PHILIPSBURG – Member of Parliament Tamara Leonard launched an unprecedented attack on Claudius Buncamper, head of infrastructure management at the VROMI-ministry, during Wednesday’s central committee meeting about the fires at the dump on Pond Island. Without mentioning Buncamper’s name Leonard, a member of the UP-faction said that minister Miklos Giterson has to “address the issue of the director of maintenance at the VROMI-department. “If we allow this to continue for the sake of all kinds of kickbacks under the umbrella of smokescreens of saving money we have a problem,” the MP said. “Minister, you could be a hero,” she continued.…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – Police officer Akeem A. and MP Chanel Brownbill were expected to be the highlights of the second day of the trials against seven suspects in the so-called emerald investigation on Wednesday. But Akeem Emile A., a brother of Checkmate Security director O’Neal A. did not show up and Brownbill’s case was eventually postponed until March 29. The dump fires also had their influence on what happened in court, because attorney Brenda Brooks went down with a serious asthma-attack, making it impossible for her to represent her clients Sindo Renigio Alexandre D. and Karim Gemayel L. Earlier in the…
PHILIPSBURG – “We need real solutions and we need immediate action,” VROMI-Minister Miklos Giterson said on Wednesday during the central committee meeting about the dump fires, whereby he once more referred to the landfill as a “toxic monster.” The immediate action the minister has in mind consists of three elements: getting rid of the post-Irma debris, reducing the amount of garbage that is going to the dump and improving the landfill management. Giterson said that the memorandum of understanding with the Canadian company Envirogreen for the construction of a waste-to-energy facility is under review. MP Theo Heyliger asked how the…
Philipsburg — In light of the current ongoing fires at the Philipsburg landfill, the United St. Maarten (US) party is once again pointing out that the constant instability of government has effectively stalled any progress at the landfill where proper waste management is concerned. Party leader Frans Richardson explained that every time government falls for whatever so-call reasons, efforts that were underway stops and the reset button is hit by every new incoming government with its own ideas. “When will there be a start, so this reoccurring problem can stop? Only when we stop playing politics with people’s lives and…
In December 2016 the Social Economic Council (SER) submitted a letter to Government with an advice for Better Waste Management. Click here to read this letter with the advice on the website of this government advisory council, SER. Photo caption: Overview of Philipsburg and Pond Island. Photo provided by Milton Pieters for the grand master plan to solve the dump situation on St. Maarten.
Music video with the calypso song “Fire in the Town” by Kaiso Genuis.
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance sentenced Sheldon Elroy Ludovico Williams to 4 years of imprisonment for his role in an armed robbery at the Scotia Bank in Simpson Bay on June 9 of last year. At the trial on January 17, the public prosecutor demanded 6 years against the 23-year old defendant. The prosecutor based his demand on the premise that Williams had been an accessory to the robbery but the court found that, as the driver of the getaway car, he was just an accomplice. Williams was also found guilty of firearm possession. The court sentenced the…
PHILIPSBURG – Fifteen months of imprisonment and a conditional fine of 250,000 guilders ($139,665) with three years of probation. That was the public prosecutor’s demand on Tuesday afternoon against Keith Gastia F. for tax fraud. F. was one of three defendants that were summoned to the Court in First Instance and suspects in the so-called Emerald investigation. F. did not appear and his case was handled in his absence. The court was forced to postpone the case against Chester McRoy E. until March 27, because his attorney Brenda Brooks desisted at the trial. The case against Shervin Elitius W. was…
GREAT BAY — Former Prime Minister William Marlin says the disastrous and uncontrollable fire that has been blazing at the Philipsburg landfill since Sunday and the widespread effects it is having on residents in affected communities, is a clear example of why a stable government is urgently needed for St. Maarten. Continuing its track to solve the problem of the landfill is one of the top priorities for the National Alliance. Calling the fire and in particular its effects a heartbreaking tragedy, Marlin said in a press release on Tuesday evening that every government that has sat in the past…
GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin in an update on Tuesday evening says the Government Administration Building will remain closed to the public on Wednesday, February 7. The second major fire on Pond Island is being addressed by the Fire Department, Ministry VROMI and the Landfill Management Contractor. All available resources are being used to fight the fire. Six schools (Charlotte Brookson Academy; Oranje School; Genevieve DeWeever School – Cycles 1 & 2; Sister Borgia School; St. Joseph Primary School; and Sundial School) and the University of St. Martin in the Philipsburg area, are requested…
