SXMElections.com

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

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Chairman of Parliament, Prime-Minister, Ministers, Invited Guests, good afternoon and welcome.
And a special welcome to Mr. Rafael Boasman, Mr. Ernest Sams and Mr. Claret Connor for this appointment and swearing in ceremony.
On December 19, 2014, a new team of five of seven ministers were installed with responsibility for the governing of our island Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Lions District Governor for District 60B Lion Marvin Grant MJF from Tortola along with his delegation paid a courtesy call to the office of the Honorable Prime Minister of Sint Maarten Marcel Gumbs where they had discussions about the work that the various Lions Clubs have been doing around the Caribbean region and also specifically on
Sint Read more

Faction leaders outline their achievement and failures during parliamentary year 2014 -2015.

>PHILIPSBURG:---- Faction leader of the United Peoples Party Franklin Meyers in his remarks during the closing of parliamentary year 2014-2015 said that the moment the UPP and MP De Weever formed the coalition that formed the current government they got all sorts of pressure from the Dutch Government (Kingdom Partners) which includes an instruction Read more

Homeless situation at marina has reached crisis point, says district

~ Authorities given 72 hours to take action ~

MARIGOT--Representatives of District Five and the marina and merchants associations of Marigot have warned they will take matters into their own hands unless authorities take action on the homeless persons’ situation and overall sanitation of the Marina Royale parking area, once and for all.

The merchants association says it is imperative that the situation is dealt with now in low season before the high season starts. Businesses or restaurants have closed in the marina due to the unresolved situation that is negatively impacting tourism and the island’s image.

A press conference at the Marina Royale parking area on the St Read more

Inside Bernie Sanders' strategy to win over organized labour

WASHINGTON--Union activist Cliff Smith once thought of Bernie Sanders as an "obscure" U.S. senator. That changed in August when Smith joined 27,000 people to hear the Democratic White House candidate speak at a Los Angeles sports arena.
  "The other candidates - they talk in these very calculated, milquetoast, vague ways - they just don't come across as human," said Smith, the business manager for Local 36, a branch of a roofers' union. "He just seems like your next-door neighbour."
  Sanders' vow to protect American jobs and rein in big corporations has resonated with union workers such as Smith Read more

Status Quo

Dear Editor,

Another political year comes to an end in Great Bay, and the biggest losers are our people. We would hope that during the meeting closing off the parliamentary year, the fraction leaders can point to something however insignificant they have done to improve the lives of our people. We know for instance that they have not yet dealt with the abuse of the short- term contract. We know that unemployment is out of control and among the youth the word employ does not exist.

We already are aware of Transparency International’s report that states, among other things, that too many high positions in our public sector are headed by outsiders Read more

Tamara urges SZV to work on local specialists referral

PHILIPSBURG--"It is unacceptable for a visiting specialist, who benefits from the needs of St. Maarten patients, to treat those patients like they are less than human," said United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament Tamara Leonard in a press statement on Sunday.

The MP said she was outraged about reports she has received from patients, who had appointments with visiting specialist Dr Read more

Group to coordinate elections for representation for Haitians

PHILIPSBURG--A group of St. Maarten-based Haitians who are part of a group called the Permanent Electoral Council (PEC) will be coordinating elections amongst Haitian nationals in the country this October.

Those elected are hoping to represent the interests of Haitian nationals residing in St. Maarten under the auspices of the PEC. Vice President (VP) of the PEC Dominique Vital said Haitians in St. Maarten are dissatisfied with the current Haitian St. Maarten Community Association and stressed that the Association does not represent the interests of Haitians in St Read more

Parliamentary Year opens on Tuesday

PHILIPSBURG--The 2015-2016 Parliamentary Year opens in Parliament House at 10:00am on Tuesday.

Governor Eugene Holiday will deliver his customary opening of the year speech outlining government's plans and programmes for the coming year.

Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs will be present for the ceremony with his cabinet as well as members of the high councils of state, the judiciary and other dignitaries.

Motorists and the public are reminded by Parliament that Wilhelminastraat (in front of the Parliament House) will be closed on Monday, September 7, from 3:00pm to 12:00am in connection with a dress rehearsal of uniformed services for the opening of the new parliamentary year.

Back Street and Front Street will be closed on Tuesday from 6:00am to 2:00pm.

The public session will be live on St Read more

DP calls on Harbour to disclose amount paid in Zebec settlement

POINTE BLANCHE--The Democratic Party (DP) is “demanding transparency” in the out-of-court settlement reached between the Harbour and Zebec Development and wants the Harbour to disclose the amount paid in the settlement.

“Given the seriousness of the accusations and the sizable financial consequences to the Harbour, the DP believes the details of the settlement should be made public, after all if the Harbour had to pay serious penalties for contractual failures, the people have a right to know,” DP Leader Sarah Wescot-Williams said in a press release on Sunday.

