Michael Maghiro, the sculptor of the three bronze pelicans at the roundabout at the airport, stands in front of his work on Wednesday. Maghiro will be present on Friday when airport management hands over the roundabout and its pelicans to government. It will be the first time St. Maarten's national bird, the brown pelican, has been immortalised anywhere on the island. The steep price of the statues...
PHILIPSBURG--Parliamentary elections "will be held in the first week of September," in keeping with Constitutional requirements; however, Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said no firm date can yet be given. This will come once all the necessary legal machinery is in place. Wescot-Williams told the press at a Democratic Party (DP) press conference on Front Street Tuesday, that she will announce...
~ Workers want refund ~ PHILIPSBURG--Approximately 200 workers from the two campuses of the St. Maarten Academy are reportedly up in arms over the move by their school board to "illegally" deduct the 4.2 per cent Social and Health Insurance SZV premium from their January and February salaries. Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) President Claire Elshot told reporters on Tuesday, that the workers...
PHILIPSBURG--GEBE staff visited five primary schools over the last two days in an effort to promote World Water Day, which is celebrated worldwide every March 22. A team from GEBE, headed by acting Communications Officer Paula Gordon, visited the St. Joseph School, Sr. Borgia, Dr. Martin Luther King, Sr. Marie Laurent and Oranje schools. The objective of the visits was to promote GEBE's good quality...
PHILIPSBURG--Tax Inspectorate employees are fully capable of conducting the tax collections in the country. That was the stance of several Members of Parliament (MPs) during Monday's continuation of the plenary session of Parliament on development of the inspectorate, particularly, problems between the manager and staff of the Audit and Criminal Investigation Department. Finance Minister Martin Hassink,...
PHILIPSBURG--Lawyers Jeroen Veen and Willem Nelissen of Lexwell Attorneys-at-Law successfully argued in a recent case that all European Union (EU) citizens, currently 28 nationalities, have to be treated no differently than Dutch citizens when applying for residency in St. Maarten. The Court of First Instance agreed. According to a press release from Lexwell Attorneys, the court handed down a landmark...
~ After release in Curaçao ~ CAY HILL--A Dutchman was arrested outside Le Grand Marché on Bush Road on Monday on an extradition warrant issued by American authorities. R.G.K. is wanted in the United States for importing drugs, Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Tineke Kamps confirmed. He is in custody pending extradition. R.G.K. is the former bodyguard of Member of Parliament Romain Laville and a former...
PHILIPSBURG--United People's (UP) party Member of Parliament Theo Heyliger is not in favour of this year's parliamentary elections taking place in the hurricane season. Heyliger believes it is better to err on the side of safety and caution than try to do battle with the weather. Heyliger, recalling the trials of the 2010 election held in September which is the peak of the annual Atlantic Hurricane...
SIMPSON BAY--Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams says she is personally against the construction of a ship pier in Simpson Bay. A pier was presented in the draft zoning plan to residents for the second time by the Infrastructure Ministry. She called on residents to voice their concerns against any such project. "I personally do not think any pier should come there and that is my personal opinion....
PHILIPSBURG--Former GEBE Managing Director Julius Lambert passed away at home on Saturday, March 15. He was 67. Although he was involved in his community on various levels, including as part of the Emilio Wilson Estate managing team, Lambert will be remembered primarily for his legacy at GEBE, built over three decades of service. Since his retirement as GEBE Managing Director at age 60, Lambert made...
THE HAGUE--The Health Care Insurance Office ZVK arranged more than 7,000 medical referrals for patients in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba in 2013. The majority of the referrals were to Aruba, Curaçao, Colombia and the Netherlands, stated Dutch Minister of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sports Edith Schippers in a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Thursday. The minister did so...
PHILIPSBURG--As of Sunday, March 16, the price of unleaded gasoline will increase while the price of diesel will decrease. Unleaded gasoline will increase from NAf. 2.401 cents per litre to NAf. 2.526 cents per litre. Diesel will decrease to NAf. 2.198 per litre from NAf. 2.205 per litre. ...
~ For Household Listing Survey ~ PELICAN-- The Department of Statistics STAT would like to invite the residents of Pelican and Billy Folly to an interview drive in connection with the Household Listing Survey currently ongoing. The interview drive is today, Saturday from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Simpson Bay Community Centre in Simpson Bay next to the basketball court in the vicinity of the cemetery....
PHILIPSBURG--Two suspects were sent home by the Prosecution Service last week because of overcrowding in the Pointe Blanche prison. The prison is being rebuilt wing by wing and 30 fewer detention places are available as a result. The suspects who were sent home are D.R., suspected of firearm possession, and M.H.K., suspected of human smuggling. The two suspects had been in pre-trial detention and...
COLE BAY--Newly appointed Attorney-General Guus Schram (45) visited St. Maarten for the first time this week. He is the new chief of the Prosecutor's Offices in Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten, and of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. As per February 1, Schram replaced Dick Piar who went on pension. After attending Sunday's closing party of the Heineken Regatta, Schram held talks with Governor Eugene...
POINTE BLANCHE--A man was shot in the leg on Wednesday in Pointe Blanche, a police report states. The shooting incident took place around 8:00pm at a bar located on Juancho Yrausquin Boulevard opposite Sol Gas Station in Pointe Blanche. According to the victim, he was standing in front of the bar when a man he knows and with whom he had problems in the past, drove up in a car and fired two shots at...
PHILIPSBURG--For the second consecutive year the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) is forced to cancel the Senior Road March competition due to lack of cooperation from the singers, despite the efforts of the SCDF to wait until March, two weeks before the event is scheduled to be held. Last year, the competition was also cancelled in December when there were not enough registrants...
SABA/ST. EUSTATIUS--The Court of First Instance of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba on Wednesday rejected the claim filed by citizens of these three islands for payment of the old age pension AOV to be equal to the AOW pension in the European Netherlands. The three administrative lawsuits against the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment were heard by the Court in Bonaire. The cases were filed...
PHILIPSBURG--Home away from Home – Taking care of the Golden Age Foundation organised its second annual stroll for senior citizens yesterday in collaboration with St. Maarten Vocational Training School (SMVTS). The stroll saw a large group of senior citizens enjoying a walk through central Philipsburg, assisted by SMVTS students. Wheelchairs were made available for the walk, to which all senior citizens...
PHILIPSBURG--Minister Dennis Richardson, St. Maarten's Shareholder Representative for United Telecommunication Services (UTS) has sent his counterpart in Curaçao, Minister Earl Balborda, a letter in which the government of St. Maarten expresses its preference to swap its shares in the company for control of UTS Eastern Caribbean. Presumably the latter then would be merged with the TelEm Group of Companies,...