SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent suspended Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper's conviction was upheld by the Appeals court on Thursday morning in the Ruby case. The criminal case was handled by the Prosecutor's Office since December 2021 when a guilty verdict was rendered by the Court of First Instance.

The NOW party deputy leader was suspended from Parliament and was replaced by MP Channel Brownbill formerly of the United St Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- After 12 long years of being accused of several crimes now suspended Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper has had his day in court on May 30th, 2022 when the joint court of appeals fully acquits Buncamper of all charges since the prosecution could not prove its case.
The verdict that was handed down on Monday has been freely translated below.
While the Buncampers were able to clear their names after 12 years of judicial persecution, former Minister Maria Buncamper Molanus was forced to resign when the investigation started as there appeared to be a semblance of conflict of interest Read more

~ Buncamper filed an appeal, but will be suspended from Parliament~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Independent Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper has been convicted in the Ruby case that was filed by the Prosecutors Office.
The court convicted the longtime civil servant to 32 months imprisonment and has banned him for a period of 7 years as a civil servant, while his wife Maria Buncamper Molanus has been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment Read more

The Democratic Party has been one of the longest-serving parties in the history of St. Maarten. We have had our ups and downs, but we have been there for the people of St. Maarten, now more than ever before. Our main goal was and continues to be, "how can we make our island a better place for the people of St. Maarten".
To hear a political party, who welcomed the leader of the Democratic Party as the chairlady in one breathe and denounce her in the next, say some of the most unprofessional things is a shame to say the least Read more

“Can’t devalue her knowledge, experience” - Frans

PHILIPSBURG:---The United St. Maarten Party (USP) on Friday announced that former Commissioner and Minister Maria Buncamper-Molanus will be contesting the September 26 Parliamentary Election as a candidate on the USP slate Read more

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) Member of Parliament Frans Richardson dismissed jabs against his party as a party for “ship jumpers” by focusing on the fact that the individuals targeted still have lots to contribute to the country Read more

Mp Frankie Meyers Passionate As He Asked The Minister Of Justice To Tell Parliament Of Vote Buying.

UPP being used as poster child when it comes to vote buying.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Franklin Meyers did not mingle with words on Monday when he asked the Minister of Justice Edison Kirindongo to give Parliament a clear definition of what is considered Vote Buying since in their (UPP) view it is very broad.
MP Meyers said the main reason they called for the meeting is because of the recent arrest of MP Silvio Meyers who was arrested and kept in custody for several days on the accusation of vote buying and after he was released the Prosecutors Office in a press release calling on members of the community to contact them if they were approached to sell their votes Read more

Prosecution Demanded Prison Time For The Buncampers And Co-Defendants.

decided to drop money laundering charge due to prosecutor’s misconduct.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The prosecution requested that the Buncamper’s namely Maria Buncamper Molanus and Claudius Buncamper be sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, six of which suspended and a three year probation be placed on the couple. As for notary Gijsbertha the prosecution demanded 15 months prison sentence, five of which suspended also with a three year probation.
For Ivan Haverthong the prosecution demanded 12 months imprisonment, four of which suspended along with a three year probation Read more

Buncamper Court Case to continue January 13th 2016 --- Three more witnesses have to be heard.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Buncamper family still has wait a few more months before they know whether or not the case brought against them by the Prosecutor’s Office will be thrown out or not. The Court of First Instance ruled on Wednesday that three more witnesses have to be heard by the Judge of Instruction and continuation of the management hearing will take place on January 13th 2016.
Last week Wednesday the Prosecutor’s Office willingly dropped the second charge they brought against the Buncamper’s due to prosecutorial misconduct by the prosecutor that was handling the case Read more

Buncamper’s Home being raided by Landsrecherché and Prosecutor and Judge of Instruction.

