French Quarter, St. Martin:--- The public is invited to celebrate the launch of two new nature books produced by the Les Fruits de Mer association! The free launch event will be held from 9 am to noon this Saturday, May 4th, at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House. The two new books are the latest in the popular Soualikids children’s series, Soualikids Creatures and Soualkids Creatures Coloring Book. They showcase this island’s insects and other little creatures. These two books will be given away for free at the event, featuring a coloring station. The author and photographer will be present for a book signing.

The Les Fruits de Mer association developed the Soualikids series based on requests from St. Martin educators and parents for materials about this island for toddlers and preschool kids. Each book in the series is a quadrilingual word book in four languages spoken here: English, French, Spanish, and Dutch. The goal of the series is to highlight St. Martin's nature, culture, and heritage to help little kids build early word skills about the special place where they live.

“The series is called ‘Soualikids’ because it was created for the kids of St. Martin, and Soualiga is one of the Amerindian names for this island,” explained author Jenn Yerkes. “The nature books in this series are designed in pairs: a first book with wildlife photos and a second companion book with fun coloring pages of the same wildlife. We’re thrilled to launch this third pair of books, which stars the incredible insects and other little critters that kids can see here on St. Martin!”

Soualikids Creatures is a “look and learn” picture book with colorful photos of captivating local creatures. The companion Soualikids Creatures Coloring Book is a “color and learn” book with two fun coloring pages for each of the creatures. It also has a visual guide on the back cover with vivid photos of all the featured creatures. Both books include creature names in all four languages.

“Adults can share these books with little kids to help them build their vocabulary and discover the cool creatures on their own island!” said Mark Yokoyama, co-founder of the Les Fruits de Mer association. “We’ll be giving free printed copies of these books to local preschools as part of Les Fruits de Mer’s 2024 book giveaway program. And more Soualikid books are on the way that spotlight island nature, art, and culture!”

Thanks to event sponsor Delta Petroleum, the free launch event and book giveaway will be held at Amuseum Naturalis on Saturday, May 4th, from 9 a.m. to noon. Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House is a free museum of nature and heritage located in the French Quarter, St. Martin. It is open every day from sunrise to sunset.

Both new books are also available for free download from http://lesfruitsdemer.com and for purchase on amazon.com worldwide. Teachers and youth group leaders interested in copies are encouraged to contact Les Fruits de Mer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Companies, organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring copies for schools are also encouraged to contact the association.

Les Fruits de Mer’s 2024 book giveaway program is supported by the Politique de la ville de Saint-Martin, implemented by the State and the Collectivité de Saint-Martin, the Vie Associative service of Saint-Martin, and the Cité Éducative de Saint-Martin. Soualikids Creatures and Soualikids Creatures Coloring Book were produced with support from the Collectivité de Saint-Martin and the Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires.

PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Collective Prevention Services (CPS), urges the population, especially adults, parents, and guardians to be aware that exposure to loud music can cause hearing damage, especially in young children, and as such it is important to protect them from loud pitches, tones and in general overly loud music.

Avoid these as much as possible and avoid standing in close proximity of speakers of sound trucks.

Noise, like all sounds, is measured by the intensity and frequency of the sound waves that hit the ear. The unit used to measure the volume of sound is the decibel (dB). The greater the number of decibels, the louder the noise and the more harmful it is to the ears.

Environmental noise exposure, such as road traffic, aircraft and/or sudden high-level noise, is associated with a range of health outcomes in children.

Children demonstrate annoyance responses to noise, and noise is also related to lower well-being and stress responses, such as increased levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Prolonged exposure can result in damage, which can be irreversible, and parents and guardians are being advised to pay attention to this during the Carnival parade.

Hearing loss may be mild, moderate, severe, or profound. It can affect one ear or both ears and leads to difficulty in hearing conversational speech or loud sounds.

CPS advises parents to monitor their children during Carnival activities that they don’t stand near speakers with loud music as this could be damaging to the child’s ear.

Take the following steps to minimize the risks and protect your child from the physical and psychological effects of noise: Ensure that he or she wears child-sized hearing protection, such as earplugs or earmuffs, during noisy activities and events. Limit the amount of time spent on noisy activities.

Instruct him or her to walk away from sources of loud noises. Have your child’s hearing tested if he/she routinely participates in noisy activities, such as playing an instrument or attending musical activities or sporting events.

For more information call CPS at 542-1122, 542-1222, 542-1322 and 542-1570; or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

J.W. MARIOTT, DAWN BEACH:--- His Excellency the Governor of Sint Maarten held a reception in honor of the Royal Decorations nominees as part of the King’s Day celebration themed “Community Unity: The diversity of volunteerism.”
Governor Baly gave the following speech:
Distinguished guests, good evening.

My wife Janique, our children, and I are very happy to see you show up in these large numbers here this evening. It gives me great pleasure to bid each and every one of you a warm welcome.

Welcome to this our King’s Day celebration, celebrating the Birthday of His Majesty King Willem Alexander which is actually tomorrow April 27th, and honouring eight persons for their outstanding service to our community. They will be honored this evening as the recipients of a Royal Decoration granted by His Majesty the King.

The work, achievements and service of these persons will be showcased to you this evening as a testament to the divers spectrum and reach of their volunteerism. Their varied community work touched and impacted the lives of so many in our society, resulting in enhanced positive community development and, ultimately, community unity. Hence the theme for this evening’s celebration, Community Unity: The diversity of volunteerism.

