~ St. Maarten key to cruise line’s deployment strategies ~ PORT ST. MAARTEN – Port St. Maarten Management has had positive discussions with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) with respect to future itinerary calls to the destination. The one-on-one meeting took place with the cruise company’s executives, Federico Gonzalez-Denton, Vice President Destination Development, Latin America & Caribbean and Russell Benford, Vice President Government Relations, Americas. These one-on-one discussions took place on Thursday at the Caribbean’s largest and only official Cruise Conference and Trade Show in the region, the 26th Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), which is taking place from October 21…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – “I am completely innocent of these trumped-up charges,” National Alliance MP Christophe Emmanuel said in an interview with 721news anchor Gromyko Wilson, shortly after he was released from custody. Emmanuel added that the timing of his arrest is suspicious and that “everything is going well with the screening process.” Emmanuel is most likely formateur Silveria Jacobs’ preferred candidate for the position of minister of Public Health, Labor and Social Affairs (VSA). His arrest could potentially throw a spanner in the works. Emmanuel’s attorney Zylena Bary did most of the talking in the interview. “The prosecutor’s office is there…
By Hilbert Haar The Christophe Emmanuel case begs a lot of questions. The first one is of course whether a crime was committed at all. From the currently available information it is hard to answer this question one way or the other. Emmanuel’s attorney Zylena Bary has a point when she says that the Prosecutor’s Office is not there to deal with government policies. The prosecutor’s office deals with crimes. After the MP’s arrest, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement that suspicions against Emmanuel and his former Chief of Staff Marisha Richardson have to do with “abuse of function…
By Hilbert Haar On August 29, 2017, I wrote an opinion about Parlatino for the Today newspaper that contains the following paragraphs. “The ties between the island – via the former Netherlands Antilles – and Parlatino are old: they go back to 1964, so feel free to do the math. And what has Parlatino ever brought to St. Maarten? Good question and we feel that it is time for our elected representatives to take a serious look at this matter and ask themselves whether a continued membership of Parlatino serves any purpose. We have never come across a report from…
PHILIPSBURG — Knockoffs of popular brands, including Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel, are being sold on the market in Philipsburg, in stores in Backstreet and Frontstreet, and online to customers on the island. “St. Maarten is a free port and transit port for counterfeits,” says lawyer Wiek Herben, who represents Louis Vuitton. The loss in retail value amounts to tens of millions of dollars. Louis Vuitton products holds the top spot in luxury goods being counterfeited. Herben, partner at Liance Law firm in Curaçao, took steps against different business owners and market vendors on St. Maarten on behalf of Disosa…
PHILIPSBURG — In celebration of Book Week 2019 the Police force KPSM was invited to read for students of the primary schools on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of October 2019. Inspectors Leonard and S. Crispulo took up the challenge and organize other officers to read to the students of the Martin Luther King Jr. School. Different books in English and Dutch were read to the students of the school. Special thanks goes out to the management of the Martin Luther Primary School and all the other police officers who gave up their time to assist and read to the…
PHILIPSBURG — On Friday, October 25 at 11:00 AM the Ombudsman released the short film to complement the report: ‘Home Repair. A revelation of a social crisis’. The turnout at the Bureau was successful. Many of the persons who were filmed were present as well as other invited guests such as: the former Ombudsman, Dr. Nilda Arduin, Director of The National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB), Mr. Claret Connor, representatives of the Sint Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF), Sint Maarten Anti-Poverty Platform/Consumer Coalition, Sint Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) and Dr. J. Enterprises. The film depicts the challenges that persons are still…
~ Wants status update of government lease land agreement with Denicio Wyatte ~ PHILIPSBURG — MP Claude ‘Chacho’ Peterson, together with four of his parliamentary colleagues, is requesting an urgent meeting of Parliament regarding the government lease land agreement with agriculture specialist Denicio Wyatte and also requests the presence of VROMI minister Christopher Wever and ‘Acting Head’ of Domain Affairs Raeyhon Peterson. According to a letter dated October 23rd, 2019, and undersigned by MPs Claude Peterson, Sarah Wescot-Williams, Tamara Leonard, Jules James and Sidharth Bijlani, an urgent meeting of Parliament is requested to be convened with the following agenda point:…
PHILIPBURG — The preliminary hearing in the CATFISH investigation took place today in court. The Public Prosecution Service is demanding a prison sentence of 12 months of which 6 months’ are conditional for suspect Theodore E. Heyliger. The prosecution is demanding co-suspect J.M.S., be held liable for complicity in the attempt to bribe then Member of Parliament Romain Laville. The Prosecution is demanding a community service of 120 hours of which 60 hours should be conditional for suspect J.M.S. The Public Prosecution Service is also demanding that both suspects be prohibited from running for office for the duration of 5…
CUL-DE-SAC — The Traffic Department and Police Patrol were dispatched to the L.B. Scott Road early Wednesday morning around 7 am for a traffic accident where two minors were struck by a car. According to the information gathered, the two students were hit by the driver of a black Elantra with the number plate M-5454 while crossing the L.B Scott road near the Star Mart gas station. One student, age 13, suffered minor injuries and was treated on the scene. The other student, a 16 year old, was transported by ambulance to the St. Maarten Medical Center for treatment due…