In August last year, Zebec Development filed a legal claim for more than US $100 million against the St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:----The Harbor and Zebec have in the recent past publicly leveled serious accusations of breach of contract against each other that included claims of 100 million USD in damages, repeated failure to adhere to contractual obligations, failure of the harbor director to comply with terms of the agreement, frivolous lawsuit and serious misconduct and so forth.
According to the latest media reports, the Harbor and Zebec have now resolved all differences and have settled all issues and damages, however the terms of the settlement have been obscured by a yet another confidential and out of court settlement Read more

>MARIGOT:--- The Health Observatory of St.Martin was created in October 2010 under the leadership of the Collectivité of St. Martin. This project was born of a cooperation between the Collectivité, the Government of Sint Maarten and Louis Constant Fleming Hospital. It is financed with European INTERREG IV Caribbean funds. The general meeting held on Friday, September 4, 2015 helped to formalize the functioning of the association that rules the Health Observatory.

The mission of the Health Observatory is to conduct public surveys and health studies on the both sides of the island in order to inform local institutions on priority needs for the population Read more

The Democratic Party(Dp) Demands Transparency On Harbor And Zebec Settlement

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The Harbor and Zebec have in the recent past publicly leveled serious accusations of breach of contract against each other that included claims of 100 million USD in damages, repeated failure to adhere to contractual obligations, failure of the harbor director to comply with terms of the agreement, frivolous lawsuit and serious misconduct and so forth.

According to the latest media reports, the Harbor and Zebec have now resolved all differences and have settled all issues and damages, however the terms of the settlement have been obscured by a yet another confidential and out of court settlement Read more

Mp Tamara Leonard Call On Szv To Work On Local Specialists Referral As Soon As Possible

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten – It is unacceptable for a visiting specialist, who benefits for the needs of St. Maarten patients, to treat those patients like they are less than human, says United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament Tamara Leonard.

The MP is outraged about reports she has received from patients who had appointments with visiting specialist Dr Read more

Gibbs offers new school year wishes but says illiteracy must be addressed

MARIGOT--Member of Parliament (MP) Daniel Gibbs said illiteracy is still a phenomenon affecting a large part of St. Martin and attention must be paid to it, as part of his message to children, parents and teachers on the start of the new school year.

   “Unfortunately, a huge part of St. Martin suffers from illiteracy, and I am aware of this scourge,” he said Read more

Financial instruction for St. Maarten

THE HAGUE--The Kingdom Council of Ministers on Friday did exactly as was anticipated: it gave St. Maarten an instruction to get its 2015 budget and multi-annual calculations in order. A number of measures have to materialise in a budget amendment before October 31.

“St. Maarten needs to have a realistic budget. The budget is too optimistic. Nothing gets solved by pushing the problems ahead. They will come back at you next year,”Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk said after Friday’s meeting in The Hague, which was attended by the Ministers Plenipotentiary of Aruba, Curaçao and St Read more

Green brigade poised to start Sargassum weed operation

MARIGOT--Eighteen unemployed persons, now referred to as the “green brigade” (brigade verte) officially signed one-year renewable contracts Thursday in Hotel de la Collectivité to launch the start of a major Sargassum weed collection, beginning at the end of September.

The project is based on a unique insertion and access to employment agreement signed between the Employment Office, Centre Symphorien d’Insertion—an association that won the bid to employ the young people—and the brigade members themselves.

In mid-July the Collectivité and the Préfecture announced the release of 200,000 euros, financed equally, for 2015 to fight the Sargassum phenomenon Read more

Editorial - Reasonably bright

Media often are accused of bringing mostly bad news, simply because when things go well there is nothing wrong to report on. While there may be some truth to that, the Central Bank’s announcement that the gross domestic product (GDP) of St. Maarten grew by 1.6 per cent in the first quarter (see related story) merits a positive mention.

That is all the more the case when one considers that monetary union partner Curaçao saw a decline of 0.2 per cent Read more

Notices September 4

Friday, September 4

CULTURAL EVENING

Organised by Home Away From Home Senior Citizens Foundation

Place: The Belair Community Centre, in Cay Hill

Time: 7:00pm

Tickets: US$10, Euro 10,or NAf20

NOTICES

Baseball Program

St. Maarten Little League Association informs the general public that their baseball program has resumed. Training takes place at the Little League Stadium on: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3:00 to 5:00pm for children ages 9 to 12 Read more

Parliament grappling with old draft Antillean laws

PHILIPSBURG--Almost five years after becoming a country within the Dutch Kingdom, Parliament has yet to determine which of the pending laws taken over from the former Netherlands Antilles should still be handled.

On Thursday afternoon, four such laws were on the agenda of a Central Committee meeting of Parliament. These laws were the amendments to the national ordinances related to admissions and expulsions, notaries and administrative jurisdiction and the national ordinance related to September 27, 1968 in Brussels about civil affairs.

After an hour of back and forth discussion with Justice Minister Dennis Richardson and Members of Parliament (MPs), it was decided to suspend the meeting pending a review of all pending laws from the Antillean Parliament Read more

Leg two of 3 For Life Run set for September 13

SIMPSON BAY—The second leg of the 3-For-Life Running Series is set for Sunday, September 13.  The second leg will start from the Red Cross building in Simpson Bay at 7:00am. Cost to enter the 10k Red Cross Youth Chapter Charity Run is US $15.
  The first leg was a 7k run August 9.  The men’s division was won by Omarco Robinson with a time of 25:54.  Birgit Van Lieshout took top honours in the women’s category at 34:11 and the Junior run was won by Kai Piscione in 33:10.
  The Run will start at the Red Cross on Airport Road, and held through Simpson Bay, passing Tri-Sport Read more