GREAT BAY — Former Prime Minister William Marlin says government seems to be deliberately holding back the immediate roof repair program initiated by the former government, delaying the mending of the roofs of many residents who are still struggling with tarpaulins on their homes. Marlin said the former National Alliance-led government had approved 3 million guilders for immediate roof repairs and he insisted that the program should have already started. A private donor had also promised to make 2 million guilders available, which was supposed to have been channelled via a foundation. “The present government has been holding back on…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – The Crime Fund received in 2016 almost 1.3 million guilders from the verdict in the Bientu-case whereby Robbie’s Lottery owner Robbie dos Santos was sentenced to a 2-year conditional prison sentence for money laundering, forgery and tax fraud. The public prosecutor also confiscated 72.5 million guilders and most of that money stayed in Curacao. The contribution to St. Maarten’s Crime Fund in 2016 appears from a highly critical report published by the General Audit Chamber – Quick Scan Crime Prevention Fund. The report criticizes the way the ministry of justice manages the fund and questions the way it…
PHILIPSBURG – The Parliament approved on Thursday the ministerial regulation that authorizes Finance Minister Mike Ferrier to enter into a 50-million guilders ($27.9 million) loan agreement with the Netherlands. The money will be used to shore up the country’s collapsed liquidity-position. With the approval of financial supervisor Cft, the government will also free up 21.7 million guilders ($12.1 million) from the capital investment budget for liquidity support. The parliament handled the matter in two sessions: at 10 a.m. in a central committee meeting and at noon in a public meeting of parliament. There was little discussion about the need to…
By Seth Miller Nearly six months after parts of the Caribbean were ravaged by Hurricanes Irma & Maria the situation remains far from normal. Or perhaps it should simply be accepted that there is a new normal in place. And that’s not a particularly good thing. St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport was trashed by the storm. The main terminal building is no longer a viable operation. PJIA recently opened a temporary “pavilion” to handle passengers. That tented facility includes check-in counters and some concessions, major improvements to the prior post-storm work. And unlike the “temporary” facility at Dulles airport…
Quito, Ecuador – Thursday, February 15, 2018) – “Still Connecting the Caribbean to the Globe,” is the theme of the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM, at the 11th Annual Routes Americas conference which is being held in Quito, Ecuador, from February 13 – 15, 2018. Meanwhile, the associated tag line is “SXM Strong – Rebuilding Our Nation.” Both themes appear vividly on the exhibition booth, which is strategically located at the heart of the Routes Americas exhibition hall. The event will allow the SXM Airport team to network with international senior airline decision makers. It also offers the opportunity for…
SMART CONVERSATION, is a fun, thought provoking, interactive, informative and knowledge focused one-hour talk show with two dynamic co-hosts, Dr. Natasha Gittens, Ph.D. and the Real Deal Cuchi the Captain. The show is sponsored by, The Windward Islands Bank Ltd, Training Professionals International Firm and Customer Service Mobile Academy. The show debuts on Friday, February 16, 2018, two days after the well celebrated Valentine’s Day. Considering the holiday, the show will issue special prizes to callers that provide his or her input on that day’s topic: “Does Your Valentine’s Day gift determine the status of your relationship?” The co-hosts are very different…
PHILIPSBURG – Electoral Reform, a pet project of more than one politician since the fall of the second Wescot-Williams cabinet is back on the agenda for two reasons. The first one is that MP Wescot-Williams brought it up on Wednesday; the second reason is a motion MP Frans Richardson – currently detained by the anti-corruption unit for vote buying – submitted in April 2013 to Parliament. Wescot-Williams said that the Parliament is the right place for a debate about constitutional and electoral reform, “A proposal will shortly come to Parliament about the quotations we have from constitutional experts and constitutional…
PHILIPSBURG – Parliament will begin to host a bi-weekly question hour with members of the government after the February 26 elections at the beginning of March, President of parliament MP Sarah Wescot-Williams said on Wednesday. While not everything is set in stone, the idea is to hold these sessions on Monday morning. The meetings will be open to the public. “Members of Parliament will send their questions beforehand to the ministers,” Wescot-Williams said. “During question hour they get two minutes to repeat their question; the minister gets one minute to answer.” After that first round, parliamentarians get another two minutes…
PHILIPSBURG – The draft ordinance containing amendments related to labor contracts to the civil code is not “a watered down version of an initiative-law submitted to parliament in the past,” President of parliament MP Sarah Wescot-Williams said on Wednesday. When parliament was ready to handle to ordinance last Friday, members of the opposition were in the building but they did not sign in to the meeting. Because there was no quorum, the meeting had to be postponed. “What I heard is that we were handling the initiative law of the National Alliance but because it was watered down the NA…
PHILIPSBURG – Oswald Dwayne Sherwood had a prominent presence on the docket of Wednesday’s court session. His name appeared nine times – four times for petty crimes like theft, ill-treatment and trespassing, and five times for demands to execute previous conditional sentences. The court was mild and sentenced the 33-year old to the 242 days that were outstanding from previous crimes. The court saw “no added value” in punishing Sherwood for his more recent criminal activities as well and left it at an unconditional prison sentence of 242 days. The court had postponed an earlier court hearing at the request…
