Motorworld Group of Companies (MWG), comprised of Motorworld, Dollar/Thrifty Car Rental, Caribbean Auto, and Audi stand resilient as the only automobile dealerships open for business and operational since the recent devastating impacts by hurricane Irma and Tropical Storm Maria. “Though our companies have sustained millions of dollars in extensive damages, we are progressively working to improve our operations, while providing essential services to our customers,” says Tariq Amjad, MWG’s Managing Director. Many of MWG’s dedicated employees have also suffered numerous personal losses. Nonetheless, they continue to rise above the challenges and work diligently daily in order to repair the damages,…
Author: The Publisher
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Who do we think we are, to destroy, neglect, damage and abuse nature and most of all don’t expect nature to hit back? Nothing is more powerful than nature, if you have doubts about that, ask anyone who went through the category 5+ hurricane ‘Irma’. By damaging and destroying nature we destroy ourselves, because we are part of nature, something a lot of people seem to forget… Before ‘Irma’, the once abundant mangroves around the lagoon were already competed out by buildings and marinas, a magnificent ecosystem which protected the lower areas the most against flooding and storms. Many trees…
PHILIPSBURG – The opening of school is on track with the Minister of Education, Culture Youth and Sport’s vision and goal. On Friday October 29th, the School boards met with the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (MECYS), the honorable Silveria Jacobs and the MECYS Recovery Team for the final meeting before the reopening of schools. The school boards updated the recovery team on the status of the schools and the availability of teachers. The recovery team provided vital information on the school hours as well as the bussing of the students to and from school. ‘School board meeting…
GREAT BAY – Minister Jeanine Hennis (Defense) has canceled a visit to St. Maarten because she has been called to the Dutch parliament for a debate about an incident in Mali whereby two Dutch soldiers were killed. Minister Ronald Plasterk (Kingdom Relations) will replace Hennis. Plasterk will be in St. Maarten on Monday and Tuesday to witness the unloading of relief material from the navy vessel Zr. Ms. Karel Doorman. Shortly after Hurricane Irma hit the island, Plasterk was in St. Maarten in the company of King Willem-Alexander. The Dutch parliament wants to question Hennis on Tuesday about the incident…
GREAT BAY – The hotel industry in St. Maarten has been hit hard by Hurricane Irma. It will probably take until the end of 2018 before the sector is fully operational again, says Ricardo Perez, general manager of the Oyster Bay Beach Resort and treasurer on the executive board of the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association. Until that time there is a transition period: “I think we will see a gradual reopening of accommodations.” By Hilbert Haar Like many other projects, the Oyster Bay Beach Resort has also sustained serious damages. Overall, the situation is bad, Perez says. “Ninety…
The fact that airlines are allowing people to book tickets although the green light has not been given by the St. Maarten government to execute commercial flights show how popular and in demand St. Maarten is as a tourist destination. Airlines are always threatening to pull out of St. Maarten citing lagging sales and bookings as an excuse to force the government and tourism stakeholders to fork over seat guarantees and other marketing incentives to continue servicing the destination with their flights. Now renowned airlines such as KLM and American Airlines are succumbing to the apparently insatiable demand by customers…
GREAT BAY – Port St. Maarten Management understands the importance of the cruise sector to the national economy, and is working diligently with the cruise lines and local stakeholders to have the first commercial cruise ship with passengers in port by November 11 – St. Maarten Day. Discussions are currently underway with a number of cruise lines with respect to itinerary planning for November. In order for this to happen, a number of links in the chain of offering a good cruise experience needs to be in place such as shore-excursions, tours, shopping (Philipsburg), restaurants and other amenities. Port Management…
GREAT BAY – The Cooperating Foundations for the Caribbean of the Dutch Kingdom donate an amount of Euro 500,000 for emergency relief to the Red Cross for the by hurricane Irma affected Dutch Caribbean islands St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. The funding organizations watched the devastation that Irma caused with horror. There is no option of sitting back and wait as in these circumstances currently funded Caribbean social initiatives financed by Cooperating Foundations cannot continue and proceed with their current important work. Because the Cooperating Foundations do not have the infrastructure for emergency relief help, they decided to make this amount available…
GREAT BAY — Minister of Economic Affairs Mellissa Arrindell-Doncher on Thursday said inspectors of the Economic Control Department has issued stern warnings to businesses caught price gouging in the aftermath of hurricanes Irma and Maria. The Minister also disclosed that business was caught selling items with no prices on the goods and some businesses were refusing to provide receipts. The law dictates that if these practices are found, the business in question would get a stern warning and has to correct the violations on the spot. Repeat offenders will be heavily fined. Supermarkets, tire repair shops, hardware stores and general…
POND ISLAND — In a press statement released yesterday on behalf of the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) wherein the President, Alston Lourens, was quoted as saying that the SCDF fully intends to host the 2018 Carnival festival, mention was also made about talk of the Festival Village being used as a place to house displaced persons after hurricane Irma. Lourens was quoted as saying he is concerned about this approach and how it might affect the festival in April 2018. Apparently, the talk is about creating a Emergency Container Village to house homeless persons who are presently without…
