Great Bay — Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications, Stewart Johnson was on hand to welcome the members of the head table, the special invites and members of the media during a press conference which took place at the conclusion of day one of the 39th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta last evening. Johnson took the opportunity to single out Allison Hinds, the British-born Bajan soca artist and noted that it was part of St. Maarten’s recovery and resilience as a destination. “This has shown the strength of where we have come from, post hurricane Irma. The resilience and…
Author: The Publisher
~ The Judge of Instruction ruled today to keep T.H. in pre-trial detention for an additional 8 days ~ Press Release Communication’s Office Anti-Corruption Taskforce (TBO) T.H. will undergo his pre-trial detention in the Judicial Institution Caribbean Netherlands JICN on Bonaire. This decision has been made based on the fact that the Point Blanche Prison has reached its maximum capacity of 70 and remaining detained at the Philipsburg police headquarters is not an option. The Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a new policy regarding the detention of inmates. This was also communicated to the general public. This policy aims to safeguard…
WILLEMSTAD – The Court in First Instance has granted a request from former Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte and his partner Cicely van der Dijs to hear the Italian prosecutor R. Pellicano as a witness in a so-called preliminary witness-interview. Schotte wants to prove that Solicitor-General Ton van der Schans lied during his criminal trial about contacts with Pellicano. Schotte wants to use the outcome of the witness-interview to claim damages from country Curacao in civil court. During Schotte’s bribery-trial Van der Schans maintained that the Italian prosecutor had contacted the prosecutor’s office in Willemstad with information about the former prime…
MARIGOT—The Collectivite has re-evaluated some of the properties in the project in French Quarter that were deemed unfit for living following the hurricanes of 2017. Some of them are now being repaired and remodeled to be used in the future. The vice President responsible for Urban Development Steven Patrick stated that because of the “strain they were experiencing with public housing” they had to find a solution since there were more than 80 persons who needed homes. Some properties in ‘red zones’ will not receive building permits Patrick explained that in the case where several homes were flooded they will…
PHILIPSBURG—Minister responsible for tourism Stuart Johnson has predicated a huge increase in visitor arrivals to the island for 2019. He mentioned that at the Princess Juliana International Airport there has already been some 1.8 million persons who have come through the airport already. He explained that with regard to cruise passengers there were some 1.5 million passengers last year and it is expected that in 2019 it will be about 1.7 million but feels that it will be record breaking in 2019. This is depending on the necessary investments and the overall vision for the port. He pointed out that…
Thursday February 28th 2019 ~ Philipsburg– On Friday, February 22nd 2019, the Committee of Civil Servants Unions (CCSU), formally known as the GOA submitted a positive advice on the police function book to the honorable Minister of Justice, Mr. Cornelius de Weever. The CCSU held a meeting between its members and the Minister of Justice on Friday, January 11th 2019. The purpose of that meeting was to discuss the function descriptions and function evaluations for primarily the Immigration submitted by Minister De Weever. The CCSU invited the NAPB and the ABVO to take part in the meeting in the capacity…
By Hilbert Haar The parliament is in for an interesting debate about the introduction of a national ordinance that aims to regulate the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. So far, two members of parliament have declared that they will not support the draft-law. Interestingly, one MP (Christophe Emmanuel) is with the opposition National Alliance while the other one (Franklin Meyers) is with coalition-party United Democrats. What exactly the objections of MP Emmanuel against the draft-law are is unclear, but MP Meyers focused on the potential impact on businesses like casinos and whorehouses (deftly described as houses…
PHILIPSBURG — At the time of questioning on Thursday morning, communication’s officer for the Anti-Corruption Task Force TBO, Roderick Gouverneur, did not ascertain whether Theo Heyliger was still being held at the house of detention in Philipsburg at the main police station. It was rumored that Heyliger had been moved to the Point Blanche prison facility. Another reason for the questioning, was the fact that a message was being broadcasted via Whatsapp that said that tomorrow morning between 8:30 and 10 there would be a silent demonstration in front of the courthouse as Theo’s case is being heard. Tomorrow morning…
SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) – On October 9th 2018 the third section of the European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) condemned the circumstances under which a well-known citizen of Sint Maarten was detained in the police cells in Philipsburg as a violation of article 3 of The European Treaty for Human Rights, law firm Sulvaran & Partners Eldon ‘Peppie’ Sulvaran said in a press statement on Thursday. “This article protects all citizens against torture and inhuman and degrading punishment. Theo Heyliger from the 19th of February 2019 up till today is being held under inhuman and unacceptable circumstances. “The ECHR…
PHILIPSBURG — The request to reduce salaries has not been handled yet by the members of Parliament. According to Member of Parliament, Claude “Chacho” Peterson, of the SMCP, the information published by StMaartenNews.com that the ministers and parliamentarians have voluntarily agreed to give up 10% of their salaries is incorrect. During Wednesday’s Council of Minister’s press briefing on February 27, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of EYCS, the honorable Wycliffe Smith, said in answer to the question posed about the ministers lowering their salaries that as per the motion that was submitted in Parliament last year – which was referred…
