Today Newspaper St. Maarten

Robbery victim speaks out: “We have to stop these guys.”

St. Maarten - “This guy is lurking around, looking for people to scam. We have to stop these guys, they have become a nuisance to society, and they are a growing criminal gang – from stealing bags to mugging workers to armed robberies,” said a

André Bosman fails to react – De Weever takes legal action

St. Maarten – Member of Parliament Cornelius de Weever will take legal action against VVD-MP André Bosman who did not react to a summons to retract “erroneous, slanderous and defaming statements” before the deadline of last Monday at 5 p.m. On

Silence dominates initiative to ban plastic grocery bags

Topic also on the agenda of European Commission St. Maarten – The plans to ban single use plastic grocery bags has a long history in St. Maarten. Motions from MPs Frans Richardson and Johan Leonard date back to 2012, but the bottom line has not

Gunmen attempt to rob tourists

St. Maarten—Two armed gunmen attempted to rob a tourist couple yesterday in the Beacon Hill area, but their attempt was foiled and they made their getaway in a small white car. A police report from Inspector Ricardo Henson states that “at appr

Public advised to guard against robberies

St. Maarten —Residents and in particular businesses are asked by the police department to take additional safety precautions with the upcoming holidays to keep their properties and homes safe from thieves. Police spokesman Inspector Ricardo Hens

Interns optimistic about Chikungunya study

St. Maarten —To date 120 persons locally who have contracted the Chikungunya virus have been contacted and expressed their willingness to participate in the long term complication study that is likely to be conducted here next year by Dutch health

Financial reports catch up GREAT BAY – The Central Committee of Parliament met yesterday afternoon under peculiar circumstances. Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, the former president of parliament and now sitting on her chair as an elected

Notary’s Rottweilers kill neighbor’s dog

St. Maarten – Three Rottweilers killed a dog in Cul de Sac yesterday morning to the despair of its owner, Paula Diasz. The distraught owner posted a picture of her dog on Facebook: “Our Freddie, the loveliest sweetest dog ever, has been attacked

SER-member Reed strikes back at Tuitt

St. Maarten – William Reed, a senior member of the Social Economic Council (SER) has reacted angrily to statements made by former finance Minister Roland Tuitt about a SER-advice that criticizes Tuitt’s decision to take tax debts from 2006 and be

New USA Today contest: St. Maarten in the mix for best romantic island

GREAT BAY –St. Maarten is among twenty destinations  for the title of "Best Romantic Caribbean Island" in USA Today's 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards. The island is in the mix with the Dutch and the French side under one label. The other contes

Parliament meeting postponed to 24

St. Maarten - The Parliament meeting scheduled for today to discuss election discrepancies has been rescheduled to Monday November 24th at 10:00am. The agenda point is a discussion with the main voting bureau and the civil registry department con

Author Will Moreland: Who wants to be a millionaire?

St. Maarten—Everyone wants to be a millionaire and anyone can become a millionaire. That’s according to Dr. Will Moreland author of 31 books, including some that have made the best sellers list. Dr. Moreland is currently penning his 32 novel Copy

Wescot-Williams reacts to heavy rainfall: “Comprehensive drainage plan must become national priority”

St. Maarten – “Many people in St. Maarten are still reeling from the devastation suffered due to the torrential weather system that battered our island on November 7 and 8. The  individual and collective losses are greater than many can imagine

Entrepreneurs must look to the internet

St. Maarten —Local entrepreneurs must start looking to the internet for opportunities to reach a wider target audience and expand their market share and hence their businesses, says visiting entrepreneur Kenton Lord. According to Lord, who is o

Stakeholders discuss flood prevention plans

St. Maarten - Concrete actions to be taken to avoid flood situations like those experienced in the torrential rains, were discussed during a meeting yesterday with Vromi Minister Maurice Lake and stakeholders. During the discussion it was stated

SXM Trails Walkathon November 24

MARIGOT----The fourth annual SXM Trails walkathon is scheduled for Sunday, November 23, and will begin 5:30 am according to Manuel Juste president of the club. The St. Martin hiking group has been on a fundraising campaign to raise funds to help m

Dutch civil servants arrive this week: Action plan in motion

THE HAGUE – Civil servants from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations travel this week to St. Maarten to make a beginning with the implementation of the action plan integrity, Jamila Baaziz reports on Caribisch Netwerk. Minister Ron

Former Minister Roland Tuitt: “SER used as political football”

St. Maarten – Former Finance Minister Roland Tuitt has lashed out at the Social Economic Council (SER) for its advice that calculates the total write-off of uncollected taxes between 1976 and 2006 at more than 4.4 billion guilders ($2.5 billion).

