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North Korea unexpectedly releases US citizen Fowle

WASHINGTON--North Korea has freed Jeffrey Fowle, one of three Americans detained by the country, and he is being flown home to his family in Ohio, the White House said on Tuesday.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States welcomed the move, but pressed Pyongyang to free the two remaining Americans. "While this is a positive decision ... we remain focused on the continued detention of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller and again call on the DPRK to immediately release them," Earnest said, referring to the country's official name of Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The United States will continue to work actively on those cases, he added.

Fowle, 56, a street repair worker from Miamisburg, Ohio, was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a sailor's club in the North Korean city of Chongjin, where he was traveling as a tourist Read more

Why Saleh is wrong

Dear Editor,

I have much respect for Professor Jaime Saleh, former Governor of the Netherlands Antilles. However, I was very disappointed by his presentation here in Statia on October 4, 2014, on invitation of the Statia DP.

My disappointment stems from the fact that Mr. Saleh seemed not in touch with what is going on in Statia today; he spoke of his days as governor when he walked the streets here and met the local people and listened to their concerns; that would have been a good place to start on this latest trip also Read more

Icon Mike Ferrier Resigns From Democratic Party

St. Maarten – Mike Ferrier has terminated his membership of the Democratic Party out of disappointment over the way party-leader Sarah Wescot-Williams handled the defection of her number 2 candidate Cornelius de Weever to a coalition with the United People’s party and the subsequent decision by Wescot-Williams to follow suit.

“I cannot subscribe to abandoning all that we campaigned on and claimed to stand for prior to August 29, 2014, by joining a government that has been given life by a person, or a couple of people from within our DP-ranks who seem to be driven only by power, greed and self-interest,” Ferrier – who was the party’s public relations officer – writes in a letter to Wescot-Williams dated last Friday, October 17 Read more

Ferrier resigns from DP, against Sarah supporting UP coalition

~ Richelda feels deceived, doesn't support Sarah ~

PHILIPSBURG--Former President of the Democratic Party (DP) and candidate in the August 29 parliamentary election Michael Ferrier has tendered his resignation from DP over the move by party leader Sarah Wescot-Williams to join the United People's (UP) party-led coalition.

DP candidate Richelda Rodriguez-Emmanuel in an email responding to Ferrier's resignation said she still couldn't "get over the feeling of anger, deception, disappointment and disbelief" to put in any form of communication Read more

Efforts To Increase Tax Compliance Fail

Audit Chamber report Optimizing Tax Revenue

St. Maarten – All efforts to increase tax compliance and tax revenue during the past three years have failed. This appears from the performance audit Optimizing Tax Revenue the General Audit Chamber published last week.

The Finance Minister in the first Wescot-Williams cabinet, Hiro Shigemoto, stated in the 2011 budget “that improvement of the functioning of the organization for assessment and collection together with the introduction of a simplified system should lead, in the coming years, to an additional 20 million guilders in tax revenue Read more

Editorial - Not for too long

There can be little doubt anymore that the announced UP/De Weever government will become a reality, now that UP leader Theodore Heyliger has been appointed "formateur" and a governing accord has been signed (see related article) Read more

Global seafloor map reveals details of Earth's depths

WASHINGTON-- Scientists have devised a new map of the Earth's seafloor using satellite data, revealing massive underwater scars and thousands of previously uncharted sea mountains residing in some of the deepest, most remote reaches of the world's oceans.

The researchers said on Thursday they used gravity measurements of the seafloor from radar equipment aboard the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite and NASA's Jason-1 satellite to capture underwater geological features in unprecedented detail.

"The pull of gravity reflects the topography and tectonics of the seafloor," said David Sandwell, a geophysicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego who led the study.

University of Sydney geophysicist Dietmar Müller, another of the researchers, said about 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water and roughly 90 percent of the seafloor is uncharted by survey ships that employ acoustic beams to map the depths.

"We know much more about the topography of Mars than we know about Earth's seafloor," Müller said Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The task ahead for St. Maarten is daunting said Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams when addressing the media on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers weekly press briefing. She said St. Maarten will do what is necessary to implement the recommendations given in the PWC integrity report which the Kingdom Council mandated the Governor of St Read more

Olympic swimming champ Phelps arrested on drunken driving charge

WASHINGTON-- American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, was arrested for drunken driving early on Tuesday after speeding and then crossing the double-lane lines inside a Baltimore tunnel, police said.

