Grand Case, St. Martin—People of all ages flocked to Friar’s Bay to celebrate St. Martin’s nature and enjoy fun activities at Les Fruits de Mer’s 2017 Migratory Bird Festival, which was held this past Saturday, November 25th, at Kali’s Beach Bar. The festival’s 2017 theme was “Welcome back!” to the island’s migratory birds and habitats that are recovering from the hurricane. The event also welcomed people back to the natural beauty of Friar’s Bay, and brought some to the French side of the island for the first time since Irma. “It was a gorgeous day, and there was fantastic birdwatching…
Author: The Publisher
PHILPSBURG — St. Maarten henceforth has its first successful entrée of its documentary heritage in the Memory of the World Register for Latin America and Caribbean. The Memory of the World Programme (MoW) is a UNESCO initiative, created in 1992, aimed at preserving the documentary heritage of the world – housed in libraries, archives and museums – as a symbol of the collective memory of humanity. It calls for the preservation of valuable archival holdings, library collections and private individual collections. A range of formats are embraced under the rubric “documentary heritage” such as paper, music, videos, scrolls, art, stone and fabric. This heritage reflects the diversity…
PHILIPSBURG — A brief meeting between the Council of Ministers and Dutch State Secretary, Mr. Raymond Knops, was held on Monday, November 27, 2017. Parties discussed the steps that will be taken to actualize the reconstruction phase to ensure that the urgent aid for those persons that were affected by the hurricanes could commence. It was highlighted that short term projects which will have immediate impact on the lives of the people of Sint Maarten should be given the highest priority. Furthermore, the World Bank was indicated as the institution to manage all project requests for funding to ensure accountability…
PHILIPSBURG – St. Maarten will get around €40 million ($47.6 million at the current rate of exchange) financial support from the Netherlands for its 2017 budget, State Secretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) said at a press conference on Monday afternoon, but he did not say anything on support from the 2018 budget that will face an even greater deficit.
PHILIPSBURG – Employees of the Post Office marched to the government administration building on Monday morning in an attempt to get government support for the payment of their November salaries. The chairman of the board, Stuart Johnson, manager Antonia Wilson and the President of the St. Maarten Communication Union, Ludson Evers, did not get an immediate audience with interim Prime Minister Rafael Boasman, because he was in talks with the Dutch State Secretary Raymond Knops. Photo caption: Ludson Evers (center) on the phone with a representative of Prime Minister Boasman’s office. Left is Antonia Wilson, right Stuart Johnson. Photo by…
EDE, The Netherlands — On Wednesday, November 22, 2017, Dutch real estate developer Tom Westermeijer (79) passed away after a short illness. He leaves to mourn his wife, Jannie, and three sons, Johan and Leo & Tom (twins). He came to St. Maarten in the late 1970’s and fell in love with the Island. So much so that he made use of his real estate developer’s ability to purchase and develop a large piece of property immediately next to the present Divi Little Bay Beach Resort. His plan was to build a multi-million dollar complex unique to the Caribbean. Unfortunately,…
Dear Editor, It is still sometimes hard to imagine that the people of St. Maarten has to endure more political instability, this time in the aftermath of a devastating storm. One would think that we would have found a way to put petty differences aside and focus solely on rebuilding St. Maarten and ensuring a decent quality of life for our people. While most people expected this, a very small group saw the hurricane as an opportunity. An opportunity to exploit an emergency situation for power. An opportunity to emotionally manipulate the population when the population is at its most…
Philipsburg –The Ministry of VROMI has been working diligently with the processing of salvaging permits. Thus far 90 salvaging permits have been given between the two companies Aquatic Solutions NV and Seacure Marine Construction. VROMI understands the severity of the state of the Simpson Bay lagoon but also needs to make sure that companies working have the proper documentation in place. There was some confusion post hurricanes Irma and Maria pertaining to salvaging wrecks and the barge “Titan” that was brought by Marine Management & Consulting (MMC). Chairlady Sarah Wescott Williams brought the barge to the attention of the coalition…
~ Healy: “Our clients are more confused than before” ~ PHILIPSBURG – “Only now the emotions are coming to the surface. We are very busy with crises,” says Eileen Healy, the director of the Mental Health Foundation about the psychological effects of Hurricane Irma on citizens. “In a month or two I’ll be able to present some numbers about the consequences of the hurricane.” Healy says that what she sees right now is just the tip of the iceberg.
Philipsburg — A recently published story whereby Minister Lee was accused of using government fuel bonds to purchase fuel for personal use and misusing government number plate by a blog website is mistaken. “Sadly instead of investing time and energy into rebuilding the country, it appears that efforts will continue to be wasted blaming others and continued attempts at character assassination. I believe this is a sad attempt to discredit, delay or interfere with the screening process for a candidate minister. Unfortunately, I expect that these attacks will continue but I won’t let them distract my attention from the true…
