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PHILIPSBURG:--- On the eve of the start of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, Chair of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) issued her national message to the nation.

My Fellow Sint Maarteners,
Another hurricane season is before us. The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season traditionally begins on June 1st and ends on November 30th Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday, May 29th, 2020 Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper sent an email to the President of Parliament MP Rolando Brison
requesting an urgent meeting regarding the still pending NRPB programs and projects Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The government of St. Maarten held its Frontline Heroes Appreciation Tour today, May 29, 2020. Members of the Council of Ministers visited various entities that ensured the people of St. Maarten were kept safe at home. These courageous persons provided the emergency and essential services that have been needed from the onset of the COVID-19 period and activation of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). At each location, the respective Minister, under which these entities fall, gave words of thanks for their commitments in ensuring that the government could mitigate and contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday, May 27th, the Minister of Justice Anna Richardson held an emergency meeting with the management team of the prison and her legal advisors concerning the recent incidents that took place at the prison. With regards to the narrative that is being pushed in the media as it relates to the prison facilities and the recent incidents, the Minister finds this to be very unbalanced Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Through his letter dated May 27th, 2020 to the President of Parliament, MP Rolando Brison, Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper submitted a number of questions to the Minister of Finance, Ardwell Arion Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Scores of Civil Servants including police officers turned up at the Government Administration Building to protest the proposed cut in vacation pay for the years 2020 and 2021.The Chamber of Labor Unions already indicated to the Government of St. Maarten that they were not going to accept cuts in their salaries and or vacation pay to meet the demanded cuts laid down by the Dutch Government.
Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion gave the unions his last proposal on Monday where he indicated that the government of St Read more

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Group Of Teachers Willing To Accept Proposed Cuts, Says W.I.T.U Does Not Speak For Entire Teaching Population.

PHILIPSBURG:--- A group of teachers that Franklin Jeffers is representing has penned a letter to the Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion informing that they are ready to accept the proposed cuts for the years 2020 and 2021. The teachers in their letter said they are ready to accept their full salaries, and the proposed 50% cut in vacation pay for both years, while they envisioned having their vacation pay reimbursed by 200% in the year 2022.
The group of teachers also explained that they stand in solidarity with the entire island in these trying times and also made clear that while the Windward Islands Teachers Union (W.I.T.U) is a respectable organization they do not represent the entire teaching population.
The letter reads below.
Dear Honorable Minister Ardwell Irion,

We are a group of concerned teachers who have taken note of the proposed cuts by the government Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs reached out to the civil servants by letter on Wednesday explaining to them the current financial situation the country is faced with due to COVID-19.
Below the full content of the letter.

PRIME MINISTER S. JACOBS Letter to Civil Servants
COST CUTTING MEASURES

Dear Civil Servants,

"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential.. Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The TelEm Group's main building on Pond Island will be closed for two days (Thursday, May 28, and Friday, May 29, 2020) to allow for professional fumigation of offices and all public areas.
The closure is out of an abundance of caution in the event an employee in the building may have come into contact with a suspected Coronavirus patient.
In a Communique to employees, Wednesday, CEO, Mr. Kendall Dupersoy, said the professional cleaning is only being taken as a precautionary measure in keeping with the companys safety protocols.
Employees will be working remotely from home during the two-day closure and regular business hours will resume, Monday, June 1, 2020 Read more

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Government To Honor Frontline Workers, Parents Ask For Children Participation.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The -Government will be honoring Frontline Heroes on Friday announced Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs at the Council of Ministers Press Briefing on Wednesday. Parents are hereby informed that children with frontline career day costume to send it by email to the government of St. Maarten. Emails should be sent to pmtalks@sintmaartengov.org, the names of the child must also be included in the email Read more

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Task Force Formed To Collect Land Lease Fees, Businesses First To Be Targeted.

~ government still working with unions to seal an agreement.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran and Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion met on Tuesday to begin putting a task force in place that will go after delinquent businesses that have not been paying government years of lease land fees Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Year eight indeed shaped up to be a great one for the regions largest cancer fundraiser across the English and Dutch Caribbean CIBC FirstCaribbeans Walk for the Cure.

Partnership with the Positive Foundation and Adtalem Global Education on St. Maarten heightened the awareness, raising a grand total of USD $16,000 for the benefit of the Positive Foundation.

The donation supports the foundations endeavors which are geared towards stimulating, educating and activating the consciousness of the community on aspects of self-responsibility towards overall health improvement, and in particular, towards breast cancer Read more

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Prime Minister and Chair of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Silveria Jacobs hereby updates the general public for today, Monday,May25, 2020,as part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and the Governments COVID-19 containment, mitigation and response measures.

