SXMElections.com

Brazil downgrade leaves little choice but austerity for Rousseff

BRASILIA-- One thing is clear for Brazil's economy after its credit rating was downgraded to junk: political leaders now have little choice but to push ahead with painful austerity measures if they hope to regain market confidence.
  Faced with a growing budget deficit and the worst recession in nearly three decades, senior officials said on Thursday they will double down on austerity to lift revenues, cut spending and balance public finances that went off kilter with a raft of stimulus measures in recent years.
  Finance Minister Joaquim Levy, the face of austerity in President Dilma Rousseff's cabinet, said measures will be taken this month to bridge a shortfall currently projected in next year's budget Read more

United Continental chief moves to calm investors, employees

NEW YORK-- One day after ousting its chief executive, United Continental Holdings Inc and its new boss, Oscar Munoz, moved to reassure shareholders and employees that the company is stable.
  The airline also got a boost on Wednesday after acting Chief Financial Officer Gerry Laderman said at an investor conference that United is on track to save $1 billion in annual non-fuel costs by next year and would complete a $1 billion share buyback nearly two years ahead of schedule. UAL told investors it would return $4 billion to shareholders by 2017.
  Analysts gave a thumbs up to leadership change, and the company's shares rose, after falling as much as 2 percent in extended trading Tuesday Read more

Win some, lose some

Member of Parliament Christopher Emanuel (NA) during his press conference on Thursday (see related article) openly questioned why grocery prices are considerably lower on the French side, using receipts with concrete examples. His colleague Maurice Lake (UP) had touched on the issue earlier, at the end of July.

This matter actually has been the “talk of the town” among shoppers lately, especially since a new supermarket was established in Marigot with a house brand Read more

NA, DP request meeting on harbour settlement

PHILIPSBURG--Opposition National Alliance (NA) and Democratic Party (DP) have requested an urgent meeting of Parliament about the out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount made by St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and Zebec, the company that was contracted to develop th Read more

Government formulates a ‘Strategy for Growth’

PHILIPSBURG--The Marcel Gumbs Cabinet has formulated a “Strategy for Growth” with the aim to “generate additional revenues” for Government’s coffers to fund its policy agenda, Governor Eugene Holiday announced at the opening of the 2015-2016 Parliamentary Year on Tuesday.

The “strategy,” which appears to be rooted in increased tax compliance, not more taxes, was described by the Governor as a way to ensure compliance with the national ordinance on Government accounts and the Kingdom Law on financial supervision for Curaçao and St Read more

Emmanuel calls out Dutch-side supermarkets on ‘price gouging’

~ Tags Super U prices as cheaper ~

PHILIPSBURG--The vastly cheaper prices for groceries at French-side supermarket Super U compared to large Dutch-side chain Le Grand Marché (LGM) has National Alliance Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel crying foul.

The MP, who said he was disgusted with price-gouging by supermarkets on the Dutch side, went on a price-comparison mission Thursday, buying comparative or same items at both supermarkets Read more

Former abuse victim opens Bahamas’ first PRC for abortion alternatives

NASSAU, Bahamas--Bahamian-born Rhonda Darville triumphed over sexual abuse and two abortions to become the founder and executive director of The Bahamas’ first pregnancy resource centre (PRC).

Darville, who grew up in Nassau and worshipped at an Anglican church, was molested by her brother and a priest at an early age, going on to travel a destructive path that led to abortion.

LifeNews.com reports that she underwent her first abortion at the age of 18, and later had a second, going on to attempt suicide on three occasions as a result of the emotional pain from the procedures.

According to LifeNews, she was one of the many women who attempt suicide after abortion, with statistics showing that post-abortive women are six times more likely to commit suicide than women who have given birth.

Darville subsequently moved to the United States where she worked at a PRC in Virginia and at Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center in Florida.

According to LifeNews, statistics show that 78 per cent of women who see an ultrasound of their baby at a PRC reject abortion and go on to have their child.

Darville started counselling post-abortive women after working through Forgiven and Set Free, a bible study for women seeking healing after abortion.

She explained to LifeNews her rationale for opening a pregnancy centre in The Bahamas Read more

Sarah requests MOU on pending boxing match

PHILIPSBURG--A copy of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between government and Keaton Corporation for the Miami 2 St. Maarten Showdown featuring a boxing card of Roy Jones Jr. versus Danny Santiago is still being sought by Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams Read more

Granny distressed over slashing of monetary aid from NAf. 734 to 186

~ Wants it restored ~

PHILIPSBURG--Sixty-year-old grandmother Mary Bartlette Weekes, who says she is a poor and ill woman, does not know how she will continue to survive since authorities slashed her financial assistance from NAf. 734 to NAf. 186.

