Articles

Dear Editor,

At this point in our development, as a country we need to look at areas of possible economic transformation. Such a vision would incorporate and be part and parcel of continuing to improve the quality of life of people and that of the country.

The areas identified for sustainable development would not increase our foot print as a society on our fragile environment, but would only enhance our country's wealth which in turn can be re-invested for future generations.

As part of the vision, why can't we develop the "Sint Maarten Shipping Registry" and achieve recognition from the global market as a top jurisdiction for vessel registration and a popular flag of choice. Yes we can, we have achieved as a destination where our Port of St. Maarten is one of the top cruise ports in the Caribbean. Yes, we can, and yes we have achieved in cruise tourism, so we can also become one of the top Shipping Registry destinations of the world. And besides a shipping registry, let us not stop there but also develop our own "Sint Maarten Aircraft Registry."

The Cayman Islands (a British dependency) has developed this sector and they see the enormous opportunity for growth and development of the shipping industry, which has been considered so significant as a third pillar of the Cayman economy in the long-run. The registry has 1,900 vessels carrying the Cayman Islands flag and over 800 are mega/super-yachts which we see every season docked in Great Bay, Simpson Bay or in the Simpson Bay Lagoon. Besides the Cayman's being a top jurisdiction for vessel registration, the additional benefits in this area still to be explored and developed by the Cayman Islands are environmental studies, maritime law, naval architecture and servicing commercial and leisure traffic.

As part of the vision, why not develop the "Sint Maarten Stock Exchange" (SSX). The SSX can be a supporting element of a shipping registry, and is considered as a cost-effective alternative to listing on larger exchanges in North America or Europe, and would provide benefits to ship owners and managers.

Why not envision the development of the "Sint Maarten International Business & Financial Center" that encompasses asset protection, wealthy management, insurance and banking services. This area has successfully been developed in other parts of the Caribbean and has contributed to the wealth of those countries.

The Cayman Islands for example in this sector employs 12,600 people or 36 per cent of total employment, out of a total population of 57,000. In December 2010, Barbados had 45 offshore banks, 242 captive insurance companies, 3.065 international business companies and 408 international societies with restricted liability.

In Bermuda (British dependency), the international business & financial sector contributes 24.2 per cent of total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), so one quarter of their economy is based on this sector, and provides 3,867 direct jobs. The British Virgin Islands (British dependency) gets 45 per cent of its GDP from this sector and has 750,000 offshore companies registered.

These sectors are all high paying jobs. All these new areas of opportunities for country Sint Maarten will have a spill-over affect into other areas of our national economy if we as a country were to facilitate economic transformation. It will besides creating opportunities for our educated people and those studying abroad first and foremost, it will also result in a better quality of life for all.

The trickle down affect will be felt throughout society; better services (education, health, senior citizens, youth care and development); better infrastructure; more public housing; and helping to create and build wealth for every member of society.

Again, do not let it become an excuse that because other islands already have these sectors that I mentioned, that we as a people cannot venture out and facilitate their development, because 25+ other islands in the region today are in the cruise and stay-over tourism business as well, and that never stopped us from developing both. We have succeeded in doing it the Sint Maarten way; by being visionary, innovative, and pro-active; the hospitality and friendliness of our people both North and South; and the natural beauty of our country, are some of the feats and assets that have kept us ahead and up-front.

Key to economic transformation and development is a stable political, social and economic environment. The country has experienced some turbulent times within its first three years and two-months of country status.

The dynamics of country Sint Maarten should not dear us to dream. We have done it before, but we need to continue. The region and the world are not static. What is an advantage today is a disadvantage tomorrow.

2014 and beyond will require 21st century thinking.

Roddy Heyliger

Political observers have been left scratching their heads over the display of political amateurism by Dr. Richardson. Many had seen him as someone motivated by higher principles than grubby politics. They must be disappointed in him now. His rambling, incoherent press release left readers searching for clues as to his real motives, because they were hard to discern in his piece. It was long on empty platitudes and choc-full of contradictions. The good doctor declared he wanted to promote stable government and avoid the unstable government inherent in coalition politics, then promptly turned around and declared himself an independent Member of Parliament, creating another faction, thereby adding to the unstable government he claims to be against. The doctor thus contradicts himself. People voted for the doctor precisely because they thought he was a man of principle, but by jumping ship without stating a principled reason for doing so he has left himself open to the charge that he is motivated by selfish ambition. After all, if one is intent on promoting stable government, there are many other better ways and means of doing so than jumping ship which, if anything, promotes unstable government. He must regret issuing that press release. It should promptly be replaced with something more honest, or at least, more coherent. The move makes him look fickle at best, a hypocrite at worst. Politically savvy it most certainly is not. It reeks of rank political opportunism. This move damages the good doctor's credibility, because in people's minds, ship jumpers, are associated with political crooks and traitors; unreliable and untrustworthy characters. A good many voted for him precisely because as a doctor, he had gained their trust. Now he has decided to follow in the foot- steps of Romain Laville.
He obviously wants to play the game, and no one begrudges him that, but one must at least be aware of the fundamentals if one doesn't wish to be taken to the cleaners.

The first rule:
By making his move now, the doctor has placed himself at the mercy of Theo Heyliger. He violated the first rule of politics: Always negotiate from strength! Theo must be rubbing his hands with glee at the blunder the doctor has committed. Theo has to offer him nothing in return for his declaration of love. Theo's UPP/DP coalition already enjoys a comfortable majority in Parliament so the doctor is a fifth wheel. He has nothing of value to offer. He has no leverage and nowhere to go. If Theo were to reject him, he would be left in the political wilderness. He may not know it yet, but he has become a political beggar, one step away from a political prostitute. Theo can now play him like a violin. He has nowhere to go. He surely cannot return to the National Alliance and after declaring himself openly for the UPP he will only look foolish if he attempts to join some other party. He does not have the political wherewithal to form his own party. The doctor negotiated with an extremely weak hand. Now that he has played his hand so poorly the question is: will he be able to convince his voters to jump ship along with him? His clumsy foray into political gamesmanship has badly damaged his credibility. He will now have to dig deep into his doctor's satchel to find the medicine to cure himself of a bad case of political amateuritis.

The example of Gracita and Frans Richardson
A look at the (still) unfolding careers of Gracita and Frans is instructive. Both are operating from positions of strength. It was because Gracita had a full-fledged political party behind her that she was able to negotiate the number two position on the UPP list. She had leverage and bargaining power. Frans, likewise, operates from a position of strength. As the former number two vote getter and deputy leader of the National Alliance, he has the votes, and therefore the clout, to start his own party. The doctor has none of these attributes. He will have to beg and grovel for a place on the UPP list. Theo knows better than to dare place him ahead of the party faithful who will certainly not take kindly to a carpet bagger leap frogging them on the long list of sycophants at the beggars' banquet.

Name Withheld Upon Author's Request

Dear Editor,

How many times have I spoken with Minister Maurice Lake of VROMI who has only promised to do something about Union Road in Cole Bay where, as I predicted, would become overly congested now that the causeway is open, we now have 2 major traffic jams to deal with all day and all in Cole Bay. The residents of Cole Bay simply can not wait any longer, we need to get the water from constantly running and settling on the roads and pave the roads. Children go to school there and have to get out of and in buses and cars in a pool of water in front their school for so many years now. I my self had to install a simple drainage system with a pump which I am paying for to keep sewage water from constantly flowing in front of our property, government is non-existent. No relief at all. The patch work that has been recently carried on the road was done so sloppy that you constantly find yourself being jolted up and down, up ,and down in your vehicle so imaging what your car is going through. Is government really paying for this worthless work? A total humiliating way of wasting the tax payer's money and everyone in government is to blame for this waste not only Mr. Lake but most of all the Minister of Finance who signs the payment orders. Government is totally out-of-control with no brakes and no insurance. Look what was done to Welfare Road where the drainage was put on the wrong side of the road and the road in Middle Region which was done with the purpose of wrecking ones vehicles, a total waste of time and money. Please do the right thing for Union Road. We also need to get in and out of our drive ways on Union Road, nobody giving you a chance, u know! By the way, take a drive on Well Road and witness the wonderful job that was done there too. Where the hell is government?

Norman Chester Wathey

During the inauguration ceremony on Saturday, January 25 for the Simpson Bay Causeway, nearly every speaker spoke about a vision. A vision is a view of what goals one would like to achieve for the future. It identifies what one would like to accomplish. A vision is being able to see and anticipate the long-term needs of the people of Sint Maarten, and taking the necessary steps to ensure that the quality of life of people and that of the country continues to grow.

An economic analyst once said: "All economic development starts with the desire of the people to improve their economic conditions." Country Sint Maarten has leaped forward in its development to a service-based economy that we have today. Cruise and stay-over visitors are the bread and butter of the nation. We have reached a point in our national development where we need to continue to "think outside of the box," in order to ensure that the quality of life that the people have today will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come.

There are also those within our society whose quality of life is at a lower level. We have heard about people living in poverty. This can also be found in some of the richest countries in the world. As a country with much wealth, the people who live in poverty or on the border line of poverty, must be assisted and helped to make a leap forward where their quality of life reaches the levels of others in society. As a nation we have much to be thankful for and we must stay the course by all working together.

The buzz words today are sustainable development and economic transformation. Our country has reached a point where our natural environment has to become a number one priority. We now have to build smart as a community because our landmass as a country is only 16 square miles. We need to retain our hilltops and other hillside areas for generations to come and for current and future generations to enjoy. Our foot print on our environment must be taken into consideration, and we must move in the direction of protecting what we have left.

The House of Parliament also has a role to play where Vision for 21st Century Sint Maarten, 2014 and beyond is concerned. The honourable House is the country's cornerstone of our democracy and belongs to the people: Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth – Abraham Lincoln.

Parliament's role is not only debating issues, presenting motions, approving laws and listening to the concerns, interests and plans of different groups, but also being part and parcel of the visionary process for the country. The country has laws that date back to the near beginnings of the industrial revolution. These laws need to be updated to meet the 21st century needs of the Sint Maarten people. Parliament's role is also to continue the trend set to be the pacesetter of sustainable national development in this part of the region and the Caribbean overall.

The honourable House first (1st) parliamentary setting of four years after the September 2010 elections for the country's first parliament will come to an end later this year when elections are constitutionally due. The second (2nd) four year parliamentary setting of the House will start later this year after the people have had the opportunity to go to the polls. There will be much anticipation for the second parliament of the country.

One of the key points is to see the honourable House employ a core of legal minds who can prepare legislation for members of parliament. These legal minds will also be able to give advice on which laws are outdated and need to be renewed; what the legal trends are in laws based on the changes that have been brought forward by the developments in technology.

As a country our laws need to be up to speed with international developments, because within legal trends there are also opportunities for the people of this country. For example, if you would like to develop an international and financial services sector; an aircraft and ship registry; trade and logistics; information technology; healthcare and life sciences research; sports tourism; or a film industry sector, certain laws need to be in place that would entice investors to invest and want to be a part of these economic transformative areas of our economy.

In turn employment opportunities are created for our people; opportunities are created for those studying abroad to come back home to be a part of building the country; opportunities are created for those living in poverty and on the borderline of poverty; and from these opportunities the quality of life for the people of the country continues to grow and get better for all the people.

As they say, it all starts with a Vision for 21st Century Sint Maarten, 2014 and beyond.

Roddy Heyliger

Dear Editor,

We, founders of Facebook page 'Unfair KLM ticket prices SXM – AMS' (www.facebook.com/unfairklmticketprices), were not quite sure who to address this letter to. We know there is something really wrong, but we are not quite sure where to find the hitch. So what is the hitch?

KLM passengers with destination Sint Maarten pay roughly 150 - 200 dollars per person more than their fellow passengers who deplane in Curacao. Same goes for passengers departing from these 2 islands. This is a structural issue, regardless the time of booking, the time of flying and the amount of seats booked. To make things worse for the residents of both French and Dutch Sint Maarten, Sint Maarten is never part of the wonderful KLM World Deal Weeks. KLM Dutch Caribbean offers these great deals only from Curacao, Bonaire and Aruba. Why is Sint Maarten NEVER included? We couldn't really wrap our heads around it, it is one plane that arrives on our beautiful island first, to stop and refuel in Curacao before it goes back to the cold in Amsterdam. Your first hunch would be that KLM is to blame, wouldn't it?

We thought so too, and still think so to be honest. KLM comes with the same general explanation, price differentiation, flexibility (??), demand and offer etc etc. A lot of words that basically say, more people go to Curacao. Ok, we get that, but not more people go to Bonaire or Aruba, and if more people go to our other Dutch Islands, aren't the high fares for Sint Maarten the cause, and not the consequence of a smaller demand? Kind of like the egg and chicken, which one was first? And then again, it does not in any way shape or form explain why Sint Maarten is excluded from any deals period. Even not so popular products on the supermarket shelves go on sale sooner or later.

But maybe it's not (just) KLM. We tried to obtain the airport fees. Sint Maartens fees are well hidden we can tell you that! We only found fees from 2008. Comparing SXM fees with the other Dutch Caribbean airport fees really blew us away like the 747 jet blast at Maho. We all know how much damage that can do. It costs around US$ 11.000 (2008 prices) to land and depart a Boeing 747 on Sint Maarten. So are our airport fees the cause? Or is KLM not dividing these costs between all passengers in this Boeing 747 equally? We all landed here, we can at least share it all. 50 people do not need a 747 after all.

Maybe our lack of marketing is the cause. We do not have any insight in this. We did hear the lack of funds budgeted for Tourism, but aren't we biting ourselves in the behind by this? Tourism is practically our only source of income, we need to cherish it! We feel KLM is profiting from us, simply because they can. They do not have any competition. Airfrance is the only other company flying to Sint Maarten from Amsterdam and we all know KLM and Airfrance are partners. Their prices are basically the same, a US$ 25 difference here and there. As far as we know, price fixing is illegal.

Straighten up KLM, reduce the airport fee, and/or promote Sint Maarten at other airlines. Price reductions have been promised to the public since 2012 and again in summer 2013. We did not see any difference and we are in 2014 already. What happened during these last meetings between the involved parties, honourable Minister of Economic Affairs, KLM and Princess Juliana International Airport?

We are confused, please help us out. We don't want to sound like whining school children, but we do believe we - the residents and visitors of Sint Maarten - deserve a decent explanation. How many of you have children studying in Holland and hardly see them? How many of you are missing family members? How many visitors did we miss out on these last years, simply because they rather save money and go to Curacao, Bonaire or Aruba instead? Especially if you have kids you can easily save US$ 1000,- on tickets alone, just by deplaning on the next island. Our Facebook page received 2500 likes in 2 days, so we are not standing alone in this matter.

Perhaps honourable minister of Economic Affairs Mr. Richardson can make a difference, or perhaps the director of Princess Juliana Airport, or is it simply KLM that needs to make a change? For all clarity, this letter wasn't written to point fingers, this letter was written to solve problems. If you have any information that might help us, you can also send us an email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Especially the Ministry, Airport and KLM invited to share their inside information with us. Join us in our quest for decent answers and moreover our quest for fairer airfares, like us on www.facebook.com/unfairklmticketprices.

Best regards,

Team Unfair KLM Ticket Prices

Dear Editor,

It's really getting more and more inconvenient and extremely costly for the motoring public to continuously have to bear with the deplorable conditions of and loss-of-time congestion on our deteriorating roads here in "touristic" St. Maarten/Saint-Martin. Our patched-up "governments" have resorted to patching potholes as more and more become existent due to the constant amount of all types of water running on them with no end in sight. Many may tend to say, ooh it's like that all over the world so St. Maarten/Saint-Martin is not immune from the problems and then again since there's no one in government who is really listening or give a darn about what people must endure, I rest my case!

Norman Chester Wathey
Road Dependent

Dear Editor,

Please allow me to correct some facts recently misstated by Mr. Ruben Thompson regarding Rain Forest Adventures and the eco tourism park in Dominica. RFA commissioned the park in 2003 with the help of the Development Bank of Dominica and a tax holiday from government. It appeared that the project would succeed on the Nature Island with this assistance and RFA did all in its power to make it so. Government changed and the World Bank pressured Dominica until a 15% VAT was put in place in 2007. The negative effects of the unexpected 15% tax and associated reduction of cruise ship visitation caused us to run at a loss consistently over the 9 years of operation. We continued to support the operation and kept trying to enhance the tram with new experiences including the commissioning of a new spectacular zipline in 2011. The sulfurous environment (from the Boiling Lake) was always a challenge. The exterior of the towers were well maintained but I worried about the inside so we purchased a special inspection camera and dropped it down into the towers to have a look. It was no longer safe to operate the tram and running it at a loss, we could not justify replacing the high cost tram. The Development Bank and Government decided it was in their best interest to take over the assets of RFA in Dominica with the intent of rebuilding and capitalizing on some promising geothermal exploration on the property so they became the owners during the settling of accounts.
Mr. Thompsons chides the editor of the Daily Herald for not doing his research and then makes the statement that RFA "closed its doors from one day to the next" which is true – we do not compromise on safety. And "the foreign managers the company flies in to manage its amusement parks at all its destinations simply moved on to another site". Not true, the employees were 100% Dominican trained on site, including the general manager. Again "carts and other materials were left to rust and rot away in the forest of Dominica for months on end by Rain Forest Adventures". Not true, we had a plan to remove the material but the Development Bank and Government acquired the assets intending to use them. Mr. Thompson has my email and could have easily asked me what happened in Dominica as part of his 'research' rather than make false claims and once again accuse RFA of deception. We were very sorry to close the operation in Dominica where we won many awards including 'the best environmental land excursion' and took thousands of Dominican students for free to educate them on the importance of saving rainforests, not to mention the loss to all of our dedicated employees.
Regarding RFA in St Maarten and the issuance of a monument permit, Mr. Thompson states that the permit is illegal and correctly quotes that government shall "consult the Monument Council whenever a "monument permit" has been requested for the demolition or alteration of a monument." Prior to issuance of the permit I attended a meeting with the relevant ministers who acknowledged that the project was based on reconstructing the original monument with additional enhancements and not demolition or alteration of the original monument in which case consulting the non-existent Monument Council was not required.
"In closing, the EWEF kindly reminds the Editor that Editorials should be based on objective reasoning and impartial evaluation rather than on unsubstantiated, clearly subjective opinions and political favoritism." Mr. Thompson – that sounds to me like the pot calling the kettle black!

Sincerely,

John Dalton
Chief Engineer
Rain Forest Adventures

The Cayman Islands Medical Tourism Facility known as "Health City Cayman Islands" will officially open on February 25, 2014, a little over one-month from now. The $80 million dollar facility with 140-beds will cater to its first customers a week later after the opening, March 3rd.

Over 100 job opportunities are being filled by those seeking employment. Sprawling across two full newspaper pages, employment opportunities were listed for 113 positions ranging from bus driver to clinical pharmacologist, and from plumber to Information Technology technician, in addition to doctors and nurses. For Caymanians, this was opportunities abound. The advertised annual salaries range from $19,167 to $375,000.

The benefits from the 113 jobs created will spill over into other businesses in the community and the island's overall economy. Still to be added are the patients and their family members who will require transportation, accommodations, etc. The 140-bed medical tourism hospital is forecasted to attract annually over 85,000 stay-over medical tourists per year according Government officials back in 2010.

One can see how enormous the benefits will be to the economy, but not only in terms of monetary contributions, the key benefit will be the medical care, expertise and technology for the people of the Cayman Islands.

Health City Cayman Islands is a partnership between Dr. Devi Shetty's India-based Narayana Hrudalaya and Ascension Health Alliance, the latter, the largest private non-profit health network in the United States of America.

The Cayman Islands Health City is to grow up to a 2000 bed facility over 15-years, an investment of sum two billion US Dollars. It would be the third-largest hospital in the U.S. attracting more than one million stay-over medical tourists per year. Work on the next phase is set to begin in March 2014.

With the 2014 national budget behind us after the House of Parliament gave its formal approval on January 16, Government will now focus on reducing cost, increasing revenue and compliance. The Minister of Finance described the country budget as a skeleton budget with not much flexibility.

Hence where new private sector investments are needed into our economy and facilitated by Government.

The country's move into the medical tourism field would lead to an economic impetus and opportunities. Let every effort be made to see a ground breaking of a "Health City Sint Maarten" medical tourism facility in 2014.

Roddy Heyliger

Dear Editor,

Please allow us to draw some attention to an ever growing problem on this beautiful island: pollution of our environment. We will be very brief and this opinion letter will be short, because one doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to understand the consequences of a polluted environment.
Lately there has been an increased amount of people infected by the dengue virus as well as by the chikungunya virus. Mosquito's, other insects and rodents are having a field day in environments where there is lots of littering and no maintenance of that specific area. Besides creating health hazards, the stench is sometimes hard to deal with and a polluted environment is simply not nice to the eyes. Who would rather watch a pile of garbage then a well maintained area? On top of that: it's simply not good for our brand name St. Maarten.
Lots of calls on residents have been made lately by our government to fight the breeding of mosquitoes in and around their houses. We would like to take it a step further: we would like to encourage everyone to participate in neighborhood clean-ups. Take one or two days in 2014 to go into your neighborhood with your fellow residents and clean your neighborhood. If everyone does their part it will make a significant difference to this island and to your own life. A clean environment is also an added value to the quality of your life. #sxmmovement

SOUALIGA SOCIAL MOVEMENT

Dear Editor,

Two months ago Soualiga Social Movement wrote an opinion letter pertaining the ever increasing salaries of our ministers. We therefore welcome and applaud the Council of Minister's initiative to decrease the salaries of ministers with an average of some 12%. This is what we call: leading by example. When we look at the budget for 2014, we see that many areas received a cut. But, look and behold, the budgeted expenses for Parliament have increased! Four years ago we walked into a voting booth and placed some red marks (or not) for everything we are about. Collectively all of us that live here, are responsible. While we are on some third ministers, we have practically the same parliament.
Besides the budget, on the parliamentary website there is also the report 2012-2013 for parliament which we recommend you to read. One of the first things mentioned is that they underspent their budget. They "only" spent 7 million guilders. This is what was produced by our 15 elected officials "for the people" for that 7 million guilders: Questions to ministers in writing more than doubled; motions submitted up slightly, motions passed up a lot. Not putting a value statement on the content, these are the only 2 categories where they produced "more".
Some other less positive facts are: There were less meetings than in any previous year; there were 0 amendments presented; there were less draft laws presented than in any other year; the committee on the country's expenditures only met once (see how careful they are spending taxpayer money), the committee on health care social development and labor met only once; the petition committee only met once; the committee on culture and education only met twice; the committee on environment and planning only met twice; the committee on kingdom relations met a whole bunch of times? And last but not least: the griffier did much more answering of letters than last year, parliament not so much (Soualiga Social Movement never received a response to its letters). While incoming correspondence almost doubled, parliament answered about half as much as they did last year. About one in five.

Here a summarization of what 7 million guilders provided: Answers to letters; 344 questions to ministers in writing; 81 meetings; 17 motions presented; 6 draft laws presented; 4 draft laws passed. And the 4 draft laws are (in Dutch): 1. Zittingsjaar 2011-2012-023 Landsverordening tot wijziging van de Legesverordening 1994 en enige andere landsverordeningen in verband met de invoe¬ring van nieuwe identiteitskaarten en rijbewijzen; 2. Zittingsjaar 2011-2012-021 (Statennummer 3513) Landsverordening houdende wijziging van de landsverordening op de weerkorpsen 1997; 3. Zittingsjaar 2012-2013-030 Landsverordening tot aanpassing van verschillende landsverordeningen vanwege de troonopvolging; 4. Zittingsjaar 2012-2013-031 Landsverordening tot vaststelling van de Begroting van het Land Sint Maarten voor het dienstjaar 2013.

