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…
Author: The Publisher
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…
Dear Editor, Sint Maarten became an autonomous country on October 10, 2010. This year, we will be celebrating ten years of its existence. I am proud that we have reached thus far, yet, I would like to bring the following forward. At its birth, Sint Maarten was, as it were, a baby country. A country in its beginning stages. In order to grow and become mature, nation-building is necessary. Many boasts of Sint Maarten’s economy and thereby declare that we are successful in comparison to the neighboring countries and other parts of the world. But…are we really successful? How is…
Philipsburg — On Friday, December 20, 2019, the Members of the Committee of Civil Servants Union (CCSU) received a request, from the Honorable Minister of Justice, to approve the proposed amendments to the National Decree “Besluit rechtspositie Korps Politie Sint Maarten”. Based on article 112h of the “Landsverordening materieel ambtenarenrecht”, the CCSU has to grant its approval in order for the Minister of Justice to proceed with the proposal to amend the National Decree, to establish the new salary scales for the St. Maarten Police Department. After a careful review of the requisite documentation that was submitted, the proposed amendments…
PHILIPSBURG — As of January 2020, the St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) will consist of a full team of dynamic young women, with twenty-nine-year-old Melanie Choisy joining the social development agency. Choisy, a well-known St. Martiner, will be joining the Fund as the new Program and Development Manager. In her new role, Choisy will serve as SMDF’s primary liaison with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs). As SMDF’s newest staff member, Choisy will be bringing her numerous years of working throughout St. Maarten’s NGO community. Since graduating from the University of Miami with a Bachelors of Arts degrees in International Development and…
~ Party manifesto available for download here ~ PHILIPSBURG – With its 17-page manifesto the Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) heads with confidence into the parliamentary elections on January 9. “SMCP expects to be involved in forming the government,” the document states. The manifesto is organized in four sections; the first one describes the party, the second one the party’s vision for St. Maarten, the third one covers topics related to parliament and the fourth section is about controversial issues. The party’s philosophy is based on universal Christian values and it therefore aims to “restore and promote accountability, transparency, integrity…
By Harriot Voncken PHILIPSBURG — Citizens who believe a notary has not complied with the rules and therefore wish to submit a complaint cannot turn to the Chamber of Notaries. This professional body in charge of supervising notaries is not active; this is because since 2010, the Chamber has not had a notary member. Someone who is disadvantaged by this is Demitrus Marlin. He already filed a complaint in 2015 against a notary but that was not dealt with at the time. He also sent a letter to the Governor of St. Maarten that year about the absence of the…
~ Makhicia Brooks to become Managing Director ~ PHILIPSBURG — St. Maarten’s first and only social development NGO funding agency, the St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF), bids farewell to the Fund’s first Managing Director Keith Franca after his seven-year tenure as Director. In his first months as Managing Director, Franca prioritized SMDF’s proper structuring, sought to ensure that SMDF had the information, resources and infrastructure necessary to efficiently and effectively serve St. Maarten’s NGO community. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with SMDF’s NGO financing predecessor the Antilliaanse Medefinancieringsorganisatie (AMFO). A Fund Management Agreement (FMA) was executed with the…
PHILIPSBURG — The Police Patrol and Fire department was alerted to a serious traffic accident that took place on L.B. Scott Road December 30th 2019 around 11:30pm. According to the information gathered, both the Mitsubishi Lancer and the Hyundai I-10 were traveling in the same direction, on L.B Scott Road heading in the direction of the Emilio Wilson Park, when the driver of the Lancer made a left turn to go onto the Flamboyant Road. The driver of the Hyundai I-10 was overtaking at the same time, and collided with the back part of the Lancer who was making the…
Cay Hill – St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) has officially handed over the grounds where the construction will take place to INSO, the general contractor for the construction of the new St. Maarten General Hospital (SMGH). “This marks the official start of the construction as INSO has met all of its obligations set forth in the addendum to the original construction contract which has been approved by the consortium of lenders”, Kees Klarenbeek, Chairman of SMMC’s Board of Directors enthusiastically stated. “It is about a year ago that we had our groundbreaking ceremony and a lot of work has been…
