PHILIPSBURG — MP Rolando Brison on Tuesday stressed that he wants to see police officers paid before Christmas 2019. The MP said the funds derived from the sale of St. Maarten’s shares in UTS which he facilitated through the related initiative law, has been reserved for the police officers. “So they should get paid sooner rather than later. The police officers have been waiting over a decade, this must happen now,” MP Bison said. He said although the Minister of Finance confirmed that the sale of UTS has been completed and the funds reserved, “this is still not enough for…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — Joint concerns about the lack of prison cells and the poor quality of prison life on Sint Maarten were discussed between the Progress Committee Sint Maarten, Law Enforcement Council, Point Blanche Prison Supervisory Board and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, during a meeting held today, October 29th, 2019. Sint Maarten is in need of a proper prison with sufficient cells to ensure safety on Sint Maarten. Criminals belong in jail, not on the streets. The group will meet on a regular basis to remain informed and share developments.
~ Saint Martin advocates joint approach ~ Philipsburg – Whereas St. Maarten has done little to secure funding from the European Union, the State and Collectivité of Saint Martin successfully applied for grants, amounting to tens of millions of euros. With the support of the EU, Saint Martin intends to base the revival of its economy on a rationale of sustainable development, and wants St Maarten to join forces. Saint Martin receives grants via Guadeloupe. More than 876 million euros in European funds have been allocated to Guadeloupe over the 2007-2013 time period. In 2014 the Guadeloupe Regional Council became…
PHILIPSBURG –- The European Commission expects the 10th EDF planned for St Maarten from 2008-2013 to be finalized before the end of 2019. According to EU’s Interact, “following the blocking of diplomatic relations as a result of a border dispute and the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma”, it was not possible to administer funding for the Cole Bay Sewage Treatment Plant. The EU programme declared force majeure. The border dispute dates from November 1st, 2016. The then prime minister of St. Maarten William Marlin criticized the Prefect of Saint Martin for having abused his authority during an inspection in Oyster…
PHILIPSBURG — On Monday, October 28th, SMCP Faction Leader and Member of Parliament, Mr. Claude ‘Chacho’ Peterson dispatched two letters to the President of Parliament, Mr. William Marlin, regarding the alarming financial developments surrounding the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) which has been playing out in the media lately. Copied in these letters were the caretaker Ministers Smith, Geerlings and Johnson as well as Mr. Connor of the National Recovery Project Bureau (NRPB) and his Excellency the Governor, Mr. Eugene Holiday. One letter concerned the reconvening of the Urgent Public meeting of PJIA (OV34) which was cancelled at the last…
~ Rouge et Noir investors envisions bringing back life to Philipsburg ~ PHILIPSBURG — The group of local and international investors of Rouge et Noir Casino dispelled rumors circulating in the community blaming the group of having issues with contractors and that the license to move their current location to the Super Plaza building would cause friction due to it being close to so-called sensitive buildings. In a statement issued by the group on Sunday, the investors assured the community that everything dealing with their request to move the old casino to a new location is within the confines of…
~ 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…
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…
