by Hilbert Haar Holding elections is a seemingly simple affair. You establish a party, if you have them you put the maximum of 23 candidates on your list and you are good to go. But during every election we see parties stumble over simple rules. The Central Voting Bureau kindly describes these mistakes as discrepancies. Shocking they are not, most of those discrepancies, though eyebrows ought to go up when a party forgets to submit the decree that confirms its proper registration with the Electoral Council. That prize went this time to the St. Maarten Development Movement and to a…
Author: The Publisher
GREAT BAY – As a follow-up to a unanimous decision of the newly installed incoming Council of Ministers (COM), a delegation consisting of Minister of Finance, Michael Ferrier, Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Emil Lee, Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure, Miklos Giterson and Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary Hasani Ellis, were given a tour of the Sint Maarten Airport Terminal Building (ATB) in the afternoon of Monday, January 15, the same day the Council was sworn in. Prior to his departure to Curaçao for his first ‘Justitieel Overleg (JVO)’, Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever,…
Simpson Bay — The Atrium Resort has taken steps to remediate the outflow drainage at its resort and has also cleaned the area of debris at the Old Simpson Bay Bridge. “We were very happy to see that after discussions with representatives at the hotel the discharge issue was remediated and the drainage was halted. The resort also cleaned up the area of trash and debris immediately behind the resort at the old Simpson Bay Bridge. We are especially grateful for this since this is also included debris illegally dumped, including pallets from a nearby supermarket and from contractors who…
Philipsburg — The Detective Department continues the investigate the case into the fatal stabbing of a man identified with initials D.W.W. which took place on Saturday November 18th 2017 at approximately 07.40 p.m. on Genip Road in Sint Peters. The suspect in this case identified with initial F. was arrested shortly after the incident. Investigators have spoken to several witnesses however they would like to have more information from persons who witnessed what took place. If anyone has information that can shed more light on this investigation should get in contact with police department by calling 54-22222 ext. 223 or…
Philipsburg — The Special Unit Robbery of KPSM is requesting assistance from the community in connection with an ongoing armed robbery investigation. This armed robbery took place at the Texaco Starmart located on Welfare road on November 27th 2017. The suspect entered the establishment on that day dressed as a construction-worker and committed his act taking an undisclosed amount of cash. After committing this act the suspect fled the scene. No suspect has been arrested or identified in this case as yet and the police department is asking everyone in the community who has information in connection with this case…
By Hilbert Haar With around forty days left until February 26, six political parties are gearing up for the elections nobody wanted on February 26. We know who they are: the United Democrats (UD – Theo Heyliger and Sarah Wescot-Williams), the National Alliance (NA – Silveria Jacobs), the United St. Maarten party (USp – Frans Richardson), the People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA – Gracita Arrindell), the St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP – Wycliffe Smith) and the St. Maarten Development Movement (SDM – Benjamin Ortega). But do we know what they stand for? Until the emergence of the SMCP St. Maarten did…
Dear Mr. Editor, First, I would like to congratulate the incoming UP/DP/Brownbill Government which I have a lot of confidence in to move us forward and addressing the real issues affecting our island. One of the real issues I would like the Minister of Education to put high on her priority list is to accelerate the adjusted design of the draft Tertiary for Education Ordinance and to present an advanced/adjusted draft much sooner than the previous Government. As a former Member of Parliament, I believe the previous Government could have done a better job of speeding up the process of…
We received another email yesterday morning. This one promised us immediate actions on the part of the new incoming government. One immediate action we saw is the new interim minister of Transportation/Aviation paying a visit and receiving a tour of the PJIA airport from the board of directors. The news release from the SXM Airport promises that the “PJIAE Managing Board is also slated to deliver a presentation to the Honorable Council of Ministers on Friday, January 19th, 2018” and that the board is “committed to keep the Council of Ministers updated on the progress of the rebuilding and ongoing…
PHILIPSBURG – The new Council of Ministers was sworn in by Governor Holiday on Monday and shortly afterwards presented itself at the traditional constituting meeting at the government building on pond island on Monday morning. Missing in the lineup are a minister for economic affairs and tourism and a minister plenipotentiary. Minister Cornelius de Weever (Justice) will take on the role of Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication until a successor for Melissa Arrindell-Doncher has been found. Nothing has been said about the appointment of a successor for Minister Plenipotentiary Henrietta Doran-York. However, Hassani Ellis, has been appointed…
POND ISLAND — Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo has released her first national address to the nation in connection with her swearing in as the country’s Head of Government on Monday, January 15th, 2018. Her national address is as follows: Let me commence by sharing a few of the lyrics of a song called Not alone for mighty empire. Written by William P. Merrill, in 1911. Not alone for mighty empire, Stretching far over land and sea, Not alone for bounteous harvests, Lift we up our hearts to Thee. Standing in the living present, Memory and hope between, Lord, we would…
