the occasion of the first CBCS Central Banking Conference Caribbean Central Banking since the Financial Crisis

Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Sint Maarten
March 31st, 2016

Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening.

It gives me great pleasure to join you this evening at the welcome dinner for the first central banking conference of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten.

Firstly, on behalf of the government of Sint Maarten, allow me to extend a warm welcome to all the speakers and participants who have travelled to Sint Maarten for this conference Read more

Police Report: Fire Destroys Apartment Buildings  

CAPE BAY – On Wednesday, March 30, at approximately 6:30pm, a call came into the Emergency Dispatch Center informing of a large apartment fire at Maracas Drive #5 in Cape Bay. Immediately several police patrols, Fire Department and paramedics were dispatched to the scene to investigate what was taking place.

On the scene, investigating officers noticed that a complex consisting of three apartments located at the rear of the main building at Maracas Drive #5 were on fire. Immediately, the Fire Department went to work on extinguishing the fire, which had grown quite large.

Traffic in and out of Cape Bay was diverted through other streets in the area, which allowed police to keep onlookers at a safe distance and the Fire Department to work without any obstructions Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday March 30th 2016 at approximately 06.30 p.m. a call came into the Emergency Dispatch Center informing them of a large apartment fire at Maracas drive number 5 in Cape Bay. Immediately several police patrols, Fire department and paramedics were dispatch to the scene to investigate what was taking place.
On the scene the investigating officers noticed that an apartment complex consisting of three apartments located at the rear of the main building at Maracas drive number 5 were on fire Read more

Government Meets School Bus Owners

School Bus Owners Association representatives on the left and Prime Minister William Marlin, Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs and Ministry ECYS representatives. (DComm photo)< Read more

Special attention should be placed on the amount of raw sewage that are being pumped in the lagoon.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The third quad-partite meeting that involves the State of France, The Netherlands, the government of St. Maarten and the Collectivity of St. Maarten is scheduled to take place on St. Maarten on Wednesday next week at the A. C Wathey Legislative Hall starting at 8am announced Prime Minister of St. Maarten William Marlin.
The Prime Minister told members of the media that the agreement among the countries states that these annual meetings will be held in a different country each year.
On the agenda for discussions are the following points:-

• Military Cooperation
• Border Control
• Implementation of the Police Cooperation
• Treaties that relates to the preparation and cross border between the two sides of the island which will include, education, health care, social welfare, whereby parties will try to establish a cooperation structure between the two sides of the island.
• The European Union Affairs will also be discussed, while they will follow up on the current discussions that relatives to the EU funding and projects that are co-financed by the EU.
The Prime Minister also gave some updates on the trips he attended in Aruba regarding the Aruba Day celebration and the P-3A meetings where more than 38 nations attended the conference.

On the ongoing discussions regarding the sewage plant that is to be built in the Simpson Bay Lagoon Marlin welcomed the involvement of the Parliament of St Read more

Government Meets School Bus Owners

PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister William Marlin, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS) Silveria Jacobs and Ministry ECYS representatives met with School Bus Owners Ass Read more

Minister Jacobs And Prime Minister Marlin Meet With School Bus Owners Association Regarding School Bussing Service

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (Ministry ECYS) Silveria Jacobs, Prime Minister William Marlin, as well as a delegation of the Ministry ECYS, met with board members of the School Bus Owners Association to clarify the announcement made in the papers in reference to the new school bussing service which is expected to go into effect August 2016.

The board members of the School Bus Owners Association representing 31 school bus owners had the opportunity to express their concerns about the new school bussing service and the perceived negative impact it could have on their livelihood.

The meeting was positively received and Minister Jacobs re-iterated that is not her intention to put anyone out of business.

She has the responsibility to execute government policy and regulations in compliance with the National Accountability and Compliance Ordinance and thus regulation of school bussing service is necessary.

The Terms of Reference (TOR) are available to be reviewed as of Wednesday March 30, after which an informative session is planned for April 13, 2016.

Members of the board were encouraged and have agreed that they will review the TOR to get a better idea of what will be expected in executing the new school bussing service.

