The Caribbean is being stuck with economies that are over-proportionally depending on revenue from tourism and related activities. No, this is not just about hurricanes. If it wasn’t the weather, then it was the Zika virus or a recession. It is an economy that was directed in an unsafe direction. by Cdr. Bud Slabbaert What was in the past is history and what evolved over the years shall not be judged. There is no time for blame games and this is not around politics or politicians from the past until today. It is not about one particular territory but rather…
Author: The Publisher
Philipsburg — UTS will open its doors on Saturdays to cater to the steady flow of visitors since reopening after hurricane Irma. The UTS store in Philipsburg will be open on Saturday October 21st, 28th and November 4th from 10AM to 2PM. The expanded opening hours are to allow customers who are not able to come in during the week to handle their business. “This is a time for us to connect with our customers and if needed, we’ll adjust to better meet their needs.” says UTS Marketing & Communication officer, Ivy Lambert. “We know that during the week might…
GREAT BAY — Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher on Thursday announced that jetBlue will resume service to the island twice-weekly on its New York route as of November 1, 2017. As of November 1, jetBlue flights will service the JFK-SXM route on Mondays and Thursdays. The airline will resume its regular daily service out of New York as of January 2018. The Minister along with Head of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Rolando Brison and her Chief of Cabinet Cecil Nicholas met with jetBlue on Thursday in New York. The airline’s representatives used the opportunity to re-assure…
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…
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.…
