GREAT BAY – “I have assured the General Audit Chamber that the Ministry of Justice respects its tasks and that under this minister it will fully cooperate,” Justice Minister Rafael Boasman said at yesterday’s Council of Ministers press briefing in reaction to a question from this newspaper about the fierce criticism the Audit Chamber directed in its 2016 annual report at the ministry for a lack of cooperation with its audit of personnel expenditures in 2015. Minister Boasman said that he was “a bit surprised” when he read the front page article in Today (last Monday’s edition: “Justice Ministry undermines…
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GREAT BAY – “Our drinking water is safe,” Minister Emil lee assured the population at yesterday’s Council of Ministers press briefing. Late on Tuesday evening Inspector-General Dr. Earl best sent out a press release stating that his department is intensifying the supervision of water producers and distributors after bacteriological test found E. Coli and Legionella bacteria in the drinking water. Minister Lee recapped the statement from the inspectorate yesterday, pointing out that Seven Seas produces the island’s potable water from sea water through a reverse osmosis process at its three water plants in Pointe Blanche, Cay Hill and Cupecoy. Gebe…
Public Health Minister Emil Lee has emphatically made clear that our drinking water is safe. We are confident that this is a true statement. It is also a useful clarification after initial reports about the discovery of unwanted bacteria at several locations in the distribution network. The explanation provided by the inspector-general about the drinking water is also useful. To some, bottled water still may taste better, but based on the statements that are now made public, there is no reason to assume that our drinking water poses a hazard to public health.
Dear Editor, One of the most prominent institutions on the 6 islands of the previous Netherlands Antilles is the Chamber of Commerce & Industry which they have inherited in 1945 from our European mother country the Netherlands. Nowadays the three bigger islands have a Chamber of their own while the smaller three have one for them together. Said Chambers, through their Trade Registers, aide in providing a secure environment for business undertakings on our sister islands. Indeed, by constantly upgrading their organizations to provide the best possible service the Chambers’ Trade Registers are nowadays also used to register other legal…
Simpson Bay, St. Maarten, Customer Service Mobile Academy, CSMA opened its doors on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 with their immersed, highly anticipated partnership with the Holland House. CSMA is a new, affiliate company that falls under the auspices of Training Professionals International Firm, (TPI) the leading training and development firm that has been a trail blazer in providing accredited trainings and professional development services to some of the biggest companies on the island and throughout the Caribbean. On September 4 – 8, 2017CSMA and the Holland House will provide diverse service industry professionals from an array of business sectors with…
GREAT BAY – The Progress Committee is not entirely “cautiously optimistic” in its first quarter report as Justice Minister Rafael Boasman said at Wednesday’s Council of Ministers press briefing. This appears from the report of which this newspaper obtained a copy. “After many months of insisting in vain for action with the government of St. Maarten the movements of the past quarter seems reason to be cautiously optimistic or, if you want, less pessimistic,” the report states about government decisions. The report indeed mentions that the prime minister expressed his support to the Progress Committee for the measures the minister…
The Progress Committee is a tad more critical of St. Maarten than Justice Minister Rafael Boasman wants us to believe. The report calls the government a bad employer and notes that the country has no access to Actpol – a critical tool for immigration and police work. Maybe it is a good sign that the Progress Committee is “less pessimistic” – one could call that a form of optimism of course. But St. Maarten is not there yet, not by a long shot. The good news is that our minister of justice is well aware of this.
AIRPORT — SXM Airport was on lockdown this afternoon around 3pm after a bombthreat notice came in to police authorities regarding a Jetblue flight B6 77 out of Boston that was scheduled to land at 11:13am this morning and only landed in St. Maarten at 3:07pm. Instead of the scheduled departure time of 7:05am, the aircraft, an Airbus A321, departed Logan International Airport at 11:12am with a four delay. The aircraft was parked on the SXM Airport runway as authorities executed searches and looked into getting the passengers safely off of the aircraft and into a safe holding area where…
GREAT BAY – Born in Brooklyn, New York, and one time St. Maarten resident, Quartishar A. Hodge (36), has self-published a children’s book under the title ‘Where Do Birds Sleep?’. The colorfully illustrated book tells the tale of two birds who journey out to various sleeping spots when it is time for everyone to go to sleep and finally answers the question where do birds go when it is time for sleep. In an interview with this newspaper, the author, known to friends and family as “Tish”, whose family originally hails from Trinidad, tells how she came up with the…
GREAT BAY – The Milton Peters College and Sundial School are celebrating their respective 40 and 50 year anniversary and on Friday, May 26th, they will be hosting a jubilee talent show and art display featuring performances from Rumer, Shakiya, King Kembe, Otmars’ Angels, Rare Diamonds and more. Also performances by present and former teachers, students and staff. This will be take place ‘Under the Tent’ at Princess Port de Plaisance starting at 8pm sharp. Tickets are on sale for $10 US Dollars and available at Van Dorp, Adolphus Office Supplies and from teachers and staff of Milton Peters College…
