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Only National Alliance Votes Against Ordinance: Parliament Establishes Integrity Chamber

St. Maarten – After everything was said and done yesterday, only the opposition faction of the National Alliance voted against the establishment of the Integrity Chamber. The United People’s party faction, having voiced serious opposition against the Dutch pressure on St. Maarten, withdrew all of the amendments it proposed to the law in June, and went along with a strategic proposal from opposition MP Sarah Wescot-Williams to accept the proposal the government put on the table Read more

Dutch Government wants to impose instruction on St. Maarten when it comes to establishing an Integrity Chamber --- Kingdom Council of State now has to decide.

style="text-align: center;">Ten MPs voted in favor of draft law to establish Integrity Chamber --- DP Faction Leader spearheaded the drafting and finalizing of law

PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten has to brace itself for a possible instruction in order to establish an integrity chamber on St. Maarten. Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson submitted the document to the Parliament of St. Maarten on Monday where the Dutch Government want Kingdom Council of State to grant them permission to impose a Kingdom measure on St Read more

Silent March Honors Officer Benjamin

Workers and officers take part in a silent march to show their solidarity with Officer Gamali Benjamin. Photo Today / Milton Pieters St. Maarten – More than 200 people marched the streets of Philipsburg yesterday in solidarity with the injured police Officer Gamali Benjamin. Nagico Insurances closed its doors at 3 p.m. and staff members walked with police officers and supporters to the spot on the Front Street were Benjamin was gunned down on Wednesday.

Emotions ran high and people were weeping and consoling each other on their way to the location Read more

UPP/De Weever/LMR/USP Coalition fall apart --- Master, and Lake pulls support.

style="text-align: center;">New Coalition Government in the making.

PHILIPSBURG:--- What appeared to be a rumor seemingly became a reality Tuesday night when it was announced on Online radio program that the current coalition government fell apart. According to information reaching SMN News states that Member of Parliament Silvio Matser, and Member of Parliament Maurice Lake has pulled their support from the current coalition and would join the National Alliance, Democratic Party and USP to form the next government Read more

Editorial - Something tangible

That the Parliament of St. Maarten has agreed to co-sign a letter to the First and Second Chambers of Parliament in the Netherlands on a kingdom dispute regulation (see related article) is in itself good news. After all, there is strength in numbers, so an initiative in combination with Curaçao and Aruba is bound to make a bigger impression than separate actions by each of the individual countries.

There was a bit of discussion about the letterhead, because the Dutch Caribbean is, of course, not a constitutional entity and has no shared legislature Read more

Parliament to co-sign letter on shelving of dispute regulation

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Parliament will be a co-signer along with the legislatures of Curaçao and Aruba on a letter to the First and Second Chambers of the Dutch Parliament, seeking that body’s position on the Dutch Government in effect shelving the establishment of a dispute regulation, and a related body for the kingdom.

The letter, drafted by the Curaçao Parliament, came after last month’s Kingdom Conference -a meeting of the countries of the kingdom- saw the Dutch Government putting up a road block on the issue Read more

Only 6 Of 22 Motions Since 2012 Yielded Results: Motions Carry The Day – But Only In Parliament

St. Maarten – The motions Members of Parliament submit during the annual budget debate seldom yield results. This newspaper examined 28 motions a host of parliamentarians tabled since 2012. With 22 of them successive government did absolutely nothing. Six of them yielded (some) results.

When governments fail to execute motions, parliament never retaliates. In the Netherlands, a cabinet that refuses or neglects to execute a motion that is carried by a majority in parliament, could lead to a cabinet crisis Read more

Government completes purchase of Vorst land

CAY HILL--Government is now the owner of prime real estate in Cay Hill. The final payments for the Vorst land were approved by the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet last week Thursday. The land is being registered by the notary as Government's property.

The land was first negotiated as a lease by former Minister William Marlin Read more

Marlin and NA are ‘outraged’ at Govt. handling of GEBE meeting

PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) fraction leader Member of Parliament (MP) William Marlin says on behalf of NA that he is "outraged at the manner in which the Government is handling the request for a meeting" on utilities company GEBE.

His comments come on the same day that a plenary session of Parliament about the ongoing dispute between the GEBE Supervisory Board and Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Managing Director Romelio Maduro about his position at the company was supposed to take place, but instead was "postponed until further notice" to allow Prime Minister/Acting Infrastructure Minister Marcel Gumbs to gather all relevant information/documents requested.

"We had requested an urgent meeting ever since May 10," Marlin told The Daily Herald Read more

Parliamentary Meeting On Gebe Postponed Indefinitely

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - The plenary session which was scheduled for Monday afternoon regarding developments at NV GEBE has been postponed until further notice.

The meeting was at the request of Members of Parliament of the National Alliance, namely Read more

$68K figure for GEBE payment ‘never received’

PHILIPSBURG--Alfred Harley says he and his company SXM Services Provider are being dragged through the mud in connection with the ongoing problems at utilities company GEBE.

Harley is particularly angry about the allegations that have been repeated in media outlets, in Parliament and in court that the company was receiving hefty payments approved by GEBE Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Managing Director Romelio Maduro, against the wishes and to an extent against the knowledge of GEBE's Supervisory Board.

One figure being cited is US $68,000, which seems to be the total amount the company needs to be paid, but has received in full Read more

Minister shares viewpoint, MPs to get GEBE answers Monday

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament’s plenary session on developments at utilities company GEBE, focusing on the ongoing dispute between the Supervisory Board and Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Managing Director Romelio Maduro about his position at the company, was adjourned to Monday afternoon, after Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Marcel Gumbs gave some perspective on Friday, but needed more documentation to answer questions posed by Members of Parliament (MPs).

