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Is Possibly Ethically Unacceptable Behavior A New Norm?

PHILIPSBURG:---  The behavioral ethics of our appointed and elected officials have come under questionable circumstances lately.

While there is no regulation against gifts for government officials neither has the code of conduct been passed, which includes a gift registration for Members of Parliament (MPs).

Back on December 13th, 2018, former Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (TEATT) Stuart Johnson highlighted an embarrassing case our country faced.

Johnson in The Daily Herald newspaper article stated, Government was notified on November 28 of a 451-day past-due bill for training attended by Member of Parliament Rolando Brison during his stint as St Read more

Open Letter To The Prosecutor Of St. Maarten

As a citizen who is being victimized by the Minister of VROMI [Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Ed.], Mr. Egbert Jurendy Doran, I address this public plea to you with the sincere hope that you will stand up for us, the common men and women on this island, and ensure that an impartial investigation is launched into the wrongdoings of Minister Doran, his colleague minister(s) and his subordinates within the Ministry of VROMI in regard to all matters surrounding the so-called Vineyard Heights Project in the Over the Bank area, based on the following:

Prior ministers issued official signed government documents indicating the intention of government to issue specified parcels of land to several citizens; These citizens made payments to the Cadastre upon indication of a former Minister of VROMI, Mr Read more

Erfpact Land Distribution A Known Taboo For Politicians On St. Maarten.

~ A policy is like placing a band-aid over a life sore.~

PHILIPSBURG: --- The distribution of long lease land to voters during an election is a known taboo for politicians on St. Maarten, it is one of the reasons why the Ministry of VROMI is fought for during coalition negotiations. In most cases, the best negotiator wins.

Members of Parliament that were either commissioners or ministers are guilty of receiving parcels of land for themselves their family members, close friends, and party supporters Read more

Mp Gumbs Proposes To End ParliamentS Membership To Parlatino

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – With an eye to redirect Sint Maartens limitedresources into initiatives that would deepen cooperative ties between the Dutch Caribbean and other islands in the region, Party for Progress (PFP) leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Melissa Gumbs on Friday submitted a proposal to Parliament that would end the bodys membership to the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

Parliament, and by extension the country and people of Sint Maarten, spend US $30,000 in annual membership fees plus a travel budget of NAf Read more

Mp Emmanuel Questions Doran About Re-Locating People From Landfill To Foga

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel on Wednesday dispatched a letter to the Minister of VROMI Egbert Doran with a number of questions regarding the reported relocation of persons living on the landfill to brand new homes to be built at the area known as the Foga Housing Development Project in Sucker Garden.
Emmanuel said in his letter to the Minister that persistent rumors and unconfirmed reports must be addressed post haste as there were existing plans for the area Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- On 14 September 2021, the Island(er)s at the Helm program hosted its first Kingdom-wide event with societal partners and other stakeholders. This meeting is the start of a five-year collaboration that brings together researchers and societal partners to use technical, traditional, and contemporary knowledge practices to study climate change adaptation. Working closely together, the Island(er)s at the Helm program will co-create sustainable and inclusive solutions for social adaptation to climate challenges in the (Dutch) Caribbean.

In this event, participating organizations and researchers exchanged ideas for collaboration within the Island(er)s at the Helm research program Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent MP Christophe Emmanuel on Wednesday dispatched a letter to the Minister of VROMI Egbert Doran with a number of questions regarding the reported relocation of persons living on the landfill to brand new homes to be built at the area known as the Foga Housing Development Project in Sucker Garden.
Emmanuel said in his letter to the Minister that persistent rumors and unconfirmed reports must be addressed post-haste as there were existing plans for the area. One of his 10 questions to the Minister queried if there is any validity to the report that persons living on the landfill will each be compensated financially to move as well as the legal status of these individuals Read more

Mp Sarah Wescot-Williams: Remarks At The Closing Of The Parliamentary Year 2020-2021.

The proverbial elephant in the room is the lack of cohesion in this administration where major matters are concerned.

