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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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Civil Servants Of The Secretariat Of Parliament Take Oath Or Pledge Of Office

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – On Friday, March 3, 2017 the civil servants of the secretariat of Parliament took an oath or pledge of office before the President of Parliament, MP Sarah Wescot Williams, during Parliament’s first ever oath and pledge ceremony for its staff members. Also in attendance for this occasion were Vice President MP drs Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:---- On Friday, March 3, 2017, the civil servants of the secretariat of Parliament took an oath or pledge of office before the President of Parliament, MP Sarah Wescot Williams, during Parliament’s first ever oath and pledge ceremony for its staff members. Also in attendance for this occasion were Vice President MP drs Read more

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Library Board Seeks Termination Of Monique Alberts

~ In the meantime, she is suspended as Library Director ~

PHILIPSBURG – Last week the news broke in the media that the board of the library had suspended Monique Alberts as Director of the Library. She has held that position for over 7 years.

Alberts has been employed by the Philipsburg Jubilee Library (PJL) since August 2006, and has held the position of Director of PJL since February 2008.

According to information reaching 721news, in a meeting that took place on January 4, 2017 between Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Silveria Jacobs, the PJL Board, Alberts and several civil servants, Minister Jacobs implored those members of the Board who had exceeded their maximum tenure of eight years (Clayton Holiday and Udo Aron, among them) – as stipulated in PJL’s bylaws – to step down and start recruiting new board members.

According to reliable information obtained by 721news newsroom, in that same meeting on January 4, Minister Jacobs addressed the persons, who were representing board members, and informed them that they were illegally executing orders Read more

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We, The People And Our Representatives In Parliament

Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman held a very successful Open House, with the aim to inform the public of its functioning.

For me, the highlight of the Open house was the very simple, yet profound, presentation given by the Ombudsman herself, Dr. Nilda Arduin. The presentation centered on the topic “We, the People.”

Dr. Arduin pointed out that in a democracy the people rule. She went on to compare a country to a house. As the owners of the house are working people and therefore unable to do their own house chores, they hire a domestic aid or servant to handle the chores and to run the household on their behalf Read more

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PHILIPSBURG:--- Today, two months after the new Council of Ministers was sworn in, we still do not have a Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunication (TEATT). The blame for this has been placed on the vetting or screening process. However, in truth and in fact, the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of our parliament.

Now, the USP will have to present another candidate minister and the screening process will start all over again Read more

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Excess Feral Cats Continue To Endanger Saba’S Tropicbird

By Suzanne Koelega

AMSTERDAM/SABA--Continuation of the monitoring of the nests of the red-billed tropicbird in Saba and the removal of feral cats is of vital importance to prevent future extinction. Despite these recommendations by scientists, not enough is currently being done to protect the local breeding sites of this extraordinary seabird.

The message of Dutch biologist Michiel Boeken is clear in his scientific article on the breeding success of the red-billed tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus mesonauta) in Saba, which has been published in Ardea, the official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists’ Union: as a major breeding place for this bird, Saba needs to continue past efforts to protect this species.

During his stay on the island as the Director of the Saba Comprehensive School SCS, Boeken in his free time monitored the breeding success of the red-billed tropicbirds in 2011 and 2012 Read more

Lost Bob Marley Tapes Restored After 40 Years In London Basement

KINGSTON, Jamaica  – Lost recordings by Bob Marley found in a damp hotel basement in London after more than 40 years have been restored.

The tapes are the original, high-quality live recordings of the reggae legend’s concerts in London and Paris between 1974 and 1978. Tracks include No Woman No Cry, Jamming and Exodus.

They were at first believed to be ruined beyond repair, largely because of water damage.

Marley, who died in 1981, would have been 72 on Monday.

The tapes were found in a run-down hotel in Kensal Rise, north-west London, where Bob Marley and the Wailers stayed during their European tours in the mid-1970s.

They were discovered when Joe Gatt, a Marley fan and London businessman, took a phone call from a friend, who had found them while doing a building refuse clearance.

From the 13 reel-to-reel analogue master tapes, 10 were fully restored, two were blank and one was beyond repair Read more

Haiti President-Elect Says Trump Business Background To Help Ties

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti’s incoming president said he believed U.S. President Donald Trump‘s business background would give him a better grasp of bilateral relations, as the impoverished Caribbean nation recovers from a devastating hurricane.

President-elect Jovenel Moise, a successful banana exporter, was declared winner this month of a vote initially held in 2015 that had to be rerun more than a year later, due to allegations of voter fraud. He is scheduled to be sworn in on Feb Read more

Jamaican Teacher Deported From Turks And Caicos Islands

KINGSTON, Jamaica – A Jamaican teacher who was accused of child abuse in Turks and Caicos Islands has returned to Jamaica after she was deported.

But Gillian Mullings, the attorney for the accused, Suzette Codling, is criticising how immigrants are treated on the small Caribbean island.

The practice, Mullings revealed, is that if immigrants are poorly treated by employers and report it, they are deported to their homeland without the matter being heard by a tribunal.

She reasoned that this practice begets the building of a society which frowns upon ‘whistle-blowing’ Read more

The Hague:--- Minister Plenipotentiary, H.E. Mrs. H. Doran York, was honored with an official visit from His Excellency, Mr. Urs Breiter, resident Ambassador of Switzerland to the Netherlands, since September 2014.
During his introduction to the Minister Plenipotentiary, the Ambassador informed her of the pending assignment of the new Honorary Consul for Switzerland to Sint Maarten, Curacao and Aruba, Mr. T. Markert.
Mr. Markert will be the successor of the current Consul, Mr. Mike Koch who will be relinquishing his post Read more

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Bobby Ingesloten Voor Diefstal

SURINAME — Bobby B. (24) is op donderdag 22 december door de politie van Uitvlugt ingesloten.

Een jongeman deed eerder op de dag aangifte van diefstal tegen hem. Volgens verklaring van de aangever heeft zijn zwager Bobby enkele goederen uit zijn appartement weggenomen.

De aangever woont in een ander appartement niet ver van de verdachte. Bobby nam op een onbewaakt moment ongevraagd de sleutels van het appartement van de aangever weg Read more