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That the financial state of the country is worrisome is a no-brainer. But we all should be alarmed.
This dismal picture is all the more clear with the presentation of the amendments to the 2017 budget by the Minister of Finance. These amendments have been in the make for some time, but the format had to be changed from one that amended a proposed pre-hurricane Irma amendment, to one that amended the approved budget 2017. At least, this is what government says.
However, Government’s tardiness with the 2017 budget amendment has more to do with government’s reluctance to concede
that while they engaged in a shouting match of “over my dead body”, the country financially was bleeding to death Read more

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Sarah: “The Fall Of The Marlin Cabinet Justified By The Horrific Financial And Economic Outlook Of St. Maarten”

PHILIPSBURG - That the financial state of the country is worrisome is a no-brainer. But we all should be alarmed, Leader of the Democratic Party (DP), Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams said on Friday.

“This dismal picture is all the more clear with the presentation of the amendments to the 2017 budget by the minister of Finance Read more

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Sint Maarten Deserves A Stable Coalition Government

After the new interim UP/DP/Brownbill government is sworn in, Sint Maarten would have had seven coalition governments in seven years. This is an average of one government per year. If we also count the number of elections since 2010, including the upcoming February 2018, Sint Maarteners would have gone to the polls four times which boils down to an average of one election every two years.

For a small young country such as ours, having on average, a change of government every year and elections every two years is unacceptable Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday, December 18th, 2017 representatives of the University of St. Martin and the Ministry of Education finally arrived at an agreement and signed the MOU securing the continuity of education for students of the USM. This, after the representatives of the University of St. Martin had not seen it possible to sign the proposed MOU on December 11th, 2017. However, after hearing an interview by the Minister on the topic on December 12th, the University promptly contacted the Department of Education with a willingness to resume talks, which commenced on Wednesday, December 13th.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport was happy to do so and met with the Board of the University of St Maarten Foundation to revisit and discuss the MOU that had been presented to the Board by the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Read more

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Minister Christopher Emmanuel To Coalition Partners “Anyone In Line With Dutch Position Should Not Be Part Of The Coalition.”

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — This is the statement that apparently caused the bombshell statement by the leader of the Democratic Party and Chairlady Sarah Wescot-Williams during a tension-filled parliamentary meeting on Friday last.

It was clear even before the Chairlady’s “announcement” on Friday that the ire of Democratic Party was invoked, when DP member Perry Geerlings in no uncertain terms disagreed with the Prime Minister’s handling of especially the request for aid from the Netherlands.

To make matters worse, Minister Emmanuel’s statement was reiterated on October 26, 2017, as follows: “I have said it before and I will say it again anyone agreeing with the conditions should not be part of this government Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- This is the statement that apparently caused the bombshell statement by the leader of the Democratic Party and Chairlady Sarah Wescot-Williams during a tension-filled parliamentary meeting on Friday last.
It was clear even before the Chairlady’s “announcement” on Friday that the ire of Democratic Party was invoked when DP member Perry Geerlings in no uncertain terms disagreed with the Prime Minister’s handling of especially the request for aid from the Netherlands.
To make matters worse, Minister Emmanuel’s statement was reiterated on October 26, 2017, as follows: “I have said it before and I will say it again anyone agreeing with the conditions should not be part of this government Read more

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Mp Wescot Inquires About Gebe’S Electricity Supply And Load Shedding

PHILIPSBURG – With the recent spikes (again) in electricity outages/load shedding and GEBE’s statements regarding same, such as regular maintenance, unexpected stoppages, safety concerns, overheating and such, Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams urgently requested Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Development, Environment and Infrastructure Christophe Emmanuel to answer the following questions:

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Mp Wescot Inquires About Gebe’S Electricity Supply And Load Shedding. Questions Initiatives For Alternative Forms Of Energy.

