St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Ministries “softening blow” in individual way
St. Maarten – Five of the seven government ministries have provided parliament with information on how they are “softening the blow to the people.” The statements are a reply to a question from Independent Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge.
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on St. Maarten members of parliament question Shigemoto on bond row
St. Maarten – The two members of the Democratic Party faction – Roy Marlin and Petrus Leroy de Weever - and independent Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge have sent Finance Minister Hiro Shigemoto a letter with 25 questions on the matter of iss
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Budget of 2.3 million for road maintenance
St. Maarten – A budget of 2.3 million guilders (a bit over $1.3 million) is what the Ministry of Public Housing, Urban Planning, Environment and Infrastructure has at its disposal this year for road repairs and road-related works. Finance Minister
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Interpol’s De Santana Barbosa on counterfeit medicine: “Attractive for organized crime due to high profit and low risk”
St. Maarten – “Producing and distributing counterfeit medicines is a particularly dangerous and cruel form of crime. It not only undermines corporate innovation, creativity and intellectual property, but it also targets innocent, unsuspecting and
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on York turns birthday party into fundraiser
St. Maarten – TelEm Group laid on a red and white “Red Carpet” welcome for popular St. Maarten Drummer, Fred York, during has annual birthday bash at the Sky Beach Rooftop Bar, Sunday night. York teamed up with TelEm Group and the St. Maarten T
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Ministries may soon pay own rent
St. Maarten - Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams has not ruled out having each ministry directly pay the rent for the buildings their departments occupy. This will be done based on the outcome of an evaluation of how the government organization fun
While endless resources have been poured into the unwinnable war against drugs, criminal organizations are already one step ahead. The drug trade is not dead yet, but criminals have found other activities to keep them occupied. They have a few things
Opinion - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Opinion: Love of country must be proven
Dear Editor, The responses to the many articles I wrote recently were tremendous. Most were good, but a few were not so good. I was surprised by who gave me negative response. You would think that the foreigners and illegal immigrants might be
Opinion - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Opinion: A message of love, peace and unity
During this period of lent let us focus on the fact that the essence and reality of our being is spirituality.We are spiritual beings, over 7 billion of us on planet earth. We just don’t acknowledge it. We are spiritual beings inhabiting a body
It’s amazing that they are still there: ghost civil servants. Finance Minister Hiro Shigemoto identified them in answers to questions by opposition leader William Marlin as employees with an addiction or with social or health problems. If we read
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Hoefdraad wants to hear St. Maarten first
WILLEMSTAD/GREAT BAY – President of the Common Court of Justice of Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten and of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Liesbeth Hoefdraad has said that she must hear St. Maarten before she decides on Curacao’s request to appoint t
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Budget discussions resume Thursday
St. Maarten – The continuation of discussions on the 2012 National Budget has been rescheduled for Thursday so that government can complete the process of swearing in all civil servants from the seven ministries. The swearing in began on Tuesday an
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Service: A priority for five ministries
St. Maarten – Five government ministries are committing to clear projects aimed at improving service to the public in 2012. The announcement of those projects is made in answers supplied to MPs on Monday as part of the ongoing discussions on the 20
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Ghost civil servants are still around
St. Maarten – The government has a no show no pay policy that allows it to stop paying salaries to civil servants that do not show up for work, Finance Minister Hiro Shigemoto wrote in answer to a question by National Alliance leader William Marlin
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 29, 2012
Comments Off on Harbour Group improves container turnaround time
GREAT BAY – The St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies puts its new Bromma container spreader to use in the cargo section of Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities. This is expected to improve efficiency and is part of the harbour group’s ef
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on New central bank row looms
WILLEMSTAD/GREAT BAY – Curacao’s Finance Minister George Jamaloodin has held the three statutory directors of the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS), the Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot-Williams, St. Maarten’s Finance Mi
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Wifol-lawsuit moved to hearing in March
St. Maarten - Wifol-members eagerly awaiting the ruling in the lawsuit the union had filed against the Simpson Bay Resort Management Company and the Royal Resorts Management Company left the courthouse disappointed yesterday morning. Judge mr. René
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on St. Maarten finance minister asserts ability to collect from condo owners
