By now we understand we were hit by a super storm like nothing before in the Atlantic hurricane basin. While opinions and sentiments abound as to our level of preparedness and actions before, during and after the storm, we should consider the process when a threat to life, property and the national interest becomes imminent. Like with storms before this Irma, the EOC met many times to go over and rehash procedures to insure that all relevant branches were clear on what is their role and how deployment is to be executed. All uniformed services including the marines attended all…
Author: The Publisher
Philipsburg — Head of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Rolando Brison has been invited to participate in a panel discussion on Best Practices for Crisis Management during the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Cruise Conference in Merida, Mexico this week. The discussion will utilize the vantage points of both cruise executives and destinations to examine best practices of handling natural disasters and crises and provide an all-encompassing plan from preparation to proactive reaction, including housing and relief, evacuations, public relations, and communications with partners to supply resources. Brison will join a top-level group of cruise executives including moderator Hon. Allen Chastanet,…
St. John’s — Local Artist Tim Dowling, who has also been an animator for companies such as Disney, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network for over 15 years, is starting an art gallery and school by the name of Art House St. MaARTen, and will be having a grand opening in St. John’s, from 11am to 3pm on Saturday, November 11th, 2017. According to Tim, “people like drawing and painting but are anxious about it and worry if they’re good enough. It does take a while to get to a high level of drawing but it can be taught. Sometimes we were…
GREAT BAY — On October 20, 2017, the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Mr. William Marlin, issued a letter to the Dutch caretaker Minister of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Mr. Ronald Plasterk, in response to his letter dated October 13, in which the conditions of the Dutch Government to make the recovery funds available were stipulated. While amidst the urgency of managing the impact of the hurricane, the Government of Sint Maarten has sent various letters to the Dutch Government in which several topics were raised to keep the Dutch Government aligned and give the possibility to comment and…
Member of Parliament, Frans Richardson, has a point. Not every time a phone call is made to the Netherlands in the ongoing discussions regarding the reconstruction aid Holland is offering St. Maarten should the government of Sint Maarten run to the press and inform the general public of this. It is important that sensitive negotiations of this nature not be done via the media. We have written in our newsletter on Monday that true diplomacy is achieved when common ground is found in a sensitive, understanding and effective manner. That can not be done via the press. We understand all…
GREAT BAY — Leader of the United St. Maarten (US) party MP Frans Richardson believes the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) should guard its tone and refrain from levying insults towards Parliament and the government of St. Maarten. Richardson’s US party holds the political responsibility for the Ministry of Tourism and Economic Affairs and that of Justice. ~ Government will not be irresponsible in talks with the Dutch ~ He said St. Maarten has been through a disaster of epic proportions, the aftermath of which have seen the usual, proud resilience from its people. He said the SHTA…
SXM Airport — Today another major shipment of emergency equipment arrived on Sint Maarten. An Airbus A400 from the French air force landed today on Princess Juliana International Airport bringing shelter homes, police supplies and medical supplies. The shelter homes will be used as temporary housing for people whose home has been destroyed in the hurricane. The shipment also contains important medical supplies and machines such as incubators, echoes and anesthetics equipment. The Airbus A400 of the French Armed Forces, landed today 11:30 at Princess Juliana International Airport in Philipsburg, Sint. Maarten. The Netherlands and France worked together to provide…
GREAT BAY — In an email dated October 20, 2017, Monique Hoogwerf, “Coördinator Onderwijs Caribisch gebied” wrote as follows: DUO understands that due to the passing of Hurricane Irma, many former student on St. Maarten may be unable to fulfill their obligations as it pertains to the repayment of their DUO study debt. As such, DUO has decided to provide former students residing on St. Maarten with some much needed relief by suspending all study debt repayment obligations until December 2018 via a special measure. The conditions of this special measure are: DUO must know that the student is living…
PHILIPSBURG — The Rotary Club of St Martin Sunrise continues to help with their Island’s Relief Efforts. On Saturday October 14th they donated cases of water, toys and games to 15 daycare centers. This is according to a press release issued on Friday, October 19th, 2017. The press release states that according to President Damali Bryson, the daycare centers are a group that is in constant need of these essential items and the Rotary Club was only too happy to help. In addition to the daycare centers, Rotary Club of St Martin Sunrise has been actively helping other organizations such…
CAY HILL — The Ambulance Department of the Ministry VSA and the Dutch Regional Ambulance Organisation (RAV) are teaming up to provide much needed relief to the staff of the Ambulance Department in St. Maarten. Following the devastation of hurricanes Irma and Maria, Minister Lee made a request to the Department of Foreign Affairs (BZK) in Den Haag to provide the ambulance personnel in St. Maarten with much needed relief. “We’ve recently received the final approval from BZK on our request as part of the three and a half year cooperation agreement with our counterparts from the Regional Ambulance Organization…
