SXMElections.com

Schools reopen today for new academic year

~Alliance, OSPP encourage students~

PHILIPSBURG--Thousands of students, teachers and school staffers will be returning to school today, Monday, for the start of the new 2015-2016 academic year.

The roads are expected to be busy. In a back-to-school message National Alliance (NA) Deputy Leader Silveria Jacobs urged students to make school their priority and to do their utmost to learn something new daily as well as build character and practice respect Read more

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Electoral Council may soon consider penalty for party

PHILIPSBURG--The Electoral Council may soon be forced to consider imposing a financial penalty on one of the eight political parties registered for the 2014 Parliamentary Election that has failed to submit its annual report to the Council.

All registered political parties had up to February 1 to submit all their donation registries and annual financial reports to the Council as required under the National Ordinance on the Registration and Financing of Political Parties. To date, one party is in default of its legal obligations.

Electoral Council Chairman Attorney Bert Hoffman told The Daily Herald the Council would inform the party via letter that it must get its financial business "in order or face penalties." The Council still has to decide on the exact amount of the penalty.

Hoffman declined to give the name of the defaulting party, only saying they know who they are Read more

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Parliament must do its job

Dear Editor,

Never have I witnessed such a degrading meeting of the people's business in parliament as that meeting held last week regarding the Checkmate Security contract at the St. Maarten Harbour. This meeting was called by the opposition because the people of St. Maarten wanted to know how such a contract could have been approved by the management and the supervisory board of directors of the Harbour Holding Group of Companies.

Those members of parliament supporting the government want the people to believe that because it is a local that owns Checkmate Security it is alright to pay them any amount of money and no questions should be asked Read more

The prepared will inherit the future!

Dear Editor,

We want to congratulate the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry with the opening of the Business Centre. This Centre will provide many young entrepreneurs with the skills and confidence to go into business. Quite often we have people who would like to go into business, but don't have the necessary skills and confidence to venture into it.

We strongly believe that this Business Centre together with SBDF and USM will provide our potential entrepreneurs with the necessary tools and confidence to move forward with their dream of going into business Read more

OSPP repeats call for urgent operational audit at the Harbour Group of Companies

Dear Editor,

We have been following with keen attention all the activities that have been taking place at the Harbour Group of Companies over the last couple of years. In a media report some time ago the CFT stated that the Harbour Group of Companies refused to open its books for the government of St. Maarten, the shareholder of the company. Based on the 2013 financial statements acquired by one of the dailies, many irregularities were mentioned in the article. Perhaps it is time for us to revisit that article again Read more

Establish the van Hugh Law

Dear Editor,

Our youth are crying for help and all their pleas are falling on deaf ears. A major crime is committed and unfortunately some youths are involved and the entire nation is in uproar. We must do something for our young people. They are going astray. Then the blame game starts, from the parents to the teachers and eventually the government, but at the end of the day nothing is done to help our young people. The 2015 budget was passed recently; what youth programmes were presented to the public?

Every year we have hundreds of young people completing our secondary schools and who cannot find employment Read more

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Candidates in this article:

DP, CPA, OSPP still to submit donation list

~ Candidates urged to submit info by Feb. 13 ~

PHILIPSBURG--The Democratic Party (DP), Concordia Political Alliance (CPA) and One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP) have not yet submitted their donation registers for the August 29, 2014 Parliament Election to the Electoral Council Read more

Put our people to work & allow them to become business owners as well

Dear Editor,

The entire nation was glued to their TV and to their radios listening to the 2014 budget debate. Others depended on the print media to be informed about it. As you know, the budget is the most important policy document of any civilized government, it outlines the government projected income and expenses. But an integral part of the budget is also the governing programme. This programme indicates what the people can expect their government to do for them for the current year Read more

SHTA: Having counterpart in PM’s cabinet ‘completely misses the point’

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) has lashed back at statements made by Member of Parliament (MP) Cornelius de Weever on the counterpart programme saying that having a counterpart in a Prime Minister's cabinet "completely misses the point."

De Weever said last week that the counterpart law had been applied in one case and had been used in the staff bureaus of the former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

However, SHTA says this misses the point Read more

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Is the Dutch government guilty by association?

Dear Editor,

Now that the dust has blown over, we finally have a government even though the people didn't vote for them. The Kingdom Council of Ministers indirectly appoints a cabinet for St. Maarten, first time in the history of the kingdom, with the blessing of the leader of the UP, Mr. Theodore Heyliger.

The leader of the UP, MP Theodore Heyliger succumb to the pressure of the Dutch government by first withdrawing his name as a candidate for Prime Minister of St Read more

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We need a reduction in the fuel clause now

Dear Editor,

Please allow me some space in your newspaper to share OSPP’s written request, on December 19, 2014, to President of Parliament Dr. Lloyd Richardson, that a meeting be called with NV GEBE to discuss a reduction of the fuel clause in our energy bills. The fact that a new government was sworn in Friday and a new minister will assume the responsibility of energy is no excuse to delay a reduction in the fuel clause.

The cost of living on St Read more

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