On the 8th of September 2020, we had a historic opening of the parliamentary year we are closing today. Tomorrow the opening ritual will take place again, like is customary throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands. There is one big difference though, the opening of the parliamentary year in the Netherlands with the Crown Speech is followed by the presentation of the budget of the Kingdom government, one of the many abnormalities our constitutional system engenders Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- On the 8th of September 2020, we had a historic opening of the parliamentary year we are closing today. Tomorrow the opening ritual will take place again like is customary throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands. There is one big difference though, the opening of the parliamentary year in the Netherlands with the Crown Speech is followed by the presentation of the budget of the Kingdom government, one of the many abnormalities our constitutional system engenders. Our budget is as with so many things to reach this parliamenton its way.
According to our constitution, the governor will tomorrow present the governments statement, in other words, His Excellency the Governor will be presenting to the parliament and the people, the National Alliance/United People Party plans for the coming parliamentary year.
While during last years presentation by the governor, the emphasis of that presentation was understandably on the Corona pandemic that had engulfed us by then, slowly but surely we come face to face with the reality that there is no way forward by going back to pre-covid Read more

PHILIPSBURG:---  The chair of parliament Roland Brison did not mince words on Monday when he called out the laziest Member of Parliament during the closing of the parliamentary year.

The UPP MP and chair of parliament said when listening to the positions stated by members of parliament, he looked around the hall and understand the concerns, because for most of the faction leaders, the level of representation, and more importantly, the level of work they put in, is very clear and commendable from his viewpoint as chairman.

Brison said however he does feel the need to give his observations of how the factions of parliament and its members are functioning, and how he believes they should be going forward.

First the good:

For at least 5 of the 6 factions in parliament he observed that every single one of them has presented amendments, motions, has chaired meetings in their respective committees across opposition/coalition lines, and other real initiatives things that are today being upheld by the government Read more

A Message To Minister Of Finance Mr. Ardwell Irion

The tax witch hunt should first and foremost start with the large foreign business investors prior to going after our struggling local businesses. In fact government should give incentives, tax break/relief and even exemption to local businesses for a period of time. It is Minister of Finance Mr. Ardwell Irion’s turn to show case his ambitious plan in turning around our bleak financial situation into a balanced then onto a bright one.

Armed with a law book presented by tax advisors Tax Inspector Mr Read more

Exclusive: Gebe Sbod Files Injunction Against Government. (Updated)

~ Wants the court to annul the resolution to appoint a statutory director.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- The three members of the Supervisory Board of Directors (SBOD) of NV GEBE have filed a court injunction against the shareholder of the government-owned company, namely the Minister of VROMI Egbert Jurendy Doran. The hearing is scheduled for Friday morning while the hearing with the government will take place at 2 pm Read more

Nagico Insurances Has Launched A Project To Help Promote Safety Awareness In School

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Given the emergence of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant, NAGICO Insurances has launched a project to help promote safety awareness in schools.

The awareness campaign will see child friendly, colorful posters and social distancing floor stickers, being placed at strategic locations in all Elementary and Secondary schools. The messages on these signs are all geared at informing and reminding students, of COVID-19 safety measures, which they need to practice, which will in turn reduce the risk of contracting and spreading the virus in and around the school campuses.

Our main objective with this project, is to help create a safe environment for our children and teachers in school as this is crucial in curbing the spread of the coronavirus, Eric Ellis; Territory Head for NAGICO St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Given the emergence of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant, NAGICO Insurances has launched a project to help promote safety awareness in schools.

The awareness campaign will see child-friendly, colorful posters and social distancing floor stickers, being placed at strategic locations in all Elementary and Secondary schools. The messages on these signs are all geared at informing and reminding students, of COVID-19 safety measures, which they need to practice, which will, in turn, reduce the risk of contracting and spreading the virus in and around the school campuses.

Our main objective with this project is to help create a safe environment for our children and teachers in school as this is crucial in curbing the spread of the coronavirus, Eric Ellis; Territory Head for NAGICO St Read more

~ Pop-ups vaccination will restart. ~

PHILIPSBURG: --- The Minister of Health Omar Ottley announced on Wednesday at the Council of Ministers press briefing those 12 persons lost their lives due to COVID -19 during the month of August. Of those 9 of those persons were unvaccinated, 2 were partly vaccinated and one was fully vaccinated. The Minister said that 46 persons lost their lives due to the coronavirus since the pandemic started in March 2020.
The Minister said that the pop-up vaccination will resume as of this Saturday at the CPS location at the Vineyard Building Read more

