Philipsburg — The Sint Maarten government received a cheque in the amount of USD$105,275 from representatives of The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Willemstad late last week. Announcing the donation last week was the Vice Consul when making a courtesy visit to our Prime Minister. The funds are earmarked for the reconstruction of schools and homes following the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma. Prime Minister William Marlin, in his letter to the Chinese Consular General Zhang Weixin, thanked the Consulate for their continued support of Sint Maarten, its economy, and its people. Photo caption: The Vice…
Author: The Publisher
PHILIPSBURG – The best option is to replace the Pointe Blanche prison,” Minister of Justice Rafael Boasman said at Wednesday’s Council of Ministers press briefing. “The final assessment is still being made but the costs to repair the facility will be so high that it does not make sense to do this.” Minister Boasman described the process of transferring 59 inmates to prisons in Curacao and the Netherlands, adding that this was not done because of staff shortage but as a security measure. “This was a tremendous operation; a job well done,” the minister said. You see, if we work…
PHILIPSBURG – Hurricane Irma has destroyed the points of departure that underpinned the 2017 budget,” Minister of Finance Richard Gibson Sr. said in a central committee meeting of Parliament on Wednesday afternoon. The minister referred to article 25 of the kingdom law financial supervision that allows for diverging from the budget rules in case of “damages caused by extraordinary events.” The minister did not say however, that such a divergence requires a decision from the Kingdom Council of Ministers. Minister Gibson came to Parliament to answer questions MPs had asked during a meeting that took place last Monday. Before he…
PHILIPSBURG – “The discussion is not about the right of the government to use article 59. No one is disputing that. But I have a serious problem when it is used at a time like this,” DP-leader MP Sarah Wescot-Williams said at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon. Governor Drs. Eugène Holiday has appointed UP-MP Franklin Meyers as informateur. His task is to explore the options for a broad-based government but also to execute the elections and to take steps to realize electoral reform. “I think that when the dust has settled, Parliament needs to have a serious discussion about…
CUL DE SAC — St. Maarten Academy will on Thursday host an information session and Parent Evening for parents of students in Forms two to six (CAPE) to discuss very important matters relating to their children’s education. The information session for Forms 5 and CAPE, which starts at 5:00pm, is geared towards strengthening the school-parent partnership, and providing information for the students’ matriculation into colleges and universities after completing high school. Parents and students will be informed about certain privileges and responsibilities. As such, study financing officers of the Department of Education will be discussing matters regarding Study Financing.…
PHILIPSBURG — As part of the ongoing effort to provide relief to the members of the community that have been impacted by Irma to the point that they are at risk of not being able to feed themselves or their family, the Ministry of VSA has worked diligently to develop and launch the Temporary Basic Necessities Voucher Program which is a 2 month pilot program. Minister Lee wants to thank the participating merchants – Le Grande Marche, Prime Distributors, Sang’s Supermarket, and Sunny Foods – that are supporting the program by providing Government a bulk purchase/community support discount on the…
THE HAGUE – The Dutch cabinet warns citizens of St. Maarten: if they vote in the elections in majority for parties that do not accept the conditions for Dutch relief funds, the flow of money will be stopped immediately, the Telegraaf wrote on Wednesday evening. State secretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) had this message for the Second Chamber, but at the same time he is accommodating the country. The Dutch cabinet wants to begin as soon as possible with sending funds for the recovery to St. Maarten. That does not depend on the question whether there will be elections or…
Philipsburg – The board of the United People’s Party (UP) has condemned the call by the Prime Minister and Leader of the National Alliance, William Marlin, to call an election on January 8th, 2018. “An election now on St. Maarten at a time when people are without roofs or even homeless is unacceptable,” the UP board said. The Electoral Council, the Central Voting Bureau, and Postal Services St. Maarten have all indicated that they are not at an optimal standard to ensure full compliance since the passage of Hurricane Irma on September 6th. The UP board questions if the voter’s…
PHILIPSBURG – Prime Minister William Marlin announced on Wednesday that he steps down as leader of the National Alliance. Minister Silveria Jacobs (Education, Culture, Youth and Sport) will lead the party in the campaign towards the January 8, 2018 elections. The change of the guard at the National Alliance became apparent for the first time in 2014, when Jacobs became the biggest vote-getter for the party, holding a comfortable lead over the party-leader Marlin. In 2016, Jacobs outvoted Marlin again, this time by a slim margin of just three votes. “This is the opportune time for a new leader,” Marlin…
Dear Editor, On November 3rd 2017, His Excellency Governor Eugene Holiday signed the national decree declaring that early elections would take place on January 8th, 2018. This was a very rash decision, seeing that the decree was signed within 24 hours, without taking into consideration the current situation that exists in the country following hurricane Irma. Hundreds of families are roofless, homeless, jobless and displaced. People on the island are still in survival mode and election is the last thing on their minds. Moreover, the institutions used to facilitate elections, such as the Electoral Council, the Central Voting Bureau and…
