PHILIPSBURG — United Democrats MP Luc Mercelina remains highly critical of the plan for the new hospital and of the intention to introduce a general health insurance scheme. “It is a fundamental error to base decisions for the hospital on a business plan,” Mercelina said. “A general health insurance is only sustainable if you have huge numbers. This is not possible based on a population of 40,000.” Mercelina said, not for the first time, that a large proportion of the population is illegal. He mentioned a number of 10,000 illegals. “They put pressure on an unsustainable social system, he warned.…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – A new tender for the construction of St. Maarten’s General Hospital is a real possibility it appeared during Monday’s meeting of Parliament about the financing of this prestigious project. The lenders – among them the general pension fund APS and social and health insurances SZV – are still doing their due diligence to determine whether the Italian contractor INSO remains a viable partner to execute the construction and to take care of maintenance. Currently, the lenders are “not convinced,” St. Maarten Medical Center’s director Kees Klarenbeek said. Members of Parliament Ardwell Irion and Christophe Emmanuel (both National Alliance)…
PHILIPSBURG – The new general hospital is a non-profit organization that aims to realize just 1.5 percent profit on top of costs to enable future investments, St. Maarten Medical Center director Kees Klarenbeek told parliament in a meeting on Monday afternoon. Klarenbeek also highlighted the need to increase the hospital tariffs by a seemingly astonishing 41.83 percent. He showed that medical costs have outpaced inflation over the past three years. In 2017 costs went up 8.2 percent while inflation was 2.8 percent. In 2018 medical care became 8.2 percent more expensive against an inflation rate of 3.1 percent. For this…
SIMPSON BAY — A colorful but curious aspect during the 39th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta was brought to the attention of StMaartenNews.com this past weekend. At least ten boat wrecks can be seen along the Airport Road all the way from the Airport to Causeway Bridge. So we sent our photographer to take some photos of some of these cheerfully adorned boat wrecks lining the shores of the Simpson Bay Lagoon. As we present these photos here below for the viewing pleasure of our readers, our question goes out to the Minister of VROMI, Miklos Giterson: “When will these boat…
GREAT BAY — The 39th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is now in the books and already the event organizers, the ST. Maarten Yacht Club are looking forward to the 40th. After four wonderful days of sailing, the newcomers will be encouraged to come again along with those that secured podium places and those who missed the chance. Over the years, the ST. Maarten Heineken Regatta saw participants going back to their destinations with an array of unique experiences. The crews varied from Olympic champions, world champions, Paralympians in along with those directly involved with the boating industry. Between the close…
MARIGOT — It’s that time of the year again when costume designers think outside the box to deliver the masterpiece that will not only be appealing to the audience that lined the route. But also to impress the panel of judges who were strategically positioned at Credit Mutuel. The troupes were judged by Janice Philips, Noah Mills and Paula Gordon, while the choreography was judged Melissa Boasman, Rudy Davis and Fabiana Richardson. Up to 10 points was up for grabs for Punctuality, Overall Impact 10 points, Creativity 10 points, Originality 10 points, Discipline and Presentation, 10 points, Theme 20 points,…
PHILIPSBURG — On Wednesday, March 6th, 2019, at 10am Parliament is scheduled to discuss the Progress Committee St. Maarten’s report on the police department and the prison and the proposed measures to be taken to improve the conditions of these two justice departments. This discussion will take place in a Central Committee meeting of Parliament. This meeting was requested by MP F.G. Richardson, MP S.E. Jacobs, MP E.J. Doran, MP C.T. Emmanuel, MP R. Brison, MP W.V. Marlin and MP A.M.R. Irion based on a request submitted on Wednesday, October 31, 2018, directly after the Progress Committee St. Maarten (Voortgangscommissie…
Parliament of Sint Maarten Monday, March 4, 2019 – OV 23 – 12:00PM The agenda point is: Ontwerp van Landsverordening tot wijziging van de Landsverordening op het notarisambt ten behoeve van de uitoefening van notariële bevoegdheden op Saba en Sint Eustatius door het notariaat van Sint Maarten (IS/002/2018-2019 d.d. 11 september 2018) (ZJ 20182019-119 The Minister of Justice will be present for this meeting. Monday, March 4, 2019 – OV 20 – 2:00PM The agenda point is: Clarification on the Financial situation with the contractors and feasibility and sustainability of the project of the St. Maarten General Hospital. (IS/419/18-19 dated…
IMPORTANT NOTICE: REDUCED MEDICAL REFERRALS TO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (SANTO DOMINGO) PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten (Sunday March 3rd, 2019) — As per April 2nd, 2019 Social & Health Insurances SZV will no longer be sending patients to the Dominican Republic for general medical referrals. Referrals to the Dominican Republic will only continue for specific specialties, emergency and trauma cases to the contracted hospitals in the Dominican Republic. These specialties and emergency cases include Cornea transplant, Retina detachment, Emergency trauma, Emergency Neonatology, Emergency Obstetrics, Emergency Neurosurgery, Emergency Cardiology and Major trauma cases. The decision is a cost saving measure. SZV estimates a reduction…
Great Bay — With two days to go before the conclusion of the 39th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, a few boats have placed themselves in a commanding position after securing podium places for the second straight day and it will not come as a surprise if they maintain their winning ways. An American John Murphy was able to defy all odds with the assistance from his crew aboard an Oyster 54 to navigate the course in 02:33:03. The 2nd fastest time was recorded by Avocation, with Hank Schmidt, also from the USA in 02:35:13 while the 3rd fastest time was…