Minister Jacobs has promised to remain open to dialogue with the association in the future.

PHOTO CUTLINE: School Bus Owners Association representatives on the left and Prime Minister William Marlin, Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs and representatives from the Ministry ECYS seated on the right Read more

GREAT BAYDCOMM):--- The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (Ministry ECYS) Silveria Jacobs, Prime Minister William Marlin, as well as a delegation of the Ministry ECY Read more

Meyers: Gov’T Looking At Best Possible Solution To Construct Sewage Plant

PHILIPSBURG – The government is looking at the best possible solutions for the construction of a sewage plant for St. Maarten, said Minister of VROMI Angel Meyers.

The total project costs €6 million and €3 million is being funded by the European Union (EU). Minister Meyers at Wednesday’s Council of Ministers press briefing, echoed the sentiments of Prime Minister William Marlin Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of Sint Maarten William Marlin invites the general public to attend the first law lecture in a series called, “The Law Matters to You,” a joint project between the Department of Communication and the University of St. Martin.

The first lecture is about the “Joint Court of Justice & the Legal System on Sint Maarten” by Judge Mauritsz de Kort Read more

Marlin Dismisses Opposition To Construction Of Sewage Plant Close To Lagoon

PHILIPSBURG – Prime Minister William Marlin dismissed opposition to the proposed construction of a sewage plant in the vicinity of the Cole Bay causeway for fears it could impact the Simpson Bay lagoon.

“Raw sewage is running from Cay Bay, from Cole Bay, from Billy Folly area – from all areas from the pond – raw sewage is running into the pond,” the Prime Minister noted Read more

Electoral Reform Report Received By Government

PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister William Marlin has received the Electoral Reform Committee’s report on the way forward to make the governmental system stronger and halt “ship-jumping” – the practice of Members of Parliament (MPs) leaving their party to form coalitions with others.

Marlin did not give any details about what the report contains when he spoke to the press on Wednesday Read more

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The first version of the National Database SintMaartenInfo was recently launched within government, and a roll-out plan is being finalized to have a public launch within a few months. After that SintMaartenInfo will be available online to the public as a tool for research, analysis and advocacy.

Members of the Cabinet including Prime Minister William Marlin got first-hand experience on the use of the national database.

The establishment of SintMaartenInfo is part of the National Development Plan project, led by the Department of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BAK).

BAK took the lead in developing the database Read more

Marlin Reclama Votación Urgente; El Presupuesto Está En Un Callejón Sin Salida

Traducido por; Máximo Castro

Philipsburg.-El primer ministro William Marlin, reiteró la urgencia de votar por el presupuesto de St. Maarten en medio de la situación creada tras la detención del parlamentario independiente Silvio Matser.

“El interés de este país no puede ser puesto en un segundo plano porque hay un miembro del parlamento que es objeto de una investigación que se remonta a hace dos años; cuyo caso completó su investigación hace unos diez meses diez.

Precisamente el día en que se va a manejar el presupuesto, es que van a detener a esa persona, expresó un Marlin contrariado a los miembros de los medios de comunicación en un urgente llamado hecho durante la conferencia de prensa del viernes.

La detención Master forma parte de la investigación en curso sobre el caso Octopus, que implica un fraude electoral (compra de votos) cometido en las elecciones parlamentarias de agosto de 2014.

Máster fue detenido la madrugada del miércoles Read more

Claret Connor Reacts On Water Treatment Facility And Eu Funds

I would like to make public, that when I got involved in the  discussions about finding a suitable location on Dutch St Maarten for a Water Treatment Facility, the country was already facing the end of an extended period and deadline placed by the EU Funding agency. I was informed that St Maarten had requested and received an extension and that extension was nearing its end. In July Of last year I was requested to sit in on a meeting with then Prime Minister and Minister of VROMI a.t. Marcel Gumbs along various department heads of VROMI and its Acting SG to discuss the possibility of acquiring land to make this fading opportunity for a multi million dollar facility a reality for the island and its people. At that meeting we all agreed on a possible way forward and presented that to the representative of Princes Port de Plaisance Mr Read more

Primer Ministro Desestima Las Preocupaciones Sobre Reunión Informal

Traducción: Máximo Castro

Philipsburg.- El primer ministro William Marlin, desestimó los puntos de vista planteados por la población en el sentido de que consideran inapropiada su reunión informal con miembros del Parlamento, para tratar sobre el tema de la aprobación del Presupuesto de 2016.

