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Minister Irion Stands Firm, St. Maarten Will Not Hike Foreign Exchange Licence Fee

From left are Secretary to Director Leila Matroos-Lasten; Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion, interim CBCS President Jose Jardim; CBCS Director Raquel Lo Fo Wong; Advisor to the Board of Directors Ron Gomes Casseres and Executive assistant to the Board of Directors Nihaila Eustachia.

PHILIPSBURG--Finance Minister Ardwell Irion has made it clear to the Central Bank for Curaao and St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- During the course of this week Minister of Finance, the honorable Ardwell Irion met with member of the supervisory board of the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) Dennis Richardson, and with the board of the CBCS. During these meetings, an update was provided on the latest developments with the emphasis on the solvency of the Giro Bank and actions taken by the CBCS, and the proposal of the increase of the license fee for Curacao in connection herewith.
It must be emphatically stated that St Read more

PHILIPSBURG--Voting on a proposal to forward the names of Alphons Gumbs and Marc van Iersel to Governor Eugene Holiday for consideration to fill the post of General Audit Chamber Chairperson could not take place on Tuesday, as not enough Members of Parliament (MPs) were present.

Chairperson of Parliament William Marlin said 10 persons are needed for the voting to occur and only nine MPs were present at the time of voting Read more

Richardson Calls Wever, Smhdf To Parliament

NA MP Anna Richardson.

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Anna Richardson with the support of fellow MPs Solange Ludmila Duncan (NA) and Rolando Brison (independent), has issued a call for Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI interim Minister Christopher Wever to attend Parliament with Director of the St Read more

Gumbs Weighs In On Proposal To Increase Foreign Exchange Fee

PFP Leader and MP-elect Melissa Gumbs.

PHILIPSBURG--Party For Progress (PFP) leader and Member of Parliament (MP)-elect Melissa Gumbs has weighed in on the debate over the proposal by Curaao to increase the foreign exchange licence fee via the Central Bank for Curaao and St Read more

Night Of The Hitmakers Unveils Retro Line-Up

From left: SCDF President Alston Lourens, TelEm Group CEO Kendall Dupersoy, and Night of the Hitmakers organisers Bertaux Mr. Rude Fleming and Shasca Fleming.

PHILIPSBURG--In what organiser Xtratight Entertainment says will be a retro version of the beloved Carnival show Night of the Hitmakers, organisers unveiled the line- Read more

Three Winners Announced For Inaugural Ren Mathon Prize

At the Ren Mathon Award ceremony were, from left: First VP Valrie Damaseau, competition organiser Sandrine Jabouley, first-prize winner Franklin Denis, President Gibbs, second-prize winner Diane Choisy, second VP Yawo Nyuiadzi, and Chamber of Commerce President Angle Dormoy. (Robert Luckock photo)

MARIGOT--Three entrepreneurs w Read more

Irion Gives Clarity On Uts Sale During Question Hour

Interim Finance Minister Ardwell Irion (centre) with members of his delegation in Parliament on Monday.

PHILIPSBURG--Interim Finance Minister Ardwell Irion provided clarity on the sale of St Read more

Sarah: Curaao Should Seek Funds Elsewhere To Salvage Girobank

MP Sarah Wescot-Williams.

PHILIPSBURG--It is not a good idea to adjust the foreign exchange fee to rescue a Curaao bank and expect St. Maarten to do the same, with total disregard for the economic consequences for St. Maarten.

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Mp-Elect Heyliger-Marten: Szv Must Improve Its Service To Senior Citizens

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Member of Parliament elect for the United People’s Party (UPP) Grisha Heyliger-Marten has issued a call for the Social & Health Insurance institution SZV to address the technical issue negatively affecting the printing of Social Insurance Cards and increase the life of the cards from two (2) to five (5) years for Senior Citizens.

Heyliger-Marten believes one key area of improving the social wellbeing of our society is by adapting global best practices when caring for our Senior Citizens Read more

Grisha Says Szv Should Improve Service To Seniors

MP-elect Grisha Heyliger-Marten (right) during a visit with Hermogenes Polonia Raap who will be 101 years old in April.

PHILIPSBURG--United Peoples (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP)-elect Read more

Mp Duncan Requests Info On Govt. Plans To Develop Msmes

MP Solange Ludmila Duncan.

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Solange Ludmila Duncan recently submitted a number of questions to interim Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion and interim Minister of Read more

Mp-Elect Heyliger-Marten: Szv Must Improve Its Service To Senior Citizens

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten Member of Parliament elect for the United People’s Party (UPP) Grisha Heyliger-Marten has issued a call for the Social & Health Insurance institution SZV to address the technicalissue negatively affecting the printing of Social Insurance Cards and increase the life of the cards from two (2) to five (5) years for Senior Citizens.

Heyliger-Marten believes one key area of improving the social wellbeing of our society is by adaptingglobal best practices when caring for our Senior Citizens Read more

Former Barbados Government Minister Found Guilty Of Money Laundering Charges In Us, But An Appeal Is On The Horizon

NEW YORK, United States, Friday January 17, 2020 A former politician and a senior minister in the Barbados Government is now awaiting sentencing in the United States after yesterday being convicted of laundering bribes paid to him by executives of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL) to secure government contracts.

