PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten appears not to be the brightest bulb on Broadway where securing funding from the European Development fund (EDF) is concerned. But the relationship between St. Maarten – with its status as OCT (Overseas Country and Territory) – and the European Union remains intact. The Union has committed to support its OCTs for the next seven years (2021-2027). Therefore there is time for St. Maarten to clean up its act and become a more active and successful participant in the battle for EU-millions. In December of last year, the EU hosted a virtual OCT-Forum. The news there…
Author: The Publisher
Philipsburg – “It is truly remarkable how the people of St. Maarten had to be subjected to media reports of another groundbreaking ceremony at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) without a single mention of US Pre-Clearance,” remarked Stuart Johnson former Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication (TEATT). “When last has the committee for US Pre-Clearance had a meeting? What is the vision and position of the NA/UP Coalition Government regarding US Pre-Clearance? Have the collective individual positions of the various supporting Members of Parliament (MPs) changed or what is their view now? Have there been any developments…
~ WordFun: collect letters to win amazing prizes – The end-of-year prize-fest from Fun Miles & partners ~PHILIPSBURG – The word is out: Fun Miles cardholders should brace themselves for a stunning amount of prizes in the new end-of-year campaign: WordFun. Grand prizes include a full year operational lease of a brand-new Toyota Corolla Cross from Real Auto (including a full year of insurance from ENNIA and fuel from Petro Plus), 2 tickets to Curaçao from JetAir and more. The game is easy: shop at the Fun Partners, collect WordFun cards with letter tiles and form the required words on…
PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten misses out on millions of European subsidies because the government is unable – or incapable, or unwilling – to write the proper project proposals that would unlock these funds. A column published on the website dossierkoninkrijksrelaties.nl under the headline Message from Sint Maarten, written by StMaartenNews.com publisher Terrance Rey, examines this rather baffling phenomenon. The column mentions a €14 million ($16.2 million) subsidy for the establishment of a polytechnic university on the island and a €4 million ($4.6 million) subsidy for an aquaponics project. The university never materialized because the government failed to submit the required…
PHILIPSBURG — The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) is hard at work preparing for the local shows of Carnival 2022 and over the weekend announced the prizes and main approach for the Carnival Queen Pageants. All four of the SCDF’s pageants are on the schedule for Carnival 2022: The Junior, Teen, Senior and Mature Carnival Queen Pageants. Vice President of the SCDF Paula Gordon (right in photo), who is also the Pageant Coordinator, explained that in a typical Carnival year, the biggest challenge for pageant contestants is raising funds for pageant preparations. “This is definitely not a typical year…
PHILIPSBURG — After a hiatus of two years Carnival is once again on the calendar for 2022. The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) announced 24 days of Carnival events, beginning with the opening of the Carnival Village on April 16 and ending with the burning of King Momo on May 3. Before the opening of the village there are five pre-Carnival events. The SCDF will establish strict COVID-19 protocols to protect revelers against infection and it has scrapped all jump-ups and Jouvert morning. The only road events are the Children Parade (April 17) and the Grand Carnival Parade (May…
PHILIPSBURG — The Sol Group has committed to a $66 million investment in the St. Maarten economy between 2015 and 2025, through capital investment and community support, General Manager Robert-Jan James stated in a press release. “We are excited by the opportunity to play a key role in enabling sustainable energy solutions in St. Maarten now and for generations.” The company is the leading provider of energy solutions in the Caribbean. At the recent Carilec (Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation) conference, Sol announced the introduction of Ecolution, promising to deliver on its commitment “to energize the communities we serve by…
PHILIPSBURG — The landfill on Pond Island, commonly referred to as the dump, remains a bone of contention now that 200 residents who live near it have to be relocated. The government has done basically nothing about the health hazards the dump represents, nor has it addressed the deplorable housing conditions of the residents that will sooner or later have to go and live elsewhere. Chantelle Jessurun, daugther of St. Maarten Consumers Coalition’s (SMCC) co-coordinator Drs. Raymond Jessurun, prepared a policy brief for the Social Economic Council (SER) that contains a few key recommendations for the government. The brief recommends…
PHILIPSBURG — Chantelle Jessurun, a former student of the Hillside Christian School and a graduate of Milton Peters College, obtained her Masters of Science degree in International Development Studies at Utrecht University on September 30, 2021. The daughter of Drs. Raymond Jessurun, the co-coordinator of the St. Maarten Consumers Coalition made an impact in St. Maarten already, as the author of a policy brief for the Social Economic Council about the dump. Chantelle worked as a research intern at the SER from February until July of this year. During that time she put together the policy brief after conducting ethnographic…
WILLEMSTAD — “The plaintiffs present circumstances that are incorrect, in violation of the law or otherwise simply made up,” attorneys Karan Doekhi and Mirto Murray said on the second day of the lawsuit the ENNIA Group and the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) have brought against majority shareholder Hushang Ansary and former board members of the insurance company. ENNIA claims damages for an amount of at least 854 million guilders (around $477 million) from the defendants. The court is expected to rule on the dispute within six to eight weeks, the Antilliaans Dagblad reported on Saturday. Doekhi…
