Fellow St. Maarteners, Residents of our beautiful Island, For many of us, 2017 could not end fast enough. It has been a year of unprecedented disaster in the form of Hurricanes Irma and Maria; a year in which many of our plans and even successes were blown away in six hours of pounding by a monster storm the likes of which have never been recorded in the history of the Atlantic Hurricane Season. But we are alive, by the sheer grace of God, and we hold on tenaciously to that saying that as long as there is life, there is…
Author: The Publisher
Dear Editor, The people of Sint Maarten are growing increasingly frustrated with the uncertain and unstable position that the country was forced into by a few individuals who decided that it would be in their personal interest to bring this government down. Without any regard for the disastrous consequences that such a decision would have for our country and its people, they went full steam ahead hoping that they could gain more political power than that which was awarded to them by the people during the last elections. The outcome of that decision is clear for all to see and…
“LOCAL AUTHORITIES MUST CONSIDER LOWERING BRIDGE ENTRY FEES AS A STIMULUS TO ATTRACT AND KEEP THE LUCRATIVE YACHTING INDUSTRY IN SINT MAARTEN.” “APPROVAL OF THE STANDARDS OF TRAINING, CERTIFICATION AND WATCH KEEPING FOR SEAFARERS CODE (STCW Code) IS A GOOD STEP GOING FORWARD” “MORE LIGHTS NEEDED FOR THE SIMPSONBAY BRIDGE AND CAUSE-WAY BRIDGE” PHILIPSBURG, December 29, 2017 Gracita states: “in 2016 we publicly laid out our vision regarding the important position the Marine Industry plays in our overall tourism based economy, including the yacht sector. As we stated: Quote; “We have a well-established marine industry in St. Maarten in terms…
#1 Sint Maarten Police Force honors retiring Colleague On Friday December 29th 2017 the Sint Maarten Police Force took the time out to honor retiring Police Major Willy E. Williams Wiel b.k.a Wilma, who has been a long time veteran of the force. Major Wiel has spent the last 39 years of her life serving the community of Sint Maarten in various departments within the police. A small ceremony was held at the Philipsburg headquarters honoring Wiel for her service, where she received well wishes from colleagues and also from Chief commissioner Carl John who was in attendance. KPSM wished…
Pond Island — The University of St. Martin (USM), assisted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sport with the recent MOU, will open to the general public as of Monday, January 8th, 2018 and the 10 week semester for the continuing students will kick off as of Monday, January 15th, 2018 and end on Monday, April 9th, 2018. The team at USM will all be back in office and open to the general public as of Monday, January 8th, 2018. The plan for the remaining terms in this academic year is to have two 10-weeks semesters for Spring…
Philipsburg — Parliament passes the budget 2017 amendments with 10 votes for and 0 against. Today Members of Parliament sat in an urgent plenary public meeting in the General Assembly Chamber of the House of Parliament at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Finance was present for this meeting. The agenda point was: Draft National Ordinance to amend the National Ordinance Budget 2017 in connection with changes to the Ordinary Service (IS/252/2017 – 2018 dated December 21, 2017) (ZJ 2017 – 2018 105) Ontwerp van Landsverordening tot wijziging van de Landsverordening begroting 2017 in verband met wijzigingen van de…
Great Bay — Democratic Party leader and President of Parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams, issued the following press release stating that the fall of the Marlin cabinet is justified by the horrific financial and economic outlook of St. Maarten. Sarah writes: “That the financial state of the country is worrisome is a no-brainer. But we all should be alarmed.” “This dismal picture is all the more clear with the presentation of the amendments to the 2017 budget by the minister of Finance. These amendments have been in the make for some time, but the format had to be changed from one that…
On our way to 2018 By Koos Sneek As I am writing this we are in the final days of 2017. It is therefore the time to look back and evaluate how this year went, the progress we have made as well as the obstacles and setbacks we have met along the way. Although Statia has been in the news in a negative way regularly the past year, there undoubtedly have been also positive developments. The establishment of a new agreement with NuStar has substantially increased the income of government. Though through various reasons, among which the passing of two…
Great Bay — Leader of the United St. Maarten (US) party MP Frans Richardson on Thursday asked the people of St. Maarten to remember who manipulated the country into the chaos and instability that it is currently in, with a DP/UP/Brownbill coalition unable to form a government. “They threw down government for greed, using flimsy, childlike excuses and now cannot form one. Wasting time, money and rebuilding of this country and for what?” ~ A waste of time and focus on country ~ Richardson was reacting to reports, some confirmed, that a number of the persons selected for screening to…
Philipsburg — Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher disclosed on Thursday that government has no clear indication where or to whom tax-payer money designated for a boxing event in 2015 ended up. “The people’s money is basically missing and for almost three years nobody has been held accountable. I will not end my tenure with this issue lingering and not make a serious effort to secure the funds and seek appropriate recourse if a criminal act was committed here,” the Minister said. ~ Starts investigation to recoup funds ~ As such, an advice has been prepared for the…