How's that for performance? 7 Million guilders: how many roads can you fix? How many kids can be provided breakfast? How many tourists can you market to? How many schools can you build? How many parks can be made? We do need a Parliament, but come on! Some of these parliamentarians have simply not delivered, but the costs for Parliament are budgeted higher! Most of these individuals will be asking for your vote this year. Use it wisely. #sxmmovement

Soualiga Social Movement

Dear Editor,

Board members and volunteers of the Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation (EWEF) read the editorial in the Daily Herald of Friday January 10th, 2014 with a great sense of disappointment and astonishment. The Editor's poorly researched analysis of events surrounding the Emilio Wilson Estate offer an incorrect view of proposals to develop the Estate and of the local environmental organizations' efforts to establish the Estate as a National Park for the people of Sint Maarten.

In the Editor's analysis the Editor appears to lament the fact that Government made commitments to purchase and protect the Emilio Wilson Estate while a previous governing coalition had already issued a permit to Rain Forest Adventures to build and operate an amusement park at the Estate. The Editor, however, fails to mention that in issuing this controversial permit the UP-DP coalition did not follow proper procedures as outlined in the Monument Decree ("Landsbesluit, houdende algemene maatregelen, ter uitvoering van de Monumentenlandsverordening" / "Monumentenbesluit").

The Monument Decree requires the Minister of Culture and Education to consult the Monument Council whenever a "monument permit" has been requested for the demolition or alteration of a monument, the decree also requires permits issued to be placed on public review. The Monument Council had not yet been reestablished at the time the permits in question were issued and thus could not have been consulted regarding a "monument permit" for the proposed amusement park at the Emilio Wilson Estate. In addition the "monument permit" for this amusement park was not placed on public review making the permit issued at that time illegal and questionable at best.

The Editorial goes on to boast that Rain Forest Adventures, the company bidding to build an amusement park at the Wilson Estate, operates similar facilities at protected areas in St. Lucia, Dominica, Costa Rica and Jamaica. The Editor apparently fails to realize that each of these countries is much larger than Sint Maarten and in most cases have numerous land based protected areas, while Sint Maarten has none! Jamaica for instance covers a surface area of some 4240 square miles while the Dutch side of St. Maarten covers only 16 square miles. In addition Jamaica has several large protected areas which cover hundreds of square miles. The negative effects on natural resources as a consequence of establishing a Rain Forest Adventures or similar Amusement Park in Jamaica are therefore comparatively much smaller than what they would be for Sint Maarten, a much smaller country with no land-based protected areas.

If the Editor had chosen to keep his analyses closer to home he may have come across the fact that Sint Maarten is the only island within the Dutch Caribbean that does not have a land-based protected area. Apparently the Editor did not pause to reflect on why Rain Forest Adventures or a similar company is not established on any of our sister islands. One is left to wonder if the Editor even attempted to investigate whether the management of the Christoffel Park in the Editor's native Curacao or the management of Arikok National Park in Aruba would welcome the establishment of a Rain Forest Adventures Amusement park in their protected areas.

Had the Editor done any research at all he would have learnt that Rain Forest Adventures/ Trams in Dominica closed its doors from one day to the next in June of 2012. This left many Dominicans without a job while the foreign managers the company flies in to manage its amusement parks at all its destinations simply moved on to another site. According to reports received by the EWEF, infrastructure, carts and other material was left to rust and rot away in the forest of Dominica for months on end by Rain Forest Adventures a company which would like us all to believe protecting the environment is their priority.

The Editor mentions that Rain Forest Adventures "promised a low-impact development with sustainable construction practices". It seems as though the Editor advocates that everyone just takes this company at their word. It should be noted that Rain Forest Adventures made no effort to have independent Environmental and Social-Cultural Impact Assessments carried out to analyze the effects of their proposed projects.

The Rain Forest Adventures plans included the construction of associated infrastructure and facilities on the hillside, top and along the ridges of Sentry Hill and upon completion would lead to undesirably high visitor traffic. The plans included the alteration of the natural rock formation, a unique aspect of St. Maarten's Natural Heritage, at the top of the Emilio Wilson Estate for the placement of platforms, lifts and other infrastructure.

Rain Forest Adventures' plans included permanent structures above the Sentry Hill's 200 meter altitude line. These plans were therefore in violation of Sint Maarten's hillside policy which states that "no building should occur on hill tops, ridges, and above the 200 meter altitude line". As is the case with many of the Hills in the Cul de Sac valley, the area above 200 meters is the most ecologically significant area of the Sentry Hill/ Emilio Wilson Estate. The proposed Rain Forest Adventures Amusement Park and related activities would have a permanent and undesirable impact on the Flora and Fauna of the area both during and after construction. Perhaps the Editor would care to explain how such devastating plans could possibly be considered "low impact" and "sustainable".

The Editor ends his analysis with the statement that matters surrounding the Emilio Wilson Estate have come to "full circle". The Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation disagrees as in our opinion matters surrounding the Emilio Wilson Estate will only have come to "full circle" once Sint Maarten's heritage is protected and the Estate is established as the island's first land-based protected area and National Park.

In closing the EWEF kindly reminds the Editor that Editorials should be based on objective reasoning and impartial evaluation rather than on unsubstantiated, clearly subjective opinions and political favoritism.

On behalf of the board of the Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation,

Rueben J. Thompson
President
Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation

Dear Editor,

Please allow some space in your well read newspaper to complain about the practices of the regional airline Insel Air.
Members of the St. Maarten public including myself booked reservations on Insel Air a few months ago to go to Aruba to celebrate 60th anniversary of Carnival. At that time you would get a reservations confirmation via email. The attendant on the phone told you verbally the date when you had to come in to pay for your reservation. Unfortunately that date when you have to pay is not included in your email.
It's a new year and 2014 came and customers including myself called Insel offices to confirm their reservations and their payment date and lo and behold "sorry your reservation has been cancelled". The response from Insel Air is that their policy has changed and we do not have to notify our customers of such changes.
You can understand the total disappointment Aruba Carnival lovers now have as they have no way of obtaining their reservations to fly to Aruba as Insel Air has replaced these with new customer bookings.
This is customer abuse to the highest when a company like Insel Air has the monopoly ( no DAE) and can do whatever it wants to their customers.
The public of St. Maarten deserve way better service than this.

Very Disappointed Insel Air Customer

Dear Editor,

It isn't a secret that TELEM is a government owned company and government has on several occasions blocked other telecommunication companies (Scarlet and UTS) from expanding to protect TELEM. The purpose of governments owning any type of company is usually to control cost and quality. Governments try to prevent any privately owned monopoly from driving up costs for any particular service that may be vital to a country's operations. However, with St. Maarten it seems to be quite the opposite. While growing up I was a customer of both TELEM and UTS at different intervals. These companies provided mediocre services overall and have not improved much over the years. As a matter of fact, recently TELEM's mobile phone service has been hampered by interference issues with other neighboring islands, on the French side they have low or no signal and data services.

Currently, TELEM offers a minimum of 2Mbps of internet download speed and 768Kbps upload speed for US49.95. The maximum offer is 10+Mbps of internet download speed and 768Kbps upload speed for US299.95. These services are offered through ADSL, a dedicated connection through your phone line. This information was taken from TELEM's website.

The main reasons for the high cost in internet and phone service is due to TELEM being a government owned company and government protecting TELEM by preventing more telecommunication companies from entering the market on St. Maarten. As it stands, TELEM (government) has to invest in upgrading the infrastructure of TELEM every couple years, pay for repairs after natural disasters, pay employees and their benefits, and cover operational costs.

If TELEM was sold and the market was open there would be several ISP's all competing to provide the best service at a low cost. The population would benefit from low cost reliable service from various ISPs and more job opportunities. While government would just have to make sure regulations are being followed (already being done by BTP SXM), collect taxes, and manage the running of telephone wires through a government owned company. Managing the running of telephone wires is mainly to prevent conflict of interest situations and this could help government make money if a low monthly fee is charged for using the lines. An added benefit to multiple ISPs would be redundancy, several fiber optic connections to St. Maarten means that if one gets damaged service won't be gone for too long.

The end result of this scenario can already be seen on the French side. Dauphin Telecom offers 20Mbps, more than what is offered by any ISP on the Dutch side, for 47 euros. This is a very simple solution and something I am sure others have thought about, I just felt the need to put it in writing and put it out there.
With elections right around the corner, this is one way to provide jobs, lower operational costs for businesses (including government), lower cost of living, and improve critical services.

Ramzan Juman

Le Premier ministre se félicite de la conclusion d'un accord de fin de conflit dans l'usine Goodyear d'Amiens Nord.

Jean-Marc Ayrault avait, en lien avec Arnaud Montebourg et Michel Sapin, demandé au Préfet Jean-François Cordet de conduire une médiation en ce sens.

Celle-ci a été menée depuis dix jours avec une très forte implication des trois parties, la direction de l'entreprise, les représentants des salariés et l'Etat.

Elle a permis d'aboutir à un protocole de fin de conflit conduisant à la fin de l'occupation de l'usine, à des mesures sociales et à des engagements réciproques. Les parties s'engagent en outre par avance à ne pas faire obstacle à l'arrivée de toute entreprise qui viendrait à proposer une reprise du site.

Le Premier ministre souhaite que l'attention collective soit désormais consacrée à l'avenir des salariés, l'avenir du territoire, l'avenir de cette industrie et l'arrivée de nouvelles activités créatrices d'emplois.

MARIGOT:--- Sareena Carti, du club Avenir Sportif Club de Saint-Martin, a reçu ce samedi 18 janvier 2014 à la salle omnisport du Gosier, le Trophée du Sport Guadeloupéen dans la catégorie « Meilleure Jeune Sportive » en athlétisme de l'année 2013. Cette manifestation organisée par le CROSGUA (Comité Régional Olympique de la Guadeloupe) a pour objectif d'encourager les sportifs, qui suite à un vote, se voient remettre leurs trophées lors d'une soirée de gala. Sareena qui a fait le déplacement avec son entraîneur Patrick Trival, a côtoyé lors de cette soirée les meilleurs espoirs de médailles de la saison en cours du sport guadeloupéen.

L'après-midi, Sareena réalisait une belle performance en remportant le 300m cadettes du 2ème tour des intermédiaires en 38.88, et arrivait deuxième du 200m femmes en 24.71. Durant cette compétition qui se tenait au stade des Abymes, Sareena a réalisé les minima pour la qualification du 200m des Carifta Games, et termine à 2 dixièmes du record de la Guadeloupe sur le 300m.

Jeudi 16 janvier 2014, le Préfet délégué auprès de la Représentante de l'Etat dans les collectivités de Saint-Barthélemy et de Saint-Martin, la 1ère vice-présidente du conseil territorial de Saint-Barthélemy et le délégué territorial de l'ARS ont présidé le comité de gestion contre le chikungunya à Saint-Barthélemy.
A cette occasion, il a été précisé que 9 cas confirmés ont été recensés depuis le début de l'épidémie. Au regard de la situation générale, il a été décidé de mettre en place, un comité de suivi et de coordination, chargé de veiller à la mise en oeuvre du plan d'action anti-dissémination. Toutes les 2 semaines, un point complet sera fait autour de 6 axes : communication spécifique, communication à l'attention des scolaires, gestion des déchets, contrôle des gîtes aériens, accompagnement des populations défavorisées et suivi environnemental.
La prochaine réunion du comité de gestion et du comité de suivi et de coordination est programmée pour le 3 février 2014.
Enfin, il est rappelé que :
- Chacun doit rechercher dans son environnement les lieux humides ou les concentrations d'eaux stagnantes vecteurs de propagation des larves de moustiques et les détruire.
- L'utilisation de répulsifs appliqués sur la peau est efficace et recommandée particulièrement pour les enfants, de même que la pulvérisation d'insecticides autour des portes et fenêtres.
- Le port, dans la mesure du possible, des vêtements couvrant le corps au maximum et notamment les bras et les jambes permet de se prémunir des piqures.
- Les fenêtres et les couchages doivent être équipés de moustiquaires

Les actions de pulvérisation d'insecticides sont toujours en cours et se poursuivront sur l'ensemble de l'île.
Contact : Service de Lutte antivectorielle 0590 27 96 94 ou 0590 27 16 18

« Monsieur le président, je voudrais répondre au président Chassaigne, qui pose une question importante.
Je voudrais essayer de vous convaincre que ce que nous faisons va dans le sens de l'attente parfois angoissée de ceux qui sont au chômage et qui veulent aussi préparer l'avenir de leurs enfants. Je voudrais commencer par un point, pour essayer vraiment de vous convaincre, parce que, pour moi, la gauche, quel que soit son nom, qu'elle soit socialiste, social-démocrate ou qu'elle soit communiste, ce n'est pas toujours plus de dettes et plus de déficits. Je sais que ce n'est pas votre conception non plus. Il vous arrive de gérer, et vous le faites souvent très bien, des collectivités locales, mais vous le faites avec un esprit de responsabilité.
Pourquoi voulons-nous faire reculer les déficits et la dette ? Parce que justement, vous venez d'y faire allusion, je ne veux pas, comme le président de la République, que la France soit dans la main des marchés financiers. Plus nous baisserons les déficits, moins nous emprunterons, et plus les taux d'emprunt seront à un niveau acceptable, le président de la République l'a rappelé hier.
Et cette situation, mesdames et messieurs de l'opposition, vous pouvez à chaque fois vociférer, mais enfin, les 600 milliards d'euros de dettes supplémentaires, ils viennent d'où sinon de votre gestion ? D'où vient cette augmentation de la dépense publique de 4 points de la richesse nationale sinon de votre responsabilité. C'est cela qu'il faut changer. Et pourquoi ? Parce que je veux que notre pays retrouve des marges de manoeuvre pour financer ses priorités. Ce que nous mettons dans le remboursement des intérêts de la dette chaque année, c'est plus que le budget de l'Education nationale, et vous avez raison de dire que notre défi, c'est de préparer l'avenir, c'est de financer nos priorités et, parmi nos priorités, il y a la refondation de l'école.
Ce matin, le ministre de l'Education nationale, Vincent Peillon, présentait un plan contre le décrochage scolaire. Croyez-vous qu'il soit acceptable que 20% des jeunes enfants subissent l'échec scolaire. Echec pour eux, échec pour leur famille, échec pour la France. Eh bien, pour remonter la pente il faut des moyens, il faut des marges de manoeuvre. Eh bien, c'est comme ça que nous allons les trouver.
Alors ne dites pas que nous ne luttons pas contre la finance aveugle. La finance aveugle, c'est celle des subprimes, c'est celle de la spéculation, c'est celle de ces produits financiers toxiques que nous avons voulu corriger par la loi bancaire. C'est nous qui avons engagé ces réformes, c'est nous qui voulons que la finance soit au service de l'investissement et de la dépense publique utile, c'est nous qui avons mis en place la Banque publique d'investissement, c'est nous qui luttons contre la fraude fiscale, c'est nous qui luttons contre les paradis fiscaux.
Alors oui, ensemble, nous pouvons faire un chemin, Monsieur le président Chassaigne. Le chemin est difficile, le chemin est exigeant, mais c'est notre responsabilité. Le pacte de responsabilité proposé aux entreprises comme aux partenaires sociaux n'a pas d'autre but que de donner de l'espoir, donner de la confiance et d'abord donner de l'emploi ».

Le Premier ministre a pris connaissance du rapport d'étape du bureau d'enquêtes sur les accidents de transport terrestre (BEA-TT) concernant le déraillement d'un train intercités à Brétigny-sur-Orge le 12 juillet 2013.

Ce rapport permet de comprendre comment cet accident dramatique est arrivé. Le BEA-TT a également conduit des investigations sur les procédures de surveillance et de maintenance de la SNCF. Sans remettre en cause le travail des agents d'inspection, il met en évidence que la politique de surveillance et de maintenance doit être renforcée.

Jean-Marc Ayrault a demandé à Guillaume Pépy de tirer, sans attendre, toutes les conséquences de ce rapport d'étape, en complément du plan Vigirail, lancé par RFF et la SNCF le 8 octobre dernier, qui consacre 410 millions d'euros sur la période 2014-2017 pour accélérer le renouvellement des aiguillages et moderniser les outils et pratiques de maintenance.

Le Premier ministre rappelle la priorité donnée par le gouvernement au transport du quotidien et à la modernisation des réseaux existants, qui se traduit par la commande de nouveaux trains intercités et l'engagement des négociations sur les contrats de plan 2014 - 2020.

Monsieur le Président
Mesdames et Messieurs les députés,
Monsieur le député Jean-Louis Dumont

Vous rappelez en effet que le 7 novembre dernier le président de la République a donné le coup d'envoi des célébrations du centenaire de la Première Guerre mondiale. C'est donc un rendez-vous que nous avons avec l'histoire, et qui commence depuis le 1er jour de cette année, mais qui a été longuement et minutieusement préparé dès l'année dernière.
Cette histoire, c'est d'abord celle de la mobilisation de tout un pays, de l'unité, de la confiance aussi en lui-même et dans ses Institutions. C'est cette mobilisation qui a permis à la France avec ses alliés de surmonter une épreuve terrible qu'elle n'avait pas voulue, et vous en avez rappelé certains éléments, vous qui êtes député de Verdun. Une épreuve en effet, 8 millions de Français qui ont combattu, 1,4 million qui ont perdu la vie, sans oublier les blessés, les mutilés. Beaucoup d'entre nous ici, quel que soit leur âge, ont effectivement en mémoire cette histoire. Quel est le village qui ne possède pas un monument, un monument aux morts, avec un casque des poilus ?
Oui, mesdames et messieurs les députés, c'est l'occasion d'un vaste rassemblement des Français autour de ce que nous sommes, de nos valeurs, de ce que nous pouvons aussi penser, non seulement à travers l'histoire et la mémoire, en saluant la mémoire de ceux qui ont combattu et donné leur vie pour notre pays, mais en nous projetant dans l'avenir, c'était le message du président de la République le 7 novembre dernier.
Alors, la Mission du bicentenaire, sous la responsabilité du ministre délégué aux Anciens combattants, Kader Arif, va appuyer de nombreux projets. Le Parlement y prendra lui-même sa part. Mais d'ores et déjà, la Mission va apporter son soutien à des centaines et des centenaires de projets. 300 d'entre eux déjà dans 77 départements. C'est au moment où la France est confrontée à de grands défis pour son avenir, qu'elle doit être capable de se rassembler, de se retrouver pour aller à l'essentiel. Hommage à nos soldats, hommage à ceux qui à l'arrière, les femmes et les hommes qui ont permis au pays de tenir, mais hommage aussi après à ceux qui ont voulu construire la paix, alors que la même année nous allons commémorer le 70ème anniversaire de la libération de la France après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, que la paix c'est une mobilisation, une exigence de tous les instants, et que cette exigence, cette mobilisation, elle doit continuer à être la nôtre, que ce soit pour défendre
l'Europe dans tout ce qu'elle a apporté, pour faire vivre concrètement pour l'avenir de nos générations et futures générations, l'amitié franco-allemande, et permettre partout avec une autre organisation, celle des Nations-Unies, la paix, la sécurité, la liberté et la démocratie. C'est la grande leçon de cette commémoration.

Monsieur le Président de la République,
Permettez-moi de vous adresser, en mon nom personnel et au nom de tous les membres du Gouvernement, nos meilleurs voeux pour l'année 2014.
Cette cérémonie est une tradition républicaine, et c'est aussi l'occasion de faire le bilan de l'année écoulée et de tracer les perspectives de celle qui commence, comme vous l'avez fait le 31 décembre dernier à l'occasion de vos voeux aux Français.
2013, chacun le sait, n'aura pas été une année facile pour la France et les Français. Notre pays a traversé, depuis 6 ans, la plus longue crise économique de l'après-guerre, et ce choc s'est traduit par une augmentation du chômage et de la précarité pour beaucoup de Françaises et de Français. Certains territoires ont été particulièrement touchés par les destructions d'emplois, par des souffrances sociales, par de la désespérance et c'est au nom du nécessaire redressement de notre pays que le Gouvernement, sous votre autorité, a choisi d'agir vite, et sur tous les fronts.
Au-delà des mesures d'urgence, c'est un nombre considérable de réformes structurelles qui ont été engagées, et cela dans tous les grands domaines de la vie de nos concitoyens : l'emploi, la compétitivité des entreprises, la modernisation du marché du travail, la sécurité, le logement ou encore la refondation de l'école républicaine.
Plusieurs lois importantes, comme la sécurisation de l'emploi ou la réforme des retraites, ont été acquises grâce à un dialogue social intense et porteur de progrès. Une étape importante sera également franchie avec l'examen prochain par le Parlement de la réforme de la formation professionnelle. Ces réussites, ces réformes montrent que la France est capable de se réformer et qu'elle peut se moderniser tout en préservant son modèle et ses valeurs par le dialogue, la négociation sociale mais aussi grâce à l'appui d'une majorité parlementaire stable.
C'est la feuille de route que vous avez rappelée lors de vos voeux aux Françaises et aux Français et cela passe évidemment par la reprise économique et la bataille pour l'emploi, qui demeure notre priorité absolue.
La France est officiellement sortie de la récession et s'inscrit désormais sur une trajectoire de croissance solide et durable, comme l'ensemble de l'Europe. Les progrès réalisés sous votre impulsion au niveau européen y sont d'ailleurs pour beaucoup. Pour un grand nombre de Français, la situation est encore difficile, mais les efforts demandés sont en train de porter leurs fruits, et chacun doit être conscient que cette reprise, couplée à une politique volontariste de l'emploi, est la meilleure garantie d'un recul durable du chômage et d'une amélioration de la situation des ménages.
Ces chiffres demandent évidemment à être confirmés et amplifiés -et ils le seront. Mais ils prouvent déjà une chose, c'est que la France va s'en sortir et que vos choix économiques sont les bons.
C'est ce cap qu'il nous faudra tenir dans la durée et tout au long de 2014. La baisse de 4 points du coût du travail, en vigueur depuis avant-hier, y aidera puissamment. Beaucoup d'entreprises pourront ainsi retrouver des marges pour investir, innover et embaucher. C'est dans cet esprit que vous avez proposé un pacte de responsabilité aux entreprises, au service de la croissance, de la compétitivité, de l'emploi et du dialogue social. Là encore, vous trouverez le Gouvernement totalement déterminé à le mettre en oeuvre à vos côtés.
D'autres réformes suivront, qui permettront de préparer l'avenir. L'année 2014 sera celle de la transition énergétique, qui constitue un levier fondamental de transformation de notre modèle économique et social. 2014 sera aussi l'année de  l'approfondissement de la décentralisation, avec pour objectif de simplifier la vie de nos administrés, de maîtriser les dépenses publiques et de renforcer le développement économique local. La remise à plat de la fiscalité et des dépenses publiques s'inscrit également dans l'objectif que vous avez fixé d'un Etat plus juste, plus simple, plus économe et plus efficace. Conformément aux engagements pris, nous devrons continuer à réduire le poids de la dépense publique, afin de créer les conditions d'une baisse de la fiscalité dans notre pays, tout en continuant à financer nos priorités et à préserver le modèle français.
Tous ces chantiers seront menés de front, en cohérence avec votre action pour la réorientation de l'Europe, et dans la continuité de ce qui a déjà été entrepris depuis votre élection.
Un travail intense nous attend en 2014, et il commencera dès la reprise des travaux parlementaires. D'ici fin janvier, le Parlement adoptera définitivement la loi relative à la fin du cumul des mandats. Le Gouvernement portera également, en plus des projets que je viens d'évoquer, la loi pour l'avenir de l'agriculture, la loi sur l'artisanat et le commerce, la loi sur la réforme pénale, la réforme du droit d'asile, la loi pour l'égalité hommes-femmes ou encore la loi pour l'adaptation de la société au vieillissement. Et là je ne cite que les projets essentiels : Alain Vidalies, ministre chargé des relations avec le Parlement a donné une liste exhaustive au Conseil des ministres de tout le travail qui attend le Parlement.
Notre action, dans une période aussi cruciale pour le pays, ne peut connaître de répit, et vous trouverez, cette année encore, l'ensemble du gouvernement entièrement dévoué à sa mission et exclusivement mobilisé au service des Français. L'enjeu, c'est l'amélioration de la vie de nos concitoyens dans un pays sûr de son avenir et de sa force.
C'est une France réconciliée avec elle-même, où chacun sait ce qu'il doit aux autres, ou chacun a sa chance et où chacun peut compter sur la force du collectif. Une France qui tient, jour après jour, cette grande promesse qu'est la République. La République, vous l'avez rappelé Monsieur Le Président, ce sont des droits et des devoirs, des règles et des valeurs, qui ne sont pas négociables, mais La République cela doit être aussi un espoir. Un espoir d'émancipation, d'intégration, et de justice pour tous nos concitoyens, qui trop nombreux encore souffrent des inégalités et des discriminations.
C'est la feuille de route du Gouvernement, c'est le cap que vous avez fixé, c'est notre objectif commun, et c'est donc aussi le voeu que nous formulons pour cette année : des voeux de réussite pour vous-même, Monsieur le Président de la République, pour tous vos proches, vos collaborateurs mais surtout des voeux pour la France et pour tous les Français.