The meeting was adjourned after Gumbs, as shareholder representative for the Government-owned company, gave a summarised overview of developments on the current dispute and questions were posed by National Alliance MPs William Marlin, Silveria Jacobs and Christophe Emmanuel Read more

Skeletons at GEBE Prompted Prime Minister to ask for closed door session -- MPs voted for it to be public session.

>PHILIPSBURG: --- Members of the public and the media almost got shut out of the urgent meeting that was called by the National Alliance Faction to discuss the developments at GEBE when the shareholder representative Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs asked that the meeting be held in closed doors due to a court decision that will be forthcoming on July 9th 2015 Read more

Plenary Session Of Parliament To Reconvene On Monday Regarding Developments At Nv Gebe

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The House of Parliament will meet in a public plenary session on June 29th.

The shareholder representative Acting Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Hon. Marcel Gumbs will be present for the session.

The reconvened plenary session is set for Monday at 2.00pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg Read more

Plenary Session of Parliament scheduled for Friday regarding developments at NV GEBE

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The House of Parliament will meet in a public plenary session on June 26th.  The shareholder representative Acting Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Hon. Marcel Gumbs will be present for the session.

  The plenary session is set for Friday at 1.00pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is developments related to NV GEBE and the position of the Managing Board and the position of the Chief Operations Officer.

This plenary session was requested by the National Alliance (NA)in Parliament, namely Members of Parliament (MPs) Hon Read more

An Integrity Committee is most definitely needed

Dear Editor,

Okay, I have read the document on the establishing of the Integrity Committee (IC) and I must say that I CANNOT DISAGREE MORE with my good friend MP Christophe Emmanuel. I do not think that the establishing of this Committee is "bad for business" unless it is the business of nepotism and corruption that have plagued us for the last 25 years.

I also believe that some of the comments made by many members of Parliament misrepresent what is actually in the document. I am not saying they are lying but they are taking a very extreme view of what powers the Committee actually have.

MP William Marlin in his comments stated that a simple relationship with a Minister or MP can disqualify you from a contract or job, which according to me is really stretching the meaning of the document Read more

Plenary Session of Parliament scheduled for Friday regarding developments at NV GEBE

>PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will meet in a public plenary session on June 26th. The shareholder representative Acting Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Hon. Marcel Gumbs will be present for the session.

The plenary session is set for Friday at 1.00pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is developments related to NV GEBE and the position of the Managing Board and the position of the Chief Operations Officer.

This plenary session was requested by the National Alliance (NA)in Parliament, namely Members of Parliament (MPs) Hon Read more

Plenary Session Of Parliament Scheduled For Friday Regarding Developments At Nv Gebe

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – The House of Parliament will meet in a public plenary session on June 26th.

The shareholder representative Acting Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Hon. Marcel Gumbs will be present for the session.

The plenary session is set for Friday at 1.00pm in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is developments related to NV GEBE and the position of the Managing Board and the position of the Chief Operations Officer.

This plenary session was requested by the National Alliance (NA)in Parliament, namely Members of Parliament (MPs) Hon Read more

Govt. back to drawing board with Integrity Chamber Law

PHILIPSBURG--Parliament has sent Government back to the drawing board with the controversial draft National Ordinance on the establishment of an Integrity Chamber for the country.

Parliament sending Government back to make changes was not unexpected, as the majority of MPs had voiced their discontent with the draft when it was tabled in the Central Committee of Parliament about two months ago.

The reworking of parts of the law means the deadline of June 30 for Parliament to handle the law as stated in a recent protocol with the Dutch Government will not be met Read more

>PHILIPSBURG: --- The chairman of Parliament MP Lloyd Richardson had to go back on his decision and remove an agenda point he added on Monday even though several Members of Parliament objected to the additional agenda point claiming that procedures were not followed.
MP De Weever asked the chair of Parliament to add the motion that was suspended in December 2013 which was to widen the scope of medical coverage for independent workers, namely bus drivers, taxi drivers and vendors.
When the motion was in parliament it had to be suspended when it became clear that there was no law in place to support the motion.
MP William Marlin was the first MP to object to the chairman’s decision citing that procedures were not being followed, Marlin even ask the chairman of parliament if the Parliament of St Read more

style="text-align: center;">Will MP Meyers be living on his Knees or will he die Standing?

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Christopher Emmanuel did not mingle with words during the parliamentary debate on the establishment of an integrity chamber on St. Maarten that was held on Monday. MP Emmanuel said that people need to stop blaming the Dutch for everything and blame the person that places the country in the position it is now Read more

style="text-align: center;">Was St. Maarten’s Entities Consulted --- MP Leona Romeo Marlin.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of National Alliance and Member of Parliament William Marlin asked several questions regarding the protocol Minister Dennis Richardson signed on May 23rd with the Dutch Government on the establishment of an integrity chamber Read more

Marlin: naturalization exam in Dutch is ‘discriminatory’

PHILIPSBURG--“Discriminatory” is how National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament William Marlin has described the naturalization process that requires passing tests in the Dutch language in order to gain Dutch citizenship.

Marlin said in Tuesday’s meeting of Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Inter-Parliamentary Affairs and Kingdom Relations that the situation warrants looking into by MPs possibly at the Inter-Parliamentary Kingdom Consultations IPKO next year.

“It is discrimination that only the Dutch language is applicable Read more

EXCLUSIVE: Removal of Justice Minister Dennis Richardson will bring possible Shake up in Government

style="text-align: center;">Will Council of Ministers be getting a motion of non-confidence?

PHILIPSBURG:--- The removal of Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson by Member of Parliament Frans Richardson will bring about a possible shake up in the five member Government. SMN News has been reliably informed that Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs already indicated to several persons that should Minister Richardson be removed from office he will tender his resignation Read more