According to a well-placed source at the Social Services Department, the circumstances surrounding the decrease in her aid were explained to Weekes, as well as the fact that she would now be receiving pension benefits and there was now income of others working in the household, “so it would only be a fair calculation that her aid should decrease.”

Weekes said she had been receiving NAf Read more

VP Arnell to seek advice from Préfète on homeless situation

MARIGOT--The 72-hour deadline to prevent a protest action over the homeless situation at the Marina Royale car park was extended by District Five Wednesday to give First Vice-President Guillaume Arnell a chance to discuss the situation with Préfète Anne Laubies and get back to the district with answers.

Arnell was at the district headquarters Wednesday attending a presentation of their projects, unrelated to the marina car park problem, but nevertheless was questioned on what the Collectivité is doing, or can do, about the homeless situation and other matters related to the car park Read more

Buncamper case hearing centres on search-breach

PHILIPSBURG--The criminal cases against former Minister Maria Buncamper-Molanus (47), her husband Claudius Buncamper (52), notary F.E.G. (71) and co-suspects I.A.H. (46) and T.O.W. (69), continued on Wednesday, with a focus on a breach in the handling of the case and what it should mean going forward.

A preliminary ruling on the point of view presented by the lawyers is expected to be given on Wednesday, September 16 Read more

REMNANTS OF GRACE ADVISORY NUMBER 17

NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL       AL0720151100 AM AST WED SEP 09 2015

...GRACE DEGENERATES TO AN OPEN WAVE......THIS IS THE LAST ADVISORY...

SUMMARY OF 1100 AM AST...1500 UTC...

INFORMATION

-----------------------------------------------

LOCATION...14.5N 49.0WABOUT 825 MI...1325 KM E OF THE LESSER ANTILLES

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...30 MPH...45 KM/H

PRESENT MOVEMENT...W OR 275 DEGREES AT 18 MPH...30 KM/H

MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...1008 MB...29.77 INCHES

WATCHES AND WARNINGS

--------------------

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

DISCUSSION AND 48-HOUR OUTLOOK

------------------------------

Satellite data indicate that Grace no longer has a closedcirculation and is now an open wave Read more

First consignment of animal foodstuff arrives at the port

MARIGOT--The first container of emergency food for livestock arrived at Galisbay Port on Friday from Guadeloupe, destined for farmers and stockbreeders to sustain their animals during this summer’s unprecedented drought.

In July, the Collectivité had released 20,000 euros of emergency aid to buy food and water for the animals. The subvention was given to Association de Développement de L’Elevage et la Promotion des Produits Agricoles Locaux (ADEPPAL) to purchase supplies and distribute on a priority basis.

Owners of livestock were asked to make declarations of their situation and numbers of animals in order to determine how the goods should be distributed.

The first delivery of 20 tons consisted of 600 bags of feed for cattle and 200 bags for goats.

“The distribution was completed today,” Julien Gumbs, on behalf of ADDEPAL, confirmed on Tuesday Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:---The Government of St. Maarten “quietly” via the Department of Communication made known the postponement of the Miami 2 St. Maarten Showdown Roy Jones Jr. and Danny Santiago fight, to which fight the government said “it contributed”.
The Government went on to say that the postponement had to do with hurricane Danny etc. etc.
What government did not say was that it entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the foreign Keaton Corporation to organize this event to the tune of $ 185.000,--.
By letter of September 2nd, 2015 Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot Williams said she requested from Ministers Connor and Hassink, a copy of this MOU.
MP Wescot Williams said they learned from news reports of alleged legal woes Roy Jones Jr Read more

Opposition parties, NA and DP have wasted no time in requesting a meeting of Parliament on the topic of the settlement between the Harbor Group of Companies and Zebec.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The opposition factions in parliament namely the National Alliance and the Democratic party wasted no time in trying to obtain informain on the St. Maarten Harbor Group of Companies and Zebec settlement. In the letter requesting the urgent meeting, the two parties have outlined the reasons for their request as follows:

"The government-owned Harbor Company and its representatives have in the recent past labeled the court action by Zebec against aforementioned company as “wholly without merit” and the claims by the Zebec company as “blatant misrepresentation of facts” Read more

Hundreds Show Up For Job Registration Drive

This 20-year-old job hunter is eagerly awaiting the processing of names and applications. Photo Today / Milton Pieters

St. Maarten – The Department of Labor Affairs and Social Services hosted a registration drive yesterday at the Clem Labega Square in the parking lot in front of the Government Administration Building. The Start Here Campaign: Your Path to Employment and Career Development“, with the theme “Your Path Starts Here” attracted 317 job seekers. Their information will be processed; others can still register today at the labor office on the Pondfill.

