SXMElections.com

Quotable Caribbean

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - "The path of violence and hatred does not solve the problems of humanity, and using the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy." - Pope Francis (New York Times)

 "Terrorism is a scourge upon our common humanity. The people of all countries have a right to live in freedom within the laws that govern our international system. In our 21st Century world, which has become inextricably interlinked, terrorism in all its forms, particularly directed at innocent civilians, must be halted by global action Read more

Caribbean Congress Of Labour And Caribbean Employers’ Confederation Agree To Establish Formal National Bipartite Forums

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago - A Regional Bipartite Meeting attended by representatives from senior trade union and employer organizations from fifteen Caribbean countries was held 3-5 November 2015 in Grenada, under a Project* funded by the European Union and executed by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

In a joint statement, David Massiah, President of the Caribbean Congress of Labour (CCL) and Wayne Chen, President of the Caribbean Employers’ Confederation (CEC) announced the agreement to establish formal bipartite forums in each of the fifteen Caribbean States Read more

Entrepreneurs Get Ready For Entrepreneurship Week 721, International Speakers To Empower Students And Entrepreneurs In November

Great Bay, St. Maarten – Inspired by the Global Entrepreneurship Week, INFOBIZZ is hosting its very first Entrepreneurship Week 721 from November 16-21, 2015.

This week is aimed at helping entrepreneurs to reach new levels of success in their businesses and lives. International entrepreneurs from the US, Canada, and The Netherlands will be on St. Maarten sharing dynamic cutting-edge information to transform businesses alongside local experts.

INFOBIZZ is specifically designed at developing successful entrepreneurs and has reached approximately 700 entrepreneurs in the past 2 years predominantly through it premier networking activity, the POWER HOUR Read more

>POINTE BLANCHE:---– Port St. Maarten Management took a number of measures as a pro-active approach to ensure that the approximately 10,000 cruise passengers in town today-Thursday, enjoyed their stay on the island without any discomfort. The vessels in port today were: Celebrity Summit, Arcadia, Eurodam and Freedom of the Seas.
The action was prompted due to a planned demonstration in Marigot with possible road blocks on the French side of the island.
A number of tours were planned for the French side, and due to the aforementioned, alternative options had to be implemented, and cruise passengers spent most of their time in the Philipsburg area which may have led to additional traffic congestion.
There was also extra entertainment at the cruise port for the visitors to enjoy Read more

style="text-align: center;">Another success in the pursuit of the freedom and liberty of all women

PHILIPSBURG:--- All participants have hailed the 3rd Caribbean Women and Sexual Diversity Conference 2015, hosted by United and Strong Saint Lucia/CariFLAGS Eastern Caribben Hub and Womantra ,with support from the Women's Caucus of Trinidad and Tobago, as a success. The conference, held at the Kapok Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad, from October 5 to 11, 2015, saw over 50 lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) persons, as well as straight allies, from the Caribbean and Latin America, from a variety of feminist, LBT and women's organizations in attendance.
Members of St Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Prior to the change of the Presidium of Parliament on October 15th, the House of Parliament had already decided several weeks before that President of Parliament Hon. Dr. Lloyd Richardson would represent the country at a celebration event marking the 200th anniversary of the Dutch Chamber of Parliament (First and Second Chambers) in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Richardson joined the other Presidents of Parliament from Aruba, Curacao and the Netherlands First and Second Chambers, in The Hague, the Netherlands for activities organized in connection with the First and Second Chambers of the Dutch Parliament that took place in the Ridderzaal at the Binnenhof.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is 200 years old Read more

Ilo To Launch Global Campaign To End Modern Slavery

GENEVA - The International Labour Organization (ILO) will launch a major new campaign to end modern slavery, in partnership with the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC,) on Tuesday 20 October.

The50 for Freedom campaignaims to mobilize public support and influence at least 50 countries to ratify theILO’s Forced Labour Protocol by 2018.

The legally binding Protocol, adopted by ILO member states in 2014, includes measures for prevention, protection and compensation designed to eliminate contemporary forms of slavery.

The event on 20 October will bring together key players in the fight against forced labour to discuss how international standards, better data and strong, innovative policies can help free those in forced labour.

This will include participants from the UK Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the ITUC, ILO, NGO’s and civil society Read more

3Rd Caribbean Women And Sexual Diversity Conference Another Success In The Pursuit Of The Freedom And Liberty Of All Women

PHILIPSBURG -- All participants have hailed the 3rd Caribbean Women and Sexual Diversity Conference 2015, hosted by United and Strong Saint Lucia/CariFLAGS Eastern Caribben Hub and Womantra ,with support from the Women's Caucus of Trinidad and Tobago, as a success.