Une importante opération de lutte contre la délinquance routière, ciblant en particulier les personnes conduisant sous l'empire d'un état alcoolique, était menée durant la nuit de la St-Sylvestre de 20h00 à 06h00 par la compagnie de gendarmerie départementale de Saint-Martin et Saint-Barthélémy.

Réalisée conjointement par la brigade motorisée de Saint-Martin, l'escadron de gendarmerie mobile 47/1 de Dijon ainsi que la communauté de brigades et le peloton de surveillance et d'intervention de Saint-Martin, l'opération mobilisait au total quarante militaires de la gendarmerie, engagés en différents points du territoire de St-Martin (carrefours giratoire de Bellevue, d'Agrément et de l'office de tourisme ; point de passage frontalier d'Oyster-Pond ; route de Belle Plaine à Quartier d'Orléans).

200 conducteurs ainsi que leurs véhicules ont été contrôlés, permettant de relever les infractions suivantes :
- 03 conduites sous l'empire d'un état alcoolique présentant un taux délictuel, > 0,4 mg/litre d'air expiré (0,74 - 0,49 - 0,46) ;
- 12 conduites sous l'empire d'un état alcoolique présentant un taux contraventionnel, compris entre 0,25 et 0,39 mg/litre d'air expiré (0,39 - 0,39 - 0,39 - 0,39 - 0,38 - 0,37 - 0,37 - 0,35 - 0,34 - 0,30 - 0,26 - 0,26) ;
- 03 délits de défaut de permis de conduire ;
- 03 défauts d'assurance.

En outre, un individu passager d'un véhicule était contrôlé détenteur d'une petite quantité - quelques grammes - d'herbe de cannabis et fera l'objet de poursuites pour détention et usage illicite de produits stupéfiants.

Depuis plusieurs jours, certains sites d'information en ligne, évoquent des conséquences dramatiques en indiquant que le Chikungunya aurait fait deux victimes à Saint-Martin. Aucune forme grave de chickungunya n'a, à ce jour, été recensée et aucun décès n'est à déplorer.
Contacts ARS : Service de Lutte Anti-Vectorielle (05.90.27.96.94 ou 05.90. 27.16.18) et Suivi Epidémiologique (05.90.27.16.17)

Le chômage est en baisse à Saint-Martin : 155 personnes ont retrouvé un travail à Saint-Martin en novembre 2013, soit une baisse de plus de 3 % sur un mois. Cette baisse est due à la reprise des embauches dans les hôtels restaurants mais aussi dans d'autres secteurs : grande distribution, nouvel exploitant de stations services, etc.
Cette baisse saisonnière est plus importante que l'année dernière à la même époque.

Suite à la détection de cas suspects de Chickungunya à Saint-Barthélemy lors du Comité de Gestion du 23 décembre 2013, les données actuellement disponibles font état de 8 cas confirmés.
Comme précédemment indiqué, au regard des épidémies de dengue et de chikungunya qui touchent l'île de Saint-Martin, il demeure impérieux de poursuivre les actions de surveillance épidémiologique et entomologique et de lutte contre le moustique « aedes aegypti », seul vecteur de ces virus.
La Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy et l'Agence Régionale de Santé (ARS) mènent actuellement et poursuivront des opérations de sensibilisation et de communication. Des actions de pulvérisation sont, par ailleurs, régulièrement organisées par les services de l'ARS et s'intensifieront dans les jours à venir.
La Délégation Territoriale de l'ARS à Saint-Martin et à Saint-Barthélemy et la Préfecture demeurent à la disposition des entreprises, hôtels, gestionnaires d'immeubles, etc. pour les informer des mesures à prendre pour lutter contre le développement de moustiques.
Aucune forme grave de chickungunya n'a été recensée.
La Préfecture, l'ARS et la collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy et tous les services de l'état sont mobilisés.
Contacts ARS : Service de Lutte Anti-Vectorielle (05.90.27.96.94 ou 05.90. 27.16.18) et Suivi Epidémiologique (05.90.27.16.17)

Rappel des consignes de prévention et de protection contre les virus de la dengue et du chickungunya :
Lutter contre les moustiques : détruire les larves ainsi que les gites potentiels de reproduction des moustiques autour et dans l'habitat : en faisant contrôler vos citernes, en supprimant les soucoupes sous les pots de fleurs et en vidant au moins une fois par semaine tous les récipients contenant de l'eau stagnante : vase, détritus, gouttières....
Se protéger des piqures de moustiques en portant des vêtements longs, en utilisant des répulsifs cutanés (en respectant les précautions d'emploi, en particulier chez l'enfant et la femme enceinte) ainsi que des moustiquaires de berceau chez le nouveau-né et le nourrisson. Protégez-vous à l'intérieur de l'habitat (moustiquaire surtout pour les malades, diffuseurs électriques...)
Evitez de prendre de l'aspirine et consulter votre médecin en cas de fièvre et de douleurs articulaires (le médecin de garde est joignable au 05.90.87.71.54.)

A Saint-Barthélemy, les chiffres du marché du travail de novembre 2013 font apparaître une baisse de 15% du nombre de demandeurs d'emploi par rapport au mois précédent. Cette baisse est très supérieure à celle qui a eu lieu l'année dernière à la même époque ( - 5% ). Les femmes sont les grandes bénéficiaires de cette baisse (80%). C'est principalement le secteur de l'hôtellerie - restauration qui a recruté pour la haute saison touristique qui explique cette baisse.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Several Toastmasters on St. Maarten have completed the second and final round of the mandatory officers' training, solidifying a goal for each of the three clubs in Area 23 currently being led by Area Governor Sinatra Rouse.

Officers of Disciples, Soualiga Corporate, and Philipsburg Toastmasters Clubs will be recognized by Toastmasters International as having accomplished the requisite skills needed to conduct their club activities. All three clubs are now one step closer to being named President's Distinguished Clubs, the highest accolade for clubs that have completed at least nine of the 10 goals during the Toastmaster year which runs from July 1 to June 30.

The four-hour session, which took place at St. Maarten Academy, saw all three club presidents trained, as well as the clubs' Vice Presidents of Education, Membership, and Public Relations, and club Treasurers, Secretaries, and Sergeants of Arms.

Rouse, along with other veteran Toastmaster Elroy Hughes made presentations on keeping the commitment and having a successful club, among other things. Club officers discussed challenges in retaining members, as well as recruiting new members; creating the right first impressions for visitors, planning enjoyable and educational meetings, and recognizing milestones achieved by members.

During the interactive session, club officers fielded questions and received guidance on how best to conduct their duties. These training sessions are meant to motivate club officers to help grow their respective clubs.

PHILIPSBURG:--- UNESCO Secretary General for the St. Maarten National Commission Ms. Marcellia Henry presented the UNESCO 2014 Calender on Underwater Cultural Heritage to Culture Minister her Excellency Patricia D. Lourens-Philip, Archeologist Dr. Jay Haviser and Head of the Culture Department Mr. Neville York.
Minister Lourens, Dr. Haviser and Mr. York attended the UNESCO International Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage in Lima, Peru at which time, they made a presentation to the other international delegates on the Underwater Cultural Heritage of Sint Maarten. "We are therefore pleased to see that St. Maarten's Man of War Shoal Marine Park is featured in the 2014 UNESCO International Calendar on Underwater Cultural Heritage and themed Celebrating the International Year of the Small Island Developing States" said Minister Lourens.
The Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area is located directly outside of Great Bay's shallow waters. After the conference the attendees were asked to contribute to the 2014 calendar and so a wonderful picture by Mauricio Handler, was submitted to Dr. Haviser via the Nature Foundation onward to the UNESCO conference committee is featured for the month of September.
During the short ceremony the group made sure to mention that they are still working towards the ratification of the UNESCO convention for the protection of Underwater Heritage. "I hope that this stimulates us to recognize the importance of protecting our Heritage sites on Sint Maarten" said Dr. Jay Haviser.
Minister Lourens would like to thank photographer Mauricio Handler of DCA, the Nature Foundation for the wonderful photo. UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, its office is located in Harbour View and the Secretary General can be reached at 543-1236 ext. 303.

BELAIR:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams congratulated the members of the Indian Community on St. Maarten at the Indian Merchant's Association's event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Republic of India at the Belair Community Center on Wednesday. The PM also highlighted the Indian Community's commitment, especially the Indian Matriarchs, for contributing to the society of St. Maarten: "Congratulations to all of the members of the Indian Community of St. Maarten during this 65th Anniversary of Indian Republic Day. I am always impressed at functions such as these where the history of India is highlighted and reference is made to the Indian Republic. It gives me pause to reflect on St. Maarten. St. Maarten has been a young country since 2010, having our own constitution as St. Maarten, and as I look back from where we have come and as I look forward to where we are going we can learn from countries like India, the largest democracy on Earth. We can recognize that it takes a process to grow as a Nation and to grow as a people.

India deserves to be congratulated on a day like today for having 65 years of building a Nation and that should be an inspiration for all of us to build Democracy on St. Maarten.

The Prime Minister also thanked the Indian Community for their contribution to the society and economy of St. Maarten, in particular the important role that Indian women play in caring for households and families, bringing up children that are St. Maarteners: "I want to congratulate especially the Indian Merchants Association for commemorating Indian Republic Day. While recognizing your efforts I would like to remind all of us that these are families, men, women and children, some who have been born on St. Maarten and are now part of our society, that play such an important role in our country. I would also like to thank the Indian women, who although often in the background do so much to contribute to our community and for raising children that are St. Maarteners and such an important part of our community. You have been such an important part of the community of the island and have played such an important role in growing our economy. You have stayed with us through thick and thin and for this I thank you deeply," Concluded the Prime Minister.

The PM also assisted members of the Board of the IMA in presenting various contributions to victims of the Backstreet Fire, to Sally Benjamin for her fostering activities and to the MAC School PTA for their breakfast program.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- A highly infectious disease, polio causes paralysis and is sometimes fatal. As there is no cure, the best protection is prevention. For as little as US 60 cents worth of vaccine, a child can be protected against this crippling disease for life. After an international investment of more than US$9 billion, and the successful engagement of over 200 countries and 20 million volunteers, polio could be the first human disease of the 21st century to be eradicated.

The message to world leaders is clear: support the final push to achieve eradication now while the goal has never been closer, or face the potential consequences of a new polio pandemic that could disable millions of children within a decade.

Since 1985, Rotary has contributed nearly $1.2 billion and countless volunteer hours to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries. The disease remains endemic in three countries -- Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan -- although other countries remain at risk for imported cases.

Throughout the India and around the world, Rotary is celebrating a major milestone: it has been three years since India's last case of wild polio. This is a landmark achievement for global public health and the worldwide effort to eradicate polio.

Closer to home, the last cases identified in the Caribbean area were in Haiti/Dominican Republic in 1991. Before a Caribbean vaccination drive, estimated deaths in Latin America/Caribbean in the 1970s totaled c. 15,000 cases and 1,750 deaths per annum.

Rebecca Low, Assistant District Governor for Rotary District 7020 which includes St Maarten said "given the confirmation of cases in previously polio-free Syria, it means that we need to be ever more vigilant in our work both locally and abroad." Rotary's International PolioPlus Committee chair Robert S. Scott, further states, that this serves "as a stark reminder that as long as polio still exists, unimmunized children everywhere remain at risk." In response to the outbreak in Syria, Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, along with local health authorities, are conducting large-scale campaigns to immunize children in the region as quickly as possible. Rotary is the first donor to announce funding to WHO for the GPEI's new Middle East strategic plan a $500,000 emergency response grant for Syria.

In St. Maarten the three Rotary Clubs are working to raise funds for Rotary's 'End Polio Now' campaign. Initiatives are ongoing and have included such things as a special charity flea market held at Air Lekkerbeck by Rotary Sunrise in November.

Join with concerned Rotarians and help to eradicate polio in our lifetime. With global travel nowadays, it can be easily transmitted across national borders, or across the globe, as has already happened with wild outbreaks in several world areas.

If you are interested in learning more about Rotary contact any of the three Rotary clubs in St. Maarten.

BASSE TERRE, Guadeloupe:--- The Cour d'Assises (High Court) condemned Rogely Dewindt to 20 years for the premeditated murder of Nejumbia Fleming and her 15 months old baby Ronelyia Fleming. The decision was handed down Tuesday night. Throughout the trial, Dewindt pleaded not guilty claiming she had nothing to do with the killings.

Nejumbia Fleming and her baby daughter were murdered during the night of October 29th and 30th 2008. Relatives of the deceased waited patiently for justice which finally came down for the only suspect that was in custody in Basse Terre. Rogely Dewindt was having an affair with the father of Ronelyia Fleming at the time of the murders.

The crime committed by Dewindt and her accomplice was one of the most gruesome murders in the history of St. Martin. The mother and baby were killed and then burnt by their attackers inside their home located in St. James, Marigot.

Police on the Dutch side of the island arrested the victim's boyfriend who is also the baby's father and Dewindt the day the crime was committed but somehow the male suspect contested his extradition to the French side. Dewindt on the other hand agreed to go with the Gendarmes when she was arrested. On the day of the murders, Rogely Dewindt was seen in a store in Philipsburg with burns on her face and hands. The store attendants alerted police when they saw the young woman buying make up and going to the bathroom to cover up the burns she sustained.

The parents and grandparents felt that the real culprit behind the gruesome killing was the father of the baby while Dewindt wanted to get rid of Nejumbia Fleming and her baby daughter as she considered them to be her rival.

One of the main reasons the family of Nejumbia felt that the baby's father was involved is because there was no forced entry to the apartment where the two victims were found and at the time of the murders he was the only one that had a key to the apartment since he was living with his girlfriend and his baby daughter. The young man in question is from the island of Statia and has since married.
The court found that Dewindt was guilty of the gruesome murders but they also felt she did not do it alone.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake, is reminding the Sint Maarten community that this Saturday, February 1st is country-wide clean-up day.

The Sint Maarten community, organizations, social and civic, service clubs and community councils, individual household and property owners, are invited to participate in this cooperative effort to clean and beautify your neighbourhood. Your cooperation is needed in this campaign to protect our communities from dengue fever and chikungunya viruses that are spread by mosquitos.

HELP YOUR COMMUNITY TO BECOME MOSQUITO FREE!!!

The schedule for Saturday is as follows:

St. Maarten – West Community Clean-up by Waste Hauler Leonard Enterprises: All items should be placed outside between 6:30am and 10:30am. For Saturday, February 1st the waste hauler will clean-up the following areas: Union Rd., Fahrenheit Rd., Water Rock Ln., Arlet Peters and Cashew Tree Rd.

Waste hauler Meadowland will be focusing on the Bush Road and Zagersgut area on Saturday, and Cul de Sac area on Sunday, February 2nd.

Waste hauler Clean Sint Maarten will be focusing on the Fort Willem and Point Blanche area.

All Waste in Place will carry out its clean-up activities from 7:00am to 3:00pm on Saturday and Sunday in the areas of Middle Region, Dutch Quarter, Union Farm, and Nazareth.

The country-wide clean-up schedule is also available on the Government website. Go to www.sintmaartengov.org and select the link in the main bar titled "What's New," and you will come across 'Country-wide Clean Up Schedule;' select the aforementioned which will bring you to the page with the schedule that can also be downloaded.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), hereby announces that several road marking projects will take place on Friday and over the weekend.

The road marking projects are in connection with improving road safety for motorists and pedestrians.

On Friday, there will be interruption to the traffic flow on the W.A. Nisbeth (Pondfill Road) and Welfare Road in the vicinity of Royal Palm Hotel (Simpson Bay) from Friday, 31 January 7:00am, Saturday, 1st February 7:00am and on Sunday, 2nd February at 7:00am.

Motorists are requested to be vigilant and observant for the traffic directional signs indicating what works are underway in the respective area.

Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience that this may cause.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Police arrested a senior customs officer identified as Nestor Sanchez aka Kora on Thursday afternoon in an ongoing investigation. Customs officer Sanchez was arrested shortly after a drug bust on Insel Air that was traveling from Curacao to St. Maarten. SMN News learnt that police and customs were at the airport when they searched the aircraft but they did not arrest the senior officer at the airport, instead the arrest was made somewhere in Cole Bay. "We saw the police taking Sanchez out of a car when they arrested him," one eye witness told SMN News.
SMN News learnt that the customs officer was taken out of a car in the Cole Bay area.
Attorney General Taco Stein said he did not know of the case and that the only thing he knew was that police was busy investigating a case. Stein said the person to release information on the arrest of the customs officer is police spokesman Ricardo Henson who could not be reached by telephone. Press Prosecutor Tineke Kamps also refused to confirm or deny the arrest of the customs officer. "I will not confirm or deny this, you need to speak with Henson on this matter," Prosecutor Kamps said.

Customs Officer Arrested.

On Thursday January 30, 2014 during a search by the Police Corps Sint Maarten (KPSM) on the Princess Juliana International Airport, in cooperation with Customs Department, a large batch of narcotics was seized. A customs officer was also arrested for his possible involvement in this case. An amount of drugs was seized during a search conducted in his home. The investigation is being conducted by the Police Narcotic Department.

Rectification from KPSM

In the late police report of January 30th, 2014 regarding the arrest of a customs officer who is suspected of being involved in an illegal drug investigation, it states that during a search of the home of the suspect an amount of drugs was found. This is not the case. Drugs were only found at the airport and not at his home.

KPSM Police Report

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prosecutor's Office decided on Thursday not to request an extension of the pre-trial detention of Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge who was arrested last Monday January 20th, 2014 as a suspect in the ORCA investigation.
Prosecutor Tineke Kamps stated in a press release on Thursday that MP Illidge will be released today (Thursday) she further explained that "the prosecutor has decided not to ask for his pre trial detention (bewaringstelling). Of course this decision does not mean that P.I. is no longer a suspect, he remains a suspect and the investigation will continue."
On Monday January 20th, 2014, the Prosecutor's Office sent out a press released stating that MP Illidge was arrested on the accounts of bribery, money laundering, and taking part in association that has as its aim the committing of criminal offences. P.I. voluntarily turned himself in. MP Illidge became a suspect in the ORCA investigation last year March when a video tape was released showing MP Illidge taking what appears to be monies from the owner of Bada Bing and stuffing it in his pockets.

Workshops to be given on the Millennium Acceleration Framework Method to Identify Pilot Projects

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten received a courtesy visit from (Millennium Development Goal) MDG Program Manager Loekie Morales and MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF) consultant the Honorable Sarmite Bulte at her Cabinet on Monday. During the meeting the Prime Minister, as the Minister of General Affairs and of the Millennium Development Goal Framework for St. Maarten, received an update from the representatives regarding St. Maarten focusing on sustainable development coming out of the 2011 MDG report.

In 2000, 189 countries of the United Nations, including the Kingdom of the Netherlands, made a promise to free people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. This pledge turned into the eight Millennium Development Goals. According to the 'First Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report Curaçao & Sint Maarten 2011', Sint Maarten is lagging behind with MDG 1 (Eradication of extreme poverty) and MDG 7 (Environmental sustainability).

Honorable Sarmite Bulte, a MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF) consultant, hired by the government of Sint Maarten and UNDP has been on Sint Maarten to meet stakeholders and to lead a Methodological workshop on applying the MAF process to accelerate progress for MDG 1 and 7; both within the context of a sustainable development vision for St. Maarten. This workshop will take place on February 18th and 19th with the overall objective being to bring together relevant decision makers, senior technical representatives from ministries, institutions, NGOs, the private sector and development partners to build a common understanding of the cross sectoral challenges for those goals and their role in the MAF process. The Workshop will also seek to discover which impediments are preventing MDG 1 and 7 from achieving their expected targets. Two concrete pilot projects will be defined, funded and executed within the mentioned areas of Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Sustainability.

The Prime Minister was pleased to meet with Mrs. Bulte, who, together with Drs. Loekie Morales, Program Manager and responsible for MDG's, will organize the workshop of which the sessions will be directed toward attaining initial agreement on the identified high impact interventions. The Prime Minister also explained that coming out of the MDG Report the two areas that were highlighted showed that some development lacked in two specific areas and pledged that Government will address these two areas specifically. "In the process we will be placing considerable focus on the two identified Millennium Development goals to move this country forward in the areas of Goal 1: poverty eradication and Goal 2: environmental sustainability," concluded the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- The NAGICO Super50 Regional Cricket Tournament kicks off today with the Windward side taking on Jamaica starting at 1.30 pm at the Queens Park Oval in Trinidad & Tobago. A total of 15 matches will be played, all televised live via ESPN, with the final match scheduled for February 15.

"NAGICO is extremely proud with being the title sponsor of such a major regional event and looks forward to great cricket being played in a festive atmosphere", said NAGICO Executive Marketing Manager, Paul Dijkhoffz.

The matches will be aired live on ESPN and a live radio broadcast is transmitted through Caribbean Super Station. Alternatively, cricket fans can stream the matches live via www.windiescricket.com. In case you missed a match, next day 1 hour highlights of the matches will be on free to air television throughout the Caribbean via Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

"The NAGICO Facebook page (www.facebook.com/NAGICO-Insurances) has a full match schedule available for download and will also post match results and keep cricket fans abreast of the latest developments" concluded Dijkhoffz.

NAGICO Press Release

POND ISLAND:--- Amateur digital photographer, Rogier Brans, of local engineering firm Lievense, has been officially recognized as the winner of TelEm Group's Phone Book 2014 Photo contest which took place island-wide late last year.

