PHILIPSBURG — On Wednesday, October 16, staff of the Department of Domain Affairs sent a letter to the Minister of VROMI, Christopher Wever, protesting his decision to relieve Raeyhon Peterson of his responsibilities as Acting Department Head of Domain Affairs as of Monday, October 14, 2019. The letter, signed by two staff members of the Department of Domain Affairs, outlined how they were made aware of the minister’s decision via his memo dated Friday, October 11, 2019, regarding the responsibilities of the Acting Head of Domain Affairs. In the memo the minister stated his decision to relieve Peterson of his…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – A large majority of the Dutch Second Chamber (107 out of 150 possible votes) supported the motion Van Dam on Tuesday – a decision that is bound to create confusion if not outrage about what could be interpreted as the next attempt by the Netherlands to take control in St. Maarten. Van Dam’s motion asks the government to enter into talks with the government in St. Maarten “about a separation of management and authority in the maintenance of the legal order, to see whether the Netherlands could play a stronger part in the management function for a period…
PHILIPSBURG — In a recent media publication President of Parliament, MP William Marlin, queried whether the Council of Ministers voted on former Prime Minister Leona Marlin representing the island as a “Private Citizen” at a function being held by the World Bank. Prime Minister Wycliffe Smith stated, “While I have not officially received any questions or request for information officially from the MP, I would like to quickly set the record clear so that information is factual and not misconstrued in any manner or as the MP stated, assumed in any fashion as well. According to the Minister of General…
By Hilbert Haar The motion of CDA parliamentarian Chris van Dam that calls for Dutch involvement in law enforcement on St. Maarten comes across as a fine example of Dutch meddling in our island’s affairs. That is won’t happen anyway does not matter: Van Dam has put the thought out there and a large majority of the Second Chamber blindly followed his lead. Declaring that I am for or against such a motion is rather pointless: it is what it is. The Second Chamber has supported it and State Secretary Knops is now faced with the consequences. Van Dam has…
PHILIPSBURG — Minister of VOMI Christopher Wever on Tuesday said the private and confidential circumstance of a civil servant is being used to create a false narrative in the general public for political gain. The Minister stressed that no civil servant has been dismissed or fired or demoted. “This is completely false,” the Minister said. The Minister was referring to his decision to open a formal and legal hiring process for a vacant position under the Ministry of VROMI in which a civil servant was designated in an “acting”/temporary role. The Minister said it is unfortunate that the internal and…
PHILIPSBURG – When Hurricane Irma hit on September 6, 2017, Holland House lost its entire fourth floor to the monster storm. At the time, there were 57 guests staying at the iconic hotel that faces Great Bay Beach, and some of them were able to help get the place back on its feet. Managing director Paul Boetekees remembers the storm like it was yesterday. “We got fully destroyed by the hurricane,” he says. “The whole hotel got beat up badly. When the winds came we were hiding in the hotel and eventually we ended up in the basement. The roof…
PHILIPSBURG — The Sint Maarten Police Force celebrated the ninth anniversary Police Day, on Thursday October 10th, 2019, at the Police Headquarters in Philipsburg. The Ceremony was opened by acting spokesman Inspector Josepha, under the theme ‘We are a team’. The ceremony was geared towards recognizing all police officers and administrative staff for their tireless service, as well as introduce the launch of the Police website. During the Police Day ceremony Pastor Cuvalier and Pastor Smith provided an opening prayer and words of encouragement to the officers who continuously chose country above self, every day they step into the Police…
By Hilbert Haar In different words, MP Wescot-Williams criticized the proposal to conduct a parliamentary inquiry into Mullet Bay the same way civil law attorney Wim van Sambeek did in an article stmaartennews.com published in August. And in both cases the proposal’s initiator reacted like he just got stung by a wasp. “He does not even live here,” was his way of dismissing Van Sambeek’s legitimate remarks, while Brison characterized Wescot-Williams’ performance in the central committee “a sad display” on his Facebook-page. Nobody is arguing with the efforts Brison has pumped into his efforts to put Mullet Bay on the…
PHILIPSBURG – MP Sarah Wescot-Williams asked some critical questions during Thursday’s central committee meeting about MP Rolando Brison’s initiative proposal to conduct a parliamentary inquiry into Mullet Bay – and the initiator was not amused, nor did he see fit to react to the actual content of the questions. Instead, Brison posted on his Facebook-page: “What a sad display by MP Wescot today. I only pray that the public takes notice of who votes against the Mullet Bay inquiry.” Wescot-Williams however did not say that she was against the inquiry, but she noted that the proposal in its current form…
PHILIPSBURG – On Thursday October 10th, the Council of Ministers accepted the resignation letters of Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and Minister of Justice Cornelius deWeever, thus reducing the number of Ministers in the Council of Ministers from six to four. Minister of Education Culture Youth & Sport, Wycliffe Smith, Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings, Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Stuart Johnson and Minister of Housing, Spatial planning, the Environment and Infrastructure Christopher Wever are the four remaining Ministers. As of October 10th by decision of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Education Culture Youth & Sport, Wycliffe…