Mgdw Students Get A Surprise Treat

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten — The students of the Marie Genevieve de Weever Primary School received a surprise treat late last week. Chris Wever, former Minister teamed up with Norissa Anatol of Uni-corn Flavored Popcorn Treats to surprise close to three hundred students at the school. The colored popcorn bags labeled with Welcome back to school were given to all of the students and staff of the school. Ushering in a new school year in these challenging times with some positivity was a welcoming feeling for everyone, remarked Stuart Johnson, School Manager of the Marie Genevieve de Weever Primary School. Wever stated, I always enjoy giving back to my community especially the students as they surely enjoyed this treat Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel wants government to provide answers and clear up rumors concerning what he termed as disturbing incidents from this weekend. The island was clamoring on Saturday over news that Minister of Health Omar Ottley and President of Parliament MP Rolando Brison either organized or permitted a private party at Lotus Night Club in contravention to the Ministerial Regulation (MR).
According to witness reports, police were dispatched to Lotus Night Club on Friday night to ensure that the club closed its operations in accordance to the recently passed Ministerial Regulation which mandates closure at 11:00 pm Read more

PHILIPSBURG:---  The students of the Marie Genevieve de Weever Primary School received a surprise treat late last week. Chris Wever, former Minister teamed up with Norissa Anatol of Uni-corn Flavored Popcorn Treats to surprise close to three hundred students at the school.

The colored popcorn bags labeled with Welcome back to school were given to all of the students and staff of the school.

Ushering in a new school year in these challenging times with some positivity was a welcoming feeling for everyone, remarked Stuart Johnson, School Manager of the Marie Genevieve de Weever Primary School.

Wever stated, I always enjoy giving back to my community especially the students as they surely enjoyed this treat Read more

Land Or Property Tax For Who All Exactly?

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — July 29 th 2021 Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper is questioning who the suggested property tax will apply to. This quarry comes at the heels of the presentation in Parliament by CFT which stated that Property Tax should be implemented in St. Maarten. I was somewhat surprised at the hard stances several MPs have already taken regarding the land tax or property tax issue Read more

PHILIPSBURG:---  Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper is questioning who the suggested property tax will apply to. This quarry comes at the heels of the presentation in Parliament by CFT which stated that Property Tax should be implemented in St. Maarten. I was somewhat surprised at the hard stances several MPs have already taken regarding the land tax or property tax issue Read more

Kick Off Of Football Clinic For Boys And Girls.

The St. Maarten Tourism Bureau is pleased to announce the successful kick-off on Monday, July 26, where the organization FUNDACION REAL MADRID CLINICS DUTCH ANTILLES, together with the REAL MADRID FOUNDATION and our Local Partner Flames United FC, started the Real Madrid Foundation football clinic for boys and girls (6 until 13 years) which will run until Friday 30 of July 2021 on the friendly island of Sint Maarten.

The goal of the organization in conjunction with the Sponsors is to motivate the practice of football on the island as well as to encourage the values inherent in the sport, to give them the opportunity to train as their idols do and contribute to their personal development Read more

Covid-19 Relief Group Holds Second Fundraising.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The COVID-19 Relief Group will hold its second Fundraising Drive on Saturday, July 31st, and Sunday, August 1st. On both days, the Group will be stationed at the Carrefour Market in Cul-de-Sac, from 10 am until the closing of the supermarket. Persons, families, companies, businesses are encouraged to stop by and give their donations in cash or checks.

With the funds, raised during its first Fundraising Drive, the COVID-19 Relief Fund was able to assist a total of 66 persons with the payment of small bills Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- On June 30th, 2021, the Honorable Minister of Justice, Anna E. Richardson together with the Honorable Minister of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor (VSA), Omar Ottley signed off on an official policy that was commissioned by both Ministries to strengthen governments response to combat Domestic Violence (DV), Child Abuse (CA) and Gender-based Violence (GBV) through legislation and procedures that prevents their occurrence.
The objective of the policy is to regulate the legal and social procedural actions to prevent, treat and punish the violence observed in this policy and is essential to earmark the various forms of violence and highlight the Government of Sint Maartens commitment to ensure that they are eradicated from our society.
To ensure such, the policy entails a categorization of violence by degrees Read more

DcommS Emancipation Day Special : No More Auction Block!

Philipsburg, Sint Maarten — On July 1st, the Government of St. Maarten commemorated the end of Slavery with their annual Emancipation Day ceremony and activities. This is the 158th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Abolishment of Slavery on Sint Maarten. The theme this year is No More Auction Block!

The Department of Communication has put together a Special of this days event, and it premiered on the St. Maarten Government YouTube/SXMGOV channel as well as Facebook at SXM Gov.

To commemorate this remembrance, the end of slavery, an Ecumenical Service was held at St Read more