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Author: The Publisher
GREAT BAY — St. Maarten celebrated its 157th anniversary of the Emancipation from slavery with the theme Carrying the torch of the sacred legacy of emancipation. In his speech, Governor of St. Maarten Drs. Eugene Holiday spoke of the emancipation proclamation that came into effect abolishing slavery on July 1, 1863. He stated that “the Emancipation Proclamation marked the trial for the indomitable will of the enslaved men and women on St. Maarten to be free. The triumph which forever redefined our collective destiny and one St. Maarten people,” said Governor Holiday. He described the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation that is…
Believe it or not, there exists an airport called Jackass Aeropark, although it is no longer in use. It is situated northwest of Las Vegas and was named after an area in the Amargosa Valley where wild jackasses once gathered to graze. It was initially listed on the charts with an unpaved runway of first 4,700ft, then 5,000ft, although no one seemed to know how it grew. (Maybe it was because all of a sudden there were two unpaved runways…) Then it was not depicted at all; perhaps it had been closed for unknown reasons. You would think that this…
GREAT BAY/PHILIPSBURG — There is a movement spearheaded by a group of concerned citizens in the community headed by Joseph Lake to rename St. Maarten’s capital from Philipsburg to Great Bay. According to the author and political analyst Joseph Lake, the group has presented a petition to the Chairman of Parliament Rolando Bryson on Friday. Lake explained that one of the reasons for the name change was because John Philips, who the capital was named after, was a slave owner, and the name Philipsburg means Philips town. Lake stated that although John Philips died more than 300 years ago, we…
PHILIPSBURG — Not paying civil servants their full vacation allowance is unlawful, the General Audit Chamber’s chairlady ad-interim Sheryl Peterson writes in a letter to Finance Minister Ardwell Irion. However, if negotiations with the unions result in a justified cut in the vacation allowance, the Audit Chamber is prepared to accept the measure as a matter of solidarity. The government wants to pay out only 50 percent of the 2020 vacation allowance as a part of its efforts to cut the remuneration for civil servants by 12.5 percent; this is a requirement from the Kingdom for receiving continued liquidity support.…
PHILIPSBURG – The Dutch parliament approved the motion of Chris van Dam that asks the Kingdom Council of Ministers to take control of the Pointe Blanche prison for the next five years with a large majority on Tuesday. How State Secretary Drs. Raymond Knops is going to execute the motion remains unclear; Knops said last week that this would involve intervening in St. Maarten’s internal affairs. Attorney Geert Hatzmann, the Dean of the local Bar Association has welcomed the motion’s approval. “The essence of this motion is that the Pointe Blanche dossier is taken away from St. Maarten and that…
PHILIPSBURG — The highly anticipated opening of the Princess Juliana International Airport on July 1, has been deferred to July 15, 2020. The Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs and Telecommunications Ludmila De Weever announced this at a virtual press conference on Tuesday afternoon. She said that the original plan was to open up to the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, the United States, Canada and the European Union. However, because of changes that took place in just a few days regarding the United States, they have decided…
Who is the victim and who is the victimizer? Who’s playtoy in who’s playpen on whose plantation? Country ST.Maarten has been developed as the CARBON COPY of ST.Maarten back in the days of slavery. The roles of the slave masters have been taken over by their descendants. Whereas the slave descendants are chiefly the working class in today’s society. Today’s era is called: modern economic slavery. The “wealth” oops wicked and worthless division is best identified and summarized as: The FORTUNATE FAVOURITE FEW owns practically everything and while predominantly the slave descendants actually fuel the booming, blooming and bustling economy…
By Hilbert Haar Edwin James is at it again. This time he is tackling what he calls media houses for not asking the right questions of talking heads they invite to their programs. Gotta give the guy some respect because he is hitting the nail on the head, though my impression is that he is specifically referring to radio talk shows.
By Hilbert Haar If I understand the letter from Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte correctly she prefers to have discussions with her “colleague” Rutte or with the Minister of Home Affairs, Kajsa Ollongren. This, after a meeting with the State Secretary for Kingdom Relations, Drs. Raymond Knops, did not go according to Jacobs’ wishes. Jacobs did not mention the term respect in her letter to Rutte but it was bubbling under the surface due to the use of expressions like an “unpleasant tone that we do not appreciate.” Apparently Knops was rather blunt and Jacobs…