During a short ceremony at TelEm Group's main building on Pond Island, Mr. Brans was congratulated for his stunning effort and presented with a brand new Samsung Galaxy Smartphone – complete with built-in camera so that he can continue with his favorite hobby.

The winning shot was taken with a Canon D60 digital camera right in Rogier's back garden. And the winning photographer happily admits to spending many hours capturing just the right light and waiting for the correct moment to digitally record visual images of St. Maarten's flora and fauna.

Second prize in the photo contest went to Binkie van Es, for his picture of a bird skipping stones on the Great Salt Pond while 3rd prize was awarded to Peter Johnson for a shot of a crab at Gun Hole in Saba.

TelEm Group, Manager, Marketing & Sales, Mr. Emile van der Weerd, said judges were unanimous in their choice of Rogier's humming bird photograph because of its composition, technical quality and theme.

He said Rogier also got a special mention for another photo that the judges liked showing another-worldly ant colony making their home on a garden pipe.

"We want to thank Rogier and all the members of the public who sent in their digital images for the photo contest. Many of them can be seen in our new Phone Book 2014 which is currently being distributed to customers," said Mr. Van der Weerd.

Telem Press Release

PHILIPSBURG:--- In responding to questions posed by media personnel on the developments surrounding the head of VDSM James Richardson, Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams said that the individual is still suspended and the last information she got was that he was moving to court to challenge the decision of government.

Wescot Williams also confirmed at the beginning of the year that she submitted the report of the investigation conducted by SOAB to the Prosecutor's Office in December 2013. When asked if she got any information from the Prosecutor's Office since she handed over the report, the Prime Minister said she did not hear from the Prosecutor's Office as yet and it's that office that has to take a decision as to how they will move forward.

Just last week Members of Parliament in the Hague said they were thinking on sending Prosecutors from the Netherlands to see why several cases on St. Maarten are being shelved for years and not being prosecuted. Some of those cases include a case involving former Minister of Health and Labor Maria Buncamper Molanus, the case of alleged vote buying that involves Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger, and the case surrounding Regina Labega which are among a stack of cases that are to be investigated and prosecuted since St. Maarten became a country.
SMN News asked the Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams what are her views on the talks in The Hague regarding St. Maarten's Prosecutor's Office. Wescot Williams said the MPs in the Netherlands are free to express whatever they feel like expressing. She said what happens on St. Maarten concerns the Parliament, Government, and people of St. Maarten. She further stated that the Prosecutor's Office on St. Maarten knows its capabilities and its strength. Wescot Williams further stated that the Prosecutor's Office on St. Maarten knows what they need to do if there is a deficiency in manpower. "If they need assistance it will be up to us to ask for that assistance, that directive should not come from the Parliament of the Netherlands. So if we see that assistance is needed we know what steps have to be taken."

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Labor Cornelius de Weever called on the unemployed persons on St. Maarten to take note of the recruitment drive that will take place on Friday January 31st, 2014 from 9am to 1pm behind the Department of Labor on Cannegieter Street. The Minister said officers from Sheriff Security will be on the location with their canine dogs. He called on persons that are interested in finding a job or those that are looking for a career change to attend the event.

Minister de Weever further explained that persons that are selected will go through a three-months training period. During that time those persons will receive social assistance and a government doctor card, after the training the successful applicants will get a one year contract to work at Sheriff Security.

HARBOUR VIEW:--- His Excellency, Governor Holiday today, based on an advice from the steering group, has approved the selection of Price Water House Coopers as the candidate accounting firm to conduct the Integrity Inquiry requested by the Kingdom Government. The selection is the result of the invitation on December 20, 2013, by Governor Holiday to four New York based accounting firms to participate in the tender which is to result in the engagement of one of the firms to conduct the integrity inquiry. Based on the selection of PWC after due evaluation and consideration of its proposal of January 17, 2014, the parties will enter into negotiations to reach an agreement for the execution of the inquiry.
The steering group integrity inquiry was installed by the Governor on December 4th, 2013, to amongst others advise the Governor and to oversee and direct the accounting firm during the Inquiry. The steering group is currently holding introductory meetings with various stakeholders in preparation of the inquiry. In addition to its meeting with Governor Holiday regarding the selection of the candidate firm, the steering group will meet with various public and private sector officials including: the Chairlady of Parliament, the prime minister and the respective ministers, the chairman and members of the Governments integrity Committee, the members of the council of advice, a representative of the Public Prosecutors Office, a representative of the Social Economic Council, the President of the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten, the director of the Unusual Transactions Reporting Center, labor union representatives, and SHTA representatives.
The steering committee integrity inquiry, supported by a professional secretariat, has been convened to ensure an independent, impartial and effective process. The steering committee integrity inquiry is comprised of three members: Dr. Marten Oosting as chairman, Mr. Jaime Saleh and Mr. Miguel Alexander. The secretariat is comprised of two secretaries, Mr. Peter Benschop and drs. Sidney Ricardo RA.
The purpose of the inquiry is threefold: to collect data and information for assessment based on integrity requirements in accordance with the rule of law in a democratic society, to report the findings from the assessment and finally to make recommendations that add value to the functioning of the public administration of Sint Maarten.
The scope of the inquiry, in keeping with the provisions of the Kingdom Decree of September 30, 2013, covers the government and includes ministers, the civil servants in the ministries and state owned companies. It focuses on vulnerable sectors such as prostitution, gambling and immigration as well as vulnerable activities such as permits for and the execution of infrastructural works and (other) large tenders. The contracted accounting firm executing the inquiry will handle all documents and information obtained during the inquiry prudently and confidentially, that includes taking all measures necessary to ensure the anonymity of the government officials and employees and all persons involved in the inquiry.
For completeness it should be noted that the inquiry is an integrity investigation and not a penal investigation. The inquiry is as such separate from any penal investigation being carried out by the Office of the Public Prosecutor.
The contracted accounting firm to execute the inquiry, will issue an interim progress report within three months and the final inquiry report of its findings and recommendations within six months of its engagement to the Governor. The process of the integrity inquiry will conclude with the presentation of the final report to the Kingdom Council of Ministers by Governor Holiday.
Further information and developments regarding the inquiry will be made public by the Governor through the Cabinet of the Governor.

From the Cabinet of the Governor of St. Maarten

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams called on all residents of St. Maarten to join the cleanup campaign that government has embarked upon to combat the mosquito infestation.

Wescot Williams made the call on Wednesday during the weekly Council of Ministers' press briefing. She asked residents to monitor the newspapers to see when the cleanup crew will be in their area. Wescot Williams also asked the residents of St. Maarten to join the cleanup crew by assisting to get rubbish and other materials that are not needed in their yards. The current cleanup campaign is to try to limit the mosquito infestation and combat the chikungunya virus that has been plaguing on St. Maarten.

Minister of Health and Labor Cornelius de Weever also made the same call as the Prime Minister by asking residents of St. Maarten to cooperate fully with the cleanup campaign.

Persons that are feeling sick by having high fever, joint and muscular pains, and rashes should check with their doctor to see if they picked up the chikungunya virus.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell applauds all the winners and participants who recently took part in the Interscholastic Board Games competition that was hosted by the United Student Government Front (USGF).

The event was held at the Milton Peters College. USGF was established in 2007 as a method of bringing together the student bodies of the various high schools on the island.

They meet at least four times each academic year to train representatives of the various student governments. At these sessions students get a chance to see what it takes to organize and conduct their meetings, as well as share ideas on how they can make their learning environment fun.

"These interscholastic events bring students together from different schools which helps build relationships and find solutions to common problems or challenges that they encounter.

"I would like to thank the USGF for their role that they have played since 2007 and congratulations to the winners and all the participants of the interscholastic games," President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell said on Wednesday.

European Market essential to destination

POINTE BLANCHE:--- On Tuesday St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo gave an update to the management of MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) Cruises at their headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, about cruise destination developments.

Mingo met with the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the company Gianni Onorato. Onorato has 30-years' experience in the cruise industry, and has a thorough understanding of the cruise business and extensive experience in senior executive leadership, serving as President of Costa Crociere for over nine years. The meeting also included Operations Director Gianluca Suprani. Pierfrancesco Vago became Executive Chairman of the Board.

MSC Cruises is the market leading Cruise Company in the Mediterranean, South Africa and Brazil, and operates across the globe.

Mingo stated on Wednesday that European cruise lines are very important for the destination. MSC alone is expected to bring in over 126,000 cruise passengers to the island in 2014.

The topics that were discussed with MSC management was year-round service; challenges experienced by smaller cruise lines such as NCL, MSC and Disney Cruises; status of the global port committee; onshore developments such as shore excursions and marques tours in order to enhance customer experiences; new approach of passenger logistics from upgrade of water taxis from 80 passengers to 200 passengers; enhancement of the Sea Palace tender jetty; and a study to improve roadside access to the port.

For the cruise line MSC customers, shopping was still considered to be a strong sell for St. Maarten.

Currently MSC has two ships plying the Caribbean, namely the MSC Musica home-porting in Martinique and MSC Divina whose homeport is in Miami, Florida.

"It is important that we have the MSC Divina visiting the destination in the off season, because this brings economic activity to our community and businesses. It was a great opportunity to discuss strategies with MSC Cruises. I also discussed berthing space because the cruise line plans for the long-term. MSC is a unique company because its family owned and it has grown to become a cruise player overnight.

"MSC also has a cargo division and is also one of the largest cargo lines in the world. At the end of 2013 MSC Cargo was operating 443 container vessels with an intake capacity of over 2.2 million TEU's. The privately owned shipping line was founded in 1970 and has grown rapidly from a small conventional operator to become one of the leading global shipping lines in the world having the position of the second largest carrier in respect to container slot capacity and the number of container vessels in operation.

"We have to maintain a good working relationship with the cruise lines as they are our partners in this business. It is very important to keep them informed of what we as a port are doing and how we are developing because we have to retain the business that we have been able to attain over the years," CEO of the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies Mark Mingo said on Wednesday.

The Port of St. Maarten is ranked one of the highest in growth in cruise passengers as well as cruise passenger expenditure levels. In 2013 the Port of St. Maarten received 1,785.670 cruise passengers, 32,455 passengers more than in 2012. Cruise passengers arrived on 631 vessel calls for 2013.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake on Wednesday received a presentation from Director of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), Kees Klarenbeek, Erica van der Horst, and Chairman of the Board SMMC Izzy Gertsenbluth about the expansion of the Hospital in Cay Hill.

Minister Lake also used the opportunity to inform SMMC board and management that he has established a committee within Ministry VROMI to facilitate the process leading to the expansion of the 23-year old medical center.

SMMC is currently in the preliminary drawing phase. The new hospital should be able to serve the Sint Maarten community up to 2030 and beyond with the investments that are to be made between now and 2023, the latter being the third phase with the hospital having an area of 15,000 square meters.

SMMC with current room capacity of approximately 60, at the end of phase 1 expansion will have 101 rooms, moving from 5500 square meters to 10,000 square meters. This phase is expected to be completed in 2016.

SMMC first phase expansion is focused on improving the quality of healthcare for the people of the country; to be able to offer more specialisms; to offer services to the public entities of the Netherlands namely Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius; to also provide services to the North side of the island (St. Martin); and to reduce the transfer of patients having to leave the country for medical care abroad.

"I was very pleased on Wednesday with the vision that SMMC management presented in a meeting I had with them. SMMC is on the right track and moving upward. Basic health care must be guaranteed at all times for the people of this country, and in my back to basics approach, the people of this country as well as visitors must have a facility that meets their needs.

"Ministry VROMI is ready to provide assistance to SMMC in an advisory capacity in facilitating the permit process and the first meeting is scheduled for Thursday. In my no-nonsense approach, I like to see things moving forward and of course according to the rules and procedures.

"I was also pleased to learn that SMMC management will be using green technology such as solar panels in order to lower its foot print on the environment. I thank them for their vision and forward thinking, because this is the upward way to go in securing the peoples public health facility that meets the needs of the community in the 21st century.

"I would like to use this opportunity to thank Member of Parliament Hon. Theo Heyliger for his role that he played in securing the Naf. 30 million needed for the phase 1 expansion of the people's hospital," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Wednesday.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Rotary Club of St. Maarten is asking all members of the community to join us, and Rotary Clubs across the Caribbean Rotary Zones 33 & 34, with our effort to provide nutritious meals to children in need in our respective local communities. As explained by Rotary Club of St. Maarten President, Maria Buncamper-Molanus, "we are asking members of the community to participate in our fundraising efforts by making contributions at the special donations boxes. Even a small donation can make a big difference". Mrs. Buncamper went on to explain that donation boxes are located at Domino's Pizza, Abu Ghazi Shoarma in Simpson Bay, Piece of Cake, Zhaveri Jewelers, Caribbean Gems, Oro Diamante, NAPA and Penny's Department Store and Le Grand Marche.

Donations for this specific cause will be accepted until February 14, 2014.

For more information about the Rotary Club of St. Maarten, 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. or visit the website www.rotarysxm.org.

PHILIPSBURG:--- A new long-range wireless detection system, with applications in health care, personal safety, asset and goods tracking, can pinpoint items and people with near 100 percent accuracy over a much wider range than current systems thanks to a new system developed by Eagle Eye Tracking.
We've all seen news alerts for missing senior citizens. Sometimes those have a happy outcome, and other times they don't. Parents of children with special needs also live with the worry that their child might wander off and get lost.
There are several devices available on the global market to help folks find their missing loved ones, but they aren't cheap or effortless to use. And if you have a big enough issue with pets running off, these devices could also be used on your dog's collar.
Locally, Eagle Eye Tracking, under the umbrella of Alpha Healthcare Group of Companies, has taken the lead in harnessing the power of technology to offer a personal tracking device that eliminates all of the aforementioned problems. The company, located in the Landmark Commercial Centre opposite the St. Maarten Medical Centre, provides affordable GPS tracking devices that can be attached to a key ring or worn around the neck. This newspaper understands that the devices are already in the hands of numerous seniors on St. Maarten and several social organizations are also well acquainted with its capabilities.
The company explains that the device works best as a companion to dementia patients while having a built in phone system that allows two way communication between user and caregiver, parent and child etc. It supports the sick, elderly and companies with a fleet of vehicles through real time monitoring.
"We've all seen commercials such as MedAlert that feature a senior citizen who has fallen and needs help. Think of these gadgets like that help button, but they work from almost anywhere. Eagle Eye Tracking also enables the user to draw boundaries on a map. The notification can include a map of the unit's location and turn-by-turn directions, "Debbie Alpha, managing director of Alpha Healthcare Services said.
Alpha and her business partner have been researching for years, a cost- effective but efficient solution in preventative healthcare. They decided to take action in 2011 when a 94 year old woman in Cole Bay wandered away from her family property and was found near Welfare Road. The story didn't end tragically because the woman was well-known as a former school teacher in the area, so she was returned to home, scared of the strangers who held her hand.
"Wandering poses a significant danger for those encompassing the at-risk population; experts have recently said that as much as 60 percent of those with Alzheimer's have been affected," Alpha related.
The United Nations has already designated Dementia a public health priority and it must be addressed in more ways than one, Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI)/ Pan-American Health Organization Regional Representative drs. Raymond Jessurun noted.
"The tendency to wander is prevalent among people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementia-related disorders, as well as autism and Down Syndrome. It is estimated that 60 percent of people with Alzheimer's disease will wander and become lost - statistically, many will wander repeatedly. They are often not even aware that they wandered and are even lost.

There is an increased vulnerability if an elderly Alzheimer's patient is outdoors for more than 24 hours and the chance of survival drops to 50 percent due to the risk of exposure or hypothermia if they are not found within 12 hours. A lost person with Alzheimer's disease or other dementia-related disease or injury represents a critical medical emergency.
Please remember that the wanderer's inability or unwillingness to communicate can be frustrating for both caregivers and searchers alike. The person might not call out for help or respond when their name is called. Traditional search methods rely heavily on the ability of the lost person to respond to searchers when they call. When this ability doesn't exist or the person chooses not to respond, search efforts are time consuming and have
the potential to take a tragic turn," Jessurun explained.

Profiling

After submitting a personalized profile, each person in the Eagle Eye Tracking program is assigned a unique number. The personalized profile is completed by the caregiver and is designed to provide certain specific information that will be useful to a search and rescue team, emergency medical services and a monitoring station. Besides personal data and a physical description, the profile gives insight into personality, habits and life experiences.

"Another reality is that being a family caregiver is a difficult task. A caregiver's responsibility is enormous and can be draining; the situation can be intensified when the person being cared for begins to wander. So what we are seeing is that many adult children are getting the tracking device for their elderly parents, even if they live alone, because they are able to communicate with them and have peace of mind," Alpha added.
Eagle Eye Tracking is also partnering exclusively with Forever Living International and Medical Air Services Association (MASA). The latter will offer users of the program and their family, insurance coverage to get free air ambulance transportation in over 30 countries of the world.

Forever Living Aloe Vera products will also be available at discounted rates to Eagle Eye Tracking users.
For further information Eagle Eye Tracking can be contacted via email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on telephone number 721-554-7831.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister Plenipotentiary Hon. Mathias Voges met with the Director of the Human Resources Department at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ines Coppoolse at the Sint Maarten House in The Hague where the topic of appointment of Ambassadors of the Kingdom was discussed.

Particular focus was on the appointment of Ambassadors in the Caribbean and Latin America, where the Kingdom Government will be appointing a new Ambassador to Trinidad & Tobago (Port of Spain) and Brazil (Brasilia).

Minister Voges brought forward the need for St. Martiners to have the opportunity of on the job training at the different embassies in the region such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela and Colombia.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake, informs the community that the country-wide Saturday clean-up schedule is available on the Government website.

Go to www.sintmaartengov.org and select the link in the main bar titled "What's New," and you will come across 'Country-wide Clean Up Schedule;' select the aforementioned which will bring you to the page with the schedule that can also be downloaded.

The country-wide exercise is part of the after hurricane season clean-up with a major emphasis on the removal of debris and bulk garbage that can become breeding grounds for mosquito's leading to an increase in mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams in her remarks surrounding the causeway congratulated not only the principals but highlighted the need for positive cooperation in building St. Maarten step by step, block by block; "Much has been said regarding the coming together of people and ideas for this Causeway and indeed it has been long in waiting to ensure that all of the entities were consulted and involved. The Causeway has been a part of the infrastructural plan for this island for many years and it is my pleasure to congratulate all the persons who have been a part of and who have stood behind the vision of the Causeway and pushed for its successful completion notwithstanding the circumstances.

"As we think of the Causeway we must congratulate the signing Minister at the time Member of Parliament the Honorable Theodore Heyliger for his vision in realizing this project. The Democratic Party for a very short time was in the opposition and then indeed we asked ourselves questions regarding the Causeway, questions such as when will it materialize, what were the impacts etc. However, when the first Government of country St. Maarten was formed under the motto of "On a Foundation of Hope", standing prominently on that program was the completion of the Causeway over the Lagoon and I would like to say again thank you to those who saw it possible and continued to work on it.

"The opening of the Causeway was indeed a great day for St. Maarten. I have also noted how the Harbor Group of Companies and SLAC have partnered with various stakeholders to oversee the management of the Simpson Bay Lagoon and encourage the organization to continue to move towards that direction.

"Some weeks ago my siblings and myself learned that my mother who lives and hails from Simpson Bay was wheeled by hand by a young man who works at the Causeway so that she may get a first hand look at our newest landmark. My mother is ninety-three years old and stood on this causeway and was able to look over the Simpson Bay Lagoon, which has shaped the identity of St. Maarten since the very beginning.

Especially without the confidence of the people of St. Maarten this project would have not had had the successful completion that it currently has. We would not have had the resilience of our people to talk amongst one another and together come to the realization that this island has something so unique on St. Maarten that notwithstanding all the issues this was possible. The people of St. Maarten deserves all the congratulations and should continue to recognize that St. Maarten is the most unique island on earth. We must continue to have a positive attitude and not focus on negativity but on building our nation," concluded the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Collective Prevention Services (CPS), a department of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, is monitoring developments with respect to the influenza strain A (H7N9) that has been observed in China as well as other avian influenza viruses such as H5N1.

The United Nations has warned of bird flu viruses risk and for people in China to be vigilant during the Chinese New Year's holiday period.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, millions of people and poultry are expected to be on the move and many households will slaughter poultry at home to celebrate festivities.

The standard advice to travelers to China is to follow good hand hygiene and food safety practices and to avoid contact with animals. While in China, avoid touching animals whether they are alive or dead and to avoid live bird or poultry markets and to only eat food that is fully cooked. Persons traveling to China for the New Year's activities are advised to remain vigilant and observe measures recommended by local Chinese health authorities. The World Health Organization (WHO) does not advise against travel to China at this point in time, as there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. Influenza A (H7N9) is known to affect wild birds and poultry.

Returning travelers from affected areas in China should look out for signs and symptoms of respiratory illness, such as fever and cough, and seek early medical attention if they are with such symptoms and take preventive measures to protect their family and love ones.

The Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius De Weever 'Get Checked' campaign emphasizes the importance of individuals informing their doctors of their travel history, should they develop these symptoms after returning to Sint Maarten.

Travelers to China should practice the following: avoid direct contact with poultry, birds or their droppings, and if contact is made, wash hands thoroughly with soap and water; Cook poultry and eggs thoroughly before eating; Wash hands frequently with soap and water (e.g. before handling food or eating, after going to the toilet, or when hands are dirtied by respiratory secretion after coughing or sneezing).

Also while in China avoid crowded places and contact with sick people with fever, and wear a mask when you have respiratory symptoms or are feeling unwell.

PHILIPSBURG:--- A young man who was among three men that broke into a home located at Oyster Pond Road #162 is now dead. Police Spokesman Ricardo Henson said in a press release on Tuesday January 28th, 2014 at approximately 3:10pm, several police patrols were sent to Oyster Pond Road #162 to investigate an ongoing robbery where one of the suspects was caught. On the scene the investigating officers encountered a family who is on vacation and staying at the residence where the ongoing robbery was taking place. The visitors told police that while at home they were suddenly confronted by three unknown men who were trying to break in to their residence. One of the suspects was caught and held for the arrival of the police. The visitors tied the suspect they caught as they waited for police to arrive at the scene. The victims further stated that the suspect in question started to resist heavily while the other two suspects tried to get him free by throwing stones at the victims, but they did not succeed. The suspect continued to resist heavily and the victims kept holding on to him.
Henson said when the two accomplices realized that they were not able to get their friend they jumped into a small white colored vehicle and fled towards the French side. The suspect that was caught stopped resisting after a while and remained lying on the ground. When the investigating officers checked the suspect he was not showing any signs of life. The paramedics were immediately informed and they went to the scene and tried to reanimate the suspect without success. Dr. Mercuur arrived on the scene and pronounced the death of the victim. At least three of the victims suffered minor cuts and bruises. They were treated on the scene by paramedics. The Detective Department and Forensic Department were immediately informed of the situation and they are currently investigating the death of the suspect at the scene where the attempted robbery and death of one of the suspects took place. The body of the victim has been confiscated to determine later what the exact cause of death was. The investigation is ongoing.
The young man that died during the robbery attempt has been identified as Michael Carty aka Jawz from French Quarter.

SMN News understands that an autopsy will take place on Thursday to determine the exact cause of death of the young man. It is also understood that the victims who are on St. Maarten on vacation are cooperating with the current investigation being carried out by KPSM.