The campaign is geared towards boosting economic viability of a large segment of the population while also changing the perception and attitudes regarding the meditative role of the department, in the world of employment Read more

Electrical Draftsman Ernest Sams  Is Minister Of Economic Affairs

The new Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications Ernest Sams. Photo Contributed

St. Maarten – Ernest Sams, who will be sworn in as the new Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication on Monday is a retired employee of utilities company Gebe. He served at the company as its head of the purchasing department, He retired in 2014.

Sams is an electrical draftsman, meaning that he was in the business of drafting technical designs of electrical installations Read more

Twenty Years After Hurricane Luis: “People Started To Cry When They Heard The Sound Of The Wind”

Glen Carty and “Mr. Hurricane” Dennis Richardson. Photo Today / Hilbert Haar

St.  Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – “I did not know what a hurricane was. I was in the radio business and I thought, I am going to drive around. I was on Bush road when at 3 p.m. all hell broke loose. I saw one of those heavy freezers that stand in front of supermarkets twenty meters up in de air.  That’s when I got scared, I thought I was going to die.” It happened on Tuesday, September 5, 1995, tomorrow exactly twenty years ago Read more

Meyers criticizes Mullet Bay state

PHILIPSBURG--It is “a shame” that former Mullet Bay Beach Resort property is still the same way as it was when Hurricane Luis devastated the island 20 years ago, United People’s (UP) party deputy leader Member of Parliament (MP) Franklin Meyers said in the last meeting of the 2014-2015 Parliamentary Year on Monday.

St Read more

New ministers sworn in, Cabinet now complete

HARBOUR VIEW--Almost nine months after taking office, the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet now has the full complement of seven individual ministers with the taking of the oath before Governor Eugene Holiday of new Ministers Ernest Sams and Rafael Boasman. Also retaking the oath to match his newly-assigned ministry was Minister Claret Connor Read more

Achievements and lack thereof highlighted as MPs close year

PHILIPSBURG--The achievements or lack thereof in the first Parliamentary year of the second Parliament came into focus as Members of Parliament (MPs) closed off the 2014-2015 legislative year in Parliament House on Monday. The 2015-2016 year opens today, Tuesday, with much pomp and ceremony.

The call to work together was issued by fraction leaders representing the coalition partners while the two opposition fraction leaders MP William Marlin (National Alliance) and Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party) were straightforward with their criticism about lack of action by the United People’s (UP) party-led coalition.

Destiny impaired

UP fraction leader MP Franklin Meyers laid the blame for the country’s stagnated growth and development in the past year at the door of The Hague saying that government and Parliament have spent the past year battling instructions and financial constraints due to financial supervision Read more

Trinidadians go to the polls after bitter and “brutish” campaign

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad--More than a million voters are eligible to cast their ballots when polling stations opened at 6 o’clock Monday morning, following what the chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) described as the “most brutish” campaign he had ever seen.

Dr. Norbert Masson, who has headed the EBC since 2005 and served as a commissioner for several years prior, lamented yesterday that “the environment created by this election’s electioneering campaign was the most brutish, acrimonious, rampageous and vitriolic that I have witnessed in all my years at the Commission”.

The three-month campaign that preceded yesterday’s general election was marked by allegations and counter-allegations of legal and moral wrongdoings and what Masson said was “obscene expenditure on political advertisements” and “a concentration on matters technological and materialistic [that] has led directly and unfortunately to an almost total abuse of moral and ethical values in practically everything we do”.

But the EBC chairman urged voters not to be bamboozled by the electioneering campaign or the foolish antics of those who should know better.

“As you go to your polling station Read more

Obama orders contractors to offer staff paid sick leave

BOSTON/WASHINGTON--President Barack Obama on Monday ordered government contractors to offer their workers seven days of paid sick leave a year and, without naming them, knocked Republican presidential candidates for advocating what he said were anti-union policies.
  Obama signed an executive order on sick leave, which the White House said would affect some 300,000 people, during a flight to Boston, where he spoke at a union event. Starting in 2017, workers on government contracts will earn a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked Read more

Cuba's atheist Castro brothers open doors to Church and popes

HAVANA--Baptized as Roman Catholics and educated by Jesuits, Fidel and Raul Castro turned against the Church by declaring Cuba an atheist state, chasing out priests and shutting down religious schools after seizing power in a 1959 revolution.
  In their old age, however, they have brought the Church in from the cold and are gracious and experienced hosts for regular papal visits Read more