St. Martin News Network

Robert Dubourcq, Rebecca Low, and Claudius Buncamper Recognized

PHILIPSBURG:--- At its Annual Change of Board Gala, held on Saturday, June 8th at Infinity Restaurant at the Oyster Bay Resort, the Rotary Club of St. Maarten recognized three outstanding members of the community as Paul Harris Fellows.

Paul Harris Fellow honorees must meet the high professional and high personal standards of Rotary. This year's honorees are Robert Dubourcq, Rebecca Low and Claudius Buncamper, each being recognized for their specific talents in the arena of community service. For bestowing this honor the Rotary Club of St. Maarten made a contribution of US $3,000 on behalf of the honorees towards the Rotary Foundation, which goes towards the Annual Programs Fund, PolioPlus, or the Humanitarian Grants Program.

Robert Dubourcq is no stranger to community and professional service to the island of St. Maarten. Mr. Dubourcq is a veteran of the Hospitality industry and after a 40-year career in hotel management on St. Maarten; he serves as the Executive Product Manager of St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA). The story doesn't stop there; Robert founded the St. Maarten Hotel Association in 1970, which eventually would become the SHTA. He has represented St. Maarten on the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, in 2004 he was named the Caribbean Hotelier of the Year and he served as the President of the Rotary Club of St. Maarten in 1983/84.

Rebecca Low hails from Canada and now calls St. Maarten her home. Rebecca would describe herself as a "passionate sailor gal", but anyone who has worked with her knows she is passionate about serving her community. This is evident from her work in her native Canada where she held the position of Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff in the Canadian and Ontario governments. She was a Rotarian in Canada and quickly made the Rotary Club of St. Maarten her own when she moved to the island more than 6 years ago. She has served Rotary in so many capacities including Club Secretary, District Trainer, Vice President, and President to name just a few. Ms. Low is a volunteer with St. Maarten AIDS Foundation and she currently owns a boutique management consulting firm, Compass Consulting, working closely with Elite Properties on St. Maarten.

Claudius Buncamper exemplifies community service. Mr. Buncamper has been a member of St. Maarten Lions Club since 1993. He has held the positions President and Secretary for multiple terms and he has served as a Board Member for 14 consecutive years. He most recently served as District Governor. In addition, Mr. Buncamper has served his island in public service. Claudius served as the Head of Public Works on St. Maarten, in 2007 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Ministry of Spatial Planning and Infrastructure Management and 2009 he was also named Head of New Works and Infrastructure Management. In 2010, with St. Maarten becoming a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, he took on the tasks of Head of Infrastructure Management within the Ministry. Mr. Buncamper has served on numerous charitable foundation Boards as well as the Board of the St. Maarten Telecommunications Company. He was instrumental in establishing a Lions Club/Rotary Club joint protocol in support of Alzheimer's Awareness as District Governor of the Lions Club. Finally, in 2005, Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands bestowed on Claudius Buncamper the decoration of "Member in the Order of Orange Nassau".

Robert Judd, the outgoing President of the Rotary Club of St. Maarten, stated, "Robert Dubourcq, Rebecca Low and Claudius Buncamper have each upheld the high professional, personal and community standards of Rotary. Each has served our community in different ways that have made our sweet St. Maarten just a little bit sweeter. We recognize each of them individually as our newest Paul Harris Fellows". Incoming President Maria Buncamper-Molanus commented on all the honorees as examples of "service above self" and the best that St. Maarten has to offer as evidenced by each of their long standing involvement in our community.

For more information please contact the Rotary Club of St. Maarten Press Officer at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , call +17215870506, visit the website www.rotarysxm.org or find us on Facebook.

Says Next Important Step Is To Have Laws Translated into English

Philipsburg:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams officially launched the St. Maarten laws project at an event at the AC Wathey Legislative Hall on Tuesday afternoon. The Prime Minister accompanied by acting lieutenant Governor His Excellency Reynold Groeneveld and the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports the Honorable Patricia Philip-Lourens and supported by the director and staff of the Department of Legal Affairs opened the online archive of the Government laws for St. Maarten.