Community unity is important for social, economic, political, and the overall well-being and progress of a society. A united community encourages persons to work together towards common goals and the common good. As the gap between the haves and the haves does not grow larger worldwide and within our community, if we do not do anything about this, societal problems will only get worse. When a community is united, the people within that community are more likely to extend a helping hand and assist the most vulnerable within the community. This act of community awareness and unity is not unfamiliar to St. Maarten. Traditionally, our society has always been one characterized by support, encouragement, empathy, understanding, and goodwill towards one another. Colloquially termed as Jollification. Although traditionally seen when building homes and other physical structures, I encourage you to be inspired by the commendable citizens who will be honored this evening because they have transcended from that traditional focus of Jollification to many different areas of society where a helping hand is needed to build character, self-confidence, pride, our community unity and therefore our nation. We are thankful for the added value they provide to our community and their contribution to the enhancement of community unity and St. Maarten’s overall well-being.

As Governor of Sint Maarten I am therefore delighted, on behalf of His Majesty, to recognize these eight individuals, in a few moments for their contribution to community unity through their diversity in volunteerism and present them with their Royal Decoration.

Our recipients this evening have portrayed continued exemplary work in and for our community with an impressive display of selfless service ranging from:
• Filling a void and lack of quality service;
• Encouraging and providing a skill-set therefore creating and expanding the possibility of job opportunities for our youth;
• Promoting and aiding the development of a compassionate community;
• Transforming lives;
• Transformative youth empowerment;
• Championing for awareness;
• Relentlessly providing selfless care; and
• Providing vital support to the vulnerable in times of need.

With this extensive list of achievements as just mentioned one would think it to be an easy task to find and spot these individuals within our society, but it is not. It is not because these persons do what they do without looking for any recognition. Except for the individuals and lives of those impacted by their work, their work usually goes unnoticed and they function under the radar of recognition. So it is quite a task to find suitable candidates to nominate for a Royal Decoration. There is a committee tasked with that role. The Royal Decorations Advisory Committee also commonly referred to by the acronym; RODAC, and I would like to take the time at this moment to introduce them to you.

Before I call the members of the RODAC to the stage please allow me to say:

It is an honor and special distinction to be awarded a Royal Decoration and I therefore hereby beforehand convey my congratulations to each of the awardees and to their family and friends on this honorable and momentous occasion.

Distinguished guests, I wish all of you an inspirational and enjoyable evening.

Now, please join me in welcoming to the podium for their introduction, the new RODAC members, Ms. Makhicia Brooks (chairlady), Ms. Cassandra Jansen (Secretary), Ms. Fabiana Arnell-Vanterpool, Ms. Zylena Bary, Ms. Jessica Rogers, Mr. Garrick Richardson and off-island and therefore unable to be with us this evening Mr. Reuben Thompson.

This committee builds on the foundation set by and stands on the shoulders of the previous RODAC committee whose members have served for a span of over 20 years. At this time, I would like to call to the podium those members and offer them a token of appreciation for their service to our community for year in year out seeking viable candidates for a Royal Decoration, putting the applications together and handling the segment of our program in which the Royal Decorations bestowed by His Majesty is presented to the recipients.
Please give them a resounding round of applause as they make their way to the podium; Ms. Valerie Gitterson-Pantophlet, Mr. Maxime Larmonie, Ms. Irene Hodge (not present) and Mr. Harold ‘Wally’ Havertong (not present).

Thank you, God bless you and your families and God bless St. Martin

PHILIPSBURG:--- Following the successful conclusion of the two shows held on the evening of April 27th into Sunday morning, April 28th, 2024, the Police Force of Sint Maarten (KPSM) announces an extension of the traffic management plan to accommodate the upcoming Bacchanal Sunday event on the sandbank/ring-road.

Road Closure Details:
In connection with the Bacchanal Sunday event, a section of W.J.A. Nisbeth Road will be temporarily closed, starting from the Salt Pickers roundabout to the intersection with Tamarinde Steeg. Additionally, all alleyways leading to and from Cannegieter Street towards Nisbeth Road will be closed within this designated area. The road closure will commence at 6:00 PM on Sunday, April 28th, 2024, and remain in effect until 4:00 AM on Monday, April 29th, 2024.

Alternative Routes:
Patrons traveling to or from Suoaliga Road (Festival Village) are advised to utilize D.A Peterson Street, located adjacent to the police station. From there, continue onto the Salt Pickers roundabout and proceed to Soualiga Road. Please note that access to Nisbeth Road from the Salt Pickers roundabout will be restricted during this period. Additionally, drivers can utilize Cannegieter Road via D.A. Peterson Street, the Salt Pickers roundabout, and Suoaliga Road to access the Festival Village during the Bacchanal Sunday event.

Boot Holder Notice:
All boot holders adjacent to Nisbeth Road are reminded to ensure that all their merchandise needed to and from their booths is brought or carried out before 6:00 PM on Sunday, April 28th, 2024. Following the closure of the road, vehicular access to the closed-off area will be prohibited.

Cooperation Requested:
The Police Force of Sint Maarten requests the cooperation of all residents and visitors to adhere to traffic directives and respect designated road closures. Enforcement measures will be in place to ensure compliance with the traffic management plan, and cooperation from the public is greatly appreciated.

KPSM Press Release.