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…
Author: The Publisher
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…
PHILIPSBURG – Sybilla Dekker steps down as member of the Board financial supervision (Cft) for Curacao and St. Maarten and the Cft BES. Henk Kamp will succeed her in the Cft for Curacao and St. Maarten. On april 13, Kamp was already appointed to the Cft-BES. Kamp was minister of Public Housing, Urban Planning and Environmental Management (2002-2003), of Defense (2002-2007), of Social Affairs and Labor (2010-2012) and Economic Affairs (2012-2017). From January 1 2009 until October 2010 he functioned as a commissioner for Bonaire, Statia and Saba. Kamp is currently chairman of Actiz, the employers organization for nursing home…
PHILIPSBURG – Parliament approved the 2018 budget on Tuesday evening shortly after 8 p.m. with 8 votes in favor and 5 votes against. Thus the government met the kingdom’s demand for an approved budget no later than Tuesday at midnight. The Faction of the United Democrats and coalition partner Wycliffe Smith (St. Maarten Christian Party) voted in favor of the budget. The National Alliance faction – minus the absent former leader William Marlin – and United St. Maarten party MP Rolando Brison voted against. USp-leader Frans Richardson left the meeting before the vote. MP Christophe Emmanuel had said earlier in…
PHILIPSBURG – MP Christophe Emmanuel already made a remark about it on Monday, but during the second day of the 2018 budget debate he went all out against the criminal justice system in St. Maarten because he was not satisfied with the answer he received to his initial remarks from justice Minister Cornelius de Weever. Emmanuel’s beef is with a photo that appeared on February 5 on the front page of the only print paper left on the island. It showed Judge of Instruction John Schols, prosecutor Joris Beliën, a court registrar and three members of the anti-corruption task force…
PHILIPSBURG – MP Wycliffe Smith’s motion to lower the salaries of parliamentarians by 15 percent received sufficient support from three members of the United Democrats faction – MPs Meyers, Bijlani and Mercelina – to be tabled during the second day of the 2018 budget debate, but it also triggered an angry reaction from United St. Maarten party leader MP Frans Richardson. Richardson described Smith’s initiative as “a nice gesture” but he immediately made clear that he will not support the motion. This way, Richardson took his revenge for Smith’s St. Maarten Christian Party’s refusal to work together with the USp…
“Start a career in cyber security in St. Maarten” says Greg Arrindell PHILIPSBURG — Local businessman and radio personality Greg Arrindell is encouraging people to get into the field of cyber security. The well-known awarded CACCI* Roving Ambassador for business development on St. Maarten is the liaison officer for CICCD, the Caribbean Israel Center for Cyber Defense organization. Arrindell is in charge of economic development for the region, particularly St. Maarten, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and Anguilla, for CICCD. Arrindell was instrumental in brokering the deal between USM and the Mer Group. CICCD, through their commercial division Caribbean Israel Ventures, Inc.…
PHILIPSBURG – Parliament will begin on Tuesday morning with the second day of deliberations about the 2018 budget. President of Parliament MP Sarah Wescot-Williams was re-elected to her function on Monday and she adjourned the budget meeting around 8.30 p.m. to give ministers the time to prepare answers to the questions posed by parliamentarians. Before MPs could take the floor, all ministers of the interim-government gave presentations about their departments. Finance Minister Mike Ferrier showed that gross domestic product has dropped 13 percent after Hurricane Irma, that the country is short of cash and that public finances have dropped by…
PHILIPSBURG – “This budget will not win any stellar awards,” MP Wycliffe Smith (St. Maarten Christian Party) said on Monday during the first day of the 2018 budget debate. “It shows a deficit, it is not adapted to the post-Irma reality and it is unable to address the connection between the national recovery and Resilience Plan and the budget.” Smith addressed the responsibilities of parliament in his address and he was highly critical. He expressed his disappointment that only three MPs had shown up last Friday for the memorial day ceremony and he further observed that, in the past, parliament…
PHILIPSBURG – Legalize marijuana and call a referendum about independence. Those were the two messages MP Christophe Emmanuel (National Alliance) brought to the table during the first day of deliberations about the 2018 budget on Monday. “I did not come here to talk about the flag project or about land issued in long lease on the ring road,” Emmanuel said, thereby moving two controversial issues out of the way in one sentence. Instead, the former Vromi-minister focused on alternative solutions for tackling the 197 million guilders deficit in the 2018 budget. He referred to the revenue the state of Nevada…
