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Irregularities At Receivers Office Under Investigation.

PHILIPSBURG: --- Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion announced that some irregularities have been found at the Receivers office that are now been investigated.
The Minister of Finance did not provide any information as to the type of irregularities but promised to give further information at a later date.

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Irregularities At Receivers Office Being Investigated, Civil Servant Suspended. (Updated)

~ Close to $100.00. missing, National Detectives investigated.~

PHILIPSBURG--A Civil Servant at the Government of St. Maarten Receivers Office has been suspended without pay after officials noticed that a large amount of cash was missing earlier this week. Sources say that about $100,000.00 went missing and the long-time civil servant has since been admitted.

According to a reliable source close to the investigation, the civil servant confessed to taking the undisclosed amount of cash from the daily intake at the Receiver's located inside the Government Administration Building in Philipsburg Read more

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~ I have never celebrated the firing of a civil servant~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran said when questioned about the decisions he took since taking office that he has been putting out fires upon fires. Those fires include the Alegria affair, Over the bank land distribution, the bidding process for the garbage contracts, and the Ombudsman report not to mention NV GEBE and its continued saga since the black byte cyber attack.
Doran had to fire the Secretary General of VROMI when he began investigating the Alegria water rights promises Read more

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Is The Shareholder Sending Mixed Messages To Gebe Sbod?

~ Information on ongoing discussions with GEBE SBOD too sensitive for public consumption PM Jacobs~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St. Maarten mainly the Council of Ministers and Shareholder representatives has been sending mixed messages to the Supervisory Board of Directors of NV GEBE.
Just last week the Prime Minister told the Parliament of St. Maarten that the shareholder instructed the SBOD to assign an independent temporary manager as well as a crisis management team.

Assign Temporary & Independent Management (Assign immediately a temporary and independent manager to ensure continuity of NV GEBE.
Assign Crisis Management Team
Independent Investigation (Procure and conduct an independent investigation into the past few months.
Inform shareholders in a timely and frequent on the measures and actions taken.

The above points were taken from the fourth slide of the Prime Minister's presentation to parliament in which the shareholder also instructed the board to conduct an independent investigation into the daily operations of the company over the past months.
Questions are now being asked if the Prime Minister played the parliament and people of St Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The acting Minister of TEATT, Omar Ottley hereby informs the general public that the prices of gas and diesel will drop effective 6 am on Wednesday, August 31, 2022.

Minister Ottley further informs that the price build-up was adjusted to include an additional NAf 3 cents for freight costs due to global developments. This decision was taken based on a request by the main wholesaler in 2021 Read more

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POINTE BLANCHE:---  For the first eight months of 2022, Port St. Maarten has received 316 cruise ship calls bringing in 493,000 cruise passengers between January and August.
The total passenger numbers to date outpace the ports projection over this period by almost 55.000 passengers but could have been a lot better due to low cruise vessel occupancy numbers in the first quarter of 2022.
In an invited comment, the Acting Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Hon. Omar Ottley said: "Many business owners and stakeholders have been concerned with the low cruise activity during the summer period Read more

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~ Board members at loggerheads with the reappointment of Daniel as TM, and installation of the Crisis Management team~

PHILIPSBURG:---  Reliable information reaching SMN News on Monday evening states that at least two members of the Supervisory Board of Directors of NV GEBE  have tendered their resignation.

The first to submit her letter of resignation is Lela Simmons who indicated that the management team of NV GEBE was not held sufficiently accountable, and that management was not communicating sufficiently with the public of St Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- The Technical Assistance for Disaster Response and Preparedness project began on June 20, in coordination with the Sint Maarten authorities.

The overall objective of the EU-funded project is to support the Government of Sint Maarten in its vision to strengthen its institutional capacity to plan, monitor, and coordinate post-disaster response and reconstruction.

One of the first activities of the project is Disaster Risk Mapping in all districts. It will be done with the engagement and validation of community councils and other community-minded individuals Read more

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Dcomm Airs Vks Special On Tuesday At 7Pm.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Department of Communication (DCOMM) will post and air a Voluntary Korps of St. Maarten (VKS) Special on Tuesday, the 30th of August.

This year the VKS marked its 25th anniversary on June 28, when it was formally established.

The VKS Special can be seen across DCOMMs mediums at 7 pm on TV 15 and TelTV+ and on the Government of Sint Maartens Facebook Page and YouTube Channel.

DCOMM interviewed Commander Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Silveria Jacobs, in her capacity as chairlady of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), appeals to the Sint Maarten community not to become complacent this hurricane season and to remain vigilant and prepared. So far only three storm systems have formed, Alex, Bonnie, and Colin Read more

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~Changes are needed, but what we have must be upheld~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the United Peoples Party MP Rolando Brison recently explained the responsibility Parliament has to uphold the constitution, despite it having some flaws. His comments were made during the recent public meeting in which questions were posed to the council of advice regarding the application of article 50 of the constitution, which has provisions for the suspension of members of parliament that are convicted of certain crimes Read more

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~Actions taken to ensure the future and proper functioning of N.V. GEBE~

PHILIPSBURG:--- With the ongoing challenges of N.V. GEBE, and after the general shareholders meeting held on Friday, August 19, Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Silveria Jacobs has maintained direct communication with the Supervisory Board of Directors of the utility company Read more

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Exclusive: Mismanagement At Nv Gebe Results Into Bankruptcy CompanyS Time Deposits Reserves Were Tapped Into.