PHILIPSBURG:---With the recent  spikes (again) in electricity outages/load shedding and GEBE's statements regarding same, such as regular maintenance, unexpected stoppages, safety concerns, overheating and such, MP Wescot urgently requested Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Development, Environment and Infrastructure, the Honourable Mr. Christophe Emmanuel to answer the following questions:

nt spikes (again) in electricity outages/load shedding and GEBE's statements regarding same, such as regular maintenance, unexpected stoppages, safety concerns, overheating and such, MP Wescot urgently requested Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Development, Environment and Infrastructure, the Honourable Mr Read more

Message Of Hon. Prime Minister Mr. William Marlin At The Opening Of The Basic Legal Course

St. Maarten, Monday, August 14, 2017.

Our governing program for 2016-2020 is entitled, “Stability for Prosperity”. It is anchored on five strategic objectives, all of which can only be achieved by upgrading our government apparatus.  We are not even one year into this governing period yet and we can see that various initiatives that are geared towards a profound transformation of our society are already taking shape. One of those initiatives is why we are gathered here today. Nobody knows the challenges that this coalition government faces better than the civil servants who do their utmost day in, day out, to give professional support to government Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Our governing program for 2016-2020 is entitled, “Stability for Prosperity”. It is anchored on five strategic objectives, all of which can only be achieved by upgrading our government apparatus. We are not even one year into this governing period yet and we can see that various initiatives that are geared towards a profound transformation of our society are already taking shape. One of those initiatives is why we are gathered here today. Nobody knows the challenges that this coalition government faces better than the civil servants who do their utmost day in, day out, to give professional support to government Read more

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Inmates And Guards Fed-Up With Situation At Pointe Blanche Prison

Dear Editor,

Inmates and guards are fed-up with the current situation at the Pointe Blanche prison.

The prison is facing a great number of issues: lack of guards, malfunctioning locks, showers and toilets that are not functioning, rusted gates, poor health care, no dentist, no phone calls, all falling under this new management team, who seem incapable for the job.

Steven Carty and Wilfred Williams have been placed at the prison since February 2017, as the interim directors for a period of three months in order to have the situation at the prison “normalized,” which has been very unsuccessful.

The situation is very worrisome at the prison Read more

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Update: Hikers Find Partially Submerged Body In Water

UPDATE by French Prosecutor office:

OYSTER POND, French Saint Martin – At 12:25pm on Wednesday, July 26, hikers near the Whale Watch Observatory in Oyster Pond on the French side reported to Gendarmes the presence of a body that was partially submerged in the water, some 50m from the edge.

This lifeless, but recently deceased body, was of a man about 35 years old, 1.80m and of Latino ethnicity Read more

Trinidad Pm Warns West Indies Cricket Could “Destroy” Caricom

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has warned that the situation regarding the state of West Indies cricket had the potential to “destroy” the regional integration grouping, CARICOM, because of the differences among the regional leaders on the issue.

Rowley said he was surprised when he did not see the matter of West Indies cricket on the agenda for the just concluded 38th meeting of Heads of Government in Grenada last week and “I tried to ask whether it could be put back on the agenda and interestingly enough when I raised it Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- On July 1st, Parliament went on a four-week recess and will resume on Monday, July 31st. In December/January upcoming, Parliament will also take a two-week recess. I hope that our MPs are aware of the fact that a parliamentary recess is not a holiday and that they can be called back to work during their recess.

The website of the Dutch Second Chamber or Parliament describes its recess as follows: “during the recess periods, the Second Chamber does not convene. Members of the Chamber can study various files and documents and prepare themselves for the next session of meetings Read more

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Update Police Report: Armed Robbery At Princess Casino And One Person Got Shot

UPDATE POLICE REPORT

Armed robbery at Princess Casino

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — This morning at approximately 2.00 am, a call came in to the police central dispatch about an armed robbery taking place at the Princess Casino located in Cole Bay. Patrols were immediately dispatched to the scene.