The conference, held at the Kapok Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad, from October 5 to 11, 2015, saw over 50 lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LBT) persons, as well as straight allies, from the Caribbean and Latin America, from a variety of feminist, LBT and women's organizations in attendance Read more

Former President Of Parliament Dr. Lloyd Richardson Represents Sint Maarten At 200Th Anniversary Of The Dutch Chambers Of Parliament

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Prior to the change of the Presidium of Parliament on October 15th, the House of Parliament had already decided several weeks before that President of Parliament Hon. Dr. Lloyd Richardson would represent the country at a celebration event marking the 200th anniversary of the Dutch Chamber of Parliament (First and Second Chambers) in The Hague, the Netherlands Read more

Governor requests judges to evaluate positions in ongoing political impasse

~ To provide advice in five working days ~

 HARBOUR VIEW--Governor Eugene Holiday has requested that “a special panel of three judges” from the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba and the Constitutional Court of St. Maarten “evaluate the constitutionality of the implementation of the political positions” in the current impasse between Parliament and the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet.

Due to the urgency of the situation, the panel has been requested “to provide an advice within five working days.”

The “independent” panel is specifically requested to evaluate the Constitution in the context of the country’s Constitutional Law to “provide a clear legal position regarding Articles 33, paragraph 2; Article 40; paragraph 2 and Article 59 of the Constitution.”

The Governor met with all parties involved in the impasse on Friday to inform them that he deemed it “prudent” to install the special panel to obtain an urgent advice Read more

Former MP De Weever stands trial for stealing blogger’s tablet

PHILIPSBURG--Former Member of Parliament (MP) Petrus Leroy de Weever (61) stood trial Wednesday on allegations he had stolen blogger J.R.’s tablet during an altercation on Front Street on January 11, 2014.

The Prosecutor’s Office considers the case proven and requested that the Court sentence the senior politician to payment of a NAf Read more

Nobel winner: World must carry out UN slavery pledge

NEW DELHI--The new U.N. global development pact may have been a significant step towards ending human trafficking and slavery, but governments must now follow through on their pledge, Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi said on Tuesday.
  Although slavery is illegal everywhere, almost 36 million people are enslaved worldwide - trafficked to brothels, forced into manual labour or victims of debt bondage, the Walk Free Foundation estimates. Last month, the 193 U.N. member states made ending modern-day slavery one of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will shape development and poverty eradication efforts for the next 15 years.
  Satyarthi, an Indian whose charity Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Movement) is credited with rescuing more than 80,000 enslaved children, welcomed adoption of the SDGs but said governments now had a responsibility to allocate adequate budgets and design suitable policies.
  "Freedom has always been considered a matter of human rights, but for the first time it has been acknowledged that without freedom there can be no development Read more

Parliament wants blueprint for Dispute Regulation by year end

THE HAGUE--The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament wants the Dutch Government to achieve a blueprint for the Dispute Regulation (“geschillenregeling”) for the Kingdom together with the Dutch Caribbean countries before the end of 2015.

A majority of the Parliament supported the motion of Member of Parliament Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA urging the Dutch Government to continue efforts to solve the deadlock to establish a Dispute Regulation before the end of this year.

The motion, submitted during the handling of the draft 2016 Kingdom Relations budget last Thursday, called on government to use the May 2015 agreement of the Inter-Parliamentary Consultation for the Kingdom IPKO as a guideline Read more

Recolonization

High emotions filled 10-10-10-autonomy expectations. “Freedom at last, delivered from slavery, liberation from colonial oppression.” Political leader Helmin Wiels —as Moses, divinely anointed—” was leading his People to the Promised Land.” Finally after centuries of sufferings, there would be social, racial and economic justice. All secret and open meddling by The Hague in all matters of life would come to an end, once and for all, Jacob Gelt Dekker writes in his column on curacaochronicle.com

“Autonomy was not enough for many, and a loud clamoring for independence of a sovereign island people was heard Read more

PVV moves on with expulsion law Dutch Caribbean criminals

THE HAGUE--The Party for Freedom PVV will not put aside its law proposal to set up a system of forced return of criminal persons from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten, despite the objections of the Council of State against the 2014 law proposal.

PVV Members of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Sietse Fritsma and Machiel de Graaf, who presented the law proposal on the eve of the handling of the draft 2015 Kingdom Relations budget early October 2014, have stated that they do not agree with the observations of the Council of State that the law proposal was, among others “disproportionate and discriminatory.”

