PHILIPSBURG– In a press release from NV GEBE and the Dutch ministry of Internal Affairs it was stated that as of Sunday, October 1st, at 12.00 noon NV GEBE will be making drinking water available to the public on the eastern side of the island by means of three storage tanks located at McDonalds at the Belvedere roundabout, Fresh Market parking lot and at the entrance Festival Village. This drinking water is purified water and originates from the reversed osmosis (RO) unit at the Festival Village that was brought to Sint Maarten from the Netherlands. The Dutch Ministry supplied the…
Author: The Publisher
GREAT BAY — Zr.Ms. Karel Doorman has arrived in St. Maarten. The joint support ship left a week and a half ago from Den Helder. Today it has docked at the port in Point Blanche with more than one million kilos of goods on board. The logistics support ship left loaded with supplies on the 20th of September from the port of Den Helder in The Netherlands. This is to assist the people of St. Maarten in the recovery process of the heavily damaged island. The ship includes supply equipment and materials such as construction vehicles, transmission masts and building…
The Parliament of Sint Maarten finally convened last Monday, September 25th, to be updated by the Minister of General Affairs, the Honorable William Marlin, on the passing of hurricane Irma. An update, after two and a half weeks, to the highest representative body in the country, is unacceptable! It took the Dutch Parliament less than a week (they met on September 12th) to deal with the hurricane situation in Sint Maarten. Two days after hurricane Irma, Minister Plaster of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations had already informed the Dutch Parliament by letter of the situation. In addition, the Dutch government…
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,…
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…
