PHILIPSBURG – The Central Committee dealt on Monday afternoon with the situation of the workers at St. Maarten Cable TV. While Cable TV employees were present in the tribune, the debate was more about TelEm’s acquisition of the company than about the fate of the 28 employees. Minister of Telecommunication Cornelius de Weever will answer questions MPs posed on Monday during a meeting that will be planned for next week. It appears that of the 28 employees on the Cable TV payroll, ten have accepted a severance package; the others are at home. Several MPs asked how much TelEm paid…
Author: The Publisher
Simpson Bay — The Sint Maarten Yacht Club hosted its first annual Soup Cook Off yesterday afternoon to raise funds for its Rebuilding Program after hurricane Irma destroyed the docks, deck and the extreme water force washed a lot of the land away. As a result, the youth sailing program is running at limited capacity. All proceeds of the event will go towards rebuilding the docks, making it possible to increase the number of kids that can go back to sailing. “The Youth Sailing Program is our main program at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and has a positive impact…
Great Bay — Close to 24 hours after the initial fire which has continued to burn out of control on Pond Island, there are more questions than answers with regards to the final solution to a problem that has been going on for a number of years. Despite the frantic efforts by the fire fighters during the early stages of the fire, it continued to burn throughout the night, sending it’s toxic fumes billowing into the air which has been a major cause of discomfort in certain areas as far as Simpson Bay. At 09:00am this morning, the fire which…
Philipsburg — Leader of the United St. Maarten (US) party MP Frans Richardson on Monday questioned what the role of the Post Office will be in distributing voting cards for the February 26 Parliamentary election. Richardson was reaction to information from the Prime Minister and Civil Registry that voting cards would be distributed via the community centers in the various districts, with several voting districts grouped together. Persons would then physically have to go to their designated stations to collect their voting cards. “I find it hard to believe that this will be the only way people will be able…
Philipsburg — The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation has distributed almost 300 facemasks on Monday to residents affected by the landfill fire which has been raging at the Irma Landfill. Facemasks were especially distributed to the elderly, those with medical issues and those in difficult financial situations. Facemasks were also distributed to law enforcement personnel controlling the checkpoints at the landfill fires for further distribution. “Again we are faced with a situation where the community is brought in danger by this significant fire and the smoke caused by it. As we still wait for action to occur regarding the management of…
Philipsburg — Detectives are presently investigating the shooting of man which took place in the early hours on Monday february 5th. The incident took place in the vicinity of Scotia Bank/Simpson Bay Yacht Club and Marina. According to the victim he was offered a lift after leaving a sports bar by two unknown men who were driving in a small car. After arriving at his destination the two men demanded money from him. After telling them he had no money he was shot by one of the men in his left hand. The victim then ran towards the security booth…
Philipsburg — All streets leading to Pond Island are closed off by police due to the massive fire that started at the new dumpsite (hurricane Irma debris) on Sunday afternoon February 4th. The Fire department and other relevant departments who have been working through the night are doing their utmost to bring this situation under control and to finally put the blaze out. During the night many persons including families with children living on Pond Island were told to evacuate the area, to avoid the inhalation of the heavy toxic smoke. The Emergency Dispatch however received several calls during the…
Pond Island– At approximately 1.45 pm Monday afternoon, TelEm Group technicians restored internet services to customers island-wide following an early morning system crash. The technicians worked diligently after identifying the problem and provided a temporary solution to reconnect customers while the main cause of the problem, access to an authentication server was being resolved. According to Chief Technical Officer, (CTO) Mr. Eldert Louisa, the unusual crashing of two drives in a 10-drive system cause the important server in the company’s data center to become corrupted. “Customers were able to see from the messages they received when they tried to connect…
Philipsburg — On Monday at approximately 07.00 a.m. Police, Detectives and paramedics were sent by the Emergency Dispatch to an apartment building located on Peterson Drive in Simpson bay to investigate a case involving a man that was lying on the ground and was not showing any signs of life. On the scene the investigating officers encountered the lifeless body of the victim. According to a witness the victim is staying on the second floor of the same apartment building. Another witness stated that the victim and he had gone out the night before to watch a game at a…
Landfill Fire: COM Closes Schools in Philipsburg. Business Owners and residents should take measures GREAT BAY – Due to the fire at the Pond Island landfill, the Prime Minister in collaboration with the Council of Ministers took the following decisions after assessment of the current on-going situation. All schools in the Philipsburg area were ordered to be closed and parents/guardians as well as school bus operators were asked to pick up the school children from the schools in the aforementioned area. The Police Department was requested to assisted with the potential traffic challenges in the Philipsburg area. Residents and business…
