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Budget heads to plenary session of Parliament

PHILIPSBURG--The Central Committee meeting of Parliament on the 2015 budget wrapped up late Friday night after a marathon session that started at 10:00am. The budget will now head to a plenary session of Parliament for final handling and voting. The meeting originally started on Thursday morning and was suspended on that night after Members of Parliament posed questions to the Council of Ministers.

The plenary session of Parliament is slated for next week.

Government needs to meet the deadline of January 31 for the establishment of the budget Read more

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Some 1,075 addresses registered in country

PHILIPSBURG--The country has a total of 1,075 street addresses registered at the Civil Registry, Department of Statistics STAT and the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI. However, only 713 addresses match in all three databases.

The difference of the 362 street addresses is being investigated, Prime Minister/General Affairs Minister Marcel Gumbs told Parliament in the continuation of the Central Committee meeting on the draft 2015 budget on Friday Read more

Hassink delivers another ‘skeleton budget’ to MPs

PHILIPSBURG--Finance Minister Martin Hassink again has presented what he calls "a skeleton budget" to Parliament. The draft 2015 budget, now under discussion in the Central Committee of Parliament, stands at NAf. 445 million, some NAf. 19 million off the amount projected by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT.

Hassink told Parliament Thursday morning that CFT wanted government to "compensate" the previous years' accumulated budget deficits Read more

‘Integrity Chamber must be free of political influence’

THE HAGUE--Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk wants to be sure that the independent position of the Integrity Chamber is entirely safeguarded. In his opinion, the current version of St. Maarten's national ordinance to establish the Integrity Chamber doesn't completely secure its independent position, because the ultimate responsibility lies with the St. Maarten Parliament.

"I fear that the independence is not entirely secured if it is anchored in a national ordinance, because the Parliament of St Read more

Gumbs: No long-lease granted to Rainforest

PHILIPSBURG--No long-lease has been granted to Rainforest Adventures for Plantation Industry and Golden Rock (commonly called Emilio Wilson Estate). This was confirmed by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs via the Press Secretariat.

Gumbs has "not signed anything for or granted anything" to Rainforest Adventures, according the statement issued on Wednesday morning Read more

Pledges of cooperation to new Dutch Representative

PHILIPSBURG--New Representative of the Netherlands in Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten Henk Brons was welcomed with pledges of cooperation and communication during an informal brunch at Sheer Restaurant in Philipsburg on Tuesday morning.

Hosted by acting Dutch Representative in Philipsburg Gert Versluis, the gathering also served to bid farewell to Dutch Representative Gerard van der Wulp, who served the Dutch Government in this capacity during the past three years and six months. He is now going into retirement.

Many dignitaries and government officials sat in on the brunch Read more

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Sarah: Gumbs twisted truth about screening

PHILIPSBURG--"I had nothing to do with the actual screening of the Gumbs Cabinet ministers, and the Prime Minister knows this full well," stated Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a statement Tuesday.

"After all, he was not only informateur, he himself was candidate minister Read more

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‘Common ground’ sought on integrity regulations

PHILIPSBURG--The Dutch and St. Maarten Governments will seek "common ground" on the implementation of measures to ensure integrity of public servants and politicians.

Technocrats on both sides of the ocean will have a video conference later this week to try to connect areas in the ordinance and the areas outlined in the kingdom regulation containing general measures related to integrity.

Following the work of the technocrats, officials of both governments will review the results with the hope of coming to a solid agreement.

"We will see how we can probably merge the two of them or fit the two of them Read more

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Editorial - Louder than words

It appears St. Maarten and the Dutch Government are heading for a showdown again, judging from statements by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson in today's paper. This time it regards what he called a "draconic" proposal for an Integrity Chamber.

The Hague apparently is not satisfied with the current local plans that call for one representative of the Netherlands in the three-member chamber as well as one in the Progress Committee that is to monitor the integrity improvement course. Instead, the intention is reportedly for Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to appoint the Integrity Chamber's chairperson and his cabinet a second member, leaving St Read more

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Camelia-Römer substitute for law review committee

WILLEMSTAD/PHILIPSBURG--Former Netherlands Antilles Prime Minister Suzy Camelia-Römer has been nominated as a substitute member for St. Maarten on the Committee for Evaluation of the Kingdom Laws. She will deputize for committee member Judge Jacob "Bob" Wit.

The office of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs confirmed on Sunday evening that Camelia-Römer has been approached to substitute for Wit.

The committee will evaluate four consensus kingdom laws covering the police, the Prosecutor's Office, the Joint Court of Justice and the Council for Law Enforcement Read more

Gumbs: Screening of ministers under Wescot-Williams’ watch

PHILIPSBURG--Minister-candidates who are now ministers in the Gumbs Cabinet were screened during the tenure of now-former Prime Minister/General Affairs Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, said Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs in response to questions posed by the same Wescot-Williams, now a Member of Parliament, about the screening and the involvement of the Dutch Secret Service in the process.

Wescot-Williams sent her questions about the screening to Gumbs on January 13 via Parliament Chairman Dr Read more

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PM submits declarations of assets to Advisory Council

PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs has submitted to the Advisory Council his declarations and notifications of assets, holdings, secondary positions and interests, those of the other five new ministers and of ministers who served in the Wescot-Williams III Cabinet.

The submission is in accordance with the National Ordinance Promotion of the Integrity of Ministers.

