SXMElections.com

style="text-align: center;">Prosecution Purposely delayed Investigations to Taint St. Maarten as a Country, were they instructed to destroy St. Maarten or are they incompetent?

PHILIPSBURG:--- The screening process that was conducted these past weeks by a team of persons including the prosecution can only be described as a one eye giant and the Prosecutors Office is failing to execute their duties or they are simply incompetent. At least two of the persons that failed the screening raised eyebrows Read more

style="text-align: center;">Prosecution Purposely delayed Investigations to Taint St. Maarten as a Country, were they instructed to destroy St. Maarten or are they incompetent?

PHILIPSBURG:--- The screening process that was conducted these past weeks by a team of persons including the prosecution can only be described as a one eye giant and the Prosecutors Office is failing to execute their duties or they are simply incompetent. At least two of the persons that failed the screening raised eyebrows Read more

Four minister candidates reportedly fail screening

PHILIPSBURG--It appears that efforts to put together a new cabinet have come up a few ministers short. Four of the minister candidates reportedly have failed the extensive screening to take up a post in what has been billed as the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet.

Those said to have failed the security and integrity screenings are finance minister candidate Richard Gibson Sr., health minister candidate Leroy de Weever, infrastructure minister candidate Peggy-Ann Brandon and deputy minister plenipotentiary candidate Lucas Berman.

According to people close to the issue, attorney and former minister in the Netherlands Antilles Gibson Sr Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Four Proposed Minister’s Allegedly Failed Screening --- Duncan under Investigation.

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PHILIPSBURG:--- SMN News has been reliably informed that four of the proposed Ministers that were submitted to the Governor of St. Maarten for screening allegedly failed the screening process.
According to the information SMN News received Petrus Leroy de Weever failed the screening due to the complaint filed against him by Judith Roumou. Richard Gibson failed the screening based on the ongoing molestation investigation against him and complaint that was filed by his wife Andrea Gibson Paul Read more

Editorial - Not unthinkable

That outgoing Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure VROMI Maurice Lake wants the Council of Ministers to get on with approving the much-discussed purchase of the Vorst land in Cay Hill (see Friday paper) is to a certain extent understandable. After all, the family has been waiting since the days of former Minister Roland Duncan and his plans for a Justice Park on that location.

Not only that, but they have agreed to lower the price at least twice Read more

Court Documents Indicate: Theo Heyliger Attempted To Blackmail Tender Services

St. Maarten/ By Hilbert Haar – United People’s party leader Theo Heyliger attempted in 2001 to blackmail the owner of St. Maarten Tender Services, Bobby Velasquez, with a bogus consultancy contract in the name of Coal Pot Inc., an offshore company established in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands Read more

Topper’s owner gets sentenced for guns

PHILIPSBURG--The owner of Topper's Restaurant in Simpson Bay was sentenced Wednesday to seven months suspended, on three years' probation, and a NAf. 7,000 fine, for the possession of two firearms with ammunition.

The Prosecutor's Office had requested nine months suspended and a NAf Read more

Analysis: Screening Of Candidate-Ministers Seems At Odds With Constitution

St. Maarten / By Hilbert Haar – Screening? What screening? Nobody has asked this simple question yet, because everybody has been either busy and confused, or excited and angry about the humongous cloud of dust the Kingdom Council of Ministers created with its instruction to Governor Holiday for additional screening of candidate-ministers. One may well wonder which instruments the experts Minister Plasterk wants to send to St. Maarten have at their disposal to find something so wrong with one of the candidates that this will give reason to ban them from becoming a minister.

St Read more

St. Maarten Parliament Is Convinced That Screening Process Is Working: Motion Will Ask Governor To Reject Kingdom Instruction

St. Maarten – The United People’s party announced that it would table a motion that asks Governor Holiday not to go along with the instruction from the Kingdom Council of Ministers to execute additional screening of candidate-ministers for the new government. However, parliament adjourned until Wednesday morning after the first round. UP-leader Theo Heyliger told this newspaper that he had not delivered his final report about the new cabinet yet, even though yesterday was the deadline for his task as formateur.