PHILIPSBURG:--- As the saga continues at the sole utility company NV GEBE, it appears that the company is buried in mountains of debts caused by the mismanagement and incompetence of the current temporary managers.
NV GEBE has had its fair share of trouble with the former Supervisory Board of Directors and their incompetence. The company also had rough patches with the former management team that is today campaigning and leaking information to various politicians and media personalities Read more

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~ Merrill Temmer was appointed Statutory Director on Monday. TM remains in place, and GEBE was instructed to install a crisis management team. ~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs informed the Parliament of St. Maarten on Friday that the Shareholder of NV GEBE does not support the planned disconnection that the company has slated for September 1st Read more

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Continuation Urgent Public Meeting Of Parliament Regarding Recent Developments Impacting The Liquidity Of N.V. Gebe

PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in an urgent Public meeting on Friday, August 26, 2022.

The Public meeting, which was adjourned on August 24, 2022, will be reconvened on Friday at 10.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of General Affairs (AZ) and the Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure (VROMI) are expected to be present.
The agenda point is:
Recent developments that impact the liquidity of the utility company and the ability of N.V Read more

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Exclusive: Ministry Of Education In Chaos, Massive Resignation At Study Financing.

~ Teacher resigns today, Alleged politics being played at MLK~

PHILIPSBURG: --- There is no other way to describe the situation within the Ministry of Education as various teachers have reported that they are being sexually harassed by a certain individual and the Department of Public Education. SMN News made several inquiries about the allegations from the Minister of Education Rodolphe Samuel who said none of the teachers that contacted SMN News did file an official complaint.

Those that received text messages from the known molester said they are afraid of victimization as such they have not filed a complaint with the Inspectorate of Education.

SMN News learned from reliable sources that some 13 persons resigned from the Department of Study Financing, the sources said that the persons that resigned were having serious issues with the current department head Antonio Aventurin Read more

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~Government and representatives of N.V. GEBE hear the first round of questioning from MPs~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Silveria Jacobs was present in Parliament Public Meeting #21, which was held on Wednesday, August 24. The meeting in question was to address recent developments impacting the liquidity of the utility company and the ability of N.V Read more

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Minister Working On Strengthening Smmc Nursing Program.

~ Agreement with FINSO 90% complete~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of VSA Omar Ottley announced on Wednesday that he is busy working with the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) on strengthening the facility and its nursing program through NIPA. The Minister said he plans to utilize the SOS policy and ensure there is a return on investment.
In updates on the construction of the new general hospital the minister said that while he agrees that some price adjustments have to be made due to inflation, he did not agree on the price hike the contractor FINSO wanted to add, Based on the disagreement the Minister said negotiations were held between SMMC and the contractor and a new pricing tariff and the updated letter of intent (LOI) is now 90% complete.
Ottley said that the management of SMMC promised that after the signing of the LOI the government and people of St Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS) Rodolphe Samuel said on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers press conference that he met with the Catholic School Board to gain information on the allegations of sexual harassment at the St. Dominic High School.
The Minister explained that while he met with the school board they did not go into the content of the report on the research the school board conducted.
Samuel said he left that meeting with the understanding that the Catholic School Board would report the incident but later the school board informed him by letter that they would not make any report because the country does not have any specific law in place that would compel school boards to report such incidents.
Samuel said the school board indicated to him in their letter that the law that is now in place does not indicate that they must make a report Read more

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~ Government needs more time to analyze the information provided by NV GEBE. ~

PHILIPSBURG: --- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs in response to questions regarding NV GEBE since the March 17th, 2022, Black byte hacking said that she received a slew of information from the government-owned company, while the shareholders meeting was held on Friday last Read more

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Urgent Public Meeting Of Parliament Regarding Recent Developments Impacting The Liquidity Of N.V. Gebe.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in an urgent Public meeting on Wednesday, August 24, 2022.
The Public meeting is scheduled for 11.30 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of General Affairs and the Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure will be present.

The agenda point is:
Recent developments that impact the liquidity of the utility company and the ability of N.V. GEBE to continue as a going concern (IS/1189/2021-2022 dated August 15, 2022)

This meeting was requested by MP L.N.L Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Concerned businessman Julian Rollocks Jr. is urging the members of parliament to question GEBE Management in tomorrow's meeting of Parliament.

Rollocks Jr. asked, "why Sint Maarten have not implemented prepaid electricity? A similar opportunity is possible on our sister islands of Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire.

Aruba's prepaid billing is called prepaid meter Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Dr. Luc Mercelina, the Leader of the political party URSM (Unified Resilient Sint Maarten Movement) paid an orientation and courtesy visit to the University of Sint Maarten (USM) on August 19th, 2022.
As a political party, the URSM strongly believes in Education and Professional Treasury as the main pillar to sustain the process of Nation Building Read more

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Duncan Requests Meeting On Education Review Interim Report Calls On Minister To Make Soe Report Public.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday, April 18, 2022, Independent Member of Parliament S. Ludmila Duncan submitted a request to the President of Parliament to invite the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS) to a public meeting to discuss the recent Education Review Interim Report.

On July 21, 2022, while on recess, the Parliament of St. Maarten received the Interim Report of the St. Maarten Education Review from Minister of ECYS, Rodolphe Samuel Read more

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