The Minister of VSA, Mr. Emile Lee, finally came out from his secure hiding place to appear on the talk show, People’s Voice. The Minister used the first part of the program or at least the part that I heard, to blame Prime Minister William Marlin just like his Leader Sarah did for St. Maarten not being able to receive the funds from the Netherlands. Mr. Lee also took a jab at the Honorable Minister of VROMI by stating that after the hurricane in 1995, the then government brought in emergency houses for the people. He followed by asking, “where…
Author: The Publisher
Philipsburg — On January 29th the period provided to the Ombudsman by the Constitution to possibly present the new National Ordinance Integrity Chamber, ratified on 18 December 2017, to the Constitutional Court for review, expires. After all that have been said and done pertaining to the Integrity Chamber, and certainly not the least by the Ombudsman of Sint Maarten, Dr. Nilda Arduin, the new National Ordinance Integrity Chamber ratified on 18 December 2017 will take effect not at the lapse of the date stated above, but on a date yet to be established by National Decree. This in order to…
Solange Ludmila York-Duncan, a young, strong and progressive professional has made the ultimate decision and postulated herself as #10 on the National Alliance slate. Ludmila was born and raised on St. Maarten and currently holds the position of Policy Advisor in the Ministry of Education. She is a wife and mother of two, driven by the complexities of political science and policy making and the innovation of marketing and branding. A self-defined strategic, hip-hop loving, 80’s baby, Ludmila hails from a well-known local family with strong legal, political and educational influences. She aims to empower our people, one community at…
Our colleagues over at SMN-News reports that GEBE CEO scored low in his evaluation and therefore the Supervisory Board intends not to renew his contract and to suspend or terminate his position citing arrogance and disrespectfulness. Whether all of this is accurate or not remains to be seen. We will soon know for sure in about a week or less. However, there is a pattern here and that pattern is consistent and therefore worthy of our attention and a StMaartenNews.com opinion piece on the matter. We see another example of a son of the soil appointed to a top position…
PHILIPSBURG – “The dump is my biggest problem. It is a monster. I consider it a giant murderer,” VROMI-Minister Miklos Giterson said at his first appearance at a Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday. But the dump is not at the top of his to-do list: that is taking care of the people who are currently still living in emergency shelters in the Festival Village. “It is apparent that we have a lack of emergency housing,” the minister said. He intends to solve the problem before the upcoming carnival in April: “We will have a clean Festival Village for…
PHILIPSBURG – Finance Minister Mike Ferrier picked up on Nico Schoof’s statement in his interview with stmaartennews.com that St. Maarten is in the driver’s seat as far as recovery efforts is concerned. “I take him at his word,” Ferrier said at Wednesday’s Council of Ministers press briefing. “St. Maarten must be in the driver’s seat.” Ferrier thanked his predecessor Richard Gibson Sr. for his efforts and noted that the interim-government he is now a part of is heading for an “intense and brief’ period. “There is a lot to do and we will get the ball rolling with the recovery,”…
PHILPSBURG – During the next couple of days the interim government led by Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo will discuss recent decisions taken by the caretaker government. “There are some decisions I am not comfortable with,” Minister Emil Lee said about this initiative at the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday. “We should examine them and see if they are in the interest of St. Maarten. Outgoing governments have a tendency to grant favors to their supporters. That has to stop.” Minister Lee described the Council of Ministers as “a tense environment” ever since the parliament had sent the previous…
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance handled a number of minor cases on Wednesday morning, including that of Camille Alvirio Schut, 28, who was sentenced to 6 months of imprisonment, with 2 months conditional and admission into the Mental Health Foundation for treatment. Schut was charged with ill-treating a person on September 11 of last year and with breaking the curfew 13 days later. On October 11 he stole a car and later caused damages to this vehicle. The defendant denied all accusations, including the suggestion that he needed mental care. The court found proof not for stealing but…
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance handled a number of minor cases on Wednesday morning. Leendert Cornelis Derk Smaal ended up with a 3-month conditional prison sentence, 2 years of probation and 240 hours of community service. Marines caught him on September 22 in the possession of a handgun and an air gun. The marines found the weapons accidentally after Smaal, 51, had gotten into a fight with a roommate in Simpson Bay. They found the firearm in the house and the air gun in the glove compartment of his car. The defendant said that he had the weapons…
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance sentenced a tearful Samantha Pereira to 3 weeks in prison for looting electronics that belonged to Boolchand’s between September 5 and September 27 of last year. The 35-year old woman had grabbed a TV, two iPads and a MacBook laptop that other looters had taken from the store and put on the street. “These items were stolen shortly after the hurricane, “ the judge told the defendant. “You had them with you for three weeks. Why did you not bring them to the police?” Pereira’s explanation: “They were locking people up. I was…
