PHILIPSBURG – The anti-corruption task force (TBO) arrested Corrine de T. on Sunday on suspicion of money laundering, not reporting unusual transactions, operating a trust office without a permit and destruction of evidence. De T. is the former co-owner of the Standard Trust Company that played a role in the investigation against former head of immigration Marcel Loor in 2007. De T., 54, was arrested in the course of an ongoing investigation into fraud with construction projects. In December 2010, the Court in First Instance sentenced the Standard Trust Company and its three directors – Corinne de Tullio-Stamm, Allard Stamm…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – The government will run out of money by the end of this month. This appears from a letter Cft-chairman Raymond Gradus sent to Finance Minister Richard Gibson about the proposal to amend the 2017 budget. Revenue for the year will drop by 126.7 million guilders to 351.4 million, while expenditures will increase by 38.1 million to 496.2 million. This will result in a deficit of 144.8 million guilders. St. Maarten had indicated to the Cft that liquid assets will be completely exhausted by the end of the year. The financial supervisor notes in its letter that not all…
Philipsburg — The Police Force was very busy the last weekend attending numerous requests for police assistance, conducting traffic controls and investigating an armed robbery to name a few. Armed robbery On Friday December 08th at approximately 03.15 p.m. a police patrol was sent to Union Caribe located on the Cannegieter Street in Philipsburg where an armed robbery, according to reports, had just taken place. On the scene the investigating officers learnt, that a man had entered the building on business and once inside he pulled a fire-arm and threatened the workers to use it if no cooperation was given.…
Harbour View – On Saturday, December 09, 2017, the Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency drs. E.B. Holiday, met with and received an update from formateur Mr. Franklin Meyers on the progress regarding the pending points of the formation. Considering that the background screening of candidate ministers is still ongoing the formateur therefore requested a further extension of his commission to form a new government. Governor Holiday as a result and having assessed the situation extended the commission for Mr. Meyers to present him the final report of the formation process by December 15, 2017.
~ A six part series on agriculture published initially in StMaartenNews.com email newsletter ~ Part 1 – Why we should store up food like animals Ever stop to wonder why so many animals store up food for the winter season? This is to help them survive when Mother Nature shuts down on them. Animals understand the seasons of the year and the weather conditions these brings perfectly and they plan ahead of time in preparation for when the going gets tough. You’d be amazed at the variety of animals that store up food in order to survive: ants, squirrels, leopards,…
PHILIPSBURG – The dump on Pond Island was on fire again for the past couple of days. On Saturday the fire seemed to intensify and these was no visible action to douse it. A heavy cloud of poisonous smoke drifted towards town and according to one observation, it even reached the hospital in Cay Hill. The outgoing government prided itself in having put a stop to the dump fires, saying that increased security at the site had prevented people from setting fires at the location. Photo Hilbert Haar
Once upon a time there was a sleepy salt blasted mosquito ridden island called Soualiga or Qualichi by the Caribs and more recently dubbed Sunshine City by the DJs of Voice of St. Martin. This island‘s history, though not written anywhere for posterity, is proudly told by our elders who witnessed and could relate to the metamorphosis of our lovely island. While the greater Caribbean was into agriculture on a large scale, we mainly subsisted on backyard gardens and fishing. Our main economic activity was the remittances sent from abroad to support family at home. Our people like so many…
Dear All, I write these words with a heavy heart. The destructive damage caused by Irma has affected us all. Our country and communities have come together to help each other. I have seen feuding neighbors set aside their differences to work together. The theme of Sint Maarten is people helping people. The powerful force of Hurricane Irma has affected each and every one of us. Many of us have lost our homes, cars, loved ones and mental balance. I believe that we as a nation can recover, rebuild and restore the island to it’s former beauty. There are currently…
by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert Would female leadership change the Caribbean? Most likely it will! It is all about the characteristics of how the members of the male and female gender have a different way of approaching a task, a challenge, or stress. Women leaders take care, whereas men leaders take charge. Researchers suggest that the vital difference might all come down to one gene that only men have, called the SRY gene. According to scientists it is demonstrated in the men’s response to stress with ‘Fight-Or-Flight’, while women ‘Tend-And-Befriend’. While men favor punching or running away, women are more likely…
PHILIPSBURG – Hurricane Irma destroyed St. Maarten, caused economic uncertainty and disrupted the community, Rik Haverman reports on Caribisch Netwerk. St. Maarten was also a favored spot for interns and they created employment. The number of interns that wants to go to St. Maarten is now declining, but some science and engineering students also see opportunities. According to Georgette Berghuis-Leutscher, owner of the only internship bureau on the island, the number of requests for internships is declining sharply. Before Irma she had around 120 requests per year; in 2018 she expects to place no more than 60 interns. “The commercial-touristic…
