Author: The Publisher

One of Sint Maarten’s most important wetlands, Mullet Pond, has been listed and protected as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Treaty last week, marking a significant advancement in the conservation of wetland biodiversity on the island. The Ramsar Convention, signed in Iran in 1971, is a global commitment to maintain the ecological character of global wetland areas, including in the wider Caribbean region. The Nature Foundation, the VROMI Ministry, EPIC, the Department of Foreign Relations, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ramsar Europe Secretariat have been working for almost four years to have Mullet Pond…

GREAT BAY – The Common Court of Justice installed three judges for handling criminal cases in St. Maarten last Friday – Tjada van der Spoel, Dirk Gruijters and John Schols. Gruijters has already handled cases at the courthouse, among them the famous replay of the Masbangu-case. Van der Spoel, formerly lead counsel for suspects in the Rwanda tribunal and the Yugoslavia tribunal and defense counsel for suspects at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, works as Judge of Instruction and he handles criminal cases on appeal. John Schols is as Judge of Instruction involved in large-scale investigations that…

Dear Editor, I served as Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications and as Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure. Serving in both areas after being part of the United People’s (UP) Party short stint in Government from December 2014 to November 2015, allowed me to work on a number of important issues, projects and programs for the people of Sint Maarten. The Chinese are investing all around the world.  They have shown interests in Sint Maarten since back in 2014 when I was a Minister. And the approach to this new market interest has been one…

GREAT BAY – Were there eighty protesters on Saturday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pearl of China project, 25 or just a handful? In a press release the startup political party Hope claims that there were 80 protesters, while a photo showing protesters huddling under a tent on the beach shows that there were at best 25. Our photographer Milton Pieters counted “a handful of protesters.” Peaceful however, it was. Francine de Polo and Mercedes van der Waals-Wyatt, leader of the Hope party, organized the protest. It was, Hope says in a press statement, “about the manner in which…

“All jobs are for locals” GREAT BAY – The Hanwang Caribbean Forum, the groundbreaking at Little Bay Beach preceded by a protest that involved the Hope and the Christian Party, followed by a press conference where Shuqiang Cui, president of New Life Town Investment and Development Limited China promised “400 stable and well-paying jobs’ took away a lot of the mystery that surrounded the Pearl of China project last Saturday. The text on the invitation for the events – The Pearl of Caribbean and China Global Trade Center – made already clear that the project is not tourism- but business-driven.…

Dear Editor, St. Maarten people should stop talking and put their money where their mouth is. If St. Maarten people wants to protect and conserve certain properties as nature parks then they should join forces, set up foundations, raise capital and purchase these properties outright and allocate these properties to the environmentally sustainable projects they have in mind. St. Maarten people, especially the activists, who calls on others to take action to protest, demonstrate and block the commercial developments of certain properties, should not solely rely on ‘government’ to take action. These properties are private properties and ‘government’ can not…

GREAT BAY – Anenda Zaandam steps down today as the executive director of the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association. Today is her last day at the SHTA-office. She is the fourth director to leave the organization within the last three years. Zaandam succeeded Karen Hana in February of last year. The organization has gone through a flurry of directors since the departure of stalwart Robert Dubourq who stayed on as an advisor until his departure for the Netherlands on July 1, 2013. In August 2012 the SHTA named former journalist Alfred Harley its director as the successor of Valya…

GREAT BAY – Port St. Maarten management welcomes the Pearl of China project especially its hub function that would benefit the countries two ports of entry, namely the airport and the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facility, the company said in a press statement yesterday. “I would like to congratulate the initiators of the Pearl of China project for bringing such a project to the country.  Our port has seen many changes over the past two decades in both cruise and cargo.  We have expanded based on market developments, and we continue to plan according to those trends,” port…

It was rather predictable that some would consider the Pearl of China project an election gimmick. In terms of timing, that is of course quite understandable. But Saturday it became clear that the investor is for real, the project is for real and the impact the project will have on our economy will be – if everything unfolds as presented – humongous. Fear of the unknown – and who knows, fear of losing the elections – has driven some critics to comments that do not make a lot of sense. Today, former Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs Claret Connor…

Dear Editor, St. Maarten, this friendly island, needs to allow its heart to beat again. We are all here together on this island and we all need to agree to puncture this cloud of personal focus and enter a place of benefit for and by the people of St. Maarten. How do we do this? St. Maarten’s position – We can do this by first considering St.Maarten’s position within the region and wider world. What makes SXM different – Looking at what different attributes does St. Maarten have that makes it different. Maximizing SXM’s Strengths – Looking at how to…