Author: The Publisher

GREAT BAY — Due to a shortage of our newsprint paper, the Wednesday, March 15th, 2017, edition of the TODAY newspaper is available online today. Click here to download and read the complete version digitally in PDF format.        DOWNLOAD COMPLETE DIGITAL VERSION HERE

GREAT BAY – The public prosecutor painted a bleak picture yesterday of what it is like to work in a brothel like Casablanca. The girls have to pay $60 per day for a small room that they share with a second girl. “Casablanca received almost $2,000 per month per girl,” the prosecutor said. “That is almost $4,000 for a shared small room. For that money you get on this island a royal villa with four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a swimming pool.” Attorney Ritch Kock, who handled the fiscal part of the trial for the Casablanca suspects, noted that the…

GREAT BAY – Port St. Maarten officials left over the weekend for Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to attend Seatrade Cruise Global at the Broward County Convention Center until tomorrow.  Yesterday’s State of the Global Cruise Industry keynote at Seatrade Cruise Global is a highlight on the calendar for all executives in the maritime world. The 2017 State of the Global Cruise Industry once again set the course for the cruise industry’s premier global business-to-business event.  The panel comprised of Frank Del Rio, President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.; Arnold Donald, President & CEO, Carnival Corporation &…

GREAT BAY – A referendum for independence is not a priority for the Democratic Party at this moment,” party leader Sarah Wescot-Williams said yesterday at a press conference she gave in her role as president of Parliament. Wescot-Williams said that there is a lot of legislation that needs the urgent attention of government and Parliament, She once more explained why the petitions committee of Parliament that handled last week a request by the Independence for St. Martin Foundation to hold a constitutional referendum, moved said request onwards to the central committee of Parliament. “The petitions committee is a place where…

Dear Editor, The matter of meeting (or not) with the quartermaster recently gained some traction again. The Chairlady of Parliament in responding to the question whether she met with the Quartermaster during his visit to St. Maarten in February, explained: Yes, an invitation to meet was extended to me via the Representative of the Dutch Government in Philipsburg. I politely, yet resolutely declined due to the fact that a few days before Mr. Leijtens came to St. Maarten, I was co-signatory to a unanimous motion of Parliament, condemning the way this appointment came about and furthermore urging our government to…

The prosecutor’s office is coming down hard on the suspects in the Casablanca human trafficking case with an 8-year prison sentence demand for the company’s director. It is certainly another wake up call for the prostitution sector on the island. It has struggled with changed rules the government has implemented but those same rules could now work in favor of the industry’s main players. The labor department no longer grants work permits for sex workers, as it likes to call prostitutes; instead it issues work permits for exotic dancers. That should take the heat of the government as an accomplice…

GREAT BAY – The nerves are raw at Bakker Recycling on Pond Island after the police raided the place yesterday morning at the request of Dutch judicial authorities as part of a large-scale money laundering investigation. When this newspaper went to the place to take a picture yesterday afternoon, a man armed with a menacing piece of wood came out using a lot of four-letter expletives to express his misguided sentiment that it was not allowed to take pictures. “I own St. Maarten,” he added for good measure. Raids in Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and St. Maarten Police arrested André B.…

GREAT BAY – The public prosecutor demanded 8 years of imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 guilders against McQuincy R. the 39-year-old director of the Casablanca brothel. Jessy R., 45, goes to prison for 7 years if it is up to the prosecution and she’ll have to pay also a 200,000 guilders fine. The prosecutor wants to fine Casablanca NV an additional 30,000 guilders for fiscal fraud. Casablanca human trafficking case Carmen P., the 67-year-old owner of the Casablanca building is facing 5 years of imprisonment and her son David E. 4 years. The court will pronounce all verdicts in…

THE HAGUE – Turkish ministers were refused entry into the Netherlands this weekend to address political rallies in the run up to the Turkish referendum which will give more power to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Dutch papers waver between praise and regret for the actions of the Dutch government. ‘A violent collision between Turkish pride and Dutch determination’ the NRC calls the diplomatic row between Turkey and the Netherlands in its editorial. ‘The motives for refusing the Turkish ministers were perhaps understandable enough but it was not a wise move. A refusal is an infringement of the right to…

GREAT BAY – The publication of a story about the ill-treatment of a 58-year old woman by her son (Today, March 10: Violent son of ill-treated mother still walks free) triggered quite some reactions, the victim’s attorney Geert Hatzmann says, but in the meantime the man still has not been arrested. Yesterday, Hatzmann asked the Common Court of Justice to order the prosecutor’s office to take action. Violent son still not arrested In his petition to the court, Hatzmann explains the background of the fight. His client, a woman who used to live in St. Maarten and currently resides in…