THE HAGUE--Dutch Minister of Safety and Justice Ivo Opstelten has yet to decide on a request from St. Maarten Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson to supply additional detectives from the Netherlands. Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated this in a letter that he sent to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament in response to written questions of Members of...
PHILIPSBURG--National Alliance (NA) leader Member of Parliament William Marlin and fellow MP Louie Laveist want the campaign funds to political parties to be capped as a means to level the playing field. They also want to limit the amount of radio and television airtime political parties can have for the same reason. "We need a cap on spending," Laveist said. Neither he nor Marlin gave any indication...
SUCKER GARDEN-- Shots were fired outside of a house on Sucker Garden Road on Thursday morning, but no one was reported to be injured. A woman called the police after hearing the gun shots. It transpired that the male resident of the house had an argument with two men, after which he had entered the house to collect a gun. He is then said to have fired into the air. Bullet shells were found on the...
FORT AMSTERDAM-- Members of the Netherlands Royal Marines Detachment, the Vrijwillers Korps St. Maarten (VKS, St. Maarten Volunteer Corps), invited guests including Governor Eugene Holiday and a handful of tourists were present at Fort Amsterdam yesterday to welcome the Dutch Navy ship Zr. Ms. Zeeland. The VKS and the Netherlands Marines were in ceremonial uniforms to welcome the ship, which, in passing...
PHILIPSBURG--The Council of Ministers will endeavour to make a decision on whether or not to pursue the dollarization of the St. Maarten economy in two months, said Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams on Wednesday. She said at the council's press briefing that government will try to go to Parliament with a preliminary decision based on the research done so far. Government has been exploring the possibility...
PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams says the Department of Civil Registry is undergoing a clean-up of its registry that started some two years ago and no one is being targeted in the process. She was responding at the time to concerns raised by National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament (MP) George Pantophlet regarding the writing out of persons living in the United States from the...
CUL DE SAC--A fire of unknown origin destroyed the commentary booth at Caribe Lumber Ballpark last night. The fire destroyed the outer part of the booth and only an unusable skeleton of the booth was left standing after the blaze had been extinguished by the Fire Department. The commentary booth was a two-storey building. The lower flat was used for storage while the upper flat was used to broadcast...
PHILIPSBURG--Shareholder Representative for United Telecommunication Services (UTS) Minister Dennis Richardson said his counterpart, Curaçao Minister Earl Balborda indicated that he would "take into consideration," St. Maarten's request to swap its shares in the company for control of UTS Eastern Caribbean. Richardson told The Daily Herald on Tuesday that Balborda indicated that the request would...
~ To examine partnership possibilities ~ PHILIPSBURG--A Letter of Intent (LOI) has been signed between TelEm Group of Companies and United Telecommunications Services (UTS) to examine the possibilities of a partnership between the two companies. St. Maarten's Shareholder Representative for UTS Minister Dennis Richardson on Tuesday confirmed that an LOI had been signed, but directed this newspaper...
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Youth Members of Parliament (YMPs) got somewhat of an advantage for the upcoming Kingdom Youth Parliament (KYP) when they received a two-hour interactive training on Tuesday, from top Dutch debate expert and KYP debate leader Roderik van Grieken. The debate leader has only met with the Netherlands KYP team prior to meeting the St. Maarten team. He will not meet with the KYP...
PHILIPSBURG--Local calypso legend Barbara Althea Nesbitt, better known on the island as Calypso Barbara, passed away in the morning of April 7. Calypso Barbara was born on July 2, 1940, and had been ill for some time. She was a talented musician, singer and songwriter who had been involved in local Carnival celebrations for decades and was particularly involved in Youth Carnival programmes. She supported...
THE HAGUE--The Council of State has emphasised once again the need for a conciliation regulation for the countries of the Dutch Kingdom. The advisory body wrote this in its annual report for 2013, the publication of which coincidentally follows the Kingdom Conference in Aruba where no firm agreements on this matter were made. That a conciliation arrangement is necessary appeared last year with a request...
MARIGOT--Gynaecologist Dr. Louis Jeffry said Monday chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients could be available in St. Martin in a year or so, dispensing with the inconvenience of patients having to travel regularly to Guadeloupe or France. "We are looking forward to having a team and the equipment, a complete unit, to propose to patients in St. Martin," said Jeffry. "It is currently a priority...
PHILIPSBURG--The Democratic Party (DP) board has requested its leader Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams (DP) consider the possibility of inviting international monitors to prepare a mission to observe the 2014 parliamentary elections, and for the monitoring agency to include locals in its team for them to gain experience in best practices for future elections. DP Board President Michael Ferrier...
WILLENSTAD--A Curaçao police officer who was attacked by a group of foreigners during a general control at a snack bar in Choloma late Friday night used a service weapon in defence, with fatal consequences. A bullet hit the man, Sharlon Randy Mercelina of Trinidad, who died almost immediately as a result of his injuries. He was actually residing on the island legally, but during the operation seven...
PHILIPSBURG--Royal Kid and Lil Blossom retained their titles as Junior Road March Monarch and Junior Calypso Monarch on Saturday night, after they performed in front of a crowd of people at Celebration Palace to compete for the Monarch Titles in the Junior Road March and Junior Calypso Competitions. Judges Claudius Jones, Romez Fleming and Eric Taylor had the task of awarding points for the lyrics,...
THE HAGUE--Dutch State Secretary of Economic Affairs Sharon Dijksma has made funds available for six nature projects in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, it was announced on Friday. These are the first approved projects. The funds go towards projects that not only strengthen nature on the islands, but which also contribute to agriculture, tourism or local entrepreneurship. In total, the Dutch Government...
THE HAGUE--European public health authorities anticipate that the outbreak of the viral disease chikungunya will expand in the Caribbean and permanently establish itself on the islands. Because of the intensive traffic of persons between the Caribbean and Europe, authorities urge doctors to take the disease into account in case travellers display the symptoms of chikungunya. This was stated in an...
PHILIPSBURG--The Fire Department held its annual parade on Friday as part of Firemen's Week. A band led a group of firemen and one female fire-fighter as they marched through the centre of Philipsburg. The march started at the Government Administration Building where the fire officers dressed in their ceremonial uniforms stood at attention as they were inspected by Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams....
~ Stress importance of investing in health ~ PHILIPSBURG--A Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) delegation has been in St. Maarten over the past few days working on establishing a strategic agenda of cooperation with the country, amongst other things. St. Maarten is currently an Associate Member of PAHO. The delegation, which held discussions with the Council of Ministers on Thursday, stressed...