Reliable sources say that the young man who is known to be among several other young men in French Quarter joined two of his friends and went to commit the robbery. It is not yet known if the Dutch side police (KPSM) has requested the assistance of the French Gendarmes to assist in the investigation and locate the other two persons that were allegedly with the late Michael Carty when they were caught in the act of burglarizing the home.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Voice of Our Children Foundation recently received a grant of Naf 6,300.00 from Foundation Cooperative Funds . For the second year in a row VOOC has published a beautiful calendar depicting St. Maarten youth in different settings while using statements of articles of the rights of the child for each month. These calendars are distributed in all classrooms and doctor offices free of charge. The advisory Council of Cooperative Funds acknowledges the positive work VOOC is doing and decided after sponsoring the Hype agenda last year, to also assist the youth organization in the 2014 calendar project.
Ms. Sharmaine Olivacci thanked Cooperative Funds for the generous donation and was happy to share one of the first calendars with the Advisory Council Board Members Urla Granger, Angela Dekker and Jose Sommers, Project Advisor.

THE VALLEY, Anguilla:--- A contingent of 55+ Voluntary Corps of Sint Maarten (VKS) members and friends traveled to the island of Anguilla over the weekend. On Saturday the 42nd Police Week of the Royal Anguilla Police Force (RAPF) was officially opened with a service at the Mount Fortune Seventh Day Adventist Church in the East End area of Anguilla. The service was well attended by dignitaries, RAPF and VKS personnel, as well as the Mount Fortune church congregation. In several speeches the important role of the police in the community was emphasized. The existing bond between Anguilla and Sint Maarten was also highlighted. After the service the RAPF and VKS paraded past the dignitaries in a short march past.

The VKS has been participating in the opening celebrations of the RAPF Police Week for quite a number of years. Besides the formal opening in the church there was more than ample time to strengthen the bond between both organizations. On Saturday a joint lunch was served at the police station in The Valley. Later that afternoon a drum band jam took place in The Valley. Participating in this jam around the block in The Valley were drum bands from the Pathfinders, the RAPF, the VKS and a youth organization. On Sunday RAPF and VKS held their friendly sports competition. Games of volleyball, basketball and dominoes were played until it was time to return to Sint Maarten.

During the farewell on behalf of the VKS the Acting Commander of the VKS, Capt. Paul Martens, presented a token of appreciation to RAPF Commissioner of Police, Mr. Rudolph Proctor. Both persons stressed the importance of the bond between RAPF and VKS which started in 2006 under the previous leadership of both organizations. Parties agreed this bond is very strong, will continue to be strengthened and will last for years to come. The RAPF will travel to Sint Maarten and join the VKS anniversary celebrations at the end of June.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the National Alliance William Marlin and the other Members of Parliament from the National Alliance faction called a press conference on Monday to inform their supporters that Cedric James has been appointed Interim President of the board of the National Alliance and his task is to fill in the vacant seats on the board and prepare for the 2014 parliamentary elections. In his short address James said that he was part of the SPM, SPA, and NA but he never took the forefront because his late brother Vance James Jr. was very active in the political arena. James further stated that there is a need for strong, secure, and dedicated people to be part of the National Alliance since strength is within and not without.

The National Alliance leader William Marlin also made some clarifications on Monday when he said that days after the 2010 elections elected members of the National Alliance slate sold their seat to the highest bidder when the party that secured seven seats in Parliament was left out of the first SWW1 cabinet. Clearly Marlin was referring to Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge who is now in police detention in the ORCA investigation. He said from the inception the leaders of the United People's Party and Democratic Party aimed to divide and destroy the National Alliance who beat them in 2006 and 2010. Marlin also explained how much he did for MP Illidge even when he was not elected by the people. He said he appointed Illidge in the Parliament of the Central Government, the Island Council and when he got elected for the first time he sold his seat to the highest bidder. "What you see happening now with the defectors is a strategy orchestrated by the UP leader to say that the National Alliance is a sinking ship. But I assure you that the National Alliance ship is not sinking and surely it is not sitting at the harbor to rot." Marlin said some people seems to forget that the leader of the UP is still to be investigated for the famous vote buying case, the allegations of offering a bribe to MP Romaine Laville and also some people seems to forget that the two suspects in the Bada Bing "ORCA" investigation said that it was the leader of the UP that orchestrated the taping in order to blackmail Patrick Illidge. Marlin further explained that what is taking place today is an effort to distract people from the events surrounding the UP leader. He said that the peoples' monies were used for the opening of the Causeway which was to kick off the UP election campaign.

When asked about the most recent ship jumper MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson, Marlin said that MP Richardson attended all of the meetings held by the National Alliance and each time he gave the members his word that he was not going anywhere. Marlin said once MP Richardson told them that while he had no intention to go anywhere he did state that he was speaking to other people. He said when the "DOC" made that statement former Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs asked him to further explain why he was talking to other political parties if he is committed to the National Alliance. Marlin said it was from that moment he had doubts and while they agreed to send out a joint press release he held back because he was not too sure about MP Richardson. He said he met with the MP on Thursday at Turning Point and once for before that with former chairman of Parliament Rodolphe Samuel. Marlin said MP Lloyd Richardson called him on Friday afternoon and informed him that he had bad news for him because after consulting with his family he decided to declare himself an Independent Member of Parliament and he will cross the isle to support the UP Party.

Marlin said this Sunday the National Alliance will be holding a get together at the Westin Hotel and persons that are interested in participating should contact him or any other member of the National Alliance because a shuttle will be available to take people who do not have transportation to Westin.

Another issue Marlin raised and promised to elaborate on are the statements made by the leader of the UPP during the budget debate when he accused former Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt of embezzling 50 million guilders.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell says she was disturbed to hear about a 13-year old being found in possession with what Police have described as a pistol that fires blanks.

"This is very disturbing. We have had cases similar in the past and now another case. I am very proud of the mother who took immediate action by confronting her son and also contacting the Police and informing them of what she had found.

"Some parents may be hesitant to take such action against their child, but if you have the best interests of your child at heart, you will do what is right, and this parent did exactly that.

"I pray that the parent and her son can get help from community institutions, and let this challenge in their lives lead to better things to come. Young people are confronted with all kinds of things from peer pressure, violence etc., and as a society we need to do what is necessary to keep them away from the negatives while educating and informing them on how to keep on the right track," President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell said on Monday.

According to the Police, on January 21, a woman came to Philipsburg Police Station and spoke to the Community Police Officer (CPO) for the Cay Hill area with respect to her 13-year old son who was in possession of a gun.

When the son came from school his mother confronted him about the situation and demanded that he hand over the gun. Initially he refused, and after a short struggle, she managed to take away the pistol from him.

The gun and other items were confiscated for further investigation. The CPO visited the home of the 13-year old on several occasion but he was not there at the time.

DUTCH QUARTER:--- At approximately 12:00am Sunday January 26th, 2014, a Philipsburg police patrol was sent to Madrid Drive in Dutch Quarter to investigate a case involving very loud music coming from a bar in that neighborhood. Upon arrival of the patrol they encountered a very large crowd of persons in front and in the surrounding area of the bar in question, where a so-called "passa-passa" dance was going on. The patrol also noticed a commotion going on in front of the bar and that a fight between several persons had broken out. Two of the persons involved in the fight were seen with knives in their hands. The situation had become uncontrollable because of the public getting involved with commotion. The patrol immediately called for back-up. A patrol from the Simpson Bay area and detectives were sent to assist. Before the arrival of back-up on the scene and seeing how dangerous and uncontrollable the situation had become, the patrol was forced, for their safety and the safety of others, to fire two warning shots in the air. This caused the crowd to disperse allowing the patrol to better control the situation. This is when they learnt that during the fight a man (22) had been seriously stabbed several times in his upper body and back, causing him to lose consciousness several times. The paramedics were immediately informed of the situation. Shortly after the police back-up and paramedics arrived on the scene. The victim was immediately attended to by paramedics and transported in very serious condition to the Sint Maarten Medical Center for further medical treatment. The crime scene was closed off for the Detectives and Forensic Department to conduct an investigation and collect evidence. The suspect in this case in the meanwhile fled the scene and no arrest has been made as yet. The condition of the victim remains very serious and the investigation by detectives is ongoing.

KPSM Police Report

GRAND CASE:--- Over 150 people of all ages arrived on Pinel Island on Saturday for a special day of fun and discovery at SnorkelFest 2014. The free, public event was created for both residents and tourists by the Les Fruits de Mer Association, and is the first of four Wildlife Discovery Events the Association will host in 2014.

"We're absolutely thrilled that so many people came out to try snorkeling and discover the incredible underwater world of St. Martin at our first annual SnorkelFest," said Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes, "Pinel is home to a tremendous variety of fish, coral and other marine plants and animals, so it was the perfect spot!"

Blue skies and sunny weather set the scene for SnorkelFest to captivate attendees above and below the water. Over 70 people enjoyed free guided snorkeling tours and instruction from PADI instructors on the Réserve Naturelle's special underwater trail, thanks to ECOSNORKELING. For some, it was their first-ever peek below the surface–for all, a chance to explore the island's vivid underwater landscape.

Event-goers got the scoop on undersea life from a marine biologist, a local teacher, and other experts on marine flora and fauna at the festival's Marine Life Discovery Station, hosted by Mark Yokoyama, Les Fruits de Mer co-founder and author of The Incomplete Guide to the Wildlife of St. Martin. Visitors to the Station learned about the underwater life and habitats found on the Pinel snorkeling trail, the relationship of the reef ecosystem to terrestrial, mangrove, and coastal ecosystems, and the habitat protection and the scientific research that happens in the Réserve Naturelle from displays, signs, and exhibits created by Yokoyama and the Réserve Naturelle. Posters featuring fascinating facts about local marine animals like mantis shrimp, bluehead wrasse and hawksbill turtles proved especially popular.

SnorkelFest attendees also explored the sea from above, with free Stand-Up Paddle Board and transparent kayak activities offered by Caribbean Paddling. Kids of all ages participated in ocean-inspired art activities, including creative activity pages developed for SnorkelFest by a local artist and coloring sheets featuring local wildlife of the sea and coast.

Visitors also had a unique opportunity to learn about local flora and St. Martin's special coastal environment on the Guided Coastal Walk. The Walks were led by environmental engineer Béatrice Galdi, who represents the Conservatoire du Littoral, an institution responsible for protecting coastal spaces, in both St. Martin and St. Barths. The tours took place along some of the Réserve Naturelle's nature trails, which connect Pinel's three beaches and provide spectacular views of nearby islands. A beach cleanup followed each of the tours, and SnorkelFest participants were able to remove large amounts of seaborne trash that had accumulated on one of the spectacular eastern beaches.

"We're happy so many people enjoyed SnorkelFest–and that we had such an amazing team, especially the lifeguards and dive instructors that volunteered to make sure everyone was having fun safely," said Yerkes. "And we can't wait 'til our next event in April!"

SnorkelFest 2014 was made possible by the hard work and talent of over 40 volunteers; the support of Les Fruits de Mer's event partners, the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, the Conservatoire du Littoral, ECOSNORKELING and Caribbean Paddling; the in-kind donations of The Scuba Shop, Ocean Explorers, and Caribbean Liquor & Tobacco; and the generous sponsorship of Island Water World, Yacht Club Port de Plaisance, Delta Petroleum, The Summit Resort Hotel, Karibuni and Yellow Beach.

PHILIPSBURG:--- An Aztec Piper Twin Engine Aircraft ditched into the sea about one and half miles east of Guana Bay on Monday afternoon when both of its engines failed.

St. Maarten Sea Rescue responded to the scene minutes after the incident and managed to rescue all three persons that were on board the aircraft.

SMN News understands that the aircraft left St. Barths and was on its way to the Grand Case Airport when the pilot realized both engines on the aircraft had failed. A member of the St. Maarten Sea Rescue said the pilot then decided to ditch into the sea to avoid a serious crash. In doing so, he managed to save the lives of all three persons on board.

Twin engine aircraft ditches in sea, all three victims rescued.

On Monday, January 27th, 2014 at approximately 4:55pm, the Central Police Dispatch received conformation from the tower at the Princes Juliana International Airport, that a twin engine propeller aircraft had ditched into the sea approximately 2 miles North-East of Sint Maarten. The Aztec aircraft with a pilot and two passengers were on route from Sint Barths to the Grand Case Airport. The aircraft had possibly encountered engine problems causing the pilot to ditch at sea. Immediately after receiving this information police patrols were sent to the Guana Bay and Dawn Beach area to try to locate where the plane had gone down. Other emergency services such as the Sint Maarten Sea Rescue, Coast Guard and French emergency services including a helicopter were sent out to search for the victims. With the assistance of a witness, the police was able to communicate with emergency services and direct them to where the aircraft had gone down. At 06:10pm, all three victims had been rescued from the rough seas by the Voyager and handed over to the Sint Maarten Sea Rescue. The pilot and his two passengers suffered minor cuts and bruises and were transported by ambulance to the Sint Maarten Medical Center for medical treatment. Due to good coordination and input from all emergency services and the Voyager all three victims were rescued before nightfall. An investigation into the cause of the incident will follow.

KPSM Police Report

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Collective Prevention Services of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, is calling on the community to take preventive measures to prevent getting gastroenteritis which is very infectious.

The Ministry of Public Health is monitoring the situation, and is calling on all sectors within the economy that are in the food preparation business to take measures.

So far for the first three weeks of 2014 the number of cases registered is 24; 2013 had 67 cases; 2012 had 43 cases and 2011 with 14 cases.

Gastroenteritis is an infection of the stomach and bowel (large intestine). The most common symptoms are vomiting and repeated episodes of diarrhea (three or more episodes within 24 hours). The causes and treatment of gastroenteritis can differ between children and adults.

The most common causes of gastroenteritis in adults are the norovirus and food poisoning. It is self-limiting.

The infection can spread when bacteria found in faeces are transferred to your mouth. Bacteria can be transferred through poor hygiene.

For example, if someone does not wash their hands after going to the toilet, any viruses or bacteria on their hands will be transferred to whatever they touch, such as glass, kitchen utensil or food.

Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius de Weever, "Get Checked" campaign, is in line with the preventive measures that should be taken to ensure that you don't get gastroenteritis and pass it on to others.

To prevent the spread of the infection, wash your hands thoroughly after going to the toilet and before eating or preparing food; clean the toilet, including the seat and handle, with disinfectant after each bout of vomiting or diarrhea; don't share towels, cutlery and utensils with other household members; and don't return to work until 48 hours have passed since your last bout of vomiting or diarrhea.

Consult your family physician if you have the vomiting/diarrhea so you can be referred to the lab to get a confirmation on the diagnosis and the virus type.

Practicing good food hygiene will help you avoid getting gastroenteritis from food poisoning. You should regularly wash your hands, surfaces and utensils with hot, soapy water; never store raw food and cooked foods together; avoid cross contamination of foods; make sure that food is properly refrigerated; always cook your food thoroughly; and never eat food that is past its sell by date.

If symptoms persist for a prolonged period of time, the family doctor may consider blood and stool tests to determine the cause of the vomiting and diarrhea.

For more information call 542-2078, 542-3003 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Tuesday, January 21st, 2014 at approximately 6pm, a lady came to the Philipsburg Police Station and spoke to the Community Police Officer for the Cay Hill area and stated that she had received information that her thirteen year old son, who attends school on the French side, was in the possession of a gun. When he came home from school she confronted him about the situation and demanded that he handed over the gun. At first he refused and after a short struggle with him, she managed to take it away from him. She then handed over to the Community Police Officer the 9 millimeter pistol, which fires blanks, and two 9 millimeter spent shells. The gun can be used to threaten and scare people off. These items were immediately confiscated for further investigation. The Community Police Officer visited the home of the lady on several occasions in order to deal with the teenager in regard to this case, but he was not located.

KPSM Police Report

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday January 20th, 2014, detectives arrested a man with initials C.R. from Venezuela as a suspect in an attempted murder case, which took place in Middle Region in August 2012. The suspect fled the island directly after committing this criminal act and has now returned. The suspect will remain in custody for further investigation.
A second suspect (17), a student in the ongoing investigation regarding the student that was caught in school with a gun, was arrested. This incident took place on January 16th, 2014. The arrest of the second suspect took place on Thursday January 23rd, 2014. The suspects remain in custody for further investigation.

KPSM Police Report

PHILIPSBURG:--- Last Tuesday Advisory Chairperson of Foundation Cooperative Funds Angela Dekker and Jose Sommers, Project Advisor, visited Milton Peters College to see first-hand students in action while building their 15 foot Skerry design sailing vessel. This initiative is part of a larger project, called Build Your Future presented by the Kids at Sea Foundation. This project aims to introduce youngsters to the marine sector in a fun and educational way, as well as giving the participants experience in practical education, problem solving, team work, and the sport of sailing.
The purpose of the visit was to also present the Kids at Sea Foundation with the grant awarded by the funding agency Collaborative Funds. "We are delighted to support this initiative and to see its progress, as it is the first out of three projects for St. Maarten to receive funds under the general program "Opportunities for Youngsters in the Dutch Caribbean", said Ms. Dekker. This program has selected 18 projects throughout five Dutch Caribbean islands and aims to support and guide youngsters in their school and/or career path way so they can increase their chances of success.
Board members of the Kids at Sea Foundation and their participants showed their appreciation for this generous donation as can be seen in the picture. Kids At Sea Foundation President, Lorraine Talmi said "We are so thrilled with the support we have gotten for Build Your Future both locally and from Cooperative Funds through this grant, we believe it will secure the future of the program for many years to come."
NGOs interested in applying for a grant can contact local Cooperative Funds Project Advisor, Jose Sommers at 586 0808 or visit the website www.samenwerkendefondsen.org.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament George Pantophlet says that for clarity sake the government has to embark on an information campaign to correct the misunderstandings that have been created when the law for Admittance and Expulsion was amended to make it possible for government to charge fees for residence permit applications. The confusion surrounds how many times one has to pay for a residence permit. Although this matter has appeared in the media and explained during the last plenary session on the law amendment, the Member of Parliament says that he is still getting phone calls asking for information or clarity. The persons affected wanted to know since they are already in possession of a permanent residence permit whether they have to pay for it each year. His response to them was in the negative. The fact is that persons already in possession of a permanent residence permit don't have to pay. The law states that persons whose request for permanent residence permit is being processed will not have to pay the fee. To reinforce this point the Member of Parliament made reference to page 3 Article III of the explanatory notes which reads as follows:( freely translated ) Persons who have submitted a request before this ordinance comes into force the justifiable expectation exists that no fees will have to be paid. Based on this the proposed charges will only be levied on new requests. However the Member of Parliament adds that if one loses their residence permit and requests is made for a duplicate they will have to pay the fee. When it comes to the persons with temporary residence permit the same applies except in this case if the temporary residence permit is valid for 1, 2 or 3 years only when you are submitting a request for its extension then you will have to pay the fee. The Member of Parliament said that he visited the office of the Ministry of Justice and was informed that a service center will be set up in order to give the necessary information to the public and or persons affected. What is important to note is that although the changes or amendments to the law were approved by Parliament it still has to be published for it to become legal. The Member of Parliament hopes to have brought more clarity on this issue.

This week Thursday January 30th the Sint Maarten Seniors and Pensioners Association will hold their New Years Conference in the John Larmonie Center from 12:00 pm noon till 15:00 pm. The theme of the Conference is: "What should to be done for seniors in Sint Maarten to have a Happy New Year, all 365 days of the year."

The SMSPA invites the seniors to assist so that together we can reflect upon the struggle of the SMSPA to address the worries, the concerns, the issues brought up by their members during last year. (Issues such as loneliness and social exclusion of seniors, quality of goods and services and ever increasing cost of living in Sint Maarten, poverty old age pensions (AOW) and social allowances (onderstand) not sufficient to pay the bills, longer waiting lists for seniors who cannot pay cash for medical treatment, and substandard quality of medical treatment, sickness insurance premiums 5x higher than active and unemployed workers, etc.) The 2014 CFT-budget proposed by government and adopted by Parliament how does that affect the situation of the seniors and their family members will also be discussed.

The Conference starts at 12:00 pm with some opening remarks followed at 12:30 by a lunch. During the lunch there will be some additional speeches and some DVD's will be presented covering activities of the SMSPA.

From 13:30 pm till 14:30 pm SMSPA board members will give the seniors a review of the SMSPA struggle and accomplishments during 2013.

The key note address will be in charge of drs Raymond Jessurun, 1st Vice President of the SMSPA. In his key note address the theme of the Conference will be highlighted, after which seniors get the opportunity to comment and/or to can suggest what they wish to happen in 2014 to give them as seniors during 365 days a happy New Year.

All members of the seniors association but also other seniors who are interested are welcome.

So coming Thursday 12:00-15:00 pm at the John Larmonie Center SMSPA New Years Conference.

SOUTH REWARD:--- St. Maarten Academy Student Government Association (SGA) walked away with the top honours on Friday after edging out their counterparts in the annual Interscholastic Board Games competition hosted by the United Student Government Front (USGF).

The event, held at Milton Peters College, saw outgoing president of Academy's SGA Learie Hall and fellow student Arion St. Clair making a clean sweep of dominoes, while other Academy scholar Leon Blake successfully went up against St. Dominic's Cade Bensaid and Katiana Pierre of St. Maarten Vocational Training School (SMVTS) in the game of checkers. Bensaid and Pierre were awarded second and third places, respectively.

However, Prayag Sadarangani, of St. Dominic's High, brought home the gold for his school after beating Academy's Jeffeny Fidel and Akyl Arrindell of SMVTS at chess. Fidel and Arrindell placed second and third, respectively.

Despite being the lone representative for Milton Peters College, Wesley St. Jago, with the help of Academy's Jenice Forbes, was able to cop third place at Dominoes. They bested St. Dominic's Latoya Fraser and Giovanni King, who lost the second place slot to Jelani Maduro and Jimmy Dozier of SMVTS.

In the end, St. Dominic High edged out SMVTS by one point to take second place overall. As a result, they had to surrender winner's trophy to St. Maarten Academy, after holding bragging rights for the past year.

Head of the Department of Sports within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, Jonelle Richardson applauded the efforts of the USGF to host the event and congratulated all the winners.

"One of the things the Department is interested in is hosting interscholastic games and this is a great initiative. It is good that [the organizers] got the various schools involved...It is great to see this happening and the Student Governments coming together," said Ms. Richardson, who was on hand to present the prizes to the gamers.

Coordinator Sinatra Rouse said she is hopeful that the government can get involved in the annual games, which she has been organizing for the past six years, with the aim of sending the students abroad to compete.

USGF, which was established in 2007 as a method of bringing together the student bodies of the various high schools on the island, meets at least four times each academic year to, among other things, train representatives of the various student governments. At these sessions, students get a sense of what it takes to organize and conduct their meetings, as well as share ideas on how they can make their learning environment fun.

Friday afternoon's coaches included community chess trainer Ormond Jowett, SMVTS mentors Lindon Williams and Nordalee Hewitt, as well as Academy mentor Kim Lucas-Felix.

Rouse expressed great appreciation to the sponsors of the games, especially BIMACO, which has been donating drinks and snacks for the past five years, and this was given free of charge to all students attending the event. Domino's Pizza, too, has always given the second prizes and this year, all the participating schools pooled resources to ensure that all students at the games received a token.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation has transferred the funds it raised in St. Maarten to its head office in the Philippines to assist with typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) victims.

A total of US $5,102.65 was transferred on Wednesday, January 15, Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung said, adding that the St. Maarten chapter was "grateful for the opportunity" to assist.

