Photo caption: Recently, St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) took a pause from its regular activities to meet with the Council of Ministers. In the meeting, SMDF took the opportunity to formally update the Ministers of the organization’s works in 2018 and goals for 2019. Present on behalf of SMDF were the Chairlady of the Supervisory Board, Richelda Rodriguez-Emmanuel, SMDF Managing Director Keith Franca and Program and Development Manager Makhicia Brooks. The presentation included insight into SMDF’s scope of work and updates on the activities of the 23 NGO clients currently funded by SMDF. Additionally, the development agency also provided an…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — Former Deputy Minister of Plenipotentiary to The Hague, Henri Brookson, publishes an open letter to Second Chamber member, Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) regarding the proposal of the latter to celebrate the 250th independence year of the United States of America on St. Eustatius where the US Navy ship the USS Andrew Doria was first saluted by the Dutch Fort Oranje when America obtained its independence in 1776. Below is a copy of the open letter in Dutch: Een open brief aan dhr Ronald van Raak. Tweede Kamerlid van de socialistische partij SP. Geachte heer…
Willemstad – ACU’s first raffle, celebrating the 70th edition of the International Credit Union Day took place in presence of Notary Public mrs. Chatlein, on Friday October 19th at ACU’s head office in Curaçao. A total of 78 prizes were raffled. All active members had an equal opportunity to participate and each member could win one prize, in order to allow as many members as possible to win. The picture shows the main prizes moment that the raffle was taking place. Please visit ACU’s website (www.acu.cw) or the Facebook page (ACUSXM or AcuCuracao) to consult the list of winners. For…
By Hilbert Haar The end of the sad story about Maritsa James-Christina, the disgraced registrar of the court in St. Maarten, is not in sight yet. After almost a lifetime of service to the court, James-Christina has been unmasked as an ordinary embezzler – to the tune of more than $1.1 million. The allegations that she gambled this money away are probably true. I have seen her on several occasions at the blackjack tables in the Princess Casino where I used to play many a poker tournament. And while James-Christina is now sitting behind bars, many people around her are…
~ COIC presents its development plans & improved service goals to Johnson ~ PHILIPSBURG — The St. Maarten Chamber of Industry and Commerce (COIC) held its first official meeting with the Minister responsible for Economic Affairs, the honourable Stuart Johnson on Tuesday October 16th, during which its members presented their plans for the development of their new Economic Service Centre, ESC in the area of the former Air Lekkerbek Restaurant, on the Walter Nisbeth Road. Plans for the ESC are being finalized, and according to the COIC members, the intention is to break ground for the commencement of construction by…
SHTA thanks the Netherlands for the generous support, primarily provided through the Trust Fund set up with the World Bank but also the funds spent on early help and recovery projects as well as the liquidity support provided to our Government. Without these efforts, St. Maarten would today be much worse off than it is at this moment. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) while not actually containing any form of planning does provide an overview of the total damage, losses and needs arising from the hurricane Irma disaster. SHTA commends our Government and civil servants for staying the…
PHILIPSBURG — On Thursday, October 18, 2018, social media was abuzz with a new video as Whatsapp broadcasters on the scene were quick to broadcast recorded images of two men fighting in the street at the junction between the old post office building, Quiznos restaurant and the UTS building. Bystanders can be seen trying to stop and dislodge the two men who fought a bloodied fistfight on the ground with each other. StMaartenNews.com contacted police spokesman Ricardo Henson for a report. However, at the time of the call Henson indicated that he was waiting on a report from the watch…
It is a public secret that the former court manager was a regular visitor of the casinos on St. Maarten. Her dismissal appeal case revealed that under her management of the court’s third party bank account, where monies confiscated from criminals were deposited, over $1.1 million US Dollars have gone missing over a 5-year period from 2012 up until 2017. This was confirmed by a court-ordered financial controller’s audit investigation carried out in March of this year. Whether these monies were used to finance the casino visits of the court manager is not yet known. We will await the outcome…
Philipsburg — The Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested a 3 year prison sentence for police officer J.V.G. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has also requested the Court of First Instance to prohibit J.V.G. from working as a civil servant for a period of 5 years. The investigation dubbed “WHALE” conducted by the National Detectives has resulted in prosecution of J.V.G. (43) and C.K. (33) for the following charges. J.V.G.: theft of diamonds, cut stone, or jewelry and embezzling proceeds of sale, bribery in service as a police officer, forgery and breach of confidently. The case against co-suspect C.K. has been postponed…
GREAT BAY — Although seventy five percent of SOL Limited has been sold to the Parkland Fuel Corporation which is said to be North America’s fastest growing independent marketers of fuel and petroleum products, it will not affect the employees in the region. SOL regional manager David Antrobus stated that “although Parkland Fuel Corporation is a Canadian company, the SOL group of companies will continue to be managed from the Caribbean with its head office in Grand Cayman,” said Antrobus. He explained that what has been sold to Parkland Corporation is the entities and as a result the employees will…