>St. Johns:---A team  of detectives from the Landsrecherché, the public prosecutor’s office and the judge of instructionconducted a raid at the home of the Buncamper’s in St. John’s Estate. The current raid has to do with the ongoing investigation and court case against the Buncamper’s and the added charge that the public prosecutor added during the performa hearing some weeks ago.
Prosecutor Tineke Kamps confirmed that a raid is indeed took place on Friday afternoon and it relates to the court case against the Buncampers'.
The case against Maria and Claudius Buncamper started since 2011 when it was discovered that the Buncampers' sold the economic rights of government long lease land to a company called Eco Green owned by a former Public Works employee Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Maurice Lake Jumps back in order to take up VROMI Minister seat --- Where would this leave Minister Claret Conner? – Reliable Sources.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Maurice Lake seems to have gotten exactly what he wanted from the leader of the United Peoples Party in order for him to remain a member of the United Peoples Party and to keep the shaky coalition in-tact.
SMN News learnt that MP Maurice Lake wanted to remain in his position as the Minister of VROMI when the UPP/De Weever coalition was formed but his party leader Theodore Heyliger allegedly denied him his request stating that he did not do what he "Heyliger" wanted him to do while he was a Minister Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Board of the National Alliance calls for the immediate resignation of United People's Party Member of Parliament Mr. Silvio Matser. The National Alliance Board is of the opinion, that in light of the verdict that has been handed down to MP Matser by the Court on Wednesday January 7th, 2015, to 2 years for 'tax evasion', that the honorable thing to do would be to step down and relinquish his seat to the people of Sint Maarten.

Sint Maarten has faced extensive challenges in maintaining integrity in its Governance and considering that being elected to Parliament, the highest body in our governmental structure; it would be yet another gross injustice and ill representation of the people of Sint Maarten to have a convicted Member of Parliament continue to retain his seat in light of such a sentence.
This cannot be the state of 'readiness' that the United People's Party chanted to the people of Sint Maarten throughout the election period.

The board of the National Alliance believes that it is critical for the people of Sint Maarten to be reminded, that within 3 weeks after the Elections of 2014, the National Alliance, Democratic Party & the United St Read more

The grass might be greener on the other side of the fence, but the mangoes in your own backyard are the sweetest: a report on the USM in 2014.

>PHILIPSBURG:--- Too often we half-forget the wisdoms of our grandparents and great-grandparents. This of course is lamentable and tragic. It is time that we remember and endorse the other part of our grandmother and grandfather's wisdom notes to achieve wholeness as individuals and as a society.
Most of us are familiar with the saying, "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." We use this colourful expression routinely to state that from our dwelling place, from our little Caribbean island, from where we are standing, what takes place educationally in the overdeveloped countries in Western Europe and the USA and Canada or even the emerging economic powers in Asia, and what people in those countries have materially and we don't because we lack their educational system, is simply extraordinary Read more

style="text-align: center;">Bloem wants to hear several justice officials

PHILIPSBURG:--- The criminal case against Maria Buncamper Molanus has been postponed due to the fact that the lawyer representing Ivan Haverthong was absent on Wednesday afternoon. However, the attorney representing the Buncamper family and Theodore Walters from ECO Green wants to hear some 12 witnesses on behalf of his clients Read more

UPP Coalition in shambles MP Silvio Matser convicted to 24 months.

style="text-align: center;">Maria Buncamper now MP based on the next in line.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court of First Instance was not at all lenient with Member of Parliament Silvio Matser who was convicted to 24 months imprisonment, 18 of which are suspended. MP Matser has to also do 240 hours of community service. His company Energizer NV was condemned to pay some Naf Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The public prosecutor has taken close to four years to decide whether or not they will prosecute former Minister of Public Health Maria Buncamper-Molanus who sold the economic rights of government long lease land. The Buncamper case made headlines when several media houses including SMN News dug deep and found that Maria Buncamper sold the economic rights for long lease land she obtained from government Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- In mid March 2014, Benjamin & Parker (www.b-parker.com), initiated onsite certification sessions for the online course "Efficiency Auditing", a new science to secure corporate workflow effectiveness and corporate financial waste, in association with PCMI under management of Mr. Robert Budike. The course had a particular characteristic as it emphasized the Colombian method of efficiency and risk management applications, after considering its thoroughness and security scrutiny safeguards to contain operation and financial high impact incidents Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The Chairman of the Central Voting Bureau denied most of the requests submitted to him to do a total recount of all the votes. Leader of the Social Reform Party Jacinto Mock submitted a written request stating that the Central Voting Bureau did not visit all 20 polling stations, that all voters did not receive their voting cards and that some voters did not speak the English language Read more

>PHILIPSBURG:--- As the countdown for the 2014 Parliamentary Elections begins with just four more days before voters of this great nation head to the polling station to cast their votes for the country's first Parliamentary Election. SMN News thought it fitting to remind the voters of some of the things that transpired within the last four years since St. Maarten obtained its country status, most of which caused the Dutch to use their power and microscope to force an integrity investigation on St 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