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...
PHILIPSBURG--A driver is said to have broken an arm when his Geo Tracker flipped over while descending the Link One Phase Two around 1:00pm on Friday. Reports indicated that the driver was manoeuvring down the wet road in regular speed when he felt his vehicle slipping. He attempted to slow down even further and apparently lost control of the vehicle, which ran up on the shoulder of the road causing...
PHILIPSBURG--The Court of Appeals is to present its advice on the challenging request filed by Prosecutor Gonda van der Wulp against Judge Koos van de Ven today, Friday, at 9:00am. The request was foiled during the April 23 trial of four men suspected of membership in a criminal organisation involved in drugs, firearms and money laundering. The Prosecutor presented her case against the Judge at the...
MAHO--St. Maarten is currently hosting this year's United Nations Educational Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) meeting on Capacity Building and Heritage Conservation in the Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Regional and international participants are using the opportunity to strengthen professional capacities for the effective implementation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention in...
PHILIPSBURG--Government messenger D.F.H. (34) may be handed over to French judicial authorities in connection with involvement in the death of a person at a bar in French St. Martin on September 7, 2002. The Prosecutor's Office requested the man's extradition during Thursday's sitting of the Joint Court of Justice. Acting Solicitor-General Clarelli Hato-Willems said the Prosecutor's Office had filed...
~ Will hold another clinic this year ~ PHILIPSBURG--Scores of residents who turned up to get their eyes tested for free by a visiting volunteer eye specialist from the Dominican Republic were left disappointed on Wednesday, as the Public Health Inspectorate closed down the clinic. Sunshine Foundation representatives said they were informed by the inspectorate that the volunteer ophthalmologist required...
Elected officials commemorated the 69th anniversary of Fête de la Victoire when President Charles de Gaulle announced on May 8, 1945, that World War II had come to an end with France liberated from Nazi oppression. A ceremony was held in the garden of Hotel de la Collectivité on Thursday morning. Wreaths were laid at the war memorial by Préfet Philippe Chopin, President of the Territorial Council...
THE HAGUE--The Executive Council of St. Eustatius recently informed the Dutch Government that it is dead-set against taking away the voting rights of non-Dutch residents for the Island Council. In a letter to Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk, the public entity St. Eustatius formally protested against the law proposal that the Dutch Government sent to the Second Chamber...
PHILIPSBURG--The long-awaited court case in the so-called "Orca" investigations against independent Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge and Bada Bing nightclub owner Jaap van den Heuvel started Wednesday with a so-called pro-forma hearing. Due to the absence of Van den Heuvel's attorney, Cor Merx, and Illidge's lawyer, Ralph Richardson, as well as the suspects themselves, for personal reasons, only...
Residents were shocked to see old trees near the Get Wet Bar in Philipsburg being cut. All branches of two large trees were chopped off. Relevant authorities were not available for comment by the time of publication, but it has caught the attention of the St. Maarten Pride Foundation. ...
THE HAGUE--Some parties in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament are questioning the law proposal of the Dutch Government to take away the voting rights of foreign citizens of the Dutch public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. Representatives of the Socialist Party (SP), the Labour Party PvdA, the Christian Democratic Party CDA, the Democratic Party D66 and the reformed Christian party...
MARIGOT—A French parliamentary mission will shortly examine the functioning of the organic law in practice in St. Martin since 2007 to the present day pending a report evaluating its effectiveness and deficiencies, Member of Parliament (MP) Daniel Gibbs has explained. The report is expected to be submitted to Parliament this July. The mission, granted to Gibbs under the jurisdiction of the Commission...
PHILIPSBURG--Government will have to settle its huge outstanding debts at Social and Health Care Insurance SZV and the general pension fund APS before tabling the 2015 budget in Parliament, says Committee for Financial Supervision (CFT) Chairman Age Bakker. The backlog for SZV currently stands at 113 million guilders and APS at 62 million guilders, Bakker told reporters at a press conference at CFT's...
MARIGOT--Close family, relatives and friends gathered at 73, Rue de Hollande on Tuesday for the 97th birthday of one of St. Martin's fine elderly citizens, Monique Emmanuel, who sadly has been unwell for the past two weeks and was confined to bed on this special day. Among the presents for him was a gift basket from Community Council number five and its representative, Paul Whit. A birthday cake and...
PHILIPSBURG--Three vehicles were damaged when a "flatbed low boy" disconnected from its trailer in traffic on the Walter Nisbet Road around noon on Monday. Luckily no one was injured in the accident. The trailer was headed in the direction of Bush Road at the time of the incident. One eyewitness said he saw the entire thing unfold in front of his eyes. The eyewitness said he saw when the "flatbed...
~ Bank continues antifraud efforts ~ PHILIPSBURG--RBC Royal Bank will be reimbursing its clients who were victims of harvesting over the weekend, RBC Corporate Communications Dutch Caribbean Manager Angela Guiamo told The Daily Herald on Monday. The bank's specialists are also working with specialists in the field to counter fraudulent activity. Efforts are also being made to narrow down the points...
PHILIPSBURG--The 2014 Carnival season officially has come to an end with the burning of King Momo. Revellers enjoyed one last closing jump-up from Le Grand Marché to Carnival Village and listened to closing words from St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) members before King Momo was set alight. "The work continues for this fête that we love immediately in the days ahead. We've already...