Dear Editor, The three words I used as the heading for this article are well known to the French especially as they were key words or a motto mentioned during the French Revolution. I want to focus on the word fraternity or some might say brotherhood and whatever comes out of it. This brings me to the purpose for using it which is the action that was taken by the French authorities to invade Captain Oliver’s Restaurant and Marina and arresting the owner because of so called outstanding taxes. Taxes to whom? I believe there is a real agenda which…
Author: The Publisher
Philipsburg — In a press statement released on Sunday, November 13th, 2016, DP Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams laments the fact that the National Alliance (NA) and United People’s (UP) parties thumbed their noses at the people of St. Maarten/St. Martin on their day with what she terms “their silly boycott”. “Their silly boycott is bad enough; that the Governor would fall for their silliness is highly questionable, but that the chairperson of parliament, Mr. Claret Connor would compromise the office of chairperson is regrettable.” “The Chairperson of Parliament by law represents parliament, not any faction or coalition of factions. The Parliament…
GREAT BAY – For threatening a man who was with his ex-girlfriend, ill-treating him and stealing his bag and his shoes, Jean Joel Michel Jerome Hodge was sentenced to a 3-month prison sentence in the Court in First Instance yesterday. In September 2007, the Appeals Court sentenced Hodge to 15 years for the manslaughter on Kemar Lloyd Grayson on May 13, 2006. The men got into a deadly altercation after a minor traffic accident. He was released after serving two-third of his sentence, but his early release is now potentially in jeopardy. The latest incident took place on April 23,…
GREAT BAY – The second new cruise vessel on its inaugural call for the month of November is Thomson Discovery (TUI Discovery) which will dock today. In the summer of 2016, Thomson Cruises (TUI) the Discovery, its newest and one of its biggest ships joined its fleet. TUI Discovery is the second of five new cruise ships that will be making its inaugural call this month to the destination. Port St. Maarten Management continues to be proactive by attracting new vessels to the destination and at the same time diversifying the country’s tourism market between American and European cruise passengers. …
GREAT BAY- All eyes will be looking skywards this upcoming Sunday, because that is the day when the St Maarten Airport organizes the second annual Aerobatic show that will feature two professional pilots from the USA. One of the pilots, Melissa Pemberton, was first to arrive at the Princess Juliana International Airport yesterday aboard her sleek looking Edge 540 aircraft. It did not come as a surprise when performed an extremely low approach just a matter of a few feet above the heads of the hundreds of tourists that lined the road leading to Beacon Hill. Melissa’s air show routine…
Crime knows no borders on St. Maarten and the criminals know that too. When the justice authorities talk about cross-border crime, they usually are not talking about criminals crossing the border of St. Maarten during their crime sprees and unlawful activities. Authorities are usually referring to international criminal activities by gangs and crime syndicates. However attractive that may be for police investigators to focus on, the issue of cross-border crime has a much more down to earth consequence for St. Maarten/St. Martin. The case of a missing person reported on the Dutch side resulted in the person’s dead body being…
Every now and then the issue of independence for St. Maarten pops up. The venue on a number of occasions has been the floor of the Parliament of St. Maarten. Members of Parliament such as Franklin Meyers once famously said that he would rather die a free man in an independent St. Maarten than on his knees under the rule of the Dutch colonial powers. Whenever the issue of adhering to rules and regulations enforced by the Dutch Kingdom government on the government of St. Maarten – the Integrity Chamber comes to mind – politicians are quick to say that…
St. Maarten’s Day is a day of mixed emotions for many people. I am also one of them. St. Maarten is an island with many people from all walks of life, countries and cultures. St. Maarten Day is the day when both sides of the island come together to celebrate the unity and oneness of its people, their collective history, their present harmony and their future struggle to maintain it. However, it is time and long overdue that St. Maarten/St. Martin also starts celebrating the diverse cultures and people on the island. So not only French and Dutch St. Maarteners,…
GREAT BAY – “This is not heading in the right direction,” Prime Minister William Marlin said yesterday afternoon when he explained the situation surrounding the border dispute with the French side in Oyster pond. “This morning I received a hard copy of a letter from Préfète Déléguée Anne Labies basically saying what she told me on the phone, namely that the French consider the northern part of Oyster Pond to be French and that the work at Captain Oliver’s was carried out illegally.” Oyster Pond border dispute escalates “What to do?” the prime minister continued. “If we remove the barricades…
What to do about the border dispute in Oyster Pond? That question is not just on the mind of Prime Minister William Marlin but also on that of many Members of Parliament. Nobody seems to know what to do, even though the conflict seems to have escalated after Préfète Déléguée Anne Labies declared in writing to Marlin that she considers the contested piece of water to be French. That won’t do, of course and the French ought to back off. The thing is, they don’t, knowing darn well that they are, for the time being wrong. The matter will have…