The declarations were submitted on Friday, three days before the stipulated 30-day deadline for submission by new ministers and persons who have ceased to be ministers.

The submission to the Advisory Council followed a similar submission to the Electoral Council that was tied to the National Ordinance Registration and Finances of Political Parties Read more

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Sarah still awaits answers about housing foundation

PHILIPSBURG--It has been a month and Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams is still waiting on answers from government, in particular Public Housing Minister Marcel Gumbs, to her questions about whether St Read more

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Theo: Govt must be willing to get concession fees from companies

PHILIPSBURG--Government must show explicit willingness to demand concession fees from all government-owned companies capable of paying the fee and not allow some companies to get away scot-free while others pay year after year, says United People's (UP) party leader Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger.

The concession fees must be collected by government and used the balance the budget, instead of excessive budget-cutting that "can affect the rendering of needed services to the people." The concession fees can aid in the balancing the budget without the need "to trouble the pockets of the people."

There is "no viable reason" why a company like SXM Princess Juliana International Airport "should not pay government a concession fee," Heyliger told The Daily Herald on Thursday.

United Telecommunication Services (UTS), of which St Read more

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Budget sent to Governor

PHILIPSBURG--The draft 2015 budget is a step closer to Parliament. The budget, with remarks from the Advisory Council, has been submitted to Governor Eugene Holiday by the Gumbs Cabinet.

The budget was top priority for the cabinet of Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs. That cabinet was sworn in by Governor Holiday on December 19, 2014, and faces an extended deadline from the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT Read more

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Sarah questions Dutch Secret Service role in cabinet screening

PHILIPSBURG--The exact role the Dutch Secret Service played in the screening of minister candidates for the Gumbs Cabinet is questioned by Democratic Party (DP) Leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams in a letter sent this week to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs.

She seeks answers to the Dutch Secret Service's role in the screening, whether theirs was a one-time involvement, or will this continue for subsequent cabinets and how the service's role is "formalized nationally."

Her request to the prime minister for answers "has nothing to do" with the persons who were subjected to the screening process, but are directed to "the process" used to screen them.

Dutch Minister for Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations Roland Plasterk was quoted by the media as saying that ministers sworn-in on December 19, 2014, were "subjected with the assistance of employees of the Dutch secret service to an extra-severe screening."

Wescot-Williams framed her questions to the prime minister based on Plasterk's statement and St Read more

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Gumbs and Asjes want to continue good relations

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Curaçao Prime Minister Ivar Asjes are committed to continuing good relations between the two Dutch Caribbean countries. Asjes is on a three-day working visit to St. Maarten that concludes today, Tuesday.

It is important to have and maintain good relations between kingdom partners, said Gumbs in a Press Secretariat release Read more

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Editorial - Siamese twins

The first meeting between Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and his Curaçao counterpart Ivar Asjes is said to have gone well (see related story). Their respective cabinets consider it important to maintain good relations.

While that is also the case for Aruba, one must keep in mind that St. Maarten and Curaçao are more than kingdom partners Read more

‘Look in the mirror,’ PM tells crowd at National Prayer Day

PHILIPSBURG--A few hundred people gathered on Clem Labega Square late Sunday afternoon to celebrate the National Day of Prayer.

The event was organised by the St. Martin Ministerial Foundation, the St. Maarten Council of Churches, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The service started with a word of welcome by Monique Rey, who said St. Maarten was a nation under God. She welcomed the dignitaries, who included Governor Eugene Holiday, Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, Minister of Finance Martin Hassink, Jean-David Richards of the Collectivité of French St Read more

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Sarah: January 7 ‘dark day for all’

PHILIPSBURG--January seven was “a dark day for all of us,” said Democratic Party (DP) Leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams in a condolence message to the family of the victims of the tragic shooting at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the French Republic and all of Europe impacted by the events on Wednesday.

“In a very special way, we empathize with our French St Read more

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Cruise terminal bomb hoax causes traffic disruption

PHILIPSBURG--A bomb scare on board a cruise ship docked at Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facility on Wednesday afternoon turned out to be a hoax.

The threat sparked a large scale security alert after a security officer reported that a crew member of one of the four cruise ships had told him around 4:00pm that she was carrying a bomb.

Security immediately informed the police, who rushed over to the cruise terminal, which was shut off from all traffic. Police, Port Security and the captain of the vessel discussed the situation Read more

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Editorial - Not if, but how

Mention of the counterpart policy in Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs’ New Year’s speech has led to several reactions. The idea for such a mandatory regulation when employing expatriates has been contested from the start, because of the feared detrimental effect on the local business community.

Then again, that the policy would be part of the incoming cabinet’s plans was to be expected, especially as now-independent (former DP) parliamentarian Cornelius de Weever had cited the intention to leave such out of a governing programme for the originally envisioned NA/US/DP combination as his main reason to “jump ship” and support a UP-led coalition instead Read more

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Editorial - A bit of balance

The Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultation IPOK takes place this week in Aruba, starting with today's preparatory tripartite session between the Parliament Presidents of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. While the first six agenda points for this IPOK are from the last meeting in June, five more have been added that very much relate to current events.

It is obviously with this in mind that Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Justice Minister Dennis Richardson met with St Read more

Ferrier wants PM to explain how counterpart policy will be applied

~ 'It will stifle economic growth' ~

PHILIPSBURG--Businessman Michael Ferrier is looking forward to an explanation from Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs on how the counterpart policy will be applied in St Read more

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