SXMElections.com

~Minister Roger Lawrence addresses the public~

PHILIPSBURG:---The Honourable Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs, Silveria E. Jacobs, on behalf of the Council of Ministers (COM), hereby makes known that the Honourable Roger A. Lawrence, Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunication (TEATT), has resigned because of medical challenges. The Council of Ministers received Minister Lawrences formal resignation, which was accepted during its meeting of Tuesday, July 26, 2022 Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Honorable Minister of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor, Mr. Omar Ottley, met with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Director of the Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean, Mr. Dennis Zulu, during a recent courtesy visit to Sint Maarten.
This visit was a great opportunity to further deepen cooperation with the ILO in bringing further emphasis to the Decent Work Agenda.

Labor-related matters such as; labor market information system (LMIS), replacing the Cessantia fund with the introduction of an unemployment benefit system, wages and productivity, short-term labor agreement amendments, training, and employment creation, promotion, and improvement of the labor dispute settlement system, and more were discussed in which technical assistance from the ILO will be requested to further enhance policy development and or legislation as it relates to the labor market of Sint Maarten Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Saturday, July 23rd, 2022 Red Cross St. Maarten held the first stone laying ceremony at the future new facilities to be constructed in Cay Hill.
Among the many invited guests were Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Minister of VSA & Minister of Education, Culture Youth and Sports the honorable Dra. R. Samuel and the President/Chairwoman of Red Cross St. Maarten Ms. Nadia Chirlias.

Ms. Chirlias said in her speech This event has been a long time coming, and we are finally here to lay our Red Cross over the hill cornerstone Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

~ Marlin hopes to return soon~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament William Marlin who is currently in Panama on medical in an interview with Andrew Dick said that he went to Panama some five months ago to seek medical treatment and was expected to return after three weeks. However, after a surgery there he was infected while in the hospital, thus he remained in the hospital on intravenous antibiotics Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG: --- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said that while being overseas, she took note of what transpired during her absence. The Prime Minister was referring to the Alegria water rights saga, between the Minister of VROMI and Member of Parliament Raeyhon Peterson.
Jacobs said that the Minister of VROMI was off the island this past week and is expected to return to St Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Ministry Of Vromi Investigating The Issuance Of Contract To Repair Prins Bernard Bridge.

~Possible Bid Rigging detected~

PHILIPSBURG: --- Acting Minister of VROMI Ardwell Irion said that the government of St. Maarten is busy investigating the contract that was issued to Soualiga Infrastructure to repair the walkway of the Prins Bernard Bridge, this contract he said was awarded by the former Minister of VROMI Christopher Emmanuel in 2017.
Irion said that after conducting preliminary research government determined that the contract was awarded to the companion of the former Ministers chief of staff Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- Following previous announcements of a new basket of goods, which increased from 12 to 72 items, the Ministry of TEATT hereby informs the public that the new basket will be going into effect on Monday, August 1, 2022.
The new basket, which is being regulated by Ministerial Regulation, allows for more flexible adjustments in the future. Revocation of the National decree containing general measures which regulate the current basket of 12 items, has been approved by the Council of Advice and is presently in the final stages of the revocation process.
The initial timeline to have the new basket of goods implemented was originally July 1st, 2022 Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- Sint Maarten Tourism Bureau announced the renewal of contracts with the three agencies that execute the public relations, marketing communications, and digital marketing for the destination, as of July/ August 2022.

Following the upward trend of arrivals since 2021 and with some concerning challenges with lower occupancy for the summer, the tourism bureau is pleased to work with the Marketing and PR agencies again. The marketing team will work with Diamond PR, Big Idea Advertising, and USP PR Marketing to leverage a marketing budget and strategically drive travel in target markets like the Northeast (NY, NJ, and CT), Atlanta, Charlotte, Florida, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, and California Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

~The public has chosen Shadani Flemings design as the winner.~

PHILIPSBURG:---  For the past few weeks, the Ministry of Finance organized a design competition to choose what will be the artwork used for the Sint Maarten License plate. Three submissions for license plates were posted to the Sint Maarten Government Facebook page and citizens were encouraged to vote for their favorite.

Each submission was posted with a caption explaining the concept of the designs. During the Facebook poll, there were over 2000 votes cast Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure is currently working on upgrading the living standard conditions of our elderly and disabled persons here in St. Maarten. In doing so, the ministry has embarked on a project which would grant these persons easy access to Great Bay beach.

Since the inception of this Governmental term, the Honorable Minister Egbert Jurendy Doran has been adamant about upgrading the infrastructure on the island in such a manner that it would accommodate persons who are physically challenged Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- The le Sommet Foundation in collaboration with The Haitian Association of Sint Maarten (H.A.S.MA) hosted a panel discussion for the Positive Parent Support Program, an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports.

Present in the panel discussion were board members of the Le Sommet Foundation and the Haitian Association of Sint Maarten (HASMA), UNICEF field assistant Mr. Bert van der Meijden. Head Caribbean Child Development Centre Ms. Cecile Minott from the University of the West Indies and Mr Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

Minister Of Vromi Seeks Legal Advice On How To Deal With Mp Implicated In Alegria Case.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Acting Minister of VROMI Ardwell Irion in response to questions regarding the letter that was released on Tuesday implicating a member of parliament in the Alegria court case that ends up in court.
SMN News asked the acting Minister of VROMI who is a member of the Council of Ministers said that he is aware that the Minister only last week received the letter that was part of a file for a court case and he is looking into all options on how to move forward Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

What Is Behind The Motion Of No Confidence Against Minister Of Vromi?