The international arm of Tzu Chi Foundation went to the Tacloban in the Philippines on November 15, just after the typhoon hit to assist with the disaster and has achieved success with its cash-for-work programme, which began on November 20.

In less than a month, 280,000 Filipinos had regained strength and cleaned their homes. Through the relief funds from Tzu Chi's cash-for-work initiative, residents were able to face rising inflation and purchase materials for rebuilding.

Typhoon Haiyan devastated nearly all the houses by the seashore. Tzu Chi's cash-for-work programme covered areas from Anibong Elementary School to San Jose Barangay, Tzu Chi volunteers worked hand-in-hand with local residents to clean the streets of 70 districts and helped to remove post-disaster debris to avoid pandemic diseases and rejuvenate the city's vitality.

Besides cash-for-work programme, Tzu Chi International Medical Association and medical staff from Tzu Chi hospitals in Taiwan have carried out four large-scale medical services. In the form of mobile free clinic, the medical service is available to residents on site. The free clinics had assisted more than 4,000 people. At the same time, the instant rice developed by Tzu Chi International Humanitarian Aid Association had been used in afflicted areas without supply of water and electricity; a total number of 190,000 portions hot meals had been provided.

Since December 11, Tzu Chi Foundation has built pre-fabricated classrooms at two schools. More than 50 classrooms are expected to be built. The pre-fabricated classroom can be used for five years.

Tzu Chi volunteers from all over the world have campaign to "raise hearts and love." Forty-four countries and regions including South Africa, Mozambique, Haiti, the United States, Malaysia and others have fundraised in wintery or sun-scorching streets.

Since its establishment in 1993, Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines Regional Office has upheld the principles of its founder Master Cheng Yen: "Great kindness and great compassion to all." Tzu Chi Philippines actualizes Tzu Chi's four missions: charity, medicine, education and humanistic culture. Besides the eye center and dental clinic in Manila, there are several branch offices and recycling stations throughout the Philippines in promoting altruistic love and action.

In 2008, after Ketsana Typhoon struck the Philippines, cash-for-work programme was first implemented in the city of Marikina and it took only 18 days for the city to reclaim its orderliness. With Typhoon Haiyan, volunteers and medical staff from Taiwan, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and other areas have devoted themselves to the first-line of relief work. An estimate of over 3,000 people have committed in this Haiyan relief.

Johan Cruijff Court, Belvedere

7+U age group category
On Saturday, January 25, 2014 Learning Unlimited Hotshots faced Sr. Regina in the 7+U category. Sr. Regina put up a valiant fight with only four players versus a full Learning Unlimited squad. The Learning Unlimited Hotshots's name was fitting; the team scored 7 goals in the first half and 12 in the second half. Sr. Regina's playmaker Kars Kerssies and promising prospect Ronil Garcia managed together to rid Sr. Regina from the nil. Kerssies scored Sr. Regina's lone goal after Garcia's assist. The final result was Learning Unlimited Hotshots 18 – 1 Sr. Regina. Top scorers for Learning Unlimited Hotshots were Sergio Vasseur with 7 goals, Frans Richardson and Marshall Leone both with 4 goals.

9+U age group category
In the 9+U category Learning Unlimited played versus Sr. Magda Athletics. It was a balanced game on the field between the two sides except for the finishing touch. Learning Unlimited scored twice in the first half and three times in the second half. Sr. Magda Athletics created many chances, but was unable to put the ball between the posts. The final result was Learning Unlimited 5 – 0 Sr. Magda Athletics. Top scorer for Learning Unlimited was Oliver Hobgood with 4 goals. Darsh Nankani was instrumental with his 2 assists to gain Learning Unlimited's victory.
The second game in the 9+U category was between Leonald Connor and Sr. Magda Energetics. Sr. Magda Energetics applied a lot of pressure on the Leonald Connor's defensive line right from the start, causing two quick own goals by the Leonald Connor's defense. After that the Leonald Connor defense got their organization straightened out. Sr. Magda Energetics, nevertheless, slowly but surely extended the lead. Leonald Connor managed to score twice to try to close the gap in the first half, however in the second half Alex Speetjens did his job as goalkeeper very well, supported by D'Angelo Bute, who played the last man position for Sr. Magda, allowing no more goals. The final result was Leonald Connor 2 – 5 Sr. Magda Energetics. Goal scorers for Sr. Magda Energetics were Jorginho Singodikromo, Tajikah Richardson and D'Angelo Bute. Goal scorers for Leonald Connor were Iverson Powell and Philando Parchment.
In the last game in the 9+U category Sr. Regina faced Sr. Borgia. Early in the game Sr. Borgia lost playmaker Gilmar Blackman due to a knee injury. He was surely missed by his team, which tried to cope with Sr. Regina's experienced goal scorers Amaru Bute and Reshawn Eustase; both players found the net 5 times. Even though the Sr. Borgia side was overwhelmed by Sr. Regina's experienced playmaking, they need to be commended for not giving up. This year's debutant will experience highs and lows, but is bound to become stronger because of it. The final result Sr. Regina 18 – 0 Sr. Borgia. Top scorers for Sr. Regina were Amaru Bute with 5 goals and 1 assist, Reshawn Eustase with 5 goals and 4 assists and Jaydon Gumbs with 3 goals and 2 assists.

11+U age group category: results group A
In the 11+U group A game Learning Unlimited played an on fire Leonald Connor. The Leonald Connor players gained more and more confidence after taking a secure lead in the first half. Learning Unlimited had problems coping with trailing in the score and the heads were down, however an inspirational pep-talk by Coach Kevin Dekkers at half time helped to put some step back into the Learning Unlimited players; resulting in three goals in the second half. However, the change in attitude came too late to close the gap. The final score was Learning Unlimited 3 – 7 Leonald Connor. Special mention needs to be made for Leonald Connor Jonie Zephir, whose perfect lob ball was unstoppable for the Learning Unlimited goalkeeper. Top scorer for Leonald Connor was Gamy Charles with 6 goals. Goal scorers for Learning Unlimited were Noah Ledee with 2 goals and Jan Lucas van der Plas with 1 goal.
In the second 11+U group A game it was Sr. Magda FC versus Sr. Magda United Stars. Both teams ended up via the seeding draw in the same group and are now each other's rivals to get past the first round. Sr. Magda FC started last week with a draw versus Hillside Christian. It is the first game for Sr. Magda United Stars. Sr. Magda United Stars started strong with a goal by Dante Simmonds, the team's game maker. Magda FC however quickly evened the score. Dante Simmonds again put one in the back of the net, but after unlucky contact with a Magda FC defender he had to leave the game with an injury. Magda FC used this momentum to take a more secure lead at halftime, Sr. Magda FC 6 – 4 Sr. Magda United Stars. Both teams showed excellent soccer which was clearly enjoyed by the spectators. In the second half Curtis Moniz stepped up and showed his striker abilities to support United Stars efforts to close the gap. United Stars managed to score but was unable from stopping Magda FC from doing the same. The final result was Sr. Magda FC 12 – 9 Sr. Magda United Stars. Top scorers for Sr. Magda FC were Jeahru Richardson with 7 goals and 2 assists and Quincy Wijngaarde with 4 goals and 1 assist. Top scorer for Sr. Magda United Stars was Curtis Moniz with 4 goals. Lorenzo Huisintveld from Sr. Magda United Stars made a spectacular goal from his own defensive position. His long distance shot went clear over the goalkeeper's head between the posts.

13+U age group category: results group A
In the 13+U category group A game between Sr. Regina versus Combine C.I.A./Montessori both teams were tied at halftime 4 – 4. Sr. Regina managed to make the difference in the second half by shutting out the Combine offense and finding the net twice themselves. The final result was Sr. Regina 6 – 4 Combine C.I.A./Montessori. Top scorers for Combine C.I.A./Montessori were Ties Kerssies and Tommy Taylor both with 2 goals. At press time the score sheet of Sr. Regina was not available to provide more details about Sr. Regina's top scorers.

15+U age group category
St. Dominic High School and M.P.C. faced each other in the 15+U category. Both teams fielded full squads. At halftime the score was close. M.P.C. enjoyed a one goal lead with a half time score of St. Dominic High School 1 – 2 M.P.C., both M.P.C. goals were scored by Kael Richards. M.P.C. came out determined in the second half to defend their lead. Slowly, but surely putting the ball between the posts. St. Dominic High School created opportunities but redeemed only one. The final result was St. Dominic High School 2 – 7 M.P.C. Top scorers for M.P.C. were Jaeremi Drijvers with 3 goals and Kumar Serrant who scored 2 goals and made 2 assists. Goal scorers for St. Dominic High School were James Cook and Brandon Potmis.

Girls 13+U age group category
Sr. Magda Girls played their match versus Leonald Connor Girls in the Girls 13+U age group category. Sr. Magda Girls had a rough first game versus Sr. Regina last week losing with a nine goal difference. Today, however, saw a more confident team on the field. Sr. Magda took the lead after Gwen van der Geer found the back of the net. At half time the score was Sr. Magda 2 – 1 Leonald Connor. In the second half the Sr. Magda players found their rhythm, especially Nayomi Tjon, who scored the second goal in the first half, and who managed to add two more in the second half for a game hat trick. Leonald Connor is rebuilding, after losing their last year's sixth graders who have moved on to secondary schools. The new girls show promise. The final result was Sr. Magda 5 – 1 Leonald Connor. Lone goal scorer for Leonald Connor was Karoline de los Santos after an assist by Tiffany Duzong.

The SMSEF Interscholastic Soccer Tournament will continue next week:

PHILIPSBURG:--- The historical official opening of the Causeway on Saturday afternoon can only be described as the beginning of the 2014 political campaign. Several dignitaries from the Dutch side including Governor Eugene Holiday, Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams, Ministers Ted Richardson and Cornelius de Weever, President of Parliament Gracita Arrindell, along with President of the Collectivity of St. Martin Aline Hanson and several Territorial Council Members were in attendance for the opening ceremony which was organized by Artemia Events planning.

A white tent was placed at the beginning of the causeway where the official speeches were given. Dr. Emsley Tromp from the Central Bank was the first to deliver a 12 page speech to the huge gathering that had to endure the afternoon heat. Dr. Tromp elaborated on how and why the Central Bank chose to finance the construction of the Causeway.

CEO of the Harbor Mark Mingo did not mingle with words when he gave his speech on the Causeway and the Harbor which he said is called the other Government of St. Maarten. Mingo gave a synopsis as to how the causeway project stared, he also shared information on the duties of SLAC which is also under the Harbor Group of Companies and manages the lagoon activities. Mingo said that the brainchild of the Causeway came from former Minister of VROMI and now Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger. Minister of VROMI Maurice Lake the man who said he is going "back to basics" spent most of his time crediting Heyliger for his vision and execution of the Causeway. Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams also shared her views on the Causeway which they all said took six years of planning and three years of construction. The Prime Minister went on to give the guests the experience her elderly mother had when she was taken across the Causeway in her wheelchair.

The main speaker for the event Theodore Heyliger took the opportunity to lash out at some of his colleagues, now Members of Parliament, who criticized the Causeway in the beginning. Heyliger quoted a list of articles that were printed in the local newspapers, those that came under fire were MP Leroy de Weever, MP Roy Marlin, MP Louis Laveist, MP William Marlin and former Minister of Public Health Maria Buncamper.
Heyliger also gave a full explanation as to how he managed to secure funding to construct the causeway and the businesses he managed to convince to buy bonds from the Central Bank that would give them 5% interest rate. He said while the PJIAE had 60 million dollars in a USA account he was not able to get them to invest their monies locally, the same he said happened with GEBE.

Heyliger closed off his speech by saying that the causeway he worked on from beginning to end is not his bridge and it is the property of the people of St. Maarten. He said that while the bridge was given all sorts of names including the "bridge to nowhere", he is indeed happy to see that the people of St. Maarten are using the bridge for their morning and evening walks while several persons including the politicians that criticized the bridge are making use of it.

After the official speeches, MP Heyliger and his spouse, Governor Holiday, and Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams along with Marcel Gumbs walked up the causeway where they did the official lighting. The opening ceremony concluded with lots of fireworks while guests were treated to food and beverages at the end of the ceremony.

Moderator for the event Marcel Gumbs said the causeway serves Little St. Maarten. He said while St. Maarten is one island those persons that work and do business in Simpson Bay, Maho, and Lowlands are part of Little St. Maarten. He said some people felt the bridge was built to facilitate the people of the French side. That too Gumbs said is alright because everyday Air France brings in 230 persons to St. Maarten and each of those passengers pay $68 to land at PJIAE and for him it is time that the French side get some convenience for what they have been paying for. "I also think that with this Causeway we will get that $68 faster because more French people will be landing at PJIAE now."

Click here to view more photos of the Grand Opening Ceremony of the Causeway.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Members of the National Alliance including its leader William Marlin are able to breathe a sigh of relief as they now know for sure where MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson stands.
SMN News learnt from reliable sources that MP Lloyd Richardson informed his party leader William Marlin via a phone call on Friday that he will be declaring himself an independent member of parliament as early as Monday.
The source said that the members of the National Alliance faction had doubts about MP Richardson and his commitments to the party ever since he was elected. They said that MP Richardson and Marlin met up to Thursday at Turning Point to discuss the MP's position and if he will remain with the National Alliance for the 2014 parliamentary elections. The NA insider said that Dr. Lloyd Richardson informed the party that he was speaking to everyone else in the political arena. He spoke to the leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams last week after the budget debate and leader of the UPP Theo Heyliger but Marlin was the last person he spoke to on Thursday and the intention was for them to continue the conversation on Friday.
SMN News learnt that MP Lloyd Richardson thinks he will get more done for his projects if he supports the other political parties. It should be noted that Dr. Lloyd Richardson was already on the UPP list in 2010 but he changed his mind and went into politics in 2010 as a candidate on the National Alliance list. SMN News further learnt that MP Lloyd Richardson was even trying to see if he could bring back MP Frans Richardson to the NA fold but then changed his mind by Friday morning.
Efforts made to obtain a comment from the National Alliance leader about the candidates that have left his party during the past two weeks proved futile up to the time this article was published.

Press Statement from MP Dr. Lloyd Richardson -- Joined the UP to create Stability.

The last few months has been spent in bitter, heart wrenching, sober and painstaking consideration of the state of affairs in the political arena of this island. It is through no slight or hasty action that the decision I have taken has come about. I have spent the last 3 plus years studying the political behavior and on the other hand, the state of the people and what I have seen is not beneficial to this island and her people. I am not a spring chicken and the contribution I would like to give to my island is now limited, within the realm of politics, to the next four years of my life. I do not have the time for strong or lengthy rhetoric with no outcome. I came into politics with a purpose in mind to exit politics having given my solid contribution to this island. I sacrificed those goals in the interest of forming a coalition government. With only four more years in politics at my disposal, and in order to have a solid opportunity to do something of consequence, I am not interested in seeing another coalition government in St. Maarten. The island cannot afford this. Above all else my decision is based on this – Stability in government.

The instability that coalition government creates is not, good for St. Maarten. I am not ignorant to the political realities, but if we do not fight for what is right for this island and not just what is good for an individual, then for me there is nothing to fight for. Like the rest of the citizens of this island, I too do not wish that St. Maarten be forced into becoming one of the BES islands and I feel the threat of that to be eminent. Thus my fight, to prevent that from lingering around our constitutional and political reality. With every dogfight and fall of government this becomes more real. St. Maarten must become strong enough to eliminate that from the discussions in any part of the Kingdom. We must move our island upward and onward, to command respect and our place as a viable voice, first in this kingdom and then further afield. Spending the next four years bickering about the past and spending endless hours and years on the floor of parliament pointing fingers in an effort to score "points" is not what being in government means to me. If you walk the streets of this island and ask anyone to point out the issues discussed in parliament over the last three plus years, they will talk about who attacked whom and who was right or wrong, but the issues we addressed can barely be remembered. Right or wrong the things of the past are now in the past. Some of it was beneficial to St. Maarten and some destroyed the very fiber of this island. But today is what we have in our hands, today is our opportunity to build an island that can remain ours, today we can secure this island for as a retirement destination for ourselves, a place where our sons and daughters can be proud to be identified with. Let us give them an island to boast about and make it the truth. Today we can create and protect solid paying jobs so that our children can hunger to return home and be around us as our age overtakes our wisdom. An island where our citizens benefit from the years they invested in St. Maarten and not everyone else.

Considering what I've just stated I began discussions within my own party to re-strengthen and renew our party and the will was not and is not there.

I am not going to spend my time laying out the dirty linen of my own N.A. party nor pointing fingers because that is exactly the behavior I am fighting to see extinguished. But suffice it to say that the spirit of reunion or rebuilding was and is not present. No , instead I will say that in an effort to build, what I call a national government, where persons of different political, spiritual and social persuasions can work together to increase the possibility of an outright win for St. Maarten and provide stability in government, I found the will to be inclusive and broad based within the UP party. I have thus decided to cross, the so called political aisle, because I believe something drastic must be done to save St. Maarten from the "third dog" so to speak. The people of St. Maarten do not wish to be a BES island.

Many persons have asked me to start my own party, unfortunately, in this upcoming election there is no time for this. St. Maarten must rise above party to save this island, my island, my father's island, my grandfather's island and all the way back to the island of my greatest grandfather, William Richardson circa 1803, son of John Richardson. The next four years must see a collective effort to build, strengthen and deliver to the next generation, an island in which the citizens of St. Maarten can flourish and raise strong families and strong businesses in and be able to hold firm the hope of the future of our island.

Dr. Lloyd Richardson will be running in the next election, alongside others who have come across the aisle to build and not to tear down, to join forces with the UP party which has opened their door to different schools of thought so that we can stabilize the government of St. Maarten for a solid four years by stimulating a solid outright win and avoiding a coalition government by will. This cannot and must not be allowed if stability is to return to government. Building investor confidence requires governmental stability. St. Maarten does not want to see people jostling for positions after another election. Jumping here and there after a government is put in place. Let us put ourselves where we are committed to stay for the next four years.

Regardless to where St. Maarteners vote they do not want to see or have to live with this type of instability. So simply put, since on my side of the aisle the will is not there to rebuild and re-unite the party, I have chosen to build where there is a will to do so, so that one government can sit for a full term and have a chance to do something substantial for St. Maarten. In the coming days you will see that I do not stand alone in this thinking.

We need to build a second pillar to strengthen our economy so that tourism, which must also be strengthen, will not be the only source of employment for our citizens and we can offer longer lasting and permanent employment so that people can build careers, families, homes and businesses to leave for their next generation and not just temporary bank accounts. Lloyd Richardson does not wish to become a promissory note with just a lot of great words well arranged to impress the voting population. Lloyd Richardson wants to work alongside a body of persons who genuinely intend to build and strengthen this island for today and for tomorrow. I am already working on my section of the manifesto so that there will be no misunderstanding about my political intentions.

My 30 year career in medicine speaks to the man that I am in or out of politics. I serve all the people of St. Maarten regardless to political persuasion. I remain true to my beliefs and my standing in this regard. I thank the National Alliance for the four years that we have been together and to Mr. William Marlin and Franz Richardson in particular for extending the invitation to run on the slate of their party in 2010.

PSSNV expanding services

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS N.V.) is pleased to announce the re-opening of its newest branch in Simpson Bay. The facility, located at Airport Blvd 59 Simpson Bay, will serve customers in the Simpson Bay, as well as the outlying areas.

Ms. Antonia Wilson is the Director of Operation and Commerce for the Postal Services St. Maarten. She has been with Postal community for thirty four years and says that the time was right to re-open a more branch in St. Maarten.

"We had previously been serving Simpson Bay customers out of Business point," explains Ms. Wilson. "Because Simpson bay is such a fast-growing area, we felt that the demand and need were there to justify re-opening a branch that could better serve these customers. We are excited to finally re-opening a branch in Simpson bay and look forward to offering the same great level of service and products that the community has come to expect from Postal Services St. Maarten."

Postal Services St. Maarten operates in Phillipsburg at the N. Debrot Street #2. The Simpson Bay location brings the total number of company branches to two and will offer all of the postal products, MoneyGram services that PSS currently carries at the main office. Customers can also apply for our newest highlight which is the FREE U.S.A mailing address with AEROPOST. Ms. Wilson says that the company is always looking for opportunities to expand into other locality in order to help make customers' lives easier providing what they need and having it to them when they need it.

"This is an exciting time for our company," says Wilson. "We really feel that the time is right for us to move forward on our Customer Services Plans. We have great people in our company and are always looking for ways to help them pursue new opportunities."

For more information about the service and products available at the Postal Services St. Maarten, visit or like on www.facebook.com/post.stmaarten or call + (1721) 5422289.

FRENCH QUARTER:--- A former student of the French Quarter College is now dead after he fell off his motorcycle in front of the French Quarter College on Friday morning. SMN News learnt that the young man fell off his motorcycle and hit on an electrical post and broke his neck. Eyewitnesses said the young man hit the post and his body landed next to the wall of a nearby house. He died on the spot due to the severe injuries he received. Students at the French Quarter College identified the young man as Charles Robinson.

Residents of French Quarter said the young man is known as someone who rides his motorcycle in the area where the accident occurred on daily basis. Some consider the young scooter riders to be a nuisance to the neighborhood because they simply cannot rest due to the speeding scooters. "These youngsters would break people cars at night just to steal gasoline for their scooters. It's sad and tragic what happened today but the parents of these young boys have to do more to keep their sons indoors."

It is understood that several students and teachers of the College went to the scene of the accident and are currently in shock. SMN News further learnt that the head of the Rectorat and a delegation were scheduled to visit the school on Friday afternoon. During the afternoon, several psychologist and other councilors were are the school providing counseling to the students that saw the victim and the accident.

SMN News further understands that two of the victim's friends witnessed the accident and when the students got out of school at noon they all stayed at the scene of the accident until the body was removed by the undertakers and taken to the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital.

Captain of the Gendarmerie Sylvian Joualt confirmed that a 17 year old young man identified as C.R. (17) died due to an accident. Joualt said the victim was riding a Motorcross bike at high speed while trying to do a stunt when he lost control of the bike and fell off. The Captain of the Gendarmerie said that the 17 year old was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten was presented with a report on the status of health care on St. Maarten compiled by FWG organization representative Juliette Hassell. FWG is a Dutch organization specialized in function evaluation, organization development and human resource management for health care organizations. The organization was commissioned by the Health Care organizations of the BES islands to execute a study regarding the macro developments that currently shape the health care but has extended the study to include all six islands of the Dutch Caribbean including for St. Maarten, a report of which was presented to the Prime Minister at her Cabinet on Wednesday. The resulting report gives an overview from an interrelated context of the health care status on the islands within the Dutch Caribbean and St. Maarten more specifically.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

8th Grader President Rylan Tackling heads club of 49 students

PHILIPSBURG:--- Months of planning and preparation culminated last Tuesday evening into an impressive chartering and induction ceremony, during which 49 students of Learning Unlimited Preparatory School became members of the first EarlyAct Club on St. Maarten.

EarlyAct is a school-wide service club for elementary students from ages 5 to 12. It is sponsored by one of the local Rotary clubs in the locale in which the school is situated, which in this case is the Rotary Club Of St. Maarten.

The mission and operation of EarlyAct are closely linked to the ideals of Rotary and provide the foundation and natural succession into Interact, which is another student based club, forming part of the Rotary family, but for high school students.