Based on the latest available data provided by Collective Prevention Services (CPS) Epidemiologist Dr Read more

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~ SXM is the only Caribbean country in the Kingdom not implementing the 12.5%  salary cuts.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Finance Minister Ardwell Irion has his work cut out for him with the unions that are currently holding meetings at the Little League Stadium today Monday. The meetings that are being held by the Chamber of Labor Unions are a form of protest against the planned cuts to meet the demands of the Dutch Government for liquidity support.
The unions that are participating in what they describe as an urgent meeting are the ABVO, WITU, NAPB, SMCU, WICHUA, WIFOL, ASEWI, and WICSU/PSU Union.
St Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) May 20 webinar about being export ready was a great success President of the Supervisory Board of COCI Benjamin Ortega said on Sunday.
More than 58 companies and persons from the business community registered for the online seminar Read more

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~ Government has no money to pay for quarantine facility.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten is now moving towards its recovery phases from the COVID-19 pandemic announced Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs on Saturday at the EOC press conference.

Jacobs said that it is now 11 days since St. Maarten registered a positive case of the COVID-19, currently, there are no patients at the St Read more

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~ wanted to know who typed up his C-waiver signed by Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs.~

PHILIPSBURG/MARIGOT:--- Dr. Michel Petit who practiced medicine for over 32 years on St. Maarten had an embarrassing experience on Saturday at the Bellevue border with an officer of the PAF in the presence of Prefet Sylvie Feucher. Dr. Petit told SMN News that he obtained his C-waiver from the Prime Minister of St Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Late Friday afternoon into evening, May 22, 2020, the Council of Ministers met with the unified unions of St. Maarten in order to clarify the proposal made by the Dutch Government and approved by the Kingdom Council on May 15, 2020, related to the much-publicized 12.5% personnel cost-cutting condition and other conditions within the Dutch COVID-19 support proposal which will negatively affect civil servants.

The unions represented workers in the private and public sectors namely, WITU, WICSU-PSU, ABVO-SXM, NAPB Read more

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PHILIPSBURG -- The Minister of Education drs. Rodolphe Samuel issued a public statement with words of advice and encouragement for parents and children who will be going back to school on Monday, May 25th, 2020. The minister encourages the parents to make sure their children have all the necessary protective gear at hand so that the children will be able to abide by all safety and health protocols.
In his statement, Minister Samuel asks for the cooperation of the parents and the students as they "will be part of something new." The minister explained, that many of the students who are in their final academic year will be going to school to sit exams while the students of the other classes will remain at home and continue with their education online Read more

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French And Dutch Will Not Be Meeting Today Wednesday, Health Ministry Working On Agreement.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The French and Dutch authorities will not be meeting today Wednesday as was planned. SMN News asked Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs to explain if the two sides are still cooperating since the Dutch side removed law enforcement on Sunday from the borders.
Jacobs said that from the inception St. Maarten wanted to close off the borders in France just like she did with China and the US, Jacobs said the Dutch Government pleaded with her not to shut off the EU flights and instead St Read more

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~ Unions will be incorporated on how to cut civil servants salaries.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs announced at the weekly press briefing that the government of St. Maarten have accepted the conditions set down by the Kingdom Council (Dutch Government) in order for St. Maarten to receive the loan they requested from the Kingdom to assist its people during the global pandemic of COVID-19.
Jacobs said that the country informed the Kingdom that the government accepts the condition as long as it does not trample on the other laws that guide the country.
Jacobs said the decisions taken by the government was done in the best interest of its people in mind, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic that affects everyone and every country.
Jacobs further explained that several of the conditions were already being implemented by the government of St Read more

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Hatchet Conditions Placed On St. Maarten For Liquidity Support.

~Take it or leave it stance from Dutch Government~

PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maartens Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs in her address to parliament on Tuesday said that St. Maarten and the other Prime Ministers of the Kingdom namely Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten were left out of the discussions on the conditions that the Kingdom will impose for the requested loan from the Dutch Government.
Jacobs said St Read more

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Council Of Ministers To Deliberate Dutch Proposal For Financial Assistance With Parliament.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Council of Minister of St. Maarten has received a proposal from the Kingdom Council of Ministers on the liquidity support for St. Maarten to be able to carry out the Sint Maarten Stimulus and Relief Plan (SSRP).

On Tuesday, May 12, 2020, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra and State Secretary Raymond Knops, in a hastily called meeting with the Prime Ministers of the Dutch Caribbean via video conference, verbally outlined the intentions of the Netherlands to assist the countries in this time of crisis and beyond Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday morning, May 18, 2020, the Minister of Justice Anna Richardson paid a visited the Philipsburg Police Headquarters.

The Minister, under the guidance of the chief Inspectors B. Gout and D. Baptist together with Head of Operations Glenda Pecht, got a firsthand opportunity to visit the police station in Read more

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