Author: The Publisher

GREAT BAY – On Thursday morning at 8.30 a.m. the court in Marigot handles the case of Nadika Stephen, a member of the Soualiga Grassroots Movement on charges of using racial slurs against officers of the Police Aux Frontières (PAF), the French immigration services. The Grassroots Movement is fielding a small battalion of attorneys for Stephen’s defense. Harry Durimel, Sarah Aristide, Maître Eslin and Evita Chevry all come from Guadeloupe to saint Martin for the occasion. Present at the court case will also be historian Daniella Jeffry, Elie Domota, a union leader from Guadeloupe and Julien Merion, a law professor.…

GREAT BAY – Dr. Francio Guadeloupe and Drs. Erwin Wolthuis, respectively the president of the University of St. Martin and the division head of its hospitality program, have written a theoretical essay on rethinking multiculturalism. The piece that bears the unwieldy title, “Appreciating Calalloo Soup:  St. Martin as an expression of the compositeness of life beyond the guiding fictions of racism, sexism, and class discrimination”, was published last week  in the peer review journal Revista Brasileira do Caribe.  Publication in Brazilian journal Inspired by the everyday camaraderie of youngsters at the high schools on St. Maarten, where ethnic and religious difference is…

GREAT BAY – The Court in First Instance has forbidden country St. Maarten to give out a water parcel in Great Bay to Corplease Ltd., an entity established in Tortola, or to any other entity. The court furthermore ordered the country to prevent the placement of a floating or permanent pier on in the water, located between Bobby’s Marina and Dock Maarten’s marina. The court imposed a penalty of $1 million for each infringement on the order with a maximum of $10 million. Dock Maarten took the country to court in summary proceedings on November 4. Five days later the…

GREAT BAY – A new housing project in the Welgelegen and Cay Hill area is underway, as crews began clearing the area on which some 61 town houses and apartment units are to be constructed. The project is spearheaded by APS, St. Maarten’s general pension fund administrator, which was awarded the land by government in a long lease arrangement. Over the course of the next couple of weeks, APS will continue preparing the area for construction. The work entails clearing of the brush, the excavation of soil and leveling of the land. Additionally scheduled to start shortly is the construction…

GREAT BAY – After the consultations of last Thursday Governor Eugène Holiday met with the leader of the National Alliance William Marlin on Friday to discuss the process to come to the formation of a new government. Considering the consultations, the results of the September 26, elections, the developments of the past seven weeks and the coalition agreement signed by the leaders of the NA, USP and DP representing a two thirds majority in Parliament, the governor asked Marlin to accept a second assignment as formateur. Based on the consultations the governor asked Marlin to form a new government which…

LE THILLAY FRANCE – APG, inventor of the modular line array concept, announced the appointment of Genesis Music Group as a new Uniline Partner in Sint Maarten. Genesis Music Group joins a network of committed pro AV companies who are able to offer differentiating solutions while answering the most stringent expectations. With this new addition, APG can now count on a network of 26 partners worldwide.  Commenting on the agreement, Genesis Music Group CEO and chief engineer Bertaux Fleming, a.k.a. M. Rude, enthused: “We are extremely proud to become a Uniline partner. I was introduced to the brand in 2010 during a trip to Paris,…

GREAT BAY – The Law Enforcement Council recently presented the Minister of Justice, Edsel Kirindongo, with a report on the enforcement of St. Maarten’s adult entertainment policy, based on inspections between March and June of this year. The report focuses on the aspects of preventing of and enforcement of crimes that are (often) related to the sex industry, like human trafficking, forced prostitution and exploitation. The inspection revealed suspected financial crimes, like money laundering and tax evasion relating to operators in the industry, but these criminal activities fall beyond the scope of the report. The adult entertainment policy refers to…

The findings of the Law Enforcement Council that the enforcement of the prostitution policy is a mess does not come as a surprise, but the report makes it official. When the Border Bar’s proprietor Angel Priest was sentenced in 2012 for human trafficking and exploitation, the prosecutor’s office asked the government to close down the place. Minister of Economic affairs at the time Ted Richardson did nothing, Similar requests are currently pending for temporarily revoking the permits of Le Petit Chateau and El Capitan and possibly also for Hypnotic. But our Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs remains silent on…

GREAT BAY – The appeal of Kevin Maurice Cohen against his conviction for causing a fatal accident that caused the death of former Rotary President Ramesh Bhagwandas Manek has been postponed until March 2 of next year. The case was on the docket of the Common Court of Justice yesterday, but Cohen’s attorney, Eldon Sulvaran, had informed the court that he had been “unexpectedly confronted with matters that demand his full attention.” Those matters are an injunction against the extradition of his client Gregory Koeiman to the United States. While this injunction is only in court next week, the Common…

GREAT BAY – The heat from the killing of Police Officer Gamali Benjamin on August 5 of last year seems to have somewhat evaporated, it appeared yesterday when the main perpetrators, Ridge Damisse and Jovanny Leon appeared in the Common Court of Justice yesterday. Security was light and the two men – serving 20 and 8 years respectively – were just shacked at the ankles. A third suspect, cab driver Obed C. (who was acquitted in the Court in First Instance) was also present. But the appearance did not result in the handling of the appeal. Judge Tamara Tijhuis noted…