Author: The Publisher

AIRPORT — Winair is pleased to announce new services to connect Bonaire and Aruba with St. Maarten effective July 1, 2018. “We will offer 4 flights per week Bonaire – Curacao – St. Maarten and vice versa, 3 flights a week Aruba – Curacao – St. Maarten and vice versa,” Winair said on Tuesday in a press statement. “In addition, Winair will also increase the number of flights St. Maarten – Santo Domingo – St. Maarten from its present 5 flights a week to offer daily service effective July 01, 2018. “Winair will increase its flight schedule from its current…

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WILLEMSTAD – Once again there have been reports in the media about allegedly counterfeit banknotes. Now the reports indicate that there are counterfeit banknotes of 25 guilders in circulation. However, the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS) has not been able to determine that there are actually there are counterfeit banknotes. The CBCS is in close contact with the authorities and there have been no reports that there are more counterfeit banknotes in circulation. This does not alter the fact that everyone must remain alert when accepting banknotes. If anyone has doubts about a banknote, they are advised…

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“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” – Winston Churchill Today we quote Winston Churchill in regards to the unhealthy state of things here on St. Maarten. Click here to see what we mean. Don’t think we need to waste words on this situation any longer. State Secretary Knops stated that he is committed to remove the dump quickly. Quess what? The kingdom does have an obligation to remove the dump as quickly as possible. It is their…

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By Hilbert Haar You always have to pay attention when politicians start making statements that seem to be too good to be true – or realistic. I definitely got a bit of that vibe from statements the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte made on Monday during his visit to St. Maarten. First the positive news. Rutte repeated so often that he has confidence in Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo that it started sounding like an advice to formateur Theo Heyliger. Rutte expressed his hope that Marlin-Romeo will also be the prime minister of the next government – currently under construction like…

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PHILIPSBURG – The visit of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to St. Maarten seems to mark the beginning of a better relationship with the Kingdom. On more than one occasion, Rutte said that he has confidence in Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo and he even went as far as saying that he hopes she will stay on in that function in the next government. Accompanied by State Secretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations), Rutte paid a visit to Governor Holiday and later in the morning he went to the White and Yellow Cross where he was received by the chairman of the…

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by Chris Morvan Everywhere you go these days there are cameras. There’s one on every smartphone and many dumbphones. There’s one on every laptop. There are security cameras recording us doing everyday things, just in case. The Government Building, where most of us spend so much time hanging around while the wheels of officialdom grind slowly on, is dotted with those that are used to take mugshots. And still there are professional photographers, out and about, wielding chunky black contraptions with lenses as long as your arm, or taking $20 off you for a ten-second studio sitting in which you…

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PHILIPSBURG –  At a press conference held on Wednesday, May 9th, President of the Board of the University of St. Martin (USM), Mrs. Valerie Giterson-Pantophlet, in the presence of Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Jorien Wuite introduced the new Dean of Academics and President of the University. In her introductory remarks Mrs. Giterson-Pantophlet highlighted that both new staff members are fully committed to making serious contributions to further build the institution and that their presence fills the void left by the departure of key staff members in 2017. New Dean of Academics, Dr. Rolinda Carter, a local St.…

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LOTERIE FARM – By the end of the year, 2,145 rooms will be available for tourists on the Dutch side of the island – 54 percent of the room inventory the island had before Hurricane Irma. The French side will have 700 rooms ready for use by year’s end. Tourist Bureau director May-Ling Chun and her French counterpart Aïda Weinum made these announcements on Friday afternoon during a press conference at Loterie Farm, where Minister Cornelius de Weever (Tourism and Economic Affairs) signed the French version of the memorandum of understanding that seals the cooperation between the two sides of…

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PHILIPSBURG – During a massive fight at Diamond Hill in Cole Bay on July 20, 2017, 23-year old Gary Zorilla Carrenno lost his life while two others sustained serious injuries. But nobody will go to jail for Zorrilla’s death, because the Court in First Instance acquitted Akil Amaru Livestone of the manslaughter-charge on Wednesday. At the trial on April 18, the public prosecutor demanded 15 years of imprisonment against Livestone; the court sentenced the 21-year old defendant to just 15 months for one count of serious ill-treatment and one count of an attempt to serious ill-treatment against two other opponents…

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