PORT ST. MAARTEN—Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrrindell-Doncher on Tuesday announced that the Disney Fantasy cruise ship will be returning to the destination in January 2018, a major accomplishment for destination St. Maarten. The Disney Fantasy sails seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries. The vessel will also be making several port calls in February and March. “We are very excited to welcome Disney back to our shores. This shows great confidence in the destination and our product and we thank Disney Cruise Line for being a great partner to St. Maarten as we continue to rebound from a…
Author: The Publisher
Great Bay – The Secretary General for the Ministry of General Affairs, Mr. Hensley Plantijn, recently became the first recipient of a hard copy of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) report. Within short the hard copies of the report will be distributed to all stakeholders, among which are non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) who have played a key role in contributing to the report. Others scheduled to receive copies of the report are Secretaries General of the various government ministries, department heads, cabinet ministers, members of parliament as well as the MDG work group members and the Millennium Acceleration Framework experts group.…
PHILIPSBURG – “Is the university open or not? And did the Minister of Education offer a rescue budget, yes or no?’ those were two of the pertinent questions NA-MP Rodolphe Samuel asked during a second meeting of the central committee with the board of the university of St. Martin. Samuel will however have to wait for his answers because Valerie Giterson-Pantophlet, president of the USM-board, asked for a continuation of the meeting at a later date so that she is more prepared to answer additional questions members of Parliament asked on Tuesday morning. On November 28, the Central Committee met…
KRALENDIJK – Clyde van Putten calls the new State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops “arrogant” and “a modern Napoleon,” Ronald Muyden reports on Caribisch Netwerk. Van Putten made the statements during a pro-autonomy symposium in Bonaire last weekend. He refused to receive Knops during his recent visit to Statia. Van Putten said that Knops’ statement during a recent visit to neighboring island Saba that he will financially reward it for good governance, is totally out of bounds. ”The story is that Saba will get more autonomy, not based on more responsibilities as established in the United Nations Charter, but…
Philipsburg – The Ministry of VROMI is very disappointed that persons found it fit to dump a huge amount of garbage on the parking lot of the Jose Lake Cooper ballfield which has already been cleaned up fully and disinfected. The ministry has requested all contractors and residents to please make use of the sanitary landfill. The continuous illegal dumping of garbage all over the place doesn’t help the island regain a clean status which is very important for our touristic product and our over social and hygienic well-being.
CRUISE TERMINAL — In an interview with StMaartenNews.com, President of the Dutch St. Maarten Taxi Association (DSTA), Conrad ‘Sisco’ Richardson, had a positive message of hope to pass on to the membership and to the people of St. Maarten after the first call of a cruise ship on the island on Monday, December 4th, since hurricane Irma. “We are getting there.” was his first response to the question how we are looking as the first cruise ship, the Viking Sea, made it first inaugural call bringing the first cruise tourists back on to the island after hurricane Irma passed in…
PHILIPSBURG — Presenting the candidates to the public via the media gives the people the opportunity to become acquainted with their prospective parliamentarian prior to the upcoming elections. In this article the Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian Party (SMCP), Wycliffe Smith, takes pleasure in introducing Richard Patrick, candidate #11 on the SMCP slate. Richard A. Patrick was born in the Dominican Republic on March 3rd, 1980. Six years later, in 1986, he became a Dutch citizen and resident of Sint Maarten where he grew up in the district of Sucker Garden. He is a well-rounded person who lives his…
PHILIPSBURG –Today December 5th is International Leo Day. Leo Clubs all over the world celebrate this day with special community projects. The Leo Club program, an integral part of the Lions Family, Leos also have their own global network of over 6.000 Leo Clubs in more than 140 nations. Leo Clubs provide young people with an opportunity for development and contribution, individually and collectively, as responsible members of the local, national and international community. In 1957, the Glenside Lions Club from the U.S. state of Pennsylvania sponsored the first Leo Club “The Abington High School Leo Club” with 35 students.…
POINT BLANCHE — Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher was present at Port St. Maarten on Monday morning to welcome the Viking Sea cruise ship to St. Maarten as well as the first passenger off the ship. The ship is the first to call on St. Maarten since the passing of hurricane Irma. The Minister was joined by board members of the Supervisory Board of the harbor and harbor management. The first guests off of the ship was welcomed with steelpan music, stilt walkers and cultural dancers. The Minister also went aboard for the customary plaque ceremony with…
SIMPSON BAY — On Saturday the 2nd of December the Sint Maarten Nature Foundation gave an update to Their Majesties King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands on the environmental impacts and the organization’s activities post Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The Royal Couple, accompanied by State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Mr. Henk Knopps, were in Sint Maarten to get an idea how the island is recovering after suffering catastrophic damage during the 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season. The Royals were also interested in the impacts on nature and the measures the Nature Foundation has been taking to address challenges…
