PHILIPSBURG — In an email to the publisher, a subscriber of StMaartenNews.com refutes the claims of Minister of VROMI, Miklos Gitterson, that the GEBE customers have been reconnected to the grid. In a statement on Wednesday Gitterson announced that all districts with the exception of those homes and or businesses being reconstructed have been reconnected to the electrical grid of public utility company NV GEBE. In her email, Yuanita Salomons writes: Please be aware that the statement from Minister Gitterson in today’s news is erroneous. He must have been provided with this information by GEBE. At least my personal information…
Author: The Publisher
By Hilbert Haar While the formation of a new government is a work in progress the results of the February 26 elections are still interesting enough for further analysis. What changed compared to 2016, the year when the United People’s party (UP) and the National Alliance (NA) each won 5 seats, the United St. Maarten party (USp) 3 and the Democratic Party (DP) 2? In the new parliament the merger of UP and DP (United Democrats0 has 7 seats, the NA stays stationary on 5, the USp loses a seat and holds 2 and newcomer St. Maarten Christian Party has…
TILBURG – The administration of justice in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom is just as efficient as it is in the Netherlands, Judge Frank Spreuwenberg says in an interview with Rik Haverman on Caribisch Netwerk. Spreuwenbeg worked as a judge for the Common Court of Justice in the Netherlands Antilles from 2007 to 2011. But he adds that there are also differences that are due to the small scale of the islands. During the past summer, Spreuwenberg was briefly back as a judge in the Caribbean after he left seven years earlier. He discovered again that especially in a…
THE BOTTOM – Scientist of Wageningen Marine Research and the Royal Dutch Institute for Sea Research have discovered a previously unknown coral reef off the coast of Saba, the Volkskrant reported on Thursday. The reef with a length of several kilometers is in an extremely good condition, says coral expert Erik Meesters. “This gives us some hope that there might be more areas where coral reefs are doing well.” The reef is located in a far corner of the Saba Bank, a large submarine platform several kilometers southwest of Saba. The scientists think that the reef’s good condition is due…
NORTH PORT, FLORIDA – John Ludwick, a close friend of Joran van der Sloot was stabbed to death in the Floridian town of North Port when he attempted to kidnap his former girlfriend. In the documentary The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway Ludwick confessed that he had helped Van der Sloot to burn the remains of the Alabama teenager who disappeared on May 30, 2005 in Aruba. News Channel 8 reports that Ludwick was waiting for his ex-girlfriend on Wednesday morning just before 7 a.m. when she pulled up to her house. Police spokesman Josh Taylor told the TV-station that Ludwick…
Phillipsburg — On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, the Youth Empowered for Success Foundation, (Y.E.S.) sponsored a free event for the St. Maarten community titled, “Queens You Deserve the Whole Loaf” held at Belair Community Center. The event drew hundreds of women, teenagers and even men. Dr. Natasha Gittens was the Motivational Speaker for the evening. She is recognized as one for the top motivational speakers in the Caribbean. Her voice captivated the diverse audience and kept them at the edge of their seats. Her ability to be powerful yet sensitive allows her to pull at the heart strings of both…
PHILIPSBURG – A man who got into a violent argument with an officer of the Royal Marechaussee on November 10 of last year has to pay his victim $862 as compensation for medical expenses. The Court in First Instance also sentenced Sheldon Lee Gordon to 90 hours of community service. The public prosecutor’s demand was 120 hours of community service, a 4-week conditional prison sentence and 2 years of probation.
PHILIPSBURG – Attorney Dagmar Daal got her car back and the man who was found with it in his possession was sentence in the Court in First Instance on Wednesday morning to 120 hours of community service and to the payment of $5,120 in damages. The court acquitted Trevor Joseph Richardson, 27, of theft, but sentenced him for fencing the car. Daal’s car was stolen back in July of last year but it was only found back in front of Richardson’s house in October.
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance suspended the pretrial detention of robbery-suspect Michael Haze A. on Wednesday afternoon, in spite of objections by the public prosecutor. Michael A. has been charged with two armed robberies on supermarkets on March 23, 2017 and with an armed robbery committed on aril 16, 2017.
PHILIPSBURG – Because the Pointe Blanche prison is filled to capacity, two car thieves got off in the Court in First Instance on Wednesday morning with a punishment of 120 hours of community service and a conditional prison sentence of 2 months. The court imposed 2 years of probation.