The 18-time Olympic gold medalist later apologized for the incident, saying he was "deeply sorry to everyone I have let down."

Police said Phelps, 29, was clocked by radar around 1:40 a.m. traveling 84 miles per hour (135 kph) in a 45-mph (72-kph) zone Read more

Speech Of Sxm Managing Director, Regina Labega At The Opening Ceremony Of The Safety And Security Conference And Exhibition, Westin Resort And Spa, Sept. 30, 2014

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Ladies and Gentlemen. Good morning.

"The sky is the limit only for those who aren't afraid to fly..." Thus said Captain Shekhar Gupta of AeroSoftCorp. He certainly was not referring to any of you here today, because I would like to believe that you are not afraid to fly.

You will also recall this other famous saying by an anonymous author: "To most people, the sky is the limit (but) to those who love aviation, the sky is home." I know it is your love for aviation that has brought you here today, so welcome home.

Welcome to our Safety and Security Conference and Exhibition, which we are holding this year as part of the ongoing celebrations of the 70th anniversary of SXM Airport Read more

It’s just a matter of time!

Dear Editor,

I have lived on St. Maarten since October 1963; that is, for the past 51 years. Needless to say I have been through lots and lots of elections. The very first time I voted was on St. Maarten. It was also here that I had my very first lesson about the way politics works.

When I first came to St. Maarten, there were still dirt roads in the heart of Philipsburg leading from Front to Back Street. One such dirt road, just a few steps from where I lived with my parents, suddenly and unexpectedly got paved Read more

Hassink: ‘We have to take measures to provide for ourselves in a disaster’

BELAIR--St. Maarten has to take measures to provide for itself in the event of a disaster, Finance Minister Martin Hassink told attendees at the Henderson Insurances Catastrophe Risk Insurance Conference at the Belair Community Center on Friday.

Hassink said "there was some feeling of security" when St. Maarten was part of the former Netherlands Antilles and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a fall-back position in case of disaster. He said, however, that after 10/10/10, "this security partly disappeared and together with the fact that our mother country sees us more as a burden than as a blessing, St Read more

Editorial - Top 10

The individual votes-count of Friday's election that only became fully available late Saturday afternoon makes for some interesting reading (see related story). For one thing, UP leader Theo Heyliger confirmed he is by far the most popular politician in St Read more

Court orders government to purchase Vorst property

PHILIPSBURG--The Court of First Instance on Thursday ordered Country St. Maarten to honour the agreement closed between Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure VROMI Maurice Lake and members of the Vorst family to purchase their property in Cay Hill against payment of US $5.5 million.

Six members of the Vorst family had initiated summary proceedings against government on June 5, because it had failed to adhere to several agreements to purchase their property.

The Vorst family, represented by attorney-at-law Jairo Bloem, had requested the Court to order Country St Read more

Lively Political Debate On Laser 101: Connor (Up) Estimates Gray Economy To Be 50 Percent

St. Maarten – “The government has a debt of 500 million guilders to the Netherlands, and 200 million to creditors. The 2015 budget is expected to be around 465 million. Unemployment is 11.5 percent. It is your first day in office. What will you do?”

This is how moderator Glen Carty started the political debate on radio station Laser 101 on Saturday evening with participants Emil Lee (number 4-candidate Democratic Party), George Pantophlet (number 2-candidate National Alliance), Claret Connor (number 10-candidate United People’s Party) and Harlec Doran (number 6-candidate United Sint Maarten Party).

The lively debate outshone earlier debates on AVS and the political mixer at the St Read more

Level Of Political Debate Shta Mixer Disappoints

St. Maarten - The political mixer organized by the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) at the Sonesta Great Bay Beach Hotel began with a disappointment when the leader of the United St. Maarten party did not show up. Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, who was expected to attend, was also absent. Five parties were represented: NA (Rodolphe Samuel), UP (Miguel De Weever), DP (Roy Marlin), SRP (Jacinto Mock) and OSPP (Lenny Priest).

