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…
Author: The Publisher
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…
PHILIPSBURG – Prime Minister, fellow ministers of the Council, members of the media, Good Morning. Let me begin by expressing my appreciation to the Prime Minister and my fellow council ministers for the opportunity to work with such a vibrant and enthused set of individuals whose only motive is to see the people of St. Maarten through the recovery phase that we are currently in. Hurricane Irma has undoubtedly changed not only the physical landscape of our island; it has changed the economic, financial and psycho-social landscape as well. As Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, besides lending my…
ST. MAARTEN – JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) marked the 10th anniversary of service to St. Maarten with local festivities that included its customers, crewmembers and business partners at Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM). The airline celebrated the special milestone as it reiterated its commitment to serve the market and help in its tourism recovery after Hurricane Irma. JetBlue initially launched service from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to St. Maarten on Jan. 17, 2008. Airline commemorates milestone and recovery with its customers, crewmembers and business partners. “Since hurricane Irma struck, the JetBlue team, including our crewmembers in St. Maarten,…
Willemstad/Philipsburg — The organization behind the Curacao North Sea Jazz (CNSJ) festival announced today that artists Jason Derulo, Carlos Vives and Sean Paul will be attending the 2018 festival in August and September. Also confirmed are Spyro Gyra and the Michel Camilo Trio. The organization is still busy with various other artists who will be announced in the course of the coming months. The eighth edition of the festival opens with free concerts at the World Trade Center site on Thursday, August 30th. Silvestre Dangond has been confirmed for this opening night. First names CNSJ: Jason Derulo, Carlos Vives and…
Philipsburg — From the desk of member of Parliament, drs. Rodolphe E. Samuel, we have received the following press release. As a result of the passing of Hurricane Irma many areas on the island were severely damaged. Besides the enormous damage to homes and school buildings many of our hotel properties have also sustained serious damage forcing their closure in order to repair and rebuild. Knowing that it would be impossible for all the workers in the hospitality trade to find work elsewhere the Government devised a plan / solution to remedy this negative situation. The previous Minister of Finance…
PHILIPSBURG – On Monday, January 15th, almost immediately after the new Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Jorien Wuite, was sworn in, the Minister and members of her cabinet attended a stakeholder consultation session at the University of St. Martin (USM) regarding the Ministry’s Resilience Plan (MRP). The plan, formulated in collaboration with UNICEF representatives, MECYS Policy department heads and the policy advisor of staff bureau in response to the devastation caused by hurricane IRMA, has as its main objectives: to establish a foundation for a sustainable recovery plan and to improve disaster responsiveness before, during and after disasters…
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance sentenced two men who robbed the Scotiabank in Simpson Bay on June 9 of last year to five years of imprisonment on Wednesday. A third man received a 4-year sentence. The court pronounces its verdict against the remaining suspects three weeks from now, om February 7. Shaquille Akim Every, 24, and Dillon Jones, 23, were on the receiving end of the 5-year sentence. Nikhal Xavier Otto, 25, was sentenced to 4 years. The public prosecutor had demanded 8 years against Every and 6 years against Otto and Jones. The fourth defendant, Sheldon Elroy…
GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – All Public Transportation Permit Holders needs a “Confirmation Letter” to obtain their 2018 license plate. Effectively immediately all public transportation permit holders can request a confirmation letter. Additionally, the 2018 confirmation letter has a new format. As of 2018, contrary to previous years, there will be no separate vehicle inspection carried out by the “Control Unit” to obtain this document. All Public Transportation Vehicles must have been Inspected or Re-inspected after September 2017 at the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center located on Soauliga Road (opposite the Little League Ball Park). The documents needed to request and obtain the confirmation letter are:…
PORT ST. MAARTEN – Based on one-on-one meetings that Port St. Maarten Cruise Business Unit has been having with cruise line executives, MSC Cruises has confirmed that it will be returning to the destination on March 28 with MSC Opera. MSC Cruises will be making 29 port calls for 2018 bringing in approximately 115,000 cruise passengers. The port calls will also include the newly inaugurated – December 2017 – MSC Seaside which sails out of Miami, Florida and will make its inaugural call on April 4. Destination St. Maarten will be the first port of call for many of those…
