~ Population reminded to step-up with handwashing and cough/sneeze etiquettes ~ POND ISLAND — The Prime Minister Hon. Silveria Jacobs on Sunday morning activated the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in connection with two confirmed cases of the coronavirus COVID-19 on French Saint Martin. These persons are currently in isolation at the Hospital on the French side and will remain there for 14-days according to the Prefecture. The EOC chaired by the Prime Minister has been activated to continue with the preparedness, response and mitigation measures that need to be taken in connection with the coronavirus COVID-19 and will continue to…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — The Director of Prisons Alwin Keli has been fired from his post. This was confirmed by Minister of Justice Egbert Doran during the Council of Ministers Press conference of Wednesday morning. When questioned about the reasons for the removal of the Director of the Prisons, the Justice Minister did not give any valid reasons but stated that there is a management team at the prison, which will be able to carry through with the process of the reconstruction of the Pointe Blanche prison. He pointed out that there will be no interruption of the management of the prison…
PHILIPSBURG — Police Inspector Ketura Brown has been appointed as the Acting Secretary General for the Ministry of Justice. Justice Minister Egbert Doran in announcing the appointment stated that this comes in the wake of the resignation of the former Secretary General Russel Ursula. Inspector Brown is a career law enforcement officer who joined the ranks of the Police Korps at a tender age and worked her way up through the ranks to the rank of Inspector. Prior to taking up the appointment as Acting Secretary General at the Ministry of Justice, she was appointed to a position at the…
Dear Editor StMaartenNews.com, My wife and I have visited St. Maarten to vacation (at least once each year) for more than 23 years. We love the island and even visited in December 2017 to show our support and make a small contribution to the island’s post-hurricane recovery. Our last visits were in December 2019 and again earlier this month, February 2020. We have seen reasonably good recovery to restaurants and other facilities important to tourists on both the Dutch and French sides, but continue to be disappointed by the slow rebuilding of the island’s most critical infrastructure, the airport. Realizing…
PHILIPSBURG — The Dutch Quarter road project which was stopped several months ago may restart next month. Presently, there are ongoing discussions between the representatives of VROMI, government and the contractor on the project. Minister responsible for VROMI, Christopher Wever, said that the project should start in early March as soon as they are able to “finalize certain details and sign off on the contract, which is also a positive situation,” said Wever. He noted that with the starting of the project, it could only be positive for the people because it is the local contractors who are doing the…
PHILIPSBURG — A former general manager of Curaçao’s Isla refinery asked 5 million dollars in bribes from a Dutch company that wanted to become the new operator of the state-owned plant. The money was never paid. Instead, Count Energy Trading from Rotterdam reported the bribe attempts. The judge has sentenced former Isla-director Roderick van Kwartel to three years in jail. Van Kwartel did not act alone. A company consultant and two employees of the refinery were also served jail sentences, 2.5 years each. The former general manager and accomplices argued at the hearing that they were innocent of bribery because…
PHILIPSBURG – The parliament seems to be getting ready for changes to the legislation that regulates the screening of candidate-ministers. Draft legislation prepared by the government is currently under legal in-house review and an initiative law tabled back in the day by former MP Leroy de Weever is waiting for handling by the legislators, though it seems likely that the two proposals will be merged into one. Parliament debated the issue on Friday, where Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs answered questions MPs had asked in a previous meeting. Jacobs said that prior to 1994 commissioners in the executive council of what…
~Law Enforcement Council sounds alarm ~ PHILIPSBURG – Despite the fact that all stakeholders agree on the necessity for adequate victim support, St. Maarten still has no victim support office or any structural form of support for crime victims. The Law Enforcement Council is sounding the alarm. Since 2012, the Council has, in multiple reports – including its initial report: ‘Victim support in St. Maarten’, the ‘State of law enforcement’ and in the meantime, two review inspections – tried to draw attention to the importance and urgency of setting up and arranging victim support. In that context, the Council has…
by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert Isn’t amazing that hardly anyone in a business or office environment really dares to say loudly and openly “Hey, what’s going on?” What does that have to do with business or an office? Nothing! What does it have to do with us? Everything! We may be servants, entrepreneurs, professionals or politicians, yet, we are also humans. We are dealing with customers or constituents who are also people, just like us. We all have feelings, don’t we? Or, am I missing something? It is important to express yourself openly. As I’m working at my laptop I have…
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – On Friday, February 21, 2020 Members of Parliament participated in an informative meeting with SZV at the offices of SZV at Harbour View, as part of the Orientation for (new) Members of Parliament. The goal of this meeting was primarily to provide Members with information in an effort to better equip them in the execution of their duties. Furthermore, the meeting was aimed at gaining a better understanding of the structure, the relationship with Government and Parliament and the current plans of SZV. The meeting kicked off with a power point presentation by the Director of…
