NEW YORK — Head of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau (STB) Rolando Brison is currently taking part in several strategic meetings with St. Maarten’s North American marketing firm and other stakeholders to outline and fine-tune the island’s short, mid, and long-term plans for tourism recovery in the aftermath of hurricane Irma. The STB and St. Maarten’s North American marketing firm MMGY Global has identified a number of activities that will be initiated in collaboration with stakeholders on St. Maarten and abroad. To kick-off the strategic sessions on Tuesday in New York, Brison and MMGY representatives hosted a conference call with…
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Philipsburg — The St. Maarten Guyanese Association (SMGA) would like to wish all Hindus a Happy Diwali, especially those in the Diaspora who are spending this festival of lights away from our beautiful ‘Land of Many Waters’. This year, especially after the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Irma just over a month ago, this observance should more poignant as we stop to reflect and be thankful for life and the fact that good will always overcome evil. As an association, we call on our Hindu brothers and sisters to celebrate this day as you would have done before to signify the…
Philipsburg — ART HEALS was conceived by the need to create activities for children and adults geared to offering relief from stresses and trauma brought on by the passing of hurricane IRMA and its aftermath. ART HEALS Hurricane Relief Arts Program is a program open to all and free of cost to the participants. Classes are daily from 3:30pm to 6:30 pm to children and teens of all ages. Classes are also offered on Saturday morning at NIA located at the John Larmonie Center in Philipsburg. “What I know for sure” says Clara Reyes Co-Director of NIA, “is that the…
Philipsburg — The Sint Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) calls on membership to share their possible reopenings after hurricane Irma. The association can assist its businesses by providing clarity regarding their post-Irma status. Hotels and accommodations are requested to update weekly as demand is high. Many relief workers, construction teams and airline personnel need lodging in order to help the country recover. To keep up exact numbers, SHTA has created www.shta.com/we-are-open. Business openings will be promoted by means of publication on SHTA’s social media and website. Accommodation availability will be shared with incoming demand. Over the past weeks, SHTA…
RING ROAD – As part of the emergency relief efforts, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) received 3 pavilions from the Netherlands on the Karel Doorman’s first trip to St. Maarten. The construction of the first of four pavilions began on Monday, October 16th on the Ring Road. The pavilions were given to the schools which received the most damage and were left without classrooms or an alternate location. The Charlotte Brookson Academy, the St. Maarten Academy and the MAC High are the three schools which will be utilizing the pavilions until the repairs at the schools…
Pond Island — There is no time like the present for St Martin to stand in unity as we pay homage to the ones that lost their lives during the passing of Irma and we give thanks for all the lives spared. As this St Martin Day Celebration is for the people, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport is hosting St. Martin Day celebrations under the theme “SXM Strong”. This is an open invitation for persons to take part in the month long celebrations, for the love of St. Martin, on the Road to St. Martin Day, including…
Philipsburg — During one of its recent post-hurricane ecological assessments the Sint Maarten Nature Foundation recorded the reestablishment of breeding colonies of the National Symbol of Sint Maarten, the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). After the passing of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the Nature Foundation assessed the monitored breeding colonies for the Brown Pelican and found that some forty breeding pairs were absent: “A week after Hurricane Maria during one of our first assessments we were able to establish that we completely lost the Divi Little Bay Pelican Breeding site below Fort Amsterdam. We were very disappointed to note that the…
Great Bay — The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation, in collaboration with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, assisted in the delivery of Humanitarian Relief Supplies to Hurricane stricken Dominica. The Sint Maarten Nature Foundation was contacted by Sea Shepherd informing that they would be delivering Hurricane Irma relief supplies to Sint Maarten, more specifically veterinary and animal supplies, and that they would next be sailing to Dominica. With the Assistance of the Dominica Foundation, Mr. Romain Laville, The Ministry of Justice, Port Sint Maarten, the Fire Department and Customs, the two organizations were able to depart with some two tons of…
PHILIPSBURG – The Sint Maarten Zoo board sent off a few of their last residents, eleven macaws and nine cotton-top tamarin monkeys, to Curaçao. A team of five experts connected to the Parke Tropikal Curaçao Zoo made sure the twenty animals were transferred safely on Saturday. Many of the board members of the St. Maarten Zoological & Botanical Garden Foundation had suffered their own losses during the storm. Board member Fons O’Connor, official zoo veterinarian Jovan Halley and volunteer Melanie Choisy took lead in dealing with the aftermath of hurricane Irma. Damage at the zoo. Photo: Laura Bijnsdorp Damage due…
SIMPSON BAY – The Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority (SLAC) announces that the Simpson Bay Causeway Bridge will be temporarily closed due to emergency repairs to motorized traffic on Tuesday, October 17 between 12.00PM and 2.00PM. The temporary closure has been discussed with the relevant authorities. Persons traveling to the Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM Airport) to travel during the aforementioned timeframe should leave or arrive earlier at the airport in order to avoid any potential inconvenience. The emergency repair closure is in connection with carrying out an operational assessment of the Causeway swing bridge. This could take approximately 30 minutes…
