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...
PHILIPSBURG--Citizens for Positive Change (CPC) is the name of a new political party that will be contesting the August 29 parliamentary elections under the campaign slogan "Nothing changes if nothing changes." Environmental activist Rueben Thompson is one of the candidates of the new party, which consists of a group of professionals from the business community, educators, environmentalists, and cultural...
PHILIPSBURG--A number of persons have reportedly been skimmed of money from their bankcards over the weekend. One victim, a Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) client, told The Daily Herald that he went to the RBC Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in the Le Grand Marche complex on Friday to withdraw a small amount of money; however, after he had completed the transaction a notice appeared that the machine was...
MARIGOT--Fish Day put on its best game face on Sunday, wooing back the crowds to the French side's most popular cultural gathering to send a message the show will go on regardless. If there was some hesitancy from the public for the 12th edition, it was understandable given the unexpected drama that marred last year's event. However, there was no need for concern. Security was tight and every person...
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) has hosted yet another successful event, the highly anticipated Youth Extravaganza. Although the crowd was not comparable to the record-breaking reggae show the night before, there was a large turnout which included all age groups. "The most gratifying thing about Youth Extravaganza 2014 was that almost 2,000 people, mostly youngsters,...
MARIGOT--Following a management committee meeting for dengue and chikungunya on April 30, the Préfecture has announced, based on the advice of the experts, that St. Martin is no longer in a "generalised" epidemic phase, due to a significant drop in the number of suspected chikungunya cases during the past few weeks. It cautioned, however, that this does not mean the epidemic is over. In order to prevent...
PHILIPSBURG--The average price level in St. Maarten in 2011 was almost 17 per cent higher than in Curaçao. St. Maarten was almost two per cent more expensive than Bonaire. In Aruba, consumer products were a fraction more expensive than in Bonaire, it emerged from the 2011 International Comparison Programme (ICP) of the World Bank’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, which was...
ROTTERDAM--Several hundred persons participated in a march in Rotterdam South on Friday in honour of Jason Vlaun, the 29-year-old St. Maartener who was shot dead in the city on April 25. Vlaun was killed by an unknown assailant in the middle of a busy shopping street next to the well-known Afrikaander market in the borough Feijenoord. There were many people on the street because the stores were open...
PHILIPSBURG--Both the Junior and Grand Carnival Parades were held on Wednesday, April 30. This year, St. Maarten's 45th Carnival, was the first time that they were held on the same day. Troupes danced their way to the Festival Village. Adults started at St. John's while the children joined in at Celebration Palace. The same troupes paraded once more on May 1 for the Labour Day Parade. Survivors was...
MARIGOT--President Aline Hanson on Tuesday, during the 2013 income tax return press conference defended the Collectivité's performance on tax matters, stressing it is working on simplifying the tax system and insisted neither an ad hoc commission nor a Parliamentary mission is needed to use its tax jurisdiction for the general interest. Tax revenues are estimated in the region of 77-million euros...
~ Rafael Boasman surprise honouree ~ PHILIPSBURG--Labour Minister Cornelius de Weever put the spotlight on pioneers in the labour industry by honouring four persons who have contributed to the development of workers' rights in St. Maarten on Labour Day celebrated Thursday, May 1. Honoured were first Secretary-General of the Windward Islands Civil Servants Union (now Windward Islands Civil Servants...