Philipsburg — The St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) will open its offices today to handle all Carnival business. The SCDF office is located on Illidge Road above the Windward Islands Bank and will be open from 9am to 5pm from Monday to Friday and from 10am to 2pm on Saturdays. All Carnival related inquiries can be made at the office by anyone needing information or want to do some kind of business during the Carnival period with the SCDF. All persons who registered for Carnival 2018 season passes can make payment on these passes, and have until March 15…
Author: The Publisher
Philipsburg — The Nagico Senior Calypso Competition will be organized by a new group of Calypso enthusiasts for Carnival 2018. Rolando Tobias and Marvin “King Stunky” Dollison of the hit radio program Caribbean classics will organize the show along with Calypso lovers Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper and Cheryl Arnell. The 2018 Calypso Eliminations will be held on Monday, April 16 and the finals 10 days later on April 26, the night before Jouvert morning jump-up. Both will be held in Carnival Village. The new organisers are still coordinating the event under the auspices of the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF),…
Philipsburg — “I miss you on the radio”. Those are the words I kept hearing everyday over the past 3 years. After almost more then a decade working at Philipsburg Broadcasting at Laser 101, I decided to retire from radio and follow different avenues. I have always maintained a warm working relationship with my colleagues at Philipsburg Broadcasting and Mr. Francis Carty. In my retirement I enjoyed what I did but I was constantly being confronted with fans asking me to return to the radio. I felt warm and honored by my community that my God given talent was highly…
Dear Editor, In the Dutch/European system of politics that incentivizes large number of political parties, it is common and maybe even inevitable that governments have to be formed by coalitions. For the coalitions to be effective it is best that each party have a clear platform so that when the coalition is formed then the coalition members can bargain with other parties, on the basis of the number of seats achieved, how much they have to compromise on their platform in order to participate in a coalition. Without a clear platform, coalitions are likely to be totally driven by the…
ORANJESTAD – Venezuela unilaterally stopped all air and sea traffic with the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao) for 72 hours, CaribischNetwerk reported on its website on Saturday. On Aruba this measure by the Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro is immediately noticeable. Venezuelans have the greatest difficulty to fly back home and local retailers are preparing for expensive purchase of vegetables and fruit elsewhere. Maduro said on Friday on Telesur, the state-owned tv station in Venezuela, that he stopped commercial traffic with the ABC islands because of the “smuggling of goods from the country by mafia on the islands.” The current,…
Philipsburg — The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation is suggesting that the community wears facemasks in order to protect themselves from the fumes caused by the ongoing fires at the Philipsburg Landfill, and will make 100 masks freely available to the community towards this end. “The fire at the landfill has been burning for over a month now resulting in significant negative health effects affecting the community and visitors alike. As we still wait for action to occur regarding the management of our solid waste issues we encourage that especially expectant mothers and those with a weakened immune system wear facemasks…
PHILIPSBURG – It is hard to say whose support was more impressive – that of the newly formed United Democrats (UD) or that of the National Alliance (NA) – during Nomination Day for the February 26 elections at the parliament building in Philipsburg. Both parties filled up the legislative hall with candidates and supporters, far more than the modestly supported United St. Maarten party (USp), the St. Maarten development Movement (SDM), the St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) and the People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA). Ninety-three candidates will contest the elections and only two parties presented a full slate with the maximum…
By Hilbert Haar The February 26 elections will see the rise of a new political powerhouse if the numbers stmaartennews.com analyzed are any indication. The merger of Theo Heyliger’s United People’s party with the Democratic Party into the United Democrats seems to open the door for the one-party rule Heyliger has always thought to be the best solution for the island. The UP won the 2016 elections with 4,130 votes, ahead of the 3,778 votes of the National Alliance and leaving the United St. Maarten party (2,784 votes) and the Democratic Party (1,813 votes) to pick up the crumbs. But…
PORT ST. MAARTEN – Holland America Line (HAL), is scheduled to return to the destination on Saturday, January 6, with the cruise ship ms Koningsdam. HAL is another cruise line that is showing its commitment to the destination by returning after St. Maarten demonstrated back in December that it is open for business. Holland America Line plans to call in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, once more with Koningsdam on March 10, as well as six times with ms Eurodam and once with ms Nieuw Amsterdam this season. ms Eurodam begins calling at the destination on January 11 and ms Nieuw Amsterdam…
There are significant differences between countries in the way in which the Legislative and the Executive Branches are elected and structured. There are three main groups of democratic systems. A Presidential system A Semi-Presidential system A Parliamentary system The Presidential System The separation between legislative and executive powers translates in some countries into separate elections for both branches. For example, in the United States not only Parliament is elected by the people but also the President. The President then has his/her own power base. He/she may select a Government which does not depend on a majority in the Parliament. The…
