~ “Terrance Rey is a qualified, experienced, committed and passionate candidate” ~ PHILIPSBURG — The words qualified, experienced, committed and passionate describing the number 12 candidate on the Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) list is none other than Atwell Terrance Rey, a candidate with over 25 years of experience in business development, internet startups, e-commerce and technology; with over 15 years of experience in the travel, tourism and aviation sectors; and, most importantly, with a solid basis of 9 years of experience in Parliament and Government as Policy Adviser, serving from 2010 to 2012 in Parliament and from 2012 to…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – On Thursday St. Maarten goes to the polls for the fourth time since the island became an autonomous entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With 23,130 registered voters and an expected turnout of around 70 percent, winning one of the fifteen available seats in parliament requires approximately 1,080 votes. For the second time since the start of his political career United People’s party founder Theo Heyliger is not on any list. (The first time was 2010, when he saw no point in participating in the last elections for the parliament of the Netherlands Antilles). UP-stalwart Franklin Meyers…
PHILIPSBURG — As residents prepare to go out and cast their votes on election day, Thursday, January 9th, 2020, the Public Prosecutor’s Office Sint Maarten reminds the public at large about the country’s law on vote buying or selling. This practice is considered illegal by law and therefore the Public Prosecutor’s Office strongly advises residents to refrain from engaging in this practice. Article 2:44 in the law book of country Sint Maarten highlights vote buying as a felony and Article 2:45 elaborates on vote selling also as a felony. The Public Prosecutor’s Office encourages residents to learn the do’s and…
The question was raised when we published the achievements article about the SMCP on our front page outlining what the party did in Parliament during its 19 months’ term. Few parties if any can publish anything citing real achievements while in Parliament since 2018. If they can, we will be the first to publish it on our website. If we are lucky, even before Roddy Heyliger does so on his own news website. We are of the opinion that a party’s achievements in Parliament, at the election polls and elsewhere, is in direct proportion to its ability to be well-organized…
The Sint Maarten Christian Party was in Government (Council of Ministers) for 17 months namely from June 25, 2018, until November 19, 2019. Party leader, Wycliffe Smith, was sworn in as Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport as well as Acting Prime Minister and Acting Minister of General Affairs. In addition, Michael Somersall was sworn in as Acting Minister Plenipotentiary, representing Sint Maarten in The Hague. Both appointments were in keeping SMCP’s conditions such as being qualified and experienced for the job. What has the Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) accomplished during those 17 months in Government? Our worst…
~ Port calls on Stakeholders to Move Forward Together in 2020 in Offering New and Enhanced Experiences ~ PORT ST. MAARTEN – The Old Year ended with the destination receiving over 1.6 million cruise passengers (1,631,537) and 565 cruise ship calls in 2019. This is an increase of 2.2 per cent (34,436) over 2018 when the destination received 1,597,101 passengers and 490 cruise ship calls. Port St. Maarten for the past consecutive five years 2015-2019, has received annually over 1.5 million cruise passengers with the exception of 2017 due to the hurricanes, the number of passengers that year was 1,237,760.…
PHILIPSBURG — The Sint Maarten Christian Party, SMCP, learned that The Netherlands did offer to pay for the international election observers to visit Sint Maarten during this week’s election but that the Government has not yet taken up the Dutch on their offer. This is worrisome, because in an article, published in the Daily Herald on December 7th, 2019, Prime Minister Jacobs said that she had “absolutely no problem” with elections being observed as long as Sint Maarten did not have to pay. This is based on the liquidity position as country, Sint Maarten would not be able to bear…
Dear Editor, Many voters will be challenged to cast their vote in a manner that they are sure that they have selected the candidate most likely to advance their interests in the upcoming elections. This is because they will be unable to predict what the available options are likely to achieve. There is some evidence based on the past that will give some indication as to what they should be looking for to achieve their goals and I hope to summarize as follows. Most important is that they realize that they are really voting for a party and within this…
What has the Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) accomplished during its 19 months in Parliament and 17 months in Government? Our worst critics would say “nothing” while our best supporters would say “a lot!” The truth lies somewhere in between and in my assessment, it lies closer to “a lot”. Having been elected to Parliament, SMCP is obliged to give an account to the people for the time spent in office. Therefore, this article will deal with SMCP’s achievements and accomplishments in Parliament. Note that even prior to the elections in February 2018, SMCP had already begun to make a…
Dear Editor, Again, during another unfortunate election cycle, the environment, sustainable development and conservation are taking a backseat amidst the current political discourse engulfing our country. This despite our country needing to develop amidst the uncertainties which we will face due to a changing global climate. Sint Maarten needs a Green New Deal. Democrats in the American House are doing it. The European Parliament is in the process of implementing it, yet here we are on our beautiful rock in the Caribbean dragging our toes in the sand. During this ‘Silly Season’ of political discourse I have yet to come…
