PHILIPSBURG — The Police of Sint Maarten (KPSM) has been continuously working towards putting a halt to the increase in car thefts taking place on both sides of the island. A meeting between KPSM and our French counterparts was held last week to discuss the vehicles that had been previously seized by KPSM over the past days but were reported stolen via the French side. Law enforcements from both sides of the island have intensifying controls on all vehicles. A team consisting of several specialized officers has been put together to carry specific tasks to, conduct controls at various locations…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — The board of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) on Monday said it stands behind USP MP and faction leader Claudius Buncamper in calling for a fair trial for his latest fight with the prosecuting authority on St. Maarten and questioned when is St. Maarten going to say enough is enough to underhanded tactics used by prosecuting authorities apparently on a mission to ruin every elected representative. The USP board said the 23 million price tag at the disposal of the prosecutors has yielded very little in terms of a serious conviction rate because cases of the prosecutors…
PHILIPSBURG – The government’s towing and parking policy is a mess, and in parts nonexistent, and the public prosecutor’s office has failed to collect approximately 1.3 million guilders ($758,855) in fines over the years 2015-2019. This appears from an investigation by the office of the Ombudsman into the towing policy of the police force. The amount of uncollected fines is an approximate because the data are incomplete. For 2015 and 2018 the value of issued fines is unavailable and for 2017 there are no data at all. We used the average collection result of 2019 (56 percent) and the average…
~ The SCDF would like to issue the following statement in response to comments made today by the Minister of TEATT and PM ~ PHILIPSBURG — The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) on Wednesday said its responsibility is to always prepare for Carnival, the island’s biggest festival and it will continue to do so until it is clear that it cannot execute Carnival 2021 based on the plan it has developed for a safe festival. The foundation said while the Prime Minister and Minister of TEATT are free to comment as they see fit, the public should also be…
~ How to deal with litterbugs? ~ What do you do when you see people littering? ~ Many people are seen littering the streets and beaches despite there being bins for the same. Throwing light on this, we interviewed people responsible for throwing trash and also those who pick up someone else’s trash. “It’s a daily recurring headache, I’m really tired of it,” says a beach chair owner at Kimsha Beach. “Beer bottles, plastic cups, foam containers, the beach is littered with them every morning. That rubbish does not come from tourists, because there are hardly any. No. Locals, who…
ST. PETER’S — TelEm’s Fiber to Home project is a source of contention for local workers. In St. Peters, the hiring of illegal immigrants by contractors led to protests in the neighborhood. Residents who years ago laid the cables for telephone and internet in their neighborhoods, now have to watch with sorrow how strangers dig trenches and draw cables in every street. “This is our job,” says a man who grew up in St. Peters. Angry: “How is it possible that not we, but foreigners get the work? We know exactly where all the cables are located in the area,…
PHILIPSBURG — On Tuesday, Member of Parliament, (MP) Claudius Buncamper, of the United St. Maarten Party (USP) faction in Parliament, sent a letter to Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs addressing the local sub-contractors who were left without payment for works they carried out for MER Sint Maarten B.V., the company contracted by TELEM. “The local contractors have been left hanging with huge unpaid invoices”, MP Buncamper stated in his letter to the PM. Some of the local contractors have taken MER Sint Maarten to court and won their cases, but there are no assets and no money that can be seized…
PHILIPSBURG — A 27-year-old man with the initials M.B is now in police custody, after being shot in the leg while officers were responding to reports of a possible breaking and entering at a used car dealership in the Cole Bay area on Sunday, November 29th, 2020. The Police dispatch center received several calls regarding persons being spotted breaking into and damaging cars at the car lot location. Patrols rushed to the scene and were approached by one of the managers of the dealership. They were informed that the security had seen several unknown persons stealing parts from the vehicles…
ST. PETER’S — On Sunday, 29th November, 2020 at around 5:30pm, the Police Dispatch Center received information that a man was found not showing any signs of life along a hiking trail on St. Peter’s hill. Patrols, Fire, and Ambulance personnel were dispatched to the area. Upon arrival the officers and the fire personnel encountered the male, after checking his vital signs, he was carried up the hill, where ambulance personnel was waiting to take over. The doctor was called to the scene to officially pronounces the victim dead. After a brief investigation, it was later concluded that he died…
PHILIPSBURG – Justice Minister Egbert Doran was “unreasonable” when he decided to fire Pointe Blanche Prison Director Alwin Keli per March 24, 2020. The Court in First Instance ruled on November 20 that the country has to pay Keli 55,904 guilders ($31,231) plus de equivalent value of unused vacation days and the accompanying vacation allowance. The government also has to pay the costs of the court procedure, an amount of around 1,775 guilders ($992). The court declared its ruling executable with immediate effect. Minister Doran gave Keli a warning on February 6, 2020, and already the next day he announced…