A one-man protest action by Etienne Toochie Meyers – a representative of the movement People United for True Democracy – preceded the first meeting of the new parliament yesterday afternoon Read more

St. Maarten creates its own problem --- MP Emmanuel said he was offered $2m to jump ship and join the UPP.

style="text-align: center;">St. Maarten needs to fix its own house before trying to cross the ocean

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Christopher Emmanuel unleashed an unexpected bomb on the floor of Parliament on Monday afternoon during the urgent meeting of Parliament that was called to discuss the instruction given to Governor Eugene Holiday Read more

Proposals tabled at symposium to enhance situation of elderly

CAY HILL--Promoting the independent and assisted living of the elderly was one of three proposals made to enhance the situation of the ageing population in St. Maarten during the Symposium on Ageing held at the Belair Community Centre on Wednesday.

Social Development official Bernadette Barry, who presented the recommendations towards the end of the forum, said the elderly population would like to live as long as possible at home in the environment with which they are familiar. They do not want to be placed in a home Read more

Former Ministers Distributed Bus And Taxi Permits Like Candy

St. Maarten – Moratoriums on economic licenses “appear to be lifted by ministers in a subjective manner” the PricewaterhouseCoopers integrity report observes. Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Ted Richardson has, in the past half year, lifted moratoriums on bars and restaurants, car rentals and casinos. It also appears that former Ministers Franklin Meyers and Romeo Pantophlet issued between them 161 taxi licenses and 52 bus permits to specific individuals at the end of their term in government in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

In February, the moratorium for bars and restaurants was lifted because “the government wants to stimulate entrepreneurship and the economic growth of St Read more

Curacao Watching Closely Expected Dutch Intervention In Justice Ministry On Sxm

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Residents on Curacao are paying keen attention to the developments on St. Maarten, and the announcement of the intervention by the Dutch in the Justice Ministry.

This was announced by Minister with the responsibility for Kingdom Affairs, the Honorable Ronald Plasterk.

The statement of the Minister has also gotten a reaction from former Minister of Justice on St. Maarten, attorney Read more

>SIMPSON BAY:--- The Chief of the Coast Guard Edson "Eddy" Kirindongo is home on sick leave since April 2014 due to undue stress and intimidation from the director and acting director of the Coast Guard. Prior to being appointed Chief of the Coast Guard on St. Maarten, Kirindongo was the chief of the Tactical Detective Department of Curacao, he came to St. Maarten with 30 years police experience.
SMN News learnt that Kirindongo took up his position as the Chief of the Coast Guard since 2010 but was due to leave on pension in 2012 Read more

Justice Academy’s Anniversary.

style="text-align: left;">PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday September 15, 2014, the Minister of Justice the Honorable Dennis Richardson attended a ceremony commemorating the 2nd Anniversary of the existence of the Justice Academy and it's achievements to date. The Minister spoke about the Justice Academy being a continuation of a project initiative of the previous Minister of Justice Mr. Roland Duncan and it being a positive institution with great challenges, but that offer at same time the opportunity for it to become a center of excellence for education and training in the Justice sector Read more

Dennis outlines challenges of National Detective Agency

~ No response from Dutch for assistance ~

PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister Dennis Richardson outlined on Thursday some of the challenges facing the National Detective Agency (Landsrecherche) of St. Maarten.

Richardson said he had asked Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten in early 2014 for temporary operational assistance of four detectives from the National Detective Agency (Rijksrecherche) in the Netherlands. The request was made in view of the Landsrecherche's workload Read more

Judge to decide Tuesday on Bada Bing witnesses

PHILIPSBURG--Judge Koos van de Ven decided on Thursday to adjourn the preliminary hearing in the so-called "Orca" trial until next week Tuesday, to consider requests of the defence for additional investigations and the hearing of witnesses.

It is not yet known when the actual court case will be heard, but in any case not before mid-January 2015; most likely in March or April 2015.

In the trial, Member of Parliament (MP) Patrick Illidge (48) will be charged with accepting bribes from Bada Bing and Lunteren N.V Read more

Former Ministers Fail To Submit Financial Declarations

PM unaware of blank filing by former Justice Minister Duncan St. Maarten – Not all ministers that left office after the fall of the second Wescot-Williams cabinet have filed a declaration of their assets and financial affairs, Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said at yesterday’s Council of Ministers press briefing. The General Audit Chamber stated in a report about institutional integrity in May that ministers who leave office have to submit a declaration “truthfully affirming which business interests and assets he, his spouse or partner and his children possess.” This rule is based on the National Ordinance Promotion Integrity of Ministers. The declaration has to include secondary functions and ancillary activities plus the compensation they receive for these activities Read more