PHILIPSBURG — In a press release today, St. Maarten Christian Party SMCP announced that it still stands firm on its position with regard to the reduction of the salaries of Members of Parliament. “Initially our reduction proposal was 15%. However, if the Ministers and Parliamentarians agree to a 10% reduction then the principle of reducing the salaries would have been achieved.” SMCP stated in its press release. SMCP is of the opinion that the pressure currently being applied by the Dutch, to reduce the salaries of Members of Parliament, should not be the driving force for MPs to do such.…
Author: The Publisher
Recap of the Parliament meeting of Friday, June 7, Unfortunate turn of events for the country Dear Editor, The draft budget for the country St. Maarten was received on November 15, 2018. This draft was subsequently retracted by the government on March 4, 2019 and a new draft budget was presented. As is required before we take any draft ordinance to a public meeting, central committee meetings need to be held. This was done for the draft budget on March 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 25th. In the Central committee meetings many questions were posed and answers were given, which…
By Hilbert Haar Membership of parliament is supposed to be a full time job and our fifteen parliamentarians are handsomely paid for it. Yet, according to a proposal submitted by MPs Rolando Brison, Christophe Emmanuel and Jurendy Doran – one week is not enough to review a budget that runs 355 pages. That number of pages may sound overwhelming on its own. But how bad is it really? A regular work week of five days – with 8-hour days – has 40 hours. If an MP would devote that time to reviewing the budget, he (or she) would have to…
PHILIPSBURG — The Public Prosecutor’s Office has assumed the responsibility for all public statements to be made in regards to the ongoing investigation into the robbery of a male Canadian tourist who succumbed to his injury after being critically wounded when he was shot in the head by an unknown gunman. The Canadian died on Friday night in a trauma center in Miami. On Thursday June 6th the PR & Communications Department of the St. Maarten Police Force (KPSM) reported that in connection with an ongoing investigation of a shooting incident which took place on the evening of Wednesday June…
PHILIPSBURG — Agents and Brokers from across the 21 territories in which NAGICO Insurances operates were awarded during a Regional Conference & Award Ceremony held in Trinidad & Tobago last Saturday. The two-day event, which was held at the Hilton Conference Center in Trinidad, saw over 200 guests in attendance and kicked off with a Conference on the Friday morning. NAGICO’s success over the years is largely attributable to its intermediary network so each year it dedicates time to recognize and show appreciation to these persons and also to share in a more intimate setting information about the Group status…
PHILIPSBURG — The spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor’s Office was quick to dispel the rumors circulating on social media that a hoard of cash was also seized during a coordinated action of the Asset Recovery Team (ART) on French Saint Martin to confiscate heavy equipment trucks, vehicles and a boat as a part of the EURO investigation. “No that’s a rumor.” the spokesperson wrote when queried by StMaartenNews.com. “Only the boat and vehicles were confiscated.” The fake news was published on a fake Facebook page and the photos, video and voice note circulated on Whatsapp were also clearly fake as…
~ Proposes funds go to Police Force, Pension and Affordable Housing ~ PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament Rolando Brison on Wednesday will table his initiative law authorizing the proper sale of UTS. The law will be debated on the floor of Parliament in a Central Committee meeting. This will only be the third initiative law ever debated on the floor of Parliament with this law being the fastest to reach this stage, taking just seven weeks to go from date of initiative to date of debate. Once approved, the law would ensure multi-faceted benefits though the sale of the minority…
At the dawn of the internet it was seen as the cusp of the information age and was dubbed the information superhighway. The internet became the great equalizer where everyone, no matter color, race or creed, could become wealthy beyond anyone’s imagination. The internet was also the inspiration for democratization processes around the world in many countries. The internet gave rise to all sorts of movements such as The Tea Party Movement, Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, culminating with many hashtag movements such as #mgtow, #metoo, #shetoo, #hetoo and #ustoo. The internet has given a platform for many…
CUPECOY — The AUC campus in Cupecoy was the location of an interesting gathering this past week. The medical university saw a group of media professionals from different backgrounds in St. Maarten coming together to participate in a series of workshops organized by Press Center Nieuwspoort and the Rotary Club Nieuwspoort in The Netherlands. The masterclass sessions were financed through funding raised in the Netherlands after the passing of hurricane Irma in 2017 in support of the media on St. Maarten. The series of workshops were held under the banner ‘MasterClass Media St. Maarten’ and took place from Monday, May…
PHILIPSBURG – Following the completion of the first phase of works at the Philipsburg and Simpson Bay police stations, both are now better able to withstand any major storms as the buildings have been deemed ‘water and wind tight’. This is the consensus of the small group of representatives that participated in the official walkthrough and handover on Wednesday, May 29th. The project , which falls under the Emergency Recovery Project 1 of the Sint Maarten Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience Trust Fund, comprises of repairs including window repairs, doors, shutters and roof sealing to improve working conditions at the police…
