People of St. Maarten, I hereby address you as Prime Minister and Chair of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), in an update for today, Monday, April 20, 2020 as part of the process to keep the community of St. Maarten informed about the latest developments and the Government’s COVID-19 containment, mitigation and response measures. COVID-19 Cases Based on the latest available data, the counts for April 20, as of 4:00 PM are as follows: Self-Quarantine: 98 (no new updates) Self-Isolation: 87 (no new updates) Number Hospitalized: 7 (based upon information received on April 19 at 5:30 PM) Number Tested: 249…
Author: The Publisher
Willemstad/Philipsburg – The Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) has recommended the governments of Curaçao and Sint Maarten to invoke article 36 of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in order to obtain aid from the Netherlands for financing the national budgets, safeguarding employment, and – if needed – financing the balance of payments. The foreign exchange reserves are managed by the CBCS, who must ensure a sufficient supply of foreign exchange for the unhampered execution of foreign transactions. By doing so, the confidence in the fixed peg of the NAf to the US dollar can…
“IN MEMORY OF THE LATE MR. LOUIS DUZANSON” PHILIPSBURG — Gracita Arrindell, former President of Parliament states that, “it is with deep sorrow we mourn the passing of our former colleague, the late Mr. Louis Duzanson, former head of the department of General affairs Island Territory St. Maarten.” “Mr. Duzanson was loved and highly respected by all who had the privilege to work and be trained by him for decades. He was particularly, skilled in document registration and archiving. His work went far beyond the correct and timely processing of documents traversing the corridors of the government apparatus. He was…
PHILIPSBURG — The Delegation of the European Union (EU) in Guyana, for Suriname and with responsibility for Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Saint-Barthélemy, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten is announcing a special facility to support the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) as they face the enormous resilience challenges that the COVID-19 crisis has further precipitated. The facility is an immediate response to help the OCTs as it has been incorporated into the existing EU-funded RESEMBID programme (Resilience, Sustainable Energy, and Marine Biodiversity Programme) for Caribbean OCTs which has been in operation from its base on St. Maarten and is implemented…
By Sanvi Ramrakhiani Every weekend Lisa goes to the seashore. She loves playing with sand, collecting sea shells and watching small fishes in the sea. She finds peace near water. One day she sees round-shaped eggs close to the seashore rocks. She wonders which creature’s eggs are those. She started coming everyday to the seashore in order to know which creature’s eggs were those. After two or three days she saw a turtle protecting the eggs and she understood the turtle is the mother of the eggs. She read about the metamorphosis process and this was a good time to…
PHILIPSBURG – Recently, international health organizations have called for the use of barrier masks to complement protective hygiene measures and social distancing rules to help slow the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). In an effort to provide as many barrier masks to St. Maarten residents as possible, the St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) has launched their Masks for the Masses project with the help of over 20 local seamstresses and tailors. Hobbyist and professional seamstresses and tailors offered to assist in producing approximately 1000 adult and child cloth face masks for those most in need of them. The intention is…
~ In solidarity with the pain and suffering that many on the island are enduring during this period, the Council of Ministers has decided that the flags at government buildings on St. Maarten will fly at half-mast until it has been determined that the country is out of the COVID-19 pandemic. ~ PHILIPSBURG — Based on advice from the Minister of Public Housing, Planning, Environment & Infrastructure (VROMI), the honorable Minister Egbert Jurendy Doran, flags at government buildings around the country will be flown at half-mast. This will be done in memory of the nine persons who tested positive for…
PHILIPSBURG — The Cul de Sac, Cole Bay and Little Bay areas are the districts on Dutch St. Maarten with a majority of persons who tested positive for the corona virus called COVID-19. Other areas with persons who have tested positive, reside in Simpson Bay, Upper Princess Quarter and Lower Princess Quarter. No positive cases of persons residing in Lowlands and Philipsburg have been recorded to date although they are persons who are or have been in self-quarantine and self-isolation in these areas at one point or another. This is according to information from government’s COVID-19 dashboard shared with members…
PHILIPSBURG – Companies that need help due to the effect of the corona-virus crisis can get several forms of assistance if the Netherlands honors the requests set forth in the ministry of finance’s Stimulus Plan. But that help comes with some red tape on different levels. The stimulus initiative proposes a 33 million guilders fund for soft loans. These loans are designated for companies with fewer than 550 employees and “a viable business plan.” What this exactly means remains unspecified and is therefore open for interpretation. In any event, here is what we understand about how to get payroll assistance…
CAY HILL — With the Mobile Medical Pavilion (MMP) and the ICU Hospitainer, both located across St. Maarten Medical Center at the basketball and tennis courts at Raoul Illidge Sport Complex, now fully operational, the next phase is to start preparing the transfer of COVID care to this area outside SMMC in order for the hospital to allow regular care and consultations to resume once the conditions of the lockdown allow for this to take place. “Last month, SMMC ceased elective medical procedures and consultations as part of the preventative measures SMMC’s Outbreak Management Team (OMT) implemented in order to…