Assistant Governor Rebecca Low was on hand to sign the official documents formally registering the EarlyAct Club in the Rotary District 7020 and conducted the induction of all members.

Receiving the charter of the club from the Assistant Governor and President of the Rotary Club of St. Maarten Maria Buncamper-Molanus, was EarlyAct president Rylan Tackling. Accepting the other board responsibilities were Ashley Matser as Vice President, Recording Secretary and President Elect Royal Ozkan, Corresponding Secretary Vikesh Mirpuri, Treasurer Pritika Lakwani, School Director/ Head Chairperson Samantha Sallinger, Club Chair Vanshi Ramchandani, Service Chair Katie Caputo, Finance Chair Tushaar Goklani and International Understanding Ysmeal Hermoso. Rotary advisors are Jeffrey "Soc" Sochrin and Past President Robert Judd.

As the sponsor of the LU EarlyAct, the members of the Rotary Club of St.Maarten will act as facilitators and mentors to the Early-Actors as these newly appointed EarlyActors develop activities and projects which promote citizenship, leadership and vocational awareness.

President of the Rotary Club of St. Maarten Maria Buncamper-Molanus lauded the young people who dared to take on such responsibility at such a young age to help others as well as the many adults who have been and continue to be supportive. Buncamper continued to say that especially unique of this EarlyAct Club is the role that the LU Interact Club members, such as the president Ruhan Jay Bora, Sergeant at arms Dipti Budhrani and many others, have taken on as mentors and advisers.

"I would like to thank and encourage the community to continue to be supportive of our youth; it is really inspiring that at such a young age our children take an interest in and extend a helping hand to their community. Quoting Eleanor Roosevelt, president Buncamper concluded: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

For more information about the Rotary Club of St. Maarten, 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. or visit the website www.rotarysxm.org.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The wreck of the HMS Proselyte within the Man of War Shoal Marine Park was highlighted as an example of an underwater heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) during the context of the International Year of Small Island Developing States 2014. The 2001 UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Heritage is an international treaty that fights the looting and destruction of underwater cultural heritage and guides the development archeology through widely respected scientific guidelines and fosters the access and enjoyment of submerged site by the public. A picture of the wreck, taken by renowned underwater photographer Mauricio Handler with the Nature Foundation, was featured in the UNESCO produced 2014 calendar celebrating the Underwater Cultural Heritage in Small Island Developing States.

The HMS Proselyte was a British frigate which sunk on the shallow reef just outside of Great Bay and gives the name to the Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area, St. Maarten's first National Park managed by the St. Maarten Nature Foundation. The calendar also features submerged cultural resources from Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Vanuatu.

DUTCH QUARTER:--- On Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 between 12:00 and 12:15am, police patrols and detectives were sent to the A.Th. Illidge road in Lower Princess Quarter for a shooting. On the scene the investigating officers spoke to a man known to police as "Flamingo". Flamingo was bleeding from a wound in his upper right arm and stated that he had just left his home on his scooter to go out for a while. Just as he was about to ride onto the A.Th. Illidge road, he was attacked by several men who opened gun fire at him. One of the shots hit him in his upper right arm fracturing it and causing him to fall from his scooter. He immediately got up and ran for cover in the nearby bushes. The suspects took off on foot. "Flamingo" further stated that he did not identify any of these men or know what the reason was for the attack. "Flamingo" was treated on the scene by paramedics and then transported to the Sint Maarten Medical Center for further treatment.

Directly after this incident the police and detectives were again sent to Dutch Quarter in Quillitor Drive to investigate a stabbing. On the scene, the investigating officers spoke to the victim identified as A. who stated that he had an argument with another man which got out of hand. The man in question then stabbed him twice to the back of his head. After committing this act, the suspect left the scene. A. was treated on the scene by paramedics and then transported to the Sint Maarten Medical Center for further treatment.

These incidents are not related to each other and are being investigated separately by the Detective Department.

KPSM Police Report

SOUTH REWARD:--- On Thursday January 23rd, 2014 at approximately 10:45am during a routine control by a unit of the Intervention Team, two persons were arrested for the possession of marijuana and a firearm. The control took place on Carrot Road in South Reward when police spotted a suspicious gray jeep driving on that road. The driver of the jeep was ordered to stop. The jeep was approached by the officers when they smelled the strong scent of marijuana. The occupants of the vehicle were ordered to exit the vehicle, which they did. With permission of the driver (33), the jeep was searched, at which time several small plastic bags containing an amount of marijuana were found. Both suspects were arrested on the spot. As the investigation continued and the suspects were searched, a fully loaded .38 Baretta pistol was found on the 19 year old passenger who is a student at the Milton Peters College. The drugs and firearm were both confiscated. The suspects, the drugs, and weapon were taken to the Police Head Quarters and handed over to the Detective Department who will continue with this investigation.

KPSM Police Report

SIMPSON BAY:--- Members of the Committee for Financial Supervision, CFT, said they were not only well-informed but were also quite impressed with the ongoing developments at the Princess Juliana International Airport, SXM. They expressed this opinion at the end of a presentation given to the Committee by SXM Airport Managing Director, Regina LaBega which was followed by a tour of the airport facilities.
In her presentation, LaBega shared with the CFT ongoing and new initiatives that SXM Airport has embarked on and which can generate revenue for the government. These included but are not limited to inter-island pre-clearance, and a future car park facility.
LaBega, who fielded questions from the members of the CFT, was joined at the presentation by Chief Administrative Officer, Migdala Clarinda, and Corporate Communications Specialist, Kalifa Hickinson.
The presentation, at which five of its seven members were present, was given at the request of the CFT.

SIMPSON BAY:--- The Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM Airport) is now the recipient of the International Award for Leadership in Image & Quality, said Kalifa Hickinson, Corporate Communications Specialist at SXM.
Raul van Heyningen, Director of Air Traffic Services and C. Beresford, board member, received the award on behalf of SXM Airport, from the Global Trade Leaders' Leadership Club (GTLC).
"It was indeed an honor and privilege to be part of the Princess Juliana International Airport team in Madrid, to receive the prestigious award given to PJIAE for its leadership, image, and quality performance in business for the year 2013," said Beresford. (The international (IATA) designator code for PJIA is SXM.)
SXM is currently celebrating its 70th anniversary year and the trip to Spain was seized upon to promote its services and the island's tourism. According to Beresford, a video presentation was made by the SXM team that included "wide body aircrafts landing at our unique airport here on St. Maarten."
The SXM Airport was among 40 companies from different parts of the world that received a GTLC award. The award ceremony was held at the Melia Hotel in Madrid, Spain in December, 2013.

GREAT BAY:--- The Sheriff Security Drive in collaboration with the Labor Department, which was scheduled to be held on Friday, January 24, 2014 is postponed until Friday, January 31, 2014. Minister De Weever is inviting all to come out next week.

HARBOUR VIEW:--- His Excellency Governor Eugene B. Holiday administered the oath of the members and substitute members of the Electoral Council, on Thursday morning January 23, 2014 during an official ceremony at the Cabinet of the Governor. During the ceremony Governor Holiday underscored that "the acceptance of the appointment as members of the electoral council is a serious one; one in which you have decided to play a critical role in fostering and upholding the orderly and proper functioning of our democratic system. Considering the issues involved I wish to emphasize that the importance of ensuring the proper registration and transparent financing of political parties, for the proper governance and thus overall development of our society, cannot be overstated. "Governor Holiday thanked the members Mr. B.G. Hofman (chairman), Mrs. G.C. Richardson-Nicolaas, (deputy chairperson), Ms. L.A. Richardson (member), Mr. J. Veen (deputy member) and Ms. M.F. Mingo (deputy member) for accepting the appointment and wished them strength and wisdom in the performance of the vital and important tasks of the Electoral Council. The Electoral Council has been appointed by national decree based on the national ordinance regulating the registration and financing of political parties.

POINTE BLANCHE:--- The Simpson Bay Causeway will be officially inaugurated on Saturday, 25 January at 5:00pm in a ceremony that will be carried live on the internet.

The website is: www.hostsxm.com

The St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies Board of Directors and Management invite the community to follow the event live on the internet if they are not able to attend the public celebration on Saturday afternoon.

The Simpson Bay Causeway falls under the Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation. The Lagoon Authority aims to ensure that Sint Maarten remains a top yachting destination in the Caribbean while ensuring a safe, secure, pollution free and environmentally sustainable Simpson Bay Lagoon. The Causeway is just one of several initiatives leading to the aforementioned.

Construction of the Causeway started early 2012 and was completed in December 2013. Construction was carried out by Volker Stevin Caribbean.

The Swing Bridge on the Causeway is 220 feet long and weighs 450 tons. The Causeway has a total length of 2493 feet and features a two-lane motorway, a bicycle track and footpaths.

The Causeway was put into use on December 23 to help relieve traffic congestion in the Simpson Bay area.

The new Causeway has two round-a-bouts at the Airport Road near the end of the runway and at Union Road near the border. There are also two protected sidewalks for pedestrians and a bicycle track.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams received German Ambassador to the Dutch Kingdom Franz Joseph Kremp (second from right) at her Cabinet on Thursday. Also attending the meeting was the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany Karel Frielink (second from left) and Treaties Lawyer and Representative of the Department of Foreign Relations Danaë Daal (first from left). The meeting with the PM was held prior to Ambassador Kremp's lecture regarding the concept of Federal Government held at USM on Thursday evening. The Prime Minister in collaboration with the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the University of St. Maarten organized the lecture centered on the concept of federal Government from the standpoint of Germany, Latin America and the Caribbean delivered by His Excellency Ambassador Joseph Kremp.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA), the largest business representative on the island, recently revamped its auction website in addition to the re-launch of their industry website www.shta.com. Since its inception, the auction site has offered great value for money to its members and the general public. The site offers a wide range of items such as hotel stays, dinners, activities, shopping certificates, airline tickets, jewelry and other attractive items, all at discounted prices. Persons visiting the site can bid on the items which will be awarded to the highest bidder upon completion of the bidding period. StMaartenAuction.com has been very well received and is being accessed both by future visitors to the island and residents alike, all looking for a great deal.

SHTA initially developed the auction site to drive tourism to the destination by featuring one discounted hotel stay per month in St. Maarten. Throughout the years the website has expanded to accommodate more and more items simultaneously. In addition to the opportunity of bidding on very attractive items, it offers SHTA members a great opportunity to advertise their products and services, receiving ample exposure on the site and direct traffic to their own website.

Check out the auction site at www.stmaartenauction.com. The site can also be seen on the St. Maarten Auction Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/stmaartenauction. Winners can pay and collect their items at the SHTA office on the Pondfill road, open Monday – Friday 8am to 5pm. For additional information on the auction site, items and the SHTA visit www.shta.com or contact the office via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone + 1 721 542-0108.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), hereby announces that the Simpson Bay Causeway will be closed for motorized traffic from Friday midnight until Sunday 2:00am.

The closure is to allow for final preparations to be made for the official inauguration of the Causeway which is scheduled for Saturday, January 25 at 5:00pm.

There will be no through traffic in both directions on the Causeway Bridge from midnight January 24 to 2:00am January 26.

Motorists are requested to be vigilant and observant for the traffic directional signs.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge appeared before the judge of instruction on Thursday morning where the prosecutor asked for an 8 day pretrial detention extension. Attorney General Taco Stein confirmed to SMN News that Illidge was taken to court and the judge upheld the request of the Prosecution.

SIMPSON BAY:--- On Saturday the 18th of January some ten volunteers, including pupils of the Ujima Foundation and the I CAN Children's Home, assisted with the planting of additional Mangroves at the Simpson Bay Causeway. Although the Mangrove's at the Causeway are doing very well, fifty additional juvenile plants were planted in areas that did not have sufficient Mangrove coverage. Volunteers were also given an explanation by the Nature Foundation on the importance of Mangroves and why it is important that Mangrove reforestation occurs.

Mangrove forests are under severe pressure and disappearing at an alarming rate and it is estimated that about 60% of the total mangrove areas have disappeared. All four species of mangroves were planted on Saturday namely Rhizophora mangle (Red mangrove), Avicennia germinans (Black mangrove), Laguncularia racemosa (White Mangrove) and Conocarpus erectus (Buttonwood).

Mangroves also act as a filter for water being washed off the land by preventing harmful sediments from smothering the coral reefs, including those of the Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area. By establishing themselves successfully, the mangrove trees have the potential to become a thriving habitat for many other plants and animals as well as an important nursery for many species of fish.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Philipsburg Jubilee Library will be hosting its monthly, Saturday, story time at 11:00am on Saturday, January 25.
Every last Saturday of the month, the library conducts story time sessions for visiting children. This Saturday's, storyteller, Joseanne Peterson, will be reading from one of the library's children's books called "Singing with Momma Lou" by Linda Jacobs Altman. In recognition of Alzheimer's month, this Saturday's story will show how nine-year-old Tamika uses photographs, school yearbooks, movie ticket stubs, and other mementos to try to restore the memory of her grandmother, who has Alzheimer's disease.
After story time, children will make their very own family tree and also do an Alzheimer awareness activity. For more information please contact Maryland at the library by calling telephone number 542-2970.

PHILIPSBURG:--- President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell for the New Year, kicked off two secondary school information and awareness sessions about the role of the House of Parliament.

The President visited 4th form Social Studies students from the St. Maarten Academy of teacher Kenneth Cook. Arrindell also visited the PSVE under the guidance of Solange Duncan.

President Arrindell is of the opinion that the youth especially secondary school students should have knowledge about the role and functioning of the House of Parliament since Sint Maarten is a parliamentary democracy.

"Our young people will reach the age of 18, and will have the right to vote. They should be aware of how the system works, and how important Parliament is in shaping the future of the country. Those in the primary school system, especially fifth and sixth graders should also be aware of our parliamentary democracy.

"The youth are our future and we have the responsibility to inform them about our institutions of Government. I made it one of my cornerstones of policy to invite the schools back in 2010/11, and will continue to inform and enlighten our young people," President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell said on Wednesday.

The President is scheduled to visit St. Maarten Academy next month for Black History Month where her presentation to students will be about comparing and contrasting the Island Council with Parliament.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams and Minister of Public Health, Labour, and Social Affairs Cornelius de Weever echoed the same sentiments on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing regarding government's decision on their contribution to the General Sickness fund.

Wescot Williams said that the 2.1% contribution government has to pay for extraordinary sickness cost will not be paid.

Wescot Williams explained that the matter that relates to the General Extra Ordinary Sickness fund is misunderstood by many and it's living a life of its own. She said that fund was to make provisions for extra ordinary sickness costs.

Minister de Weever said that the legislation that stipulated that government has to contribute 2.1% to the fund was done when the island was part of the Netherlands Antilles. He said when this legislation was worked upon no one consulted with St. Maarten and the Government of St. Maarten protested against it at the time. Minister de Weever said that St. Maarten never made the payments, therefore a huge debt was created. He explained that when St. Maarten became a country the two former Ministers of Finance did not work on the changes that had to be made to the legislation and neither did they make the payments.

Minister de Weever said just months ago he established a team and they worked endless hours to prepare a Landsbesluit which was signed off by the Governor of St. Maarten. In that LB, the workers in the private sector have to make the payments if they want members of their families to be fully covered by SZV through the General Sickness fund.
The Minister also stated that while he has good relations with members of the media and he has no intention of picking on them, he is calling on the media to do proper research before publication. Minister de Weever said he received an email from a particular journalist and because he did not respond within 24 hours the journalist published her story. He said that his Ministry has been doing all in their power to create awareness on the chikungunya virus that is affecting people through mosquitoes but the numbers are still increasing.

Minister de Weever and the Prime Minister said that government is doing all it can to contain the virus through fogging and proper cleaning. They both called on members of the public to start cleaning their surroundings and to get rid of stagnant water. Wescot Williams said that government workers cannot go into every yard or home to clean therefore the residents have to do what is necessary. She said if persons in the community ask government for assistance they will do everything their power to provide the assistance in order to contain the virus.

PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Receivers' Office hereby makes it known to the general public that in view of the approaching deadline for paying the 2014 Motor vehicle taxes (February 28th, 2014), and in order to facilitate the payment thereof, it has been decided to extend the opening hours.

The dates and times of extended opening hours are as follows:

Monday, January 27th, 2014 – Friday, February 7th, 2014, from 8 am to 6 pm.
Saturday, February 1st and February 8th, 2014, from 9 am to 2 pm.

Monday, February 24th - Friday, February 28th 2014, from 8am to 6 pm.
Saturday, March 1st 2014, from 9 am to 2 pm.

Please note that taxpayers who have not paid the 2014 motor vehicle tax by Friday, February 28th, will lose the right to the current number that they now hold. As of March 1st, 2014 these plates will be issued to other motor vehicle tax payers who do not yet have a number.

PHILIPSBURG:--- During her weekly radio program One on One with the Prime Minister, the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams will again be emphasizing her and her Cabinet's work in Electoral Reform and Campaign Reform. The Prime Minister emphasized that her focus with regards to electoral change is to ensure that there is stability in the system and clarity for the people who have elected their representatives, doing so on the basis of a clear program and vision of a particular political party and with that party then being able to execute their respective programs.

"Based on the frequent changes because of the shifting of alliances and allegiances in Parliament that is one of the matters in electoral reform that I have received advice on and there are various options to look at. I am now preparing a paper to submit to Parliament in order to have a discussion, a discussion devoid of politicking but in the interest of the people. There are various options with regards to electoral reform. For example within a Political Party itself or ultimately, which I believe should be the ultimate option, with changes to the constitution.

"It is also important to make the public aware of the dynamics of our politics and how important it is to elect persons who voters understand have a clear vision and clear objective. Tied into this is the issue of campaign reform, the change in the way we conduct politics. During the budget handling Parliament passed a motion on electoral reform. The content of the motion was to not bribe, pay or accept cash, give objects or give preferential treatment to influence the vote for or against a candidate and also not to coerce persons to nominate or not to nominate a candidate. I indicated that much of these matters are already outlined in our laws, but it does require educating and informing Parliament and the people of St. Maarten. I therefore gave an overview where this is already mentioned in our law. Matters like bribing someone to vote are outlined in the penal code, specifically in article 2.14 that states that the person who bribes someone to vote in a particular through the giving of money or gifts or in any other way will be punished with incarceration for two years or fines as categorized by the law. The voter or a representative of a voter who allows his or herself to be bought will be punished in the same manner," commented the Prime Minister.

The PM stressed that it is the duty of all responsible parties to adhere to the law, which clearly outlines what is and what is not allowed during National Elections. "Eventually, as our society becomes more complex and larger, you may have a situation where elections might be contested because things have not happened according to the law. The initiator of the Parliamentary Motion, MP Frans Richardson, may not have been aware of the law so I have pointed this out in my reply to Parliament so that the necessary discussions will take place. I have also requested that Parliament invites me to a session so that I can give elucidation on this," concluded Wescot-Williams.

The Prime Minister's Radio Program One on One with the Prime Minister broadcasts live on 98.1 Pearl FM from nine to ten in the morning. Listeners are urged to interact with the Prime Minister through calling in on 5430462 or via sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an epidemiological alert recently alerting all Western Hemisphere public health agencies including Sint Maarten with respect to increased influenza-like illness and hospitalizations reported in the Northern Hemisphere.

Currently the predominant virus is influenza A(H1N1) which is considered a seasonal virus, signifying that it will continue to circulate like other influenza viruses.

The Public Health Agency of Canada reported an increase in influenza activity. For the United States, influenza-like illness started to increase in the latter half of December and the mortality from pneumonia and influenza was below the epidemic threshold. Although national influenza activity is low, some Southern areas in the United States began reporting increasing influenza activity and further increases are expected in the coming weeks.

PAHO recommends to Member States to ensure adequate clinical management of patients, the implementation of prevention and control measures, while enhancing the preparedness of their health services to cope with a potential flux of patients. PAHO and the World Health Organization do not recommend any travel restrictions including screening at points of entry.

Countries are asked to continue their surveillance efforts to detect any unusual behaviour of the influenza virus and to identify any new subtypes emerge.

The Collective Prevention Services (CPS) of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, recommends for high risk groups to get their seasonal flu vaccination if they haven't already.

As part of the Minister of Public Health's "Get Checked," campaign, influenza is an acute viral infection that spreads very easily from person to person, and can affect anybody in any age group.

"Check with your physician to see whether or not you are part of the high risk group and be proactive. Get vaccinated and take measures to prevent you from getting the flu," Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Hon. Cornelius de Weever said.

For influenza like conditions the syndromes under surveillance are "fever and respiratory" and "undifferentiated fevers."

Influenza is a serious public health problem that causes severe illnesses and deaths for higher risk populations. Vaccination (flu shot) is the most effective way to prevent infection.

Members of the community are advised to check with their family physician on their seasonal flu vaccine and are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and their family members from infection at home and especially traveling by maintaining high standards of personal hygiene.

Persons with fever in consultation with their physician should take the necessary preventive measures. Follow the advice given by your physician; take your medicine as prescribed if you forgot what the physician told you, call him/her; sneeze or cough in your arm sleeve or a tissue; and wash your hands frequently.

The primary form of influenza transmission is through interpersonal contact. Washing hands is the most effective way of reducing transmission.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Although the 2014 budget was presented and passed by Parliament last week, SHTA, the largest business representative on the island, is of the opinion that there are still unanswered questions and uncertainty with regard to the budget cuts. It seems as if this budget was formed in a vacuum without timely consultation of the stakeholders. "Although we understand and support the necessity for budget cuts in order to come to a well balanced budget, one of the questions still looming is 'Why weren't the cuts made across the board?" said SHTA.

For any country, the budget forms the basis that outlines the functioning of its Government apparatus and it is a critical tool for managing operations throughout the year. If such a budget is formed without the timely consultation of all stakeholders, the end result is more than likely to be flawed. This has, as an example, led to a situation whereby the increase in employee health insurance premium by 2.1% it seems was done without any consultation from the business sector and the unions. With stakeholder input, consultation and involvement, the budgeting process could have led to a broader vision on the steps required to balance this budget.

Not all gloom and doom, as the freezing of Government salaries after a decade, can be seen as a step in the right direction and should be commended as an austerity measure, which will hopefully be the beginning of a review/trimming-down of the government apparatus in order to increase its productivity. Curtailing government expenditures is always an effective measure once it is done in light of proper consultation. Perhaps in moving forward, it would be worth adopting a participatory budget structure i.e. A democratic process in which stakeholders in the community directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. This is a different way to manage public money and to engage people in Government as it enables taxpayers to work with Government to make the budget decisions that affect their lives – For more information please see their website: www.participatorybudgeting.org.

The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association is dedicated to bringing quality to all aspects of life on St. Maarten by promoting sustainable economic development for its members in cooperation with the social partners and the creation of a fair marketplace. For more information, please contact the SHTA office: 542-0108, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our website www.shta.com.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake, is calling on residents to look at the nation-wide clean-up schedule that will be in published in the daily newspapers on Thursday in the Government Information Page (GIP) and again on Friday.

The schedule lists the Saturdays where the four garbage company haulers will remove debris and other household waste.

The country-wide exercise is part of the after hurricane season clean-up with a major emphasis on the removal of debris and bulk garbage that can become breeding grounds for mosquito's leading to an increase in mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya.

Car wrecks throughout the country will be removed under Police supervision. Community Police Officers will be partaking in the clean-up campaign.

Garbage haulers will be picking up old household items, domestic trash, old tires, empty drums, plan containers, paint cans and other items that can collect water. All items should be placed outside between 6:30am and 10:30am or any other time that is noted in the GIP schedule.

