~ On Haitian celebration ~ MARIGOT--Territorial Council President Aline Hanson condemned on Wednesday what she described as "xenophobic and discriminatory" remarks made by certain groups reacting to the planned celebration of the Haitian flag this Sunday. "In response to the open letter by the Collective of Natives and Friends of St. Martin asking me to cancel the celebration of the Haitian Flag event,...
~ Payment expected mid-June ~ PHILIPSBURG--Social and Health Care Insurance SZV will be paying out more than NAf. 1 million in cessantia (severance) pay to former Pelican Resort workers who went on the breadline some three years ago when the company changed hands. The cessantia payment is expected to be made in mid-June. A total of 139 workers applied for the severance payment. Of this number 118...
PHILIPSBURG--The advisory body for matters concerning civil servants GOA has given the government the green light to increase the pension age for civil servants from 60 to 62, Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said. She told reporters at the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday that the GOA gave a positive advice on the request in late April. Wescot-Williams said government's Personnel...
ANSE MARCEL--SMART 2014 delegates enjoyed a welcoming cocktail party at Radisson Blu Resort, Marina and Spa on Wednesday night, before the serious business of trading and networking starts in earnest today and Friday. Delegates mingled around the resort's pool, sipping champagne and nibbling on canapés as Carnival dancers and a singer entertained them. St. Maarten Minister of Tourism Ted Richardson...
MARIGOT--The Collectivité has come under fire for allowing a planned celebration of the Haitian Flag to take place this coming Sunday reportedly in the Marigot ball park with at least two organizations viewing the event as a "provocation" and lack of respect for St. Martiners. They have demanded the event be cancelled, not least because it clashes with the annual St. Louis/Freetown Fête scheduled...
THE HAGUE--Nineteen researchers of renowned Dutch institutions will engage in nine new research projects in the Dutch Caribbean in the areas of biodiversity, geology and society. The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science OCW is making 12.5 million euros available for this large, multi-disciplinary programme of the Netherlands Scientific Organisation NWO. Two of the nine researchers are...
ST. EUSTATIUS--Statia Island Council Member Elvin Henriquez of the United People's Coalition (UPC) recently wrote a letter to Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk to express his disappointment regarding the appointment of the new National Government Representative for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. In the letter Henriquez accused the minister of "serious discrimination"...
Two four-foot bronze pelican statues like the one shown in photo, each weighing about 100 pounds, were stolen recently from a property on Bryson Drive, Mount William Hill. Police spokesperson Inspector Ricardo Henson said in a police press release on Tuesday that a man M.M. had filed a report with the Detective Department on Saturday, stating that unknown persons had stolen the two pelican statues...
SIMPSON BAY--Shurendly Maduro returned to Curaçao on Saturday, May 10, after being exposed as pretending to be a Catholic priest. The young man had been seen wandering the airport a few days after being found out. He had only purchased a one-way ticket and had nowhere to go. Photojournalist Gromyko Wilson caught wind of the fact, although Maduro initially had lied about who he was. Wilson said airport...
~ Registration open ~ PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten has been selected as the destination to host the third joint meeting of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training Network (CHART); Caribbean Cytometry and Analytical Society (CCAS); Caribbean Med Labs Foundation (CMLF) and the 11th CCAS HIV International Workshop. The conference/workshop will be held at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort from August 24 to 28...
THE HAGUE--The Dutch Inspection of Education is generally positive about the improvements that have been made in primary education in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, but is concerned about lack of progress in some areas. The Inspection stated in the report The State of Education over the years 2012/2013, which was published in April 2014, that there have been "visible improvements" in the educational...
CUL DE SAC--The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation honoured mothers, highlighted their strengths and pampered them with love and care during a well-attended entertaining and informative triple celebration at the Foundation’s L.B. Scot Road office on Sunday. A touching part of the programme was the emotional testimony by one of Tzu Chi’s long-time recipients Mary Simon who, close to tears told the audience...
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados--An elderly woman died while on a Caribbean Airlines flight from Trinidad to Barbados early Saturday. A passenger on board BW456 told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the woman complained of chest pains, following which flight attendants made an appeal for a medical professional. However, the woman was pronounced dead by the doctor who was on board. According to the...
~ On Census issues ~ PHILIPSBURG--Government is seeking to liaise with representatives of the various nationalities in St. Maarten as it relates to the various issues non-nationals and naturalised Dutch citizens are encountering at the Department of Civil Registry (Census Office). Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said in a press release issued by her cabinet on Sunday that the issues at the department,...
PHILIPSBURG--The Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (VROMI), Department of Infrastructure Management was busy on Saturday night and Sunday clearing drains, waterways and roads of debris after a rainfall of more than 6 inches was experienced on Saturday evening, according to Department Head Claudius Buncamper. According to a press release by the Ministry,...
PHILIPSBURG--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pupils had a chance to become Members of Parliament (MPs) and Minister for a short while during a recent educational visit to Parliament with their teachers and a parent. The Cycle two, year four pupils were shown a brief video followed by an introduction about the structure of government and Parliament as one of the country's key institutions of democracy....
PHILIPSBURG--The Joint Court of Justice on Friday suspended the workings of the verdict handed down by the Court of First Instance instructing government to purchase Industry and Golden Rock Plantations, also known as Emilio Wilson Estate. On February 21, the Court of First Instance ordered government to sign the required documents leading to the sale of 37 hectares of the estate within two weeks....
AMSTERDAM--The 100 per cent control exercise of inbound passengers from the Dutch Caribbean and Suriname at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport hasn't resulted in an overall reduced import of cocaine into Europe. The smuggling route has merely moved to the Rotterdam harbour and drugs cartels are now using West Africa as transhipment route. This is the conclusion of 20 economists and politicians, including...
~Sarah says issue has her concern~ PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) on Thursday expressed outrage over the revocation of Dutch passports from persons in St. Maarten who had the Dutch nationality for many years and are now being told that they would be stripped of their nationality due to, amongst other things, errors made by the authorities who accepted their application years ago. Prime Minister...
SIMPSON BAY--The St. Maarten Nature Foundation responded to reports of a significant oil spill in the Simpson Bay area in the vicinity of Gourmet Marché stretching towards the Simpson Bay Causeway on Friday. Foundation staff responded by taking a vessel out to investigate. Once on scene, the situation was assessed and the environmental impacts of the spill on the marine environment determined. Initial...