On October 10th, 2010, when the Island Territory of Sint Maarten became a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the acquisition of this new status brought forth many changes, particularly in the field of legislation. Since 10-10-10 Sint Maarten has inherited the legislation from the former Netherlands Antilles as well as the legislation from the former Island Territory Sint Maarten and it is these particular laws which the public now has access to via the Government website.

"I would like to commend the hard work of the Department of Legal Affairs for the work you have done in making the laws available online as I am sure it was indeed a time consuming process. It is very important, also in terms of transparency, to have the laws available in an online database for us to access. Even in the Council of Ministers I am sure there will be an opportunity to use the database when a law is necessary for us to look at urgently," commented the Prime Minister.

The online database can be accessed by visiting sintmaartengov.org and clicking on the laws section, using the search engine to find the relevant law. Despite most of the laws currently being in Dutch, the Prime Minister in her statement gave her assurances that the next important step will be to get the various laws translated into English. "It is very important that we have the applicable laws translated into our mother tongue so that the population can have the opportunity to read and understand the laws they are looking at. This will be the next step in building Country St. Maarten block by block, step by step," commented the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

I am appealing to the business community to reach out as soon as possible to save Safe Haven.

It was disheartening to learn that the organization which has the responsibility of providing assistance to battered women and their children has had to discontinue accepting these victims due to a lack of funds in order to carry out the services that it renders to the entire community.

Safe Haven received financial support from AMFO, however the organization hasn't any more funds.

Government has budgeted a sum of Naf. 3 million for the non-governmental community organizations via the St. Maarten Development Funding Agency, and from my understanding, the 2013 country budget, is still at His Excellency the Governor's desk and has yet to be signed; and this has placed many non-governmental organizations that depend mainly on government's subsidy, including Safe Haven, not in a position to carry out their much needed community work.

In recent media reports, it has been stated that the Prime Minister is addressing the issue of lack of funding.

Safe Haven provides a temporary haven for battered women, the shelter is now in need and I appeal to the business community to immediately reach out and assist, especially those who have yet to shoulder their fair share of community support. Now is your chance to make your contribution, no matter the amount.

Some businesses have assisted Safe Haven in the past. Your assistance is needed now more than ever. Safe Haven needs to be able to operate 24/7 for clients who are there for protection and support. They are not there for fun!

Relational violence and its impact on our children, is a huge problem in our community. Just last week, June 11, I attended on behalf of the Peridot Foundation, a meeting of stakeholders convened by Public Prosecutor Hans Mos at his office, with the main agenda to meet Non-governmental organizations that deal with relational violence, and give our input on a directive prepared for the former Netherlands Antilles in 2010, reference to relational violence.

Our input was requested in order to adjust the directive to the local, Sint Maarten situation. Speaking with Community Police Officers, who are confronted regularly with this kind of violence, leaves no room for imagination.

Safe Haven provides an essential service, working to end domestic and sexual violence, to enrich, strengthen and mobilize the lives of individuals, children, families and community.

Institutions of this nature should not be allowed to fall through the cracks, and I am confident with the input of the private and public sectors, Safe Haven will be able to continue to give much needed service to those most vulnerable among us.

Drs. Gracita Arrindell
United People's (UP) party
Member of Parliament

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The new business cabinet that was sworn in last week Friday had its first weekly cabinet session on Tuesday.

PHOTO CUTLINE: L to R, Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Hon. Cornelius de Weever, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens, Minister of Justice Hon. Dennis Richardson, Minister of Finance Hon. Martin Hassink, Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Development, Environment and Infrastructure Hon. Maurice Lake, a member of the Council of Ministers Secretariat, and Prime Minister Hon. Sarah Wescot-Williams. (DCOMM Photo)