Upon their arrival it was learned that 4 masked men dressed in dark clothing, three of which were armed with hand guns stormed the establishment Read more

Mp Tamara Leonard Queries Functioning Of Airport, And If There Is Any Truth To Board Member Johan “Alex” Dijkhoffz Threatening To Have Employees In Management Fired.

PHILIPSBURG:--- MP Tamara Leonard claims that in the absence of an official Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs at the time, several questions were posed to the Minister of Justice, Mr. Rafael Boasman who also functioned as acting Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs.

An attempt to answer these questions took place in the meeting regarding the affairs of the Princess Juliana International Airport, by Minister Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher on June 28th, 2017.

Member of Parliament Tamara Leonard requested the answers from the minister in written form during the adjournment which was not given before the meeting resumed Read more

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Scdf Requests To Take Over Management Festival Village.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) has written to Prime Minister William Marlin and Minister Silveria Jacobs requesting the opportunity to manage the St Read more

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Gov’T Should Do What’S Right For The Neighbourhood And The Public’S Safety

Dear Editor,

Our house was built by us in 1981 and is located at the intersection of Billy Folly Road and Welfare Road. We have lived here for 36 years.

In May 2016, we noticed that a huge and hazardous looking billboard was being erected next to our property. The 3 poles placed one above the other would join together the 5 huge sections of the billboard and would be held in place by 6 screws and bolts. The distance between this humongous billboard and our house is less than 6 meters Read more

MARIGOT:--- Drs. Martin Wilson has left his political party the MJP to endorse Jacques “Billy D” Hamlet for deputy in the French Parliament. Wilson said he is simply “honoring his word” to Hamlet who supported the Alliance for Hope, Justice, and Prosperity (MJP) in the territorial election of March 2017 on French St. Martin.
Drs Read more

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The Empty Seat In Parliament

For several weeks now, one seat in parliament has remained obviously empty. When, the President of Parliament, at the beginning of public meetings or of Central Committee meetings, asks if there are any notifications, not one parliamentarian, not even the USP faction leader reports on the absence of MP Silvio Matser.

In my opinion, only sickness can justify the continuous absence of a member of parliament Read more

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Dp And Coppal To Rekindle Ties

PHILIPSBURG – During his recent visit to St. Maarten, Rudy Croes paid a courtesy visit to DP leader Sarah Wescot-Williams, also in his capacity as vice-chairperson of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (COPPAL).

The Democratic Party (DP) is a long standing member of COPPAL, however, during the last few years, has been inactive as far as this regional political body is concerned.

COPPAL is an international organization of political parties in Latin America and the Caribbean Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- During his recent visit to St. Maarten, Mr. Rudy Croes paid a courtesy visit to DP leader, Sarah Wescot-Williams, also in his capacity as vice-chairperson of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (COPPAL).

The Democratic Party is a long-standing member of COPPAL, however during the last couple of years, has been inactive as far as this regional political body is concerned.
COPPAL is an international organization of political parties in Latin America and the Caribbean Read more

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Mission To Unify The Caribbean Islands Of The Dutch Kingdom

A delegation of ‘Nos Ke Boneiru Bek’ (We Want Bonaire Back) left for St. Maarten last week on a mission with the objective to unify the Caribbean islands of the Dutch Kingdom to counter arrest the division of the peoples that was created on 10-10-10 (October 10 2010) and start a new era of cooperation, collaboration and support and restore the ties of friendship and cooperation toward each other’s needs in particular.

This crusade started with a meeting with Rudy Croes, vice-president of COPPAL which recently in a meeting held in Mexico, affirmed that the International community will support and cooperate with the Dutch Caribbean islands, especially Bonaire and St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Sint Maarten Christian Party welcomes the two proposals made by President of Parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams, to improve the functioning of Parliament. One proposal increases the transparency and accountability of parliamentarians towards the voters and the other proposal improves the communication between parliament and the people Read more

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