Turmoil during ceremonial arrival of Sinterklaas

GOUDA – Police arrested ninety people during the most controversial ceremonial arrival of Sinterklaas in Nederland on Saturday. They are all proponents and opponents of Black Pete, John Samson reports on Caribisch Netwerk. The warring factions ente

Central committee rehashes election issues tomorrow

St. Maarten – Parliament meets tomorrow at 2 p.m. to discuss with the main voting bureau and the civil registry department “discrepancies that occurred during and in preparation of the elections” in August. According to the press release ab

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic still interested to service St. Maarten

St. Maarten - British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are among airlines still considering service to the Princess Juliana International Airport for a double stop as they prepare their schedules for 2015. This was disclosed following the recent World Rou

BTP visits Ectel in St. Lucia

St. Maarten - Director of Bureau Telecommunications and Post St. Maarten  Antony Carty and supporting staff paid a working visit to St. Lucia to meet with the Ectel, the multi-state telecom regulator of the Eastern Caribbean, to discuss bilateral-

Female casino robbers shoot security guard

St. Maarten – Three armed robbers dressed as women shot a security guard in his leg at the Atlantis Casino in Cupecoy yesterday around noon. The robbers entered the casino and went straight to the cashier, threatening this employee with a gun and d

Record number of votes cast for Crystal Pineapple Awards

St. Maarten -  The Crystal Pineapple Awards voting period closed last week Wednesday with once again a record number of votes for the more than 65 nominees that are all looking forward to be the winners in their  category. This year, Sonesta Mah

Integrity Project Bureau established

St. Maarten - The organizational structure to ensure that integrity on St. Maarten is handled in an adequate manner has been approved by the Council of Ministers, and the government is not against an offer of assistance received from the Netherlands

Knives, shanks, machetes and ganja in prison

St. Maarten - Homemade machetes, knives, shanks, small packs of compressed marijuana, homemade tattoo machines, 25 cellular phones and cellphone chargers were confiscated during a search of the prison cells at Pointe Blanche. A massive search of

SER-advice meets with severe criticism

St. Maarten – The advice from the Social Economic Council about former Finance Minister Roland Tuitt’s decision in 2013 to take all tax debts from 2006 and before off the books, has met with some serious criticism. The SER-advice labels the decis

Court documents indicate: Theo Heyliger attempted to blackmail Tender Services

St. Maarten/ By Hilbert Haar – United People’s party leader Theo Heyliger attempted in 2001 to blackmail the owner of St. Maarten Tender Services, Bobby Velasquez, with a bogus consultancy contract in the name of Coal Pot Inc., an offshore compa

Dutch Parliament increases pressure on St. Maarten

THE HAGUE – Sint Maarten has to come up fast with a concrete plan to guarantee the integrity of ministers, otherwise a possible new instruction looms for the country, Jamila Baaziz reports on Caribisch Netwerk. Kingdom Relations Minister Ronald

Minister Richardson: Gas prices show transparency

St. Maarten —In the wake of criticism levied at the inclusion of the turnover tax in the price breakdown for petroleum, Tourism Minister Ted Richardson has said the price is correct and the total breakdown was revealed in an attempt to be transpare

Leonard advise students on best career choices

St. Maarten - The “vital careers” that Country St. Maarten will need “should the country decide to move away from the Dutch Kingdom and become an independent country in the Caribbean”, were discussed with sixth graders of the Sister Marie La

Budgeting workshops kick off 21st

St. Maarten - A free weekly training program—“Taking control through budgeting”—which consists of eight interactive sessions, will kick off next Friday at the various help desks on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 to 9pm. The weekly

Trinity Christina is little Miss St. Martin

St. Maarten - Trinity Christina of the Sister Borgia School captured the title of Little Miss St. Martin 2014  crown in the presence of well- wishers, supporters , family and friends at the Philipsburg Cultural Center on St. Martin Day. First ru

No more funds available for clean up

St. Maarten - The island clean-up process has come to a halt because of an alleged lack of funds to pay the approximately 25 contractors involved in the project. There are still a number of areas where there is debris from trees etc. that needs to

Six years for attempted manslaughter

St. Maarten – The Court in First Instance sentenced Aleandro de Jesus St. Jacoba yesterday to 6 years of imprisonment for attempted manslaughter on Richard Vidal on May 15 of this year. Judge Rick Smid considered in his ruling that St. Jacoba wa