Last week Saturday, Carnival Fascination cruise ship was informed about the smoke from the dump by the port authorities and advised not to make a call at the port of St. Maarten. Despite this the captain decided, after assessing the situation, to still make the stop in St. Maarten, as was announced in a subsequent press release issued by the port authorities. The news about the advice not to call and the decision to still dock are facts. We have the press releases to prove it. We also have a photo of the Fascination in port at the Pointe Blanche…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – Twenty-two employees of World Gifts Import BV, a company that operates two stores in St. Maarten under the name Little Switzerland demand that the company pay salary arrears dating back to December 7, 2017. That day, the company stopped paying. On Friday morning, practically all the employees were in court together with their attorney Jelmer Snow to make their case in summary proceedings in front of Judge Sander van Rijen. Little Switzerland fielded attorneys Daniëlla Engelhardt and Michiel Gorsira, accompanied by Mike Cooney, the company’s vice president of human resources. The court will pronounce its ruling in this…
THE HAGUE – The Dutch government has put the establishment of a dispute regulation on ice, John Samson reports on Caribisch Netwerk. It is the umpteenth disappointment for the autonomous countries St. Maarten, Aruba and Curacao. State Secretary Raymond Knops says that he has other priorities, like the reconstruction of St. Maarten. During the past couple of years the islands have experienced several conflicts with the kingdom government about Dutch interventions on the islands. In 2014 The Hague balked at the idea that Theo Heyliger, then leader of the United People’s party (UP) would become prime minister. Heyliger solved the…
PHILIPSBURG – “Dear His Majesty King Willem Alexander, His Excellency the Governor Eugene Holiday, Council of Ministers, Honorable Members of Parliament, State Secretary of Kingdom Affair Raymond Knops, Head of Dutch Recovery Programme Hans Leijtens, Representative of the Netherlands in St. Maarten Chris Johnson, Head of World Bank Mission to St. Maarten Doekle Wielinga,” is the letter from the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) addressed to the aforementioned on behalf of its membership and the public seeking urgent action regarding the Pond Island Landfill.” “To anybody familiar with Sint Maarten, it is obvious that just like hurricane Irma,…
Dear Editor, The Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) has taken note via the media that the Court in First Instance has sentenced Member of Parliament, Chanel Brownbill. MP Brownbill is a member of the United Democrats (UD) with which SMCP entered a coalition agreement earlier this month. Matters such as these were discussed with the UD prior to forming the coalition and so the UD will be dealing with this matter from their end. Moreover, SMCP is of the opinion that the law must take its course. As far as the coalition between the UD and the SMCP is concerned,…
IMPORTANT NOTICE The Inspectorate of Public Health, Social Development and Labor has found and ordered the destruction of eggs that may be contaminated with the Salmonella bacteria and that were found in various markets on the local market. The eggs that were found originated from the second largest egg production plant by the name ROSE ACRE FARMS in the United States. There have been confirmed reports from the FDA connecting 22 cases of gastro intestinal illness to the badge of contaminated eggs. There have been no reported cases on Sint Maarten yet. Healthy individuals infected with the bacteria can…
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance sentenced Juan Linzey on Wednesday morning to 36 months of imprisonment for ill-treatment, human smuggling, promoting prostitution and employing people who were without a valid title on the island. Of the sentence, 12 months are suspended. The court also seized cash worth approximately $5,518 in dollar, euro and guilder denominations. At the trial on March 28, the public prosecutor demanded a prison term of 36 months with 6 months suspended. The court arrived at a slightly lower sentence because it concluded from the statements from women who worked as prostitutes at the Linzey’s…
PHILIPSBURG – Minister Emil Lee (Public Health) has negotiated an amendment to the contract with public drinking water supplier Seven Seas, in close cooperation with VROMI-Minister Miklos Giterson, Finance Minister Mike Ferrier and utilities company GEBE. The amendment will save the country approximately 4 million guilders ($2.2 million) per year for the next three years. In 2016 the government amended the pay or take contract with Seven Seas under which the country was obliged to take 18,500 cubic meters of water per day instead of 15,500 cubic meters. The change went into effect in 2016. Under the pay or take…
Great Bay — What was designed to be the first specialty concert organized by the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) last evening may end up being one of the main attractions in future carnival related events. It was dubbed as the ‘Soulful Company’ with the sole purpose of attracting a mixture of party-goers with a star studded line up. As ironic as it may seem, it all started with local vocalist Malaika Maxwell, who had the honor and pleasure of sharing the stage with Oswald Clerveus, singer, song writer and composer Phylissia Ross and the legendary reggae singer Maxi…
PHILIPSBURG — Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Jorien Wuite traveled to Curacao on Friday, April 13th and returned on Monday, 16th. The primary purpose of the visit was to support students of the Hillside Christian School who, after winning the local competition of UNICEF’s Children’s Rights Film Festival, were invited to participate in the regional finals among the Dutch Caribbean. The Minister acknowledges that UNICEF has been instrumental in the recovery process of St. Maarten; contributing in a number of programs to protect and encourage the healing and well-being of St. Maarten children in the aftermath of hurricane…
