PHILIPSBURG — Friday, December 1st, was the last day of the 1st Annual St. Maarten Customer Service Week organized by the Customer Service Mobile Academy (CSMA), an affiliate of Training Professionals international Firm (TPI). The week’s organizers hailed the training event as an overwhelming success. Participants were trained on the following accredited courses titled ‘Supervisory Accredited Course; Customer Service Is Not A Department, It’s A Philosophy; and Overcoming Obstacles’. CSMA has always expressed great interest in the future leaders which is why they awarded scholarships to four students of the Charlotte Brookson Academy (CBA) on St. Maarten. This paved way…
Author: The Publisher
GREAT BAY – The Inspectorate of TEATT (Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications) by way of executing the minister’s vision of eliminating the often chaotic situations of taxis parked in front of the Court House at Captain Hodge Wharf, hereby informs the general public that all vehicles including taxis will be prohibited from parking in front of the Court House at Captain Hodge Wharf as of Monday, December 4th, 2017. With the assistance of the Ministry of VROMI the square will be closed off to vehicular traffic. All taxis will make use of the normal lineup area between the public paid…
~ Insurance holders are encouraged to revisit their policies yearly ~ Phillipsburg — In an interview with stmaartennews.com, expert in the field of dealing with insurance claims adjustments, Clifford Illis, advises clients to seek advice when insuring their assets and valuables. “We don’t read the fine print carefully.” Illis says. A recent poll taken by stmaartennews.com amongst its readership shows that 63.2% have never looked at the fine print of their insurance policies. We hereby publish the extensive advice Illis offers to clients dealing with their insurance claims.
~ Local entrepreneurs already getting help ~ PHILIPSBURG — Minister of Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher has called the establishing of Qredits Microfinancing on St. Maarten as one of the accomplishments she is most proud of during her tenure and complimented the hard work put in by the Department of Economy, Transportation & Telecommunication (ETT) to see it through to fruition. Qredits, a foundation in Holland in existence since 2009, offers unsecured micro and small business loans to qualified individuals while the risk is carried by Qredits. An amount of about € 250 million has been made available for SME’s (small…
~ Minister Jacobs presents proposal to USM to provide financial injection to prevent closure ~ Awaits decision of the Board ~ PHILIPSBURG — On Tuesday November 28th, the Council of Ministers (CoM) gave the go ahead to the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, to meet with the University of St. Martin Foundation (USMF) to propose a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to grant incidental subsidy (amounting to NAF. 690K- 920K over three/four months) in the interest of preventing the closure of the USM as well as preparing for the continuity of the institution in a transparent, accountable, efficient and…
~ Cruise lines toured area ~ PHILIPSBURG — Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher, in consultation with Port St. Maarten and several cruise lines, has approved the temporary designation of the section of Simpson Bay Beach known as Kim Sha, as a temporary market and activity place for a period of 1 year, with possible extension based on the success of the pilot project. The Minister explained that given the present circumstances post hurricane Irma, she saw the need for the designation and grant an exemption to the moratorium on Beach Activities for the section of Simpson Bay…
Harbour View — The Royal Couple, His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, will be visiting St. Maarten on Saturday December 2, 2017. With this visit the Royal Couple shows their support for the people of Sint Maarten and their interest in the reconstruction of Sint Maarten. During the day, the Royal couple will visit reconstruction and aid projects and meet with affected individuals, volunteers, aid workers and first responders. The program will include visits to receive updates regarding the work of the Nature Foundation, the Charlotte Brookson Academy, the Red Cross, the White and Yellow Cross, K1-Britania, Qredits as…
PHILIPSBURG – There is still hope for the university of St. Martin. On Wednesday afternoon Minister Silveria Jacobs (Education) met with members of the USM board and presented a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU). Valerie Giterson-Pantophlet, The President of the USM-board, told stmaartennews.com on Thursday that she needs some time to peruse the proposal. The university needs 250,000 guilders per month to survive. So far, minister Jacobs has declined to make a move, saying that USM has to present audited financial reports over the past couple of years. Wycliffe Smith, vice-president of the USM-board said on Tuesday during a central…
By Hilbert Haar The estimate of 6,000 unemployed citizens in the wake of Hurricane Irma is a classic horror scenario for St. Maarten. And mind you – this is only the number for the Dutch side of the island. On the French side, President Daniel Gibbs has earlier mentioned an expected unemployment rate of 65 percent. While we do not know how many jobless citizens this 65 percent represents, it is safe to assume that the number will be close to the 6,000 unemployed the labor office on the Dutch side expects. Fixing roofs and houses will of course help…
~ “Contractor could have done a better job” ~ PHILIPSBURG – The government building on Pond Island sustained quite some damages during Hurricane Irma, but the Government had one thing going for it: it does not own the building. Social and health insurances SZV is the owner and its director, Glen Carty, says that the building was well-insured. “We are almost done with the damage assessment with the insurance company,” he says. We have ordered all the materials we need to do the repairs and the government keeps paying the 485,000 guilders rent every month.” That the government moved into…