Algunos más radicales han catalogado de infame esta reunión informal del Primer Ministro, realizada en su vehículo en el Distrito de Point Blanche Read more

PHLIPSBURG:--- “I would like to make public, that when I got involved in the discussions about finding a suitable location on Dutch St Maarten for a Water Treatment Facility, the country was already facing the end of an extended period and deadline placed by the EU Funding agency. I was informed that St Maarten had requested and received an extension and that extension was nearing its end.”

In July Of last year I was requested to sit in on a meeting with then Prime Minister and Minister of VROMI a.t Read more

Prime Minister And Justice Minister Meets With Soab

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Honorable Prime Minister William Marlin and the Minister of Finance Richard Gibson met with SOAB Director Giomaly Martis of Curacao and Country manager Candia Joseph of Sint Maarten.

This meeting was a continuation of a follow up meeting that took place a couple weeks ago Read more

PHILIPSBURG:---- Prime Minister William Marlin, Minister Angel Meyers and their Dutch Technical teams met with the Perfet of Saint Martin, the President of the Collectivite and their French Technical teams on Monday to discuss the Cole Bay Sewage Plant collaboration project.

The aim of the meeting was to come to an agreement on the exact location of the Sewage Plant, as well as to discuss the orientation and the joint approach of this project.

Ultimately, both parties will proceed with finalizing the estimated cost for this project, as well as the investigation of the preliminary design, in terms of the technology, needed to complete this project.

During the meeting, the Dutch side delegation presented a proposal in which the plan is to reclaim about 6000 square meters of land from the Cole Bay lagoon, near the causeway, in order to build an ‘island’, on which the Sewage Plant will be constructed Read more

Upp And Independent Mps Call Press Conference

Members of Parliament (MP) Leona Romeo-Marlin

PHILIPSBURG – The UP Party Members in Parliament along with Independent Members of Parliament (MP) Leona Romeo-Marlin and Cornelius de Weever, on Sunday, March 6, held a press conference in which they addressed issues pertaining to the draft budget of 2016, and issues surrounding a meeting held with Prime Minister William Marlin last week.

As far as the budget is concerned, UP leader MP Theo Heyliger confirmed that they had not received a convocation for the Meeting of Parliament to handle the draft 2016 budget Read more

Marlin: Matser’S Case Highlights Need For Own Attorney-General

PHILIPSBURG--The arrest of independent Member of Parliament (MP) Silvio Matser just hours before the draft 2016 budget was expected to go to a vote in Parliament and the claim by the Attorney-General and Prosecutor’s Office that the ongoing budget debate was unknown to them highlights the need for St. Maarten to have its own Attorney-General, says National Alliance (NA) leader Prime Minister William Marlin.

Marlin said in a press conference on Friday that the manner in which Matser was arrested was “unfortunate” and the details of the case “are not clear to anybody.”

Marlin said the claim from the Justice officials that the ingoing budget debate was unknown to them was “adding insult to injury.” That claim shows that the Attorney-General living in Curaçao has “no interest or is not paying sufficient interest to what is happening in St Read more

Marlin Seeking Support For Budget, Not For New Govt.

 ~ Theo refutes claims of locking out independents ~

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) leader Prime Minister William Marlin made it clear on Friday afternoon that he is not seeking to form any new governing coalition, b Read more

Marlin Wants Urgent Resolution To Budget Vote Impasse

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten –– Prime Minister William Marlin reiterated the urgency for a vote on the budget for St. Maarten in the midst of the arrest of Member of Parliament (MP) Silvio Matser, which he said will affect the passage of the budget.

“The interest of this country cannot be put on the back burner or in second place because there is a Member of Parliament who is under investigation going back to two years ago, whose case the investigation was completed some ten months ago Read more