After two hours of deliberation at the end of a four-day trial in the Eastern District Federal Court in New York, a 12-member jury unanimously found former Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development Donville Inniss guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering, as well as laundering US$16,536.73 on April 17, 2015 and US$20,000 on April 18, 2016, through his friends company in the US.

The 54-year-old Inniss, who is a US legal permanent resident with a home in Tampa, Florida, remains on bail pending sentencing.

According to the evidence presented at trial, between 2015 and 2016 Inniss took part in a scheme to launder into the US, just over US$36,000 in bribes that he received from high-level executives of ICBL, while serving as a minister and a Member of Parliament under the previous Democratic Labour Party (DLP) administration Read more

Brison: St. Maarten Should Not Suffer Due To Irresponsible Curaao Banks

UP Leader MP Rolando Brison.

PHILIPSBURG--United Peoples (UP) party leader and Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Rolando Brison said on Sunday that St. Maarten reside Read more

~ School resumes on Monday ~

PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) Ardwell Irion has addressed the concerns of the teachers and staff of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School.

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Van Dam Has Deep Concerns About St. Maarten Police Cells

Chris van Dam

THE HAGUE--Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Chris van Dam of the Christian Democratic Party CDA has again expressed his deep concern about the conditions in the holding cells at the Philipsburg police station.

Van Dam on Thursday submitted a set of written questions to Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops and Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker about the December 17, 2019, decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to declare the detention of a detainee in a St Read more

Seventh Day Adventist School Opens New Cycle 2 Playground

Cutting of the ribbon. Left to right: Jose Sommers, Minister Ardwell Irion, Seventh Day Adventist pupils and Clara George.

COLEBAY--The St. Maarten Seventh Day Adventist School opened its new cycle two playground with a small ceremony early Friday morning.

Cycle 2 pupils assembled in the school gym for the opening ceremony along with their teachers and other staff members Read more

Court Orders Justice Minister To Make New Decision On Function, Salary Scale

PHILIPSBURG--The Minister of Justice was ordered by the judge in the Civil Servants Court to make a new decision on the request of a civil servant at the Immigration Department pertaining to her function and salary scale. Country St. Maarten was ordered to pay the NAf. 700 cost of these legal proceedings, the Court decided on Friday.

The case was filed by member of the Immigration Department Rignalda Soraida Stefania, who has been a civil servant since 1992. She was assisted in this ca Read more

Plenary Public Meeting Of Parliament About Question Hour Related To The Sale Of Uts.

PHILIPSBURG:---The House of Parliament will sit in a Plenary Public session on Monday, January 20, 2020.
The Public session is scheduled for 10.00 - 11.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Finance will be present.
The agenda point is:
Question hour: Questions from MP S.A. Wescot-Williams directed to the Minister of Finance related to sale of UTS (IS/281/2019-2020 dated November 12, 2019)

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.
The parliamentary session will be carried live on St Read more

Sarah: Looking Forward To Hear The Emergency Operating CenterS (Eoc) Recommendations On Earthquake Preparations And Mitigation.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten Recent reports from the region regarding earthquakes and elevated seismic activity should be of concern to all of us, Member of Parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams stated recently.

A statement from Mr. Clive Richardson of Sunday, January 12th, 2020, did not address or allay my concerns, and given the reports and the inquietude amongst the population, Ive posed questions to Prime Minster Silveria Jacobs, as the one responsible for disaster management., the MP said.

The Member of Parliament posed the following questions to the Prime Minister in a recent letter.

1 Read more

Governor Holiday Concludes Consultations And Appoints Formateur Jacobs

Harbor View – The Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency drs. E.B. Holiday, following the outcome of the January 9, 2020 elections held consultations from January 10 through 14, 2020 to gather information to decide on the process for the formation of a new government. The Governor, considering the ongoing discussion regarding compliance with the standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), also convened a meeting with the political leaders and the bankers association to underscore the importance and urgency of handling this matter for Sint Maarten irrespective of which parties form the new government Read more

Sarah: Looking Forward To Hear The Emergency Operating CenterS (Eoc) Recommendations On Earthquake Preparations And Mitigation.

Philipsburg St. Maarten, Recent reports from the region regarding earthquakes and elevated seismic activity should beofconcern to all of us, Member of Parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams stated recently.

A statement from Mr. Clive Richardson of Sunday, January 12th, 2020, did not address or allay my concerns, and given the reports and the inquietude amongst the population, Ive posed questions to Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, as the one responsible for disaster management., the MP said.

The Member of Parliament posed the following questions to the Prime Minister in a recent letter.

What is the view of Government regarding these increasing seismic activities? Do these notwarrant increased alertness? What has Government put in place to mitigate the potential threat of an earthquake to our island? Does the plan include schoolsand other public places? What is the disaster management plan for earthquakes? Please share any other information regarding this matter that could be helpful to the population as a whole and may I suggest an urgent communication plan, if not yet in place.

These questions were not posed to create panic, but to be assured that the Government of St Read more

Governor Holiday Concludes Consultations And Appoints Formateur Jacobs.

Harbour View:--- The Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency drs. E.B. Holiday, following the outcome of the January 9, 2020 elections held consultations from January 10 through 14, 2020 to gather information to decide on the process for the formation of a new government. The Governor, considering the ongoing discussion regarding compliance with the standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), also convened a meeting with the political leaders and the bankers association to underscore the importance and urgency of handling this matter for Sint Maarten irrespective of which parties form the new government Read more