Author: The Publisher

PHILIPSBURG – Finance Minister Mike Ferrier is not considering the introduction of a crisis-levy as sister-island Aruba had done by increasing the turnover tax by 2.5 percent to 6 percent. “That has not come up in my discussions yet,” he said at Wednesday’s Council of Ministers press briefing. “We are looking at other ways and means to increase our income.”

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PHILIPSBURG – The government organization has been hit by another cyber-attack, Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo said on Wednesday. The attack took place on Monday. As a result of the attack, the complete ICT-system in the government building shut down. On Wednesday, the building was closed down. Government services dealing with the public were not operational.

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PHILIPSBURG – Friday at 7.30 p.m. five mini-movies will be featured at the Belair Community Center as part of Unicef’s Children’s Rights Film Festival. Minister Jorien Wuite (Education, Culture, Youth and Sport) said on Wednesday that the festival is the largest of its kind in the Netherlands and now also in the Caribbean. “Children learn in a playful way about their rights. The festival teaches children in an interactive way about their rights with programs that link up with creative subjects and world orientation,” the minister said. “By engaging with other children they gain more knowledge and awareness about the…

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By Hilbert Haar PHILIPSBURG – There are strong indications that Frans Richardson, leader of the United St. Maarten party (USp) has been wrongfully admitted to the parliamentary elections on February 26 and that his election as a member of Parliament is invalid. According to article 49 of the constitution, members of Parliament must be a resident of St. Maarten, have Dutch nationality, be at least 18 years of age and not be banned from the right to be elected. Richardson does not meet the first requirement because he lives on the French side of the island.

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PHILIPSBURG – On Tuesday April 3rd, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephanus Blok paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin at the Government Administration Building. During the meeting, the two Ministers discussed Post Hurricane Irma recovery, border demarcations, French & Dutch cooperation amongst other agenda points. Prime Minister Romeo Marlin also took the time to express her gratitude to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the assistance and cooperation especially with the coordination of evacuations and relief flights immediately after Hurricane Irma. Photo caption – Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephanus Blok paid courtesy visit to Prime…

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The Bottom, Saba — On Wednesday, March 27, 2018, the Executive Council of the Public Entity Saba held an official Oath Taking ceremony, for their valued civil servants. The event focused on the importance and seriousness of the Oath of Office and reemphasized that all civil servants must honor their promise and are expected to uphold the rules and regulations of the Saba Government. Tim Muller, The Island Secretary, opened the well-attended event highlighting the beauty of Saba and the unique richness, ambiance and solemn ethnicity that it holds true too. He also thanked the civil servants for their loyalty,…

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POND ISLAND – Acting Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Cornelius de Weever, recently led a delegation that met with officials from Spirit Airlines regarding airlift into the country post-Irma, and an update on destination hospitality service and infrastructure developments. The objective of the meeting with Spirit Airlines was to maintain a constant dialogue with airline partners and provide them with the information they need to make decisions on restoring their past level of air services as soon as possible. Prior to Irma, Spirit provided weekly flights from Ft. Lauderdale with a 228-seat aircraft. As of…

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Focus on addressing the broader and higher revival ideals of our society Oath of Office Ceremony for Parliamentarians Address by The Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency drs. Eugene B. Holiday April 2, 2018 Falcon Drive 3, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten   Chairlady of Parliament, Prime Minister, Vice President of the Joint Court of Justice, Members of Parliament elect, Distinguished guests, Ladies and gentlemen, Good morning and a pleasant welcome with Easter greetings to all on this Easter Monday. In particular I herewith extend a special welcome and Easter greetings to the fifteen (15) elected parliamentarians seated alphabetically on…

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SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – “Benjamin & Parker Corporation in its duty to inform the SXM (Ed Sint Maarten) business community on how to manage the 2017 financial statements and the extraordinary calculations necessary to allocate the precise damage suffered hereby presents an article outlining the real time situation, Terrence Jandroep from Benjamin & Parker said in a statement on Monday.“It’s a tragic situation when an unexpected Act of God, results in financial losses. The material losses (physical) are devastating and the physiological impact is enormous however, we must have resilience actions to regain the commercial name brand recognition and market…

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