PHILIPSBURG—The Minister of Education Wycliffe Smith has issued a strong statement with regard to pedophiles who molest children. He said that the gravity of the situation that the pedophiles inflict on the children should be reflected by the consequences that is meted out to them by the laws and the judicial system. He indicated that his ministry will be working with the Ministry of Justice to provide support needed by the Police Department especially the department that deals with crimes against juveniles and youth at the Court of Guardianship. He noted that the Court of Guardianship are responsible for bringing…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG—Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin has confirmed that the 100 million Euros that is being acquired from the World Bank and the European Investment Bank is only being used for the reconstruction of the Princess Juliana International airport. “This has nothing to do with loss of revenues or anything else,” she said. However political pundits feel that the government should have secured more funding since this amount will not be sufficient to rebuild the airport and contend with the operational cost until the airport “gets up and running.” Prime Minister Romero-Marlin pointed out when questioned, said that is another discussion that…
ST. PETERS — “It is a good thing that there is a hospital on the French Side of the island or else my parents would have been making arrangements or my funeral,” said Shawn Odonoghue, who was shot following a fight in the St. Peters area on December 2, 2018. “I was taken to the St. Maarten Medical Center with a gunshot wound and was vomiting most of the time and no one came to my assistance.” He said that he had asked the nurse who was at the hospital to get him something to vomit into but she refused,…
PHILIPSBURG—The need to “Revive Philipsburg” and restore value to the shopping mecca of the island was the main topic of discussion during a recent meeting held urgent meeting between the Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunication (TEATT) the Honorable Stuart Johnson and members of the Indian Merchants Association (IMA) on Friday, 18th January. The minister, similar to the IMA, is concerned that Great Bay, “Town” or Philipsburg has changed drastically over the past decade from a shopping and dining product to a “sleepy town.” The IMA informed Minister Johnson during the meeting that the reduction of economic activity…
By Hilbert Haar The funding of the airport’s reconstruction via the World Bank trust fund was practically guaranteed to light the fire under the opposition in parliament and members of the National Alliance and United St Maarten party factions did not disappoint their constituents on Monday afternoon. True to form, nobody thought of expressing some gratitude for the $100 million that will become available to put the tattered airport back on its feet. No gratitude for the (future) arrival of experts that will assist the airport holding and its management. Instead, the opposition complained about the conditions that came with…
~ Minister Johnson absent from airport-debate ~ PHILIPSBURG – On the fringes of the parliamentary debate about the financing of the airport’s reconstruction National Alliance MP Christophe Emmanuel called Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin on Monday afternoon a liar, wondered whether the absent Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Stuart Johnson was on a gay cruise and announced a motion of no confidence against him. Most opposition members criticized the government’s decision to accept Dutch conditions to the $100 million it will receive from the World Bank trust fund to get the airport back on its feet again. The reconstruction of…
Philipsburg St. Maarten, January 21, 2019 – “I started my New Year’s address with a quote from Hal Borland: ‘Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.’ – I mention this to emphasize that we learn and grow from experience – at least we should. Much in the news lately from opposition Members in Parliament, has been the role of the Chairperson of Parliament. Now, the fact that the opposition will always find reasons to criticize the Chair is a given, that is expected. However,…
PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten (Sunday January 20th, 2019) — Social & Health Insurances SZV has welcomed Dr. Ruth Douglass as a new control doctor within the organization. Dr. Ruth Douglass joined the SZV team on January 15, 2019. As a family doctor with her own medical practice on the island, Dr. Douglass brings with her many years of experience. The team at SZV is delighted to have her on board. If you are ZV insured at SZV, you must visit the control doctor at the SZV on the 3rd day that you are unfit for work due to illness. When you…
PHILIPSBURG – Last week, Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings travelled to the Netherlands to successfully negotiate and secure a bridge loan amounting up to 15 million US dollars to ensure that the airport can continue to pay its salaries and fulfil its other financial obligations in the coming months. This financial assistance was urgently requested by the airport and is linked with the 100 million US dollars that the Council of Ministers has secured for the reconstruction of the airport through the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. Upon her return from the Netherlands,…
Philipsburg, January 18, 2019 –According to internal policy and international EASA standards both Air France and KLM were obliged to perform the Codeshare renewal audit at Winair. This audit must be done Bi-annually. With an audit team of 6 auditors the audit was performed according to the ICAO standards and all operational areas, security and the functioning of the Safety Management System were audited from January 14th- 18th 2019. Although a joint audit it seems logical Air France and KLM have to perform the audits under their own responsibility to ensure a safe and compliant operation for their codeshare passengers. The…
