Philipsburg — The Bureau of the Ombudsman has embarked on a project geared towards the Academic High schools on St. Maarten. The project, entitled “The Best School Ombudsman”, seeks to involve high school students in the pre-exam/exam classes in the role of the Ombudsman and to bring greater awareness of the function as well as the institution of the Ombudsman. The students will have consultation sessions (weekly) at their respective schools which is only open to students, teachers and parents of each respective (participating) school. While the students will be able to take concerns, the actual complaints will be referred…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG — The general joint controls as announced in a prior press releases between the law enforcement departments from the French and Dutch side of the island consisting of the Gendarmes, the Custom Department, the Voluntary Corps Sint Maarten (VKS) , the Royal Dutch Marechausee and the Police Force of Sint Maarten (KPSM) continued on Thursday August 9th through Saturday August 11th 2018. The first controls started on Thursday August 9th at 10:00 p.m. and lasted until 01.30 a.m. on Friday August 10th. These controls were held simultaneously at four different locations border crossing locations with the following results; a…
Philipsburg — The Ombudsman recently concluded a Systemic Investigation, initiated after the hurricanes of September 2017, regarding the state of preparedness of the government of Sint Maarten pursuant to the National Ordinance Disaster Risk Reduction and the Disaster Management Plan for the hurricane season 2018, and lessons learned. After providing a Preliminary Findings Report, the Final Report was submitted on August 7, 2018, to the Prime Minister, who is in charge of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The Ombudsman concludes in her report that: ’Notwithstanding the enormous activities engaged by government in the aftermath of the hurricanes, the structural absence…
CAY HILL — On Friday, August 3rd, 2018, the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) presented Shola Scott, a journalism graduate, and Sara Bharwani, a student from Learning Unlimited, with their prizes and Certificates of Appreciation for participating and winning the “Within The Dark” Competition. Mental Health Foundation, the leading secondary health care provider offering psychiatric and psychological mental health services to the inhabitants of St. Maarten and neighboring Islands, believes that good mental health and emotional health enhances the ability to cope with life’s struggles and help improve medical conditions and recovery. Therefore the project, Within the Dark, was created to…
By Hilbert Haar My life as a global nomad began on June 26 when I stepped on a plane in Grand Case headed for Paris. Reality did not kick in immediately: I traveled with my wife Myriam from Paris to Amsterdam with the Thalys, then moved on to Lelystad where my daughters live. Ever since I have left my beloved St. Maarten I have been in the three cities mentioned above, in The Hague, Dordrecht, Namur, Gembloux and Spontin (all in Belgium), Warsaw and Moscow. That’s where I’m at, at the time of this writing and this is where, in…
FRENCH QUARTER/PHILIPSBURG — The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation has again taken its rice distribution across the border to assist residents of French St. Martin, who are also in need. The foundation donated 500 bags of “Love Rice” to 500 families in French Quarter on Sunday, August 5. Each bag of rice contains 10kg (22 pounds) of rice. It is estimated that the rice will benefit 1,546 family members. The distribution was held in front of the Cultural Center building in French Quarter. A total of 45 volunteers got another opportunity to practice leadership skills, gratitude, respect and love when…
PHILIPSBURG — In continuation of the investigation KES, a Mazda Miata car and a Ducati motorbike were seized by the Asset Recovery Team Sint Maarten with assistance from the Korps Politie Sint Maarten, on Arch Road today, Thursday, August 9, 2018. During the first action of the Asset Recovery Team on Thursday, July 26, 2018, a car was seized and a house was searched on Meadowlands Drive in Cul de Sac. T.M.M. (1989, Sint Maarten) and O.L.M.H. (1984, Sint Maarten) are main suspects in the investigation. They are suspected of among other things money laundering, forgery and tax of evasion.…
PHILIPSBURG – Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI), Miklos Giterson, informs the general public that as of today, August 9th, the main landfill will close at 6pm daily for the next week until Thursday, August 16th. This action being taken by the Ministry to prevent unsupervised dumping of household garbage, especially on and near areas that are still smoldering due to the recent fire. The fire, which flared up on the northern side of the landfill on Tuesday evening, was primarily extinguished by the Fire Department in the early morning hours of Wednesday. Upon advice from…
Philipsburg – The chairman for the committee for Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication MP Rolando Brison, Faction Leader of United St. Maarten Party (USP), has called 7 meetings on a range of critical topics. “The ministry of TEATT is the arm of government charged with ensuring our economy and its related support structures continue to function to the benefit of our country and its citizens. Similarly, the Committee of TEATT of Parliament is charged with conducting investigations into matters related to this ministry. It is after all Parliament’s job to hold the Ministers accountable, and the TEATT committee will…
PHILIPSBURG — On Thursday August 9th at approximately 12:30 a.m. the Emergency Dispatch was alerted by the security staff of the Coliseum Casino on Front Street that two suspicious men dressed in dark clothing was planning to rob the casino. These two men were spotted on the roof of the building by security. The police department was immediately informed and several patrols were sent to investigate the situation. One patrol spotted a man fitting the description of one of the suspects on Backstreet. This man took off running through the Philipsburg area chased by a police officer on foot. This…
