PHILIPSBURG — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church) assisted by the St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation helped donate hurricane relief items to a total of 609 families on Monday, October 9, 2017. It is estimated that 1,827 persons from the 609 families would benefit from the relief. The relief packages consisted of sugar, canned vegetable, non fat milk powder, dehydrated potatoes and rice. Also distributed to those who needed it were water and tarpaulins. The relief items were donated by the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) and were distributed…
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Philipsburg – Electrical inspections that were scheduled before Hurricane Irma and Maria can be rescheduled as of Monday October 23, 2017. The Inspection Department will also be scheduling new electrical inspection requests. When applying for an electrical inspection, the following documents are needed; Building permit GEBE inspection card with diagram of electrical installation Copy of an official address issued by the Permits Department Copy of location plan from the Cadaster A copy of a recent GEBE electricity bill and a copy of the owners’ identification is also necessary when requesting to adjoin units. Electrical inspections that can be requested are…
When disaster hits you have one big advantage: everybody becomes available to give free advice. Such is the case after Hurricane Irma and the Dutch daily Trouw did the island a favor by asking four experts about their opinion for the reconstruction of St. Maarten. (See our article: Dutch experts in Trouw: “Making a house hurricane proof does not have to be that costly”). If it is indeed so, as these experts say, that a few hundred dollars per home could make all the difference, there is every reason to make these solutions available to all home owners on the…
GREAT BAY –The Court in First Instance sentenced Bryan Richardson on Thursday morning to a 1-month conditional prison sentence and 120 hours of community service for hitting a man called Morisseau on August 7 with a shovel on his head. The public prosecutor demanded a 4 month prison sentence but the court considered that demand “much too high.” Richardson was at work on a site at the Cinnamon Cactus Drive when he got into an argument with the elderly victim about the way his was mixing cement, While Richardson later claimed to the police that the victim had hit him…
GREAT BAY – Reconstruction efforts must result in a better and stronger St. Maarten. That is the message from the local government and few will have an argument with that point of departure. But how this must be achieved is anybody’s guess. For the time being there is no information whatsoever to indicate in which direction the reconstruction of St. Maarten will go. The Dutch daily Trouw asked four experts with expertise in designing buildings and knowledge of high wind speeds for suggestions and their opinions are somewhat comforting: solutions are simple and not very costly – at best a…
GREAT BAY – The Court in First Instance sentenced 24-year old Stephanie Smith on Thursday morning to a 1-month conditional prison sentence and 120 hours of community service for a scam with checks that cost her employer Manrique Capriles and Sons close to $10,000. Smith has cashed checks for an amount of up to $9,787.15 at the request of Martinois Fabio Doralice; the checks bore a forged signature. Smith received $50 for her services. In September of last year, the court sentenced Doralice already to 5 days of imprisonment (equal to the time he spent in pretrial detention) and 120…
PHILIPSBURG — Gracita states: “in the aftermath of hurricane Irma, the statue of ‘One Tete Lokeh’ located at the round-about in Belair is symbolic of our present state of rebuilding efforts. Still strong, but hanging on a thread of hope and prayer. Waiting, patiently to be straightened fastened and look tall, strong and fearless again. Many individuals are still cleaning and rebuilding as much as possible under the present circumstances to get our island back on its feet soonest. However, in order for the economy to rebound effectively, it is clear that a massive injection of financial aid is needed.…
Cole Bay — On Wednesday, October 18th, 2017, Jeff Boyd, President and Managing Director for the Yacht Club at the Port De Plaisance marina on behalf of Marine Management and Consulting NV, was really upset and at his wit’s end. “He is beyond frustration,” a company spokesperson wrote to Today.sx. What was the problem? As the yacht club makes preparations for the upcoming yachting season with the hope to re-open the marina on November 1st, Jeff Boyd and his team were ready to pull out sunken boats from the marina. However, up til yesterday, the marina company was not able…
That the Court in First Instance put suspects of looting on yesterday’s schedule for its first session since Hurricane Irma in the courthouse in Philipsburg is a good decision. The looting that took place after the hurricane is still fresh in people’s mind and these cases should not be shoved onto the back burner. What to think about the sentences so far? Fact is that the court went along in almost all cases with the demands from the public prosecutor. On one occasion, the judge considered even a higher sentence but she opted in the end not to do that.…
GREAT BAY – A man who stole close to 300 cigarettes from the Carrefour market in Cupecoy and was found in the possession of brand name clothing after Hurricane Irma was sentenced to 10 weeks of imprisonment in the Court in First Instance yesterday morning. The defendant, Terry Sam, claimed that Carrefour manager Anil Sabnani had told him to take what he needed after the hurricane, but Sabnani told the police that he never said anything like that. To make the situation even more awkward, Sabnani offered Sam shelter after the hurricane. The public prosecutor considered theft of the cigarettes…