Parties first got the opportunity to explain in broad strokes what they stand for Read more

style="text-align: center;">"I have seen several Ministers sign off on various projects that fall outside of their portfolios and deciding on things without the Council of Ministers being aware of"

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Wescot-Williams; "The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams again reiterated that, as Citizens voting for the 2014 Parliamentary elections, people will be voting for Parliament and not for a Council of Ministers; "I keep trying to explain what and who people are voting for on August 29th Read more

Editorial - The people’s business

The Central Committee meeting to handle amendments to the 2014 budget cancelled on June 30 due to lack of a quorum has not yet been reconvened. That's regrettable, because Parliament's Rules of Order state this should take place within four times 24 hours.

What's more, it involves essential matters, including the formalisation of Central Bank bond loans for capital investments this year to purchase Emilio Wilson Estate (EWE), complete the buyout of the new Administration Building and make a first payment for the Vorst family land in Cay Hill, among other things Read more

Plasterk regrets Statia objections to Isabella

THE HAGUE--Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated on Thursday that he is "disappointed" about the objections of St. Eustatius to the appointment of Gilbert Isabella as the new National Government Representative ("Rijksvertegenwoordiger").

"I regret that the Island Council of St. Eustatius beforehand has reservations about the suitability of Isabella as National Government Representative," Plasterk stated in response to written questions separately posed by Sietse Fritsma and Geert Wilders of the Party for Freedom PVV and Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP).

Fritsma, Wilders and Van Raak, all Members of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, sought clarity on the July 4 decision of the Council of Ministers to appoint Isabella and the subsequent motion unanimously adopted by Statia's Island Council in which it expressed a lack of confidence in Curaçao-born Isabella, who has no ties with the Windward Islands.

In his response, Minister Plasterk indicated that he was hopeful that the matter with Statia's Island Council would be resolved once the island politicians would meet and get to work with Isabella Read more

Up-Candidate Terry Peterson: “A Vote For Frans Means Four More Years Of Laville”

St. Maarten – “A vote for Frans (Richardson – ed.) and the US Party is a vote for another unstable Romain Laville government,” Terry Peterson, the number 8 candidate on the list of the United People’s party (UP)  stated in a press release yesterday Read more

No automatic granting of island’s preference

THE HAGUE--The wish of a government within the Dutch Kingdom to appoint a representative of its choice in the Council of State for the Kingdom (Raad van State voor het Koninkrijk) isn’t automatically honoured.

Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated this on Thursday in a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament in response to written questions submitted by Members of the Second Chamber Wassila Hachchi of the Democratic Party D66 and Madeleine van Toorenburg of the Christian Democratic Party CDA.

Hachchi and Van Toorenburg sought clarification from the minister following a publication in the Dutch regional PZC newspaper of July 17 this year Read more

Parliamentarians irked at De Weever’s ‘condescending’ remarks in meeting

~ De Weever will offer 'no apologies' for telling truth ~

PHILIPSBURG--Several Members of Parliament (MPs) condemned on Wednesday the manner in which Minister of Health, Labour and Social Affairs VSA Cornelius de Weever addressed Parliament during the Central Committee meeting, with some MPs saying the minister had been "condescending," "disrespectful" and 'sarcastic."

De Weever responded by saying he had "sat quietly" and "took it all" from MPs in his three years going to Parliament to answer questions, while watching some MPs put on a "grand performance." De Weever said he would not sit and allow anyone to "play politics" with the work his ministry had done Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson confirmed to SMN News that the Minister of Justice and Security of the Netherlands have been delaying and or refusing to grant St. Maarten necessary assistance for the Landsrecherche (National Detectives) that is lacking in manpower to investigate cases that have been pending for years. When asked if he is satisfied with the functioning of the Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney General of St. Maarten that have cases as long as four years to investigate and prosecute and to date nothing has happened Read more

ST. PETERS:--- The >OSPP was forced to cancel their first ever political town hall meeting that was scheduled to be held on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at the Salvation Army Hall in Cole Bay. This cancellation was due to an electrical problem that existed in the building of the Salvation Army. Thereafter, NV GEBE emergency personnel were summoned to the building and after some searching they were able to put back on the electricity Read more