The case of Nadika Stephen that will be in court on Thursday is an interesting one because highlights the identity of the people living on the French side and the cultural differences with the forces – like the Gendarmerie and the Police Aux Frontieres – that control them. Islanders like Stephen – and many others with her – do not consider themselves French even though they carry a French passport. Before everything else, they consider themselves Martinois. While this is not the subject of the court case – the authorities accuse Stephen of using a racial slur during a protest…
Author: The Publisher
GREAT BAY – Under supervision of Chief Commissioner Denise Jacobs the immigration department is again part of the police force. The department is fully operational. The aim is to further professionalise the immigration department. In several areas like information and service work is already underway. In collaboration with the Royal Marechaussee and VDSM (Veiligheidsdienst), the police department is now working on the so-called Advanced Passenger Analysis system. The police want to establish an automated system for analysing passenger information, and to implement this in cooperation with the airport. Willem Mudde from the Royal Marechaussee in the Netherlands gave a presentation…
GREAT BAY – The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) took note of the recent arrest in the Immigration Department and applauds this step toward improved accountability. “As a young nation, we must find the way to uphold ethics and accountability in ourselves and our fellow citizens. Unfortunately, there are far too few shining examples of proper accountability. This month in particular we are overwhelmed with just the opposite,” the association says in a press statement. As a first example, the SHTA mentions “the soft opening of a parking lot that rumors to have cost an extraordinary amount of…
GREAT BAY – A small group of around thirty frustrated Gebe customers staged a protest at the utilities company’s main office on the Pondfill yesterday morning against the relentless load shedding of the past week. The protest was peaceful, though at a certain moment the police had to intervene when protesters blocked traffic on the Pondfill. A Gebe-manager invited a few of the protesters inside – among them the leader of the Christian Party Wycliffe Smith and Sjaoul Richardson. One man was wearing a tee shirt with a new explanation for the Gebe-acronym: Generating Everything But Electricity. The power of…
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,…
