When I sat down last week to put an article together it was with certainty that by this week we would have been placed under curatorship by the colonial masters, based on their expressions and an antiquated law. However today reality is completely different, as our (mis) leaders depending on which side you take, have taken the charade a bit further and we are now on the threshold of no responsible or respectable governance. Anything done regardless of the good intentions in a haphazard and improper way will continue to fail and fail miserably. This country within a country experiment…
Author: The Publisher
POND ISLAND — Dean of Academics at the University of St. Martin, Mrs. Genève Phillip-Durham, is no longer employed with or affiliated with the University of St. Martin as of October 31st, 2017. So began an email message to our newsdesk containing a 3-page scan of a resignation letter from Mrs Genève Phillip-Durham herself addressed to the board of USM. The resignation goes into immediate effect and reads as follows…
Philipsburg – The Dominica Foundation St. Maarten (DFS) invited all Dominicans residing on St. Maarten/St. Martin to join them as they celebrated Dominica 39Th Independence Anniversary. The celebration was held on Sunday, November 5th, 2017, with activities kicking off with a church service at the Roman Catholic Church in Philipsburg at 8am. All Dominicans were encouraged to attend wearing their traditional/folklore outfit. Click here to read the further details of this invitation…
PHILIPSBURG — In a press release issued Sunday, November 5th, 2017, the Parliament of Sint Maarten announced that on Friday, November 3, several Members of Parliament participated in a Masterclass on “The art of legislative drafting”. This Masterclass focused on the principles of legislation, legislative stakeholders and the legislative process in its entirety. Members of Parliament also gained more insight on how to prepare a “white paper” as preparation to the drafting of a national ordinance. The Masterclass was provided by Mr. Luciano Milliard who is the Vice-Rector for Governance and Policy Affairs at the University of Aruba. Mr. Milliard…
Philipsburg — The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Primary School (MLK) receives special educational packages from the Tzu Chi Foundation on Friday morning. “Just a few weeks ago I promised that the foundation would return to our school and support us yet again,” remarked Stuart Johnson School Manager of MLK. “I am elated to reaffirm compliments of the foundation that a promise made is a promise kept.” Johnson added. Each student received a package containing educational support materials such as a copybook, pencil case, pens, glue, tape and otherwise. Johnson thanked the foundation for their contribution and looks forward to…
Philipsburg — The President of Parliament, Sarah Wescot-Williams has convened an urgent meeting of Parliament to hear from Government what the financial outlook of the country is. The President of Parliament has asked that the Minister of Finance appears in Parliament and provides: The liquidity position of Government. The reserves of Government. The budget depletion. The commitments of Government for the remaining months of 2017. “As President I convened this meeting due to the alarming signals coming from the community; USM, school boards, other creditors of Government. I wonder how secured salaries, payment to contractors, bus drivers, and other obligations…
GREAT BAY — “All I can say is the Governor and, of course, the Prime Minister have put politics ahead of the suffering of the people. A new majority was formed in Parliament to break the impasse with the Dutch Government and to put the immediate needs of the people top of the list.” UP leader Theo Heyliger said in his latest release. “I have respect for our Governor, but it is hard for me to imagine he would look out from his office, his home and out of his car window to the sea of blue tarpaulins, news of…
GREAT BAY — On Friday morning, November 3, 2017, Prime Minister William Marlin and Governor Drs Eugene Holiday signed the National Decree to dissolve Parliament and hold snap elections. The new Parliament will be sworn in on Wednesday January 31, 2018. Postulation will be on Monday November 13, 2017 and the voters will be going to the polls to elect the new Parliament on Monday January 8, 2018.
By Hilbert Haar Here we go again folks. As Professor Arjen van Rijn wrote in a column this week: if the Parliament strikes, the Government has the right to strike back. And so, the Parliament sent the Marlin-government home with a motion of no confidence, and the Government hit back with a decree to dissolve the Parliament per January 31 of next year. That date puts the election date at an interesting time; between December 21 and December 31 – the peak of the festive season. Ho ho ho! How is that going to work out? The national decree has…
THE HAUGE – If there are going to be elections in January in St. Maarten then it seems that there will no longer be an agreement between the Netherlands and St. Maarten about a multi-million fund for the reconstruction after Hurricane Irma, John Samson writes on Caribisch Netwerk. The Parliament in St. Maarten sent the Government led by Prime Minister William Marlin home on Thursday, because Marlin does not fully agree to the Dutch conditions. But State Secretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) only wants to make a deal with a government that will be in office for a longer period…