St. Maarten – Finance Minister Hiro Shigemoto has said that Income Tax ordinance gives the country’s tax authorities the ability to request that (mostly) American condo owners pay government a portion of what they generate from renting their cond
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on St. Maarten Government gives up on 143 million in debt relief
St. Maarten – The government is no longer chasing the 183 million guilders in debt relief it has claimed for a long time from the Netherlands. In the draft budget 2012 the number is still mentioned, but only as a point of reference. In answers to q
Opinion - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Opinion: Under the lighthouse it is always dark
The government will implement an energy efficiency program to stimulate consumers to reduce their energy consumption. This is one of the more humorous elements of the draft energy policy. As usual, the government is now going to tall others what t
Apart from the more attractive parts of the female anatomy, nothing gets the rightwing Dutch newspaper the Telegraaf going more than the weather. And when it comes to grabbing the attention of its readers even facts about that weather have to take a
Dear editor, There is a clear and present danger in our country. This danger can hurt us as a country in 3 manners. It can hurt us economically, politically and culturally. Please let me explain. Let’s say that our electorate has 5000 Haitians o
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Researcher studies effects of lionfish on local fish
St. Maarten – Tineke Van Bussel a Master’s Degree student researcher at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam began a study in February on the pressure that the invasive lionfish is having on local fish species. The study, which will focus on fish
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Arrindell meets USM on latest developments
St. Maarten – President of Parliament drs Gracita Arrindell was briefed on the latest developments at the University of St. Martin (USM) last week during a meeting with the tertiary institution’s President Annelies van den Assem, the Dean of Acad
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Answers speak of 200 vehicles – Government lists almost a hundred cars
GREAT BAY – The government of St. Maarten had 95 cars and trucks on its balance sheet per the end of last year. The vehicles have a combined replacement value of 7.1 million guilders ($3.9 million). After depreciation, the car fleet is on the balan
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Volunteers clean up lagoon shoreline
SIMPSON BAY - The Simpson Bay Lagoon shoreline bordering on Bellevue received a cleanup on Sunday. Several groups of volunteers were hauling away trash from the land bordering the lagoon. Organized by the Sint Maarten Pride Foundation and Budget Mari
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Soualiga Foundation hosts student forum next month
THE HAGUE – Stichting Soualiga Foundation (SSF) hosts its first-ever student forum under the theme: ‘To study successfully and to return successfully’ on April 20. The forum will look at the accumulated complaints from students, guardians and e
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Government seeks financing to finish new government building
St. Maarten – Government is currently seeking finances to do the interior partitions of the new government administration building on Pond Island. This is the latest update Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams has given Members of Parliament on the
French St. Martin News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Daniel Gibbs leads in political poll
MARIGOT – If elections were held today, the list of Daniel Gibbs would come out on top, with Alain Richardson finishing a close second, an opinion poll conducted by Qualistat for the French-side newspaper St. Martin’s Week. Senator Louis Constant
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Union President distances herself from pedophilia allegations
St. Maarten – President of the Windward Islands Teachers Union (Witu) Claire Elshot has distanced herself from allegations that there are pedophile teachers at the St. Maarten Academy P.S.V.E. The charge was made by Hector Ramos - a parent with chi
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Mingo resigns from marine trades association
GREAT BAY - St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies’ Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo resigned as a board member of St. Maarten Marine Trades Association (SMMTA) recently and nominated Richard van der Mark to replace him. Mingo is stepping down be
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 28, 2012
Comments Off on Turnover tax’s future uncertain Government preparing to shift to indirect taxes
St. Maarten – Finance Minister Hiro Shigemoto believes it is too premature to say whether turnover tax will disappear completely from the country’s tax regime. He said this in written answers to questions in parliament about his overall plans to
What a wonderful country we live in. On the day our relentless patriot Miguel Arrindell sent us a letter warning that the island will be overrun soon by Dominicans (though we suspect he may have meant Dominicanos), Jamaicans, Haitians and Guyanese re
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 27, 2012
Seminar about counterfeit medical products begins tomorrow St. Maarten –Interpol will establish an office in St. Maarten in the near future. The costs of this office are for the account of Interpol, police inspector Ricardo Henson announced yest
St. Maarten News - Posted by admin on February 27, 2012
Comments Off on Efficiency and renewables key in draft energy policy
Minister Heyliger: “Twenty percent renewable resources by 2015” St. Maarten – The draft energy policy for country St. Maarten moves away from using diesel #2 and heavy fuel oil for power production, Minister Theo Heyliger (Public Housing, Ur