~ Promised Water Rights to Algeria as the driving force to remove Doran. ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran in a radio program on Tuesday indicated that there is more in the mortar than in pestle with regards to the motion of no confidence that the Party for Progress tries to table against him last week when they sneaked an agenda point in the urgent meeting called to debate the constitution.
Doran said the PFP faction mainly former head of Domain Affairs and now Member of Parliament Raeyhon Peterson made promises made to Algeria, now Morgans Resort Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Sunday, July 17th, 2022, the Justice Week celebrations culminated with a church service, followed by the Justice Parade, ending with a night of elegance at the First Annual Justice Ball to recognize workers of the Ministry of Justice.

Justice Week events began on Monday, July 11th, consisting of a three-day Justice Conference at the Simpson Bay Resort which saw department heads, management teams, and external partners discuss various topics of concern for the ministry while receiving critical feedback from a panel of experts in the field Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:---  President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) Stuart Johnson minced no words by conveying, "I am profoundly saddened by the overall handling of the vacation allowance payment affecting subsidized school board employees."

He further expounded, "The precedence set by Government and the clear inequity it has caused is truly affecting the quality of education in our country," Johnson said.

On July 8, the WITU participated in a meeting with school boards and the Minister of Education, Drs Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

~United Nations updated on the progress of Sustainable Development Goals for 2030~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Jacobs recently flew to the United Nations (UN), as part of the delegation in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. She was part of the delegation taking part in the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF). During the three-day visit, the Prime Minister attended and presented at various discussions aimed at familiarizing countries with the others issues, solutions, and future plans Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

CAY HILL:--- Last week the ambulance nurses of the Ambulance Department of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labor successfully completed an Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) training course in collaboration with Curacao Heart Foundation (CHF). The CHF is an International Training Center (ITC) of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the European Resuscitation Council (ERC).
Ambulance Department Head Drs. Cylred Richardson says that this specific training is ongoing for his staff in an effort to keep the skills of our ambulance nurses sharp and up to par in the daily delivery of advanced ambulance care Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

~ Jimmy Gumbs recognized by State Services.~

MARIGOT:--- President Louis Mussington honored three persons on Thursday during the Bastille Day celebration for their exceptional services to their community and the people of Saint Martin.
Those honored are Francis Gibbs a Saint Martiner who has been working for the Collectivity for the past 25 years Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

THE HAGUE:--- July 4th, 2022. A delegation of the Social Economic Council (SER) paid a courtesy visit to the cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary of Sint Maarten, where they were welcomed by the Honorable Minister Plenipotentiary Rene Violenus, Cabinet Director, Carol Voges, and Senior Economic Policy Advisor, Prakaash Rostam.

After introductions, the conversation focused on the work method and the recently published advice of the SER Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG: --- Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion told reporters on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers' press briefing that decisions taken by former commissioners regarding long lease land left the government with no cannon fees.
Ardwell said that since taking office he encountered letters and emails that were sent to people that are basic promises without proper paperwork.
He said in at least two cases a former commissioner indulged in land swapping but never issued to the persons that have been occupying government lease land with no long lease or deed in place Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

~ Ministers were not appointed shareholder representatives by PM~

PHILIPSBURG: --- Ministers such as the Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran and the Minister of TEATT Roger Lawrence can be considered toothless sharks when dealing with government-owned companies. These two ministers were never appointed shareholder representatives of the government-owned companies, as such Lawrence for the Princess Juliana International Airport or the Harbor Group of Companies and Doran for NV GEBE.
Ministers that are not appointed shareholder representatives cannot execute decisions taken by the Council of Ministers Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

~ Civil Servants should take heed when leaking documents to politicians. ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Deputy Prime Minister Egbert Jurendy Doran in responding to questions regarding the verdict in the Hyman and PJIAE case handed down by the Court of First Instance on Tuesday said that even though the government did not discuss the verdict he felt no win with the verdict that was rendered.
The deputy Prime Minister explained that Hyman is a local professional that lost his job Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- Members of the Party for Progress were left with their mouths hanging on Wednesday when they tried to dupe parliament into adding an agenda point to the urgent meeting of parliament called to debate the constitution of St. Maarten in order to bring back suspended Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper.
PFP MP Raeyhon Peterson asked that the chair of parliament add an agenda point to the meeting on Wednesday on the confidence of parliament in the Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran.
The urgent meeting of Parliament was called during the recess which commenced with 9 members present, including MP Rolando Brison and MP Hyacinth Richardson.

When the PFP requested the agenda point be added which the chair of parliament obviously agreed with, MP Brison in a point of order pointed out the shenanigans that are being played in parliament by some politicians, he then notified the chair that she could only continue with such a meeting when the parliament has more than half of its members present Read more

---

Candidates in this article:

PHILIPSBURG:--- One year after its official launch, the University of St. Martin (USM) COVIDCAS research project team delivered a midterm report to the general public on Thursday, 23 June. Present were representatives of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (MECYS), Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), Collective Preventive Services (CPS), grassroots organization union WIFOL, and faculty members and students of the local. Research assistants who were trained in qualitative interview techniques and transcribing and translation received their certificates of accomplishments at the public event.

COVIDCAS is the consortium comprised of USM, University of Aruba, University of Curaao, Utrecht University, and the Curaao Biomedical and Health Research Institute (CBHRI), which spearheaded the research project Upholding Human Rights during a Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 Measures on Vulnerable Families in Curaao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten Read more

---

Candidates in this article: