Dear Editor, In these challenging times, we must come together to help our country of St. Maarten and her people get through yet another crisis. The impact of COVID-19 on St. Maarten likely will be far more devastating than the destructive impact of Hurricane Irma – or prior disasters – and we must act in unison…quickly and firmly. When we compare the impact of COVID-19 to our experience with hurricanes, our country will suffer more deeply on every level. Yet, there are many lessons that I learned as Minister of Health, Labor and Social Development and that we discovered together…
Author: The Publisher
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) advises the countries within the Kingdom not to proceed to a complete lockdown. Despite the increase in the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the Netherlands, it is important, according to the Government Advisor, to keep some social life possible. However, irresponsible behavior by people who do not practice social distancing can still lead to a complete shutdown of social life. The RIVM argues that the Coronavirus epidemic can no longer be contained and could always resurge again in the future. Putting everyone under lockdown provides health benefits in the…
By Hilbert Haar Amazing the things you discover when you are locked up in your house. It’s not that I’m bored but I found out that the balcony in front of my bedroom is 22 tiles long and ten tiles wide. Each tile measures twenty by twenty centimeters. Do the math: my balcony is 8.8 square meters. In the living room and kitchen area the tiles are 30×30. With 34 tiles in length and 12 in width this space is almost 38 square meters. And then I have a bedroom of – wild guess – 20 square meters and a…
ST. PETERS — Wastefactory Sint Maarten, in collaboration with the annual SXM DOET project, installed two recycling bins in the community of St. Peters. The St. Peters Emergency Organization Group (SPEOG),via a press release, would like to extend words of thanks to Wastefactory Sint Maarten and Tes Verheij for the stationing of two recycling bins for HDPE and PET single use plastic bottles that are cleaned and rinsed. The bins are located at the Rupert Maynard Community Center just outside the basketball court. Both recycling bins for this project were donated by IGY Marinas (St. Maarten), the press release stated.…
by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert Archeologist Professore Anzio de Castamilliana y Fonsata, when excavating in the Central American region of San Ramador, recently found a Mayan tablet with inscriptions. He was able to decipher them with Google Translator. The translated text contained predictions of the future; one of them suggesting that 2020 would be the year of a tectonic shift. I knew that I could only get your attention with this headline and introduction. Currently, there is so much reported on ‘THE’ virus that there is hardly space left for anything else. If you didn’t already figure it out, you should…
PHILIPSBURG — Following a request from the Government of Sint Maarten and a rapid technical review by the World Bank, the Netherlands-financed Sint Maarten Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience Trust Fund has immediately approved US$3.6 million to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This support complements the assistance from the Netherlands’ Ministry of Public Health (WVS). This fast-track approval of the additional financing from the Trust Fund resources will allow the Sint Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) to immediately purchase necessary medical equipment, supplies and pharmaceuticals under the existing Hospital Resiliency and Preparedness Project. Pharmaceutical orders have been placed and SMMC, with support…
Not all catastrophes produce a Renaissance. It is striking how big the problems for the private sector already are. The middle class, the backbone of the economy, is in danger of collapsing under the pressure of political measures related to COVID-19. The forced closure of shops and businesses provide health benefits in the short term, but will promote poverty, hunger and crime on the island. Just like that, dozens of Front Street vendors have lost their jobs. The day after it was announced that cruise passengers would no longer come ashore, numerous sales assistants were told by their employer that…
PHILIPSBURG – De behandeling van een groot aantal rechtszaken is uitgesteld omwille van COVID-19. Strafzaken die de komende week wel doorgang vinden, zijn niet langer openbaar. “De behandeling vindt plaats achter gesloten deuren, zonder publiek,” zegt strafrechter Jorgen Snitker. Snitker is een van vijf rechters op St. Maarten, hij behandelt strafzaken in eerste aanleg. De eerstvolgende zitting is volgende week woensdag. Op de rol staan urgente zaken, aldus de rechter, die aangeeft dat alleen die zaken worden behandeld waarbij een eventuele straf ten uitvoer kan worden gebracht. Indien de maatregelen rondom COVID-19 dit beletten, wordt de zaak uitgesteld. De 37…
PHILIPSBURG — The handling of a large number of lawsuits has been postponed due to COVID-19. Criminal cases that will continue in the coming week are no longer public. “The treatment takes place behind closed doors, without an audience,” said criminal judge Jorgen Snitker. Snitker is one of five judges on St. Maarten. The Court of First Instance will hear criminal cases next Wednesday. The judge explains that only those cases where a possible sentence can be executed are being handled. If the measures surrounding COVID-19 prevent this, the case will be postponed. The 37 prisoners in Point Blanche who…
PHILIPSBURG – Less than a year after Canadian tourist Sylvain Valade (see photo) died during an armed robbery near the Drift Wood Bar on Beacon Hill Road, the Court in First Instance sentenced his killer, 19-year old Guy Mathurin Samedi to 18 years in prison. Of his two accomplices, Keeano Hastin Shandon Richardson (20) received the heaviest punishment: a 4-year prison sentence. The other one, identified because of his age only as J.S.E., was just sixteen at the time of the fatal robbery. The court sentenced him to 24 months of youth detention of which 14 months are suspended. The…