“The advice of the Council of State to reconsider the law proposal will not be followed by the initiative takers because they don’t share the doubts that the Council has regarding the proposed expulsion Read more

PVV’s call to sever ties leads to heated debate on Kingdom

THE HAGUE--Wednesday’s handling of the draft 2016 Kingdom Relations budget in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament was the scene of a heated discussion on whether to sever the ties with the Dutch Caribbean countries or not.

At the centre of the discussion was Member of Parliament (MP) Sietse Fritsma of the Party for Freedom PVV who repeated his earlier calls to get rid of the United Nations (UN) regulation that former mother countries cannot unilaterally decide to get rid of a former colony Read more

Thesis About Fraud And Corruption In The Netherlands: “No Major Interest In Fighting Corruption”

St. Maarten /By Hilbert Haar – “Dutch citizens consider themselves as the inhabitants of the least corrupt country in the world, while the many scandals show that this impression is not consistent with reality,” Jacqueline Bos writes in her doctoral thesis ‘Corruption in the Netherlands and Germany: Incidental or Embedded?’

Bos graduated at the Open University in Maastricht on Friday. Her thesis reads like a John Grisham novel and makes clear that the Netherlands is anything but free from corruption Read more

Dr. Verene Shepherd Lectures In St. Martin On Reparations; The Un’S Int’L. Decade For People Of African Descent

GREAT BAY, St. Martin —The new lecture organized by the Independence for St. Martin Foundation (ISMF) is “Reparatory Justice and the Decade for People of African Descent: The CARICOM Case” by Dr. Verene Shepherd.

The lecture will take place at the University of St. Martin (USM) on Saturday, October 3, 2015, at 8 PM, said lecture coordinator Dr. Rhoda Arrindell Read more

>GREAT BAY:---- The new lecture organized by the Independence for St. Martin Foundation (ISMF) is “Reparatory Justice and the Decade for People of African Descent: The CARICOM Case” by Dr. Verene Shepherd.
The lecture will take place at the University of St. Martin (USM) on Saturday, October 3, 2015, at 8 PM, said lecture coordinator Dr. Rhoda Arrindell.
Keynote speaker Dr Read more

Brilliant move by Heyliger & Marlin

Dear Editor,

There was a call by the leaders of the largest political parties in Parliament for independence. As could be expected, very little was carried on the subject in the local press, but be that as it may for us as a budding nation we have finally garnered enough courage to say we stand ready to do it for ourselves. However, this is but a small step, we would hope that all factions in Parliament would come together and approve a referendum in the coming year, where the people can give their blessings to the desire to make use of our right to self-determination, and put an end to the many colonial dictates insults and disrespect.

People choose for varying political systems depending on how they see their own development and their ability to govern themselves rather than be governed by anyone else Read more

Kentucky clerk in gay marriage dispute switches to Republican Party

WASHINGTON--A county clerk in Kentucky who was briefly jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples said on Friday that she and her family have switched to the Republican Party because the Democrats no longer represented them.
  Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, 50, who has said her beliefs as an Apostolic Christian prevent her from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, said they had changed parties last week. She was a long-time Democrat in eastern Kentucky.
  "My husband and I had talked about it for quite a while and we came to the conclusion that the Democratic Party left us a long time ago, so why were we hanging on?" she told Reuters in an interview at a hotel in Washington, where she has traveled to be feted at a Family Research Council event later on Friday.
  Davis also said she did not foresee a problem with the current marriage licenses being issued by her office in Morehead, Kentucky Read more

Open letter to Parliament

Dear Editor,

Please allow me some space in your newspaper to address the chairman of the house of parliament, the honourable Lloyd Richardson and the honourable members of parliament of country Sint Maarten.

Ladies and gentlemen, please permit me to draw your kind attention to the following problem taking place here on this lovely twin island of St Read more

Colombia, FARC vow to end 50-year war within six months

HAVANA--Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the top FARC rebel commander pledged on Wednesday to end their 50-year war within the next six months, sealing their pact with a handshake likely to stand as a lasting image in the South American nation.
  Santos and FARC rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, better known by the nom de guerre Timochenko, also agreed the leftist guerrillas would lay down arms within 60 days of signing the deal, which now has an official deadline of March 23, 2016 Read more

Pope meets Fidel Castro, warns against ideology on Cuba trip

HAVANA--Pope Francis met Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Sunday hours after warning Cubans to beware the dangers of ideology and the lure of selfishness as their country enters a new era of closer ties with the United States.
  Latin America's first pope and Castro, the region's last surviving leftist icon of the 20th century, discussed religion and world affairs at the home of the 89-year-old retired president for about 40 minutes Read more