"No stone will be left unturned in order to eliminate mosquito breeding sites. We need to protect the people and our visitors. We need all hands on deck for this clean-up, and I call on the nation to take responsibility and clean-up and by doing so we protect our health, the health of our children and our seniors," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Wednesday.

PHILIPSBURG:--- A Plenary public meeting of the House of Parliament will be held on January 23rd regarding changes to legislation that falls under the Ministry of Justice.

The public plenary session is set for Thursday at 9:00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The main agenda point is the draft ordinance related to changes to the National Ordinance of Admittance and Expulsion as well as the Stamp Ordinance.

On Wednesday afternoon a Central Committee meeting took place regarding the aforementioned as well as an invitation that was received from the National Committee in connection with a Thank You Celebration being organized on February 1 for former Queen Beatrix.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com, and also via www.sxmparliament.org.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams received a courtesy visit by Minister of State and Former Kingdom Council of State Representative Herman Tjeenk Willink; Mrs. Winnie Sorgdrager, Member of the Kingdom Council of State, former Minister of Justice and former Attorney General in the Netherlands; and Mrs. Mavis Brooks-Salmon vice-chair of the Council of Advise for St. Maarten. Mr. Willink and Mrs. Sorgdrager are on-island as part the Herman Tjeenk Willink Lecture 2014 
on the topic of Public Prosecutors Office and the promotion of integrity: political instrument or independent body, to be held at the University of St. Maarten on Wednesday evening. During their discussions Mr. Willink echoed the statement by King Willem Alexander regarding the strives St. Maarten has made since becoming its own country in 2010.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation donated 86 gift packages to pupils of All Children's Education (ACE) Foundation and seven gift baskets to teachers totaling US $1,433 at the school's end of year celebration. The gifts to pupils included washable crayons, exercise books, colourful painting book, teddy bear, Danish butter cookies, dried fruit, instant noodles, cake, snack and candy etc. The fun event saw teachers, parents and pupils interacting. The event featured fun games and a performance. Parents prepared meals which were shared among attendees. The event was filled with joy and gratitude.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The 13th St. Martin/St. Maarten Annual Regional Trade Show (SMART) is slated for May 14-16, 2014 at the Radisson Blu Resort, Marina & Spa in St. Martin where the region comes together once again to support, interact and promote tourism to the Eastern Caribbean. Attendees to last year's event concurred that it was the best SMART so far and organizers are set on surpassing everyone's expectations with the upcoming event.
L'Association des Hoteliers de St. Martin and the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association in conjunction with L'Office du Tourisme de St. Martin and the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau are expecting numerous Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Travel Writers, and Event Planners from the US, Canada, Europe, and Latin America to return to the island for this important event. The tradeshow provides a unique opportunity for local and regional hoteliers and activities providers to present their tourism product, network and negotiate prospective business opportunities.
After years of success and progress, in addition to St. Martin/St. Maarten, other islands attending this event now include Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Saba, St. Barth's, Statia, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Barbados. It has become a very significant event for the entire region in recent years, one that should not be missed.
SMART 2014 kicks off on Wednesday May 14, 2014 when delegates have the opportunity to meet and mingle with their peers at the Welcome Reception hosted at The Radisson Blu Resort, Marina & Spa, before a full day of business where participants have set up appointments with travel partners and wholesalers as well as hotel and excursion operations for one-on-one discussions on potential business ventures. In addition to the pre-organized appointments, throughout the trade show, participants may also set up additional appointments. The event will be closed off with an impressive and memorable Farewell Party on Thursday May 15th 2014.

Registration forms and details will be available on the SHTA website www.shta.com or by contacting the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 542-0108, Monday to Friday.

MARIGOT:--- Sareena Carti, of Avenir Sportif Club of Saint-Martin, received on Saturday, January 18th, 2014 in the omnisport room of Gosier (Guadeloupe), the Trophy of Guadelupean Sport in the category "Better Young Sportswoman" in athletics of year 2013. This demonstration organized by the CROSGUA (Olympic Regional Committee of Guadeloupe) has for objective to encourage the sportsmen, who further to a vote, get their trophies during a gala evening. Sareena who made this trip with her trainer Patrick Trival, was next to the best hopes of medals of the season for Guadeloupe during this evening.

In the afternoon, Sareena realized a beautiful performance by taking away the 300m « cadettes » of the 2nd tour of the intermediaries in 38.88, and arrived second of the 200m women in 24.71. During this competition which was held at the stadium of Les Abymes, Sareena realized minima for the qualification of the 200m of Carifta Games, and ends in 2 tenth of the record of Guadeloupe on the 300m.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation is following the recent developments regarding the future of the Emilio Wilson Estate with great concern.

Commitments to purchase 370,000 square meters of the Emilio Wilson Estate "for the people of St. Maarten" were made by Government, namely, Prime Minister Mrs. Sarah Wescot-Williams and the at that time Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environmental affairs Mr. William Marlin during the Council of Ministers' press briefing of Wednesday August 1st, 2012.

The aforementioned commitment to purchase the Estate was reaffirmed on a number of occasions most notably so during the budget debate of April 2013. The now former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment Mr. William Marlin announced on April 15th, 2013 that the purchase of the Emilio Wilson Estate was a priority for the Ministry of Public Housing and the Environment, Marlin also referred to the management agreements for the Estate Government had prepared in cooperation with local organizations.

Government furthermore confirmed to the owners of the Emilio Wilson Estate that an agreement between parties had been reached on the purchase of the Estate by Government in a letter dated June 3rd, 2013.

In addition to the agreements made between Government and the owners of the Emilio Wilson Estate contracts between government and a partnership of local Natural and Cultural Heritage organizations regarding the establishment of the Emilio Wilson Estate as a National Park and the subsequent management of the Estate upon Government obtaining ownership were also prepared and finalized accordingly in April and May of 2013.

Based on the aforementioned the Foundation can only conclude that commitments and agreements have been made which government cannot simply ignore without legal consequences.

The board of the Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation was therefore astounded by reports in the local media that Government has commenced negotiations with a third party, the Harbour Group of Companies, for the purchase of the Emilio Wilson Estate. This proposed purchase of the Estate by the Harbour Group of Companies gives rise to several questions;

• What are the intentions of Minister Lake and MP Heyliger in pursuing the purchase of the Estate through the harbor group of companies?
• Will the Harbour Group of companies buy the Emilio Wilson Estate for the people of Sint Maarten?
• Will Government and/ or the harbor group of companies honor management agreements made between Government and several local Natural and Cultural Heritage organizations?
• Or will Government break their commitment to purchase the estate for the people of Sint Maarten?
• Will Government and the Harbour Group of Companies choose to hand the Emilio Wilson Estate, Sint Maarten's heritage, over to the influential Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCAA) their member Carnival Cruise Lines and partner Rain Forest Adventures or a similar business to do with the Estate as they please?

The Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation is monitoring the developments surrounding the purchase of the Emilio Wilson Estate closely and if needed will pursue all available legal means and measures necessary to compel Government to meet its contractual obligations.

The Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation will continue to advocate and strive for the protection and establishment of the entire Emilio Wilson Estate as a National Park and protected area managed by and for the people of Sint Maarten.

The Emilio Wilson Estate Foundation

PHILIPSBURG:--- The chairman of the CFT board Age Bakker assured members of media on Tuesday during a press conference that the 2014 budget is not a "CFT or Skeleton" budget but it is a realistic budget that was approved by Parliament last week. Bakker said the 2014 budget is indeed a tight budget that government has to realize.

Bakker further explained that this is the first time in recent years St. Maarten managed to approve their annual budget this early. He said in 2012 the budget was approved in April while in 2013 in September. He said the CFT did not receive the budget that the Parliament of St. Maarten approved last week as yet. "That budget has to be signed off by the Governor of St. Maarten and then it will be sent to us for our approval. I think we will get that sometime this week and in the next two weeks the media will hear from the CFT regarding the approved 2014 budget." Bakker said that the budget parliament approved last week needed some tweaking and the CFT provided advice to the Minister of Finance who applied the measures they proposed. He said the CFT board also spoke to the Governor of St. Maarten last October about the 2014 budget and asked him to ensure that the Government of St. Maarten took the advice provided by the CFT seriously.

Bakker said he met with Parliament and the Council of Ministers while here this week and he informed them that they cannot add new income to the budget if the legislations are not in place to implement the additional income government adds to its budget. "In the past we allowed this and it created a huge mess and a deficit and that is why we have to ensure that whatever is in the budget is realistic."

Bakker further explained that the economy of St. Maarten has improved but government has to do more to ensure that everyone pays their share of taxes. He said it appears as though there are some leakages in the tax system and he advised government to investigate those leakages.

As for the cuts in personnel cost, Bakker said that the budget is not a CFT budget and it's the government who has to decide where they will make the cuts to balance their budget.

The chairman of CFT board said that St. Maarten will now get the opportunity to borrow and he advised the Council of Ministers to come up with a realistic list of things they want to see done in order to improve the infrastructure on St. Maarten. He said the CFT advised the Council of Ministers to use the opportunity of borrowing to finish the Government Building and occupy it so it will cost government less monies. Another project he suggested that government should work on is the expansion of the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC). "I think Health Care is very important and it can be provided here on St. Maarten if the SMMC is expanded and government will save monies by not having to send people overseas for treatment."

Fast action needed on public financial management and tax compliance
Age Bakker (Cft): "Budget 2014 was a race against the clock"

PHILIPSBURG:--- The budget 2014 which was signed into law by the Governor will shortly be presented to the Board of financial supervision (College financieel toezicht - Cft) which is required to give its advice within two weeks. According to Cft chairman Age Bakker, it was a race against the clock to have the 2014 budget adopted in January 2014. Improving public financial management is necessary in order to ensure the timely adoption of the budget in the future.

The Board visited Sint Maarten on January 20 and January 21, which was the second visit to the Wescot-Williams III administration. Meetings were held with the Governor, the Minister of Finance, the Council of Ministers, the financial committee of Parliament and several stakeholders. Main topic of discussion was the 2014 budget and the wish of the Sint Maarten Government to make important capital investments.

2014 Budget
The budget 2014 encountered a delay of one month due to a late start and the work that had to be done to adhere to the agreement between Government and the Cft to balance the budget, and to finalize underlying legislation simultaneously. The Cft approved the request of Government to postpone the submission of the 2014 budget up to January 16th, 2014. This deadline was not met, which resulted in preparations made by the Kingdom Government to give an instruction. In the meanwhile the Governor signed the adopted budget this Monday.

After the adopted budget is submitted to the Cft, the Board will give its advice within two weeks. A positive advice means that the Government of Sint Maarten can borrow for important capital investments, which it could not do during 2013, because the budget did not comply. Necessary capital investments thus had to be financed from the reserves that as a result have decreased significantly. This increased the risk of new payment arrears and has put all major investment projects on hold. Now that a budget is adopted, the country can start working on improving its liquidity position, but also on increasing the reserve position as asked by Parliament.

Tax compliance
As to the contents of the budget, the government has made a considerable number of budgetary reductions in order to balance the 2014 budget. These cutbacks were necessary because the tax revenues realized where lower than that of 2012. This is remarkable, considering that there has been steady economic growth. This growth, however, has not resulted in higher income for the government, and this can only be explained due to lacking tax compliance. Figures show that tax compliance has been decreasing over the past few years. Chairman Age Bakker therefore urges the government to work on ways to improve tax compliance in Sint Maarten.

Public financial management
The Cft expressed its concerns regarding the state of the public financial management. On the positive side it should be admitted that having an adopted budget in January is a big improvement compared to the last couple of years. The financial administration however has a serious backlog which takes up a lot of time which the Ministry of Finance should have used in drawing up the budget of 2014 and the financial statements of 2012 and 2013. Fast improvements are needed to break though this vicious circle.

CFT Press Release

HARBOUR VIEW:--- On December 20, 2013, Governor Holiday sent invitations to tender to four New York based accounting firms, inviting them to participate in the tender which is to result in the engagement of one of the firms to conduct the integrity inquiry.
Based on the invitation to tender responses were received on Friday January 17, 2014 and the proposed documentation is currently being reviewed by the Steering group Integrity inquiry to advise the Governor regarding the awarding of the contract for the execution of the inquiry.
The contracted accounting firm to execute the inquiry, will issue an interim progress report within three months and the final inquiry report of its findings and recommendations within six months of its engagement to the Governor. The process of the integrity inquiry will conclude with the presentation of the final report to the Kingdom Council of Ministers by Governor Holiday.
Further information and developments regarding the inquiry will be made public by the Governor through the Cabinet of the Governor.

From the Cabinet of the Governor of St. Maarten

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake applauds the most recent initiative of the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo in the placement of two solar-powered lights at the Police Dock in Simpson Bay.

The Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority that falls under the Harbour Group of Companies coordinated the placement of the lights at the aforementioned dock.

The harbour group of companies has established an innovative green thinking policy which includes the use of wind and solar power at the Port of St. Maarten.

The port has invested in a vertical axis wind turbine; installed solar panels on the roof of the Cruise Terminal; and makes use of electric golf carts to shuttle cruise passengers up and down at the cruise port.

"I would like to commend the Supervisory Board of Directors, CEO Mark Mingo and the all the staff at the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies for their green thinking approach.

"I am appealing to other government owned companies to follow the lead and lower their foot print on the environment by implementing green initiatives. The harbour group has implemented several green projects on their property, and one of their companies has brought forward and implemented green initiatives within the community.

"Making our ports more environmentally friendly is necessary and is part of the trend within the cruise industry which is also making strides in going green.

"Let's get down to basics! The government owned companies such as the Airport, GEBE, TELEM and the Port could come together in creating a cooperation approach to develop environmental programs and projects aimed at reducing or neutralizing the impact of their operations upon the environment and in the communities that they operate.

"By banning together which is a back to basics approach, these companies will be able to leverage their capabilities to improve the environment in which we live, work and our kids go to school.

"The end result will be an improvement in the quality of life and a better environment for all to enjoy including our visitors," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Tuesday.

Minister Lake added that Government and utility company GEBE are in the process of finalizing the Energy policy to promote various green initiatives.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams in collaboration with the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the University of St. Maarten is inviting the general public to attend an informative and enlightening lecture centered around the concept of federal Government from the standpoint of Germany, Latin America and the Caribbean delivered by His Excellency Ambassador Joseph Kremp. Ambassador Franz Joseph Kremp is the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and has held diplomatic posts in Equatorial Guinea, Great Britain and Greece. He has been the German Ambassador to the Dutch Kingdom since April 2013.

The lecture concerning the concept of Federal Government in Germany and in the Latin American and Caribbean region will be given at the University of St. Maarten room 202/203 on Thursday starting at seven in the evening followed by a cocktail reception. Those who are interested in International Relations, Government Policy and Diplomacy are urged to RSVP at the Department for Foreign Relations at 1-721-5420640 or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

GRAND CASE:--- Residents and visitors of all ages are invited to experience the magic of undersea life and the sport, art, and science of snorkeling this Saturday at SnorkelFest 2014. SnorkelFest is a free, public Wildlife Discovery Event created by Les Fruits de Mer, which will take place on January 25 from 11am to 3pm on Pinel Island.

The event will feature activities designed and lead by marine biologists, educators, conservationists, and other aficionados of the flora and fauna of the sea and coast. "The undersea world is one of the most dynamic and fascinating parts of this island, and snorkeling is an easy way to discover it. Plus, a day trip to Pinel is one of the most fun things to do on St. Martin, and SnorkelFest will make it even more fun and educational." says Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes. "We'd like to welcome everyone to come out and enjoy the day on this gorgeous little islet!"

SnorkelFest guests can take a peek at protected undersea plant and animal life with free snorkeling on the Réserve Naturelle's special underwater trail, a captivating tropical seascape of turquoise water, waving sea grass, hard and soft corals, sea fans, bright fish, and camouflaged crustaceans. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own snorkeling gear. For those who don't have their own equipment, some will be available for free at ECOSNORKELING, marine biologist Isabelle Bonnefoy's environmentally-friendly snorkel center on PInel. Kids ages 7-12 will be welcome to snorkel the trail with parental supervision. For kids under age 7 with parental supervision, there will be a separate Underwater Observation Experience available in a shallow area so they can get a first glimpse under the sea.

Event-goers will also have the chance to discover the ocean in a different way by trying Stand-up Paddle Board for free, thanks to Caribbean Paddling. Attendees who RSVP on the Facebook events page at https://www.facebook.com/events/623840144329454/ or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by Friday, January 24 will have priority access for both the free snorkeling and free paddleboard activities.

Adults and kids can learn about both common and unusual sea creatures as well as different marine habitats at the Marine Life Discovery Station. The Station will be hosted by Mark Yokoyama, Les Fruits de Mer co-founder and author of The Incomplete Guide to the Wildlife of St. Martin. Teachers and a marine biologist will also be on deck to share knowledge and answer questions. Displays and materials created by Yokoyama and the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin will use stories and images to "tell tales from the deep and the shallow seas," according to Yokoyama. "Come here to get to know more about your underwater neighbors, from interesting species to interesting facts about species you may see all the time." Yokoyama will be focusing on certain fish, invertebrates, and corals as a way to explain different underwater ecosystems. Attendees can also bring their own underwater photos of sea creatures for an ID at the Marine Life Discovery Station's "ID Me" activity. Books will be available so participants can identify the fish, corals, and crustaceans they observed while snorkeling.

"SnorkelFest is really a unique opportunity to learn about marine and coastal life and the island's important ecosystems from experts," explains Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes, "The Marine Life Discovery Station and Guided Coastal Walk are perfect examples of that."

The Guided Coastal Walk offers event-goers the chance to learn about the unique coastal environment on a guided tour of some of Pinel's nature trails. The nature trails, created by the Réserve Naturelle, connect the three beaches of the tiny islet, and provide stunning views of nearby islands and islets. Information panels and displays along the pathways describe local flora and birds for visitors. This activity was designed to illuminate coastal life, and also showcase these terrestrial trails for locals and tourists, especially for those who don't already know about them. Tours will be guided by Béatrice Galdi, an environmental engineer specializing in the protection and management of the natural environment. She represents the Conservatoire du Littoral, an institution responsible for protecting coastal spaces, in St. Martin and St. Barths, Tours will leave regularly throughout the event and will be available in English and French. The tours will each conclude with an optional short clean-up on one of the beautiful wild beaches on the Atlantic side of Pinel.

Kids of all ages can participate in art activities inspired by the ocean, including coloring and activity pages featuring local undersea wildlife.

Attendees can get to Pinel by ferry or kayak. The ferry picks up passengers at the dock in French Cul-de-Sac and costs $10 or 10 Euro per person. Kayaking to Pinel with Caribbean Paddling is a sporty alternative, but attendees who want to kayak to SnorkelFest should probably reserve ahead of time on caribbeanpaddling.com. SnorkelFest event-goers should bring snorkeling gear if they have it, sun protection like a rash guard or t-shirt, shoes, sandals, or flip-flops if they plan to go on the Guided Coastal Walk. They can also pack a picnic, or enjoy lunch at one of the two great restaurants on Pinel, Karibuni and Yellow Beach.

SnorkelFest 2014 is made possible by the hard work and talent of many volunteers; the support of Les Fruits de Mer's event partners, the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin, the Conservatoire du Littoral, ECOSNORKELING and Caribbean Paddling; and the generous sponsorship of Island Water World, Yacht Club Port de Plaisance, Delta Petroleum, The Summit Resort Hotel, Karibuni and Yellow Beach.

POINTE BLANCHE:--- On Sunday January 19th, 2014 at approximately 7:00pm, a female vegetable and fruit merchant and her colleagues were robbed by at least four persons. The robbery took place in Pointe Blanche in the vicinity of ICC. At least three of these persons were in the possession of a firearm and there was one driver. The victim and her colleagues were robbed of an undisclosed amount cash. After committing this act, the robbers fled the scene in a small car. A search in the area to locate them did not have a positive result. The Special Robbery Unit is conducting an investigation.

KPSM Police Report

EBENEZER:--- On Friday, January 17th, 2014, the Community Police Officers for the Sint Peters and Reward districts were called to the Sint Maarten Academy P.S.V.E. where at least two students had fallen ill. On the scene the officers noticed that one female and one male student had become quite ill. They were behaving quite paranoid, hallucinating, and had an aggressive behavior. Both students seemed at the time to be under the influence of some unknown substance and were difficult to communicate with. The paramedics were called in and the students were taken to the Sint Maarten Medical Center to be checked out. After being attended to medically, the students/victims stated to the investigating detectives that the reason why they became ill is because they had eaten "Space Cake" which they bought from a fellow student at school. "Space Cake" is made with the fluids from a marijuana plant. It comes in the form of a slice of a normal cake or as a "Brownie". Its effects could be paranoia, hallucination, and aggressive behavior among other symptoms. This cake might not directly cause death but can be quite hazardous to ones health, especially those persons who are suffering from asthma, high blood pressure, and other illnesses. The parents of the students in question were informed of the situation and an investigation by the detective department is ongoing. No arrests have been made in this case as yet. In the afternoon on that same day, a third and fourth victim who are students from the Sundial School were treated at the Sint Maarten Medical Center for also eating "Space Cake".

NOTE: As this police report was being written information came in that two more students, one from the Sint Maarten Academy P.S.V.E. and one from the Sundial School were taken to the Sint Maarten Medical Center to be treated for eating "Space Cake".
CAUTION: The Police Department is hereby sending out a very stern warning to all parents informing that they should discuss this issue with their children, its effects and consequences. They should pay very close attention to their children's behavior for symptoms as a result of the use of illegal drugs.

KPSM Police Report

L.B. SCOTT ROAD:--- On Thursday January 16th, 2014 the Community Police Officer (CPO) for the Sint Peters and Reward districts was called to the Sint Maarten Academy to investigate a situation involving a weapon. On the scene the officer was informed by the management of the school that they had received information that a student was carrying something illegal in his school bag and wanted the police to be present when his bag was searched. During the search of the school bag of the student in question a replica of a Glock pistol was found. It would be quite difficult to tell the difference between this replica and a real pistol. The replica does not fire real ammunition but instead it shoots pellets. These pellets cannot not penetrate the skin easily, but the impact would be quite painful. If a pellet shot from this pistol catches someone in their eye, the victim stands a great chance of losing that eye. This replica pistol can be used as a weapon to threaten someone and scare them. The weapon was confiscated immediately and the 18 year old suspect/student was arrested and taken to the Philipsburg Police Station where he remains in custody for further investigation.

KPSM Police Report

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake, was briefed on Monday afternoon by senior civil servants from the Department of Infrastructure Management which is spearheading the country-wide clean-up along with garbage company haulers.

The country-wide exercise is part of the after hurricane season clean-up with a major emphasis on the removal of debris and bulk garbage that can become breeding grounds for mosquito's leading to an increase in mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya.

Car wrecks throughout the country will be removed under Police supervision. Community Police Officers will be partaking in the clean-up campaign. A preliminary assessment revealed that in the Philipsburg area alone 85 car wrecks have already been identified for removal.

Garbage haulers will be picking up old household items, domestic trash, old tires, empty drums, plan containers, paint cans and other items that can collect water. All items should be placed outside between 6:30am and 10:30am. A schedule with dates and streets will be published on Wednesday. Flyers will also be distributed throughout the districts about the clean-up campaign.

"No stone will be left unturned in order to eliminate mosquito breeding sites. We need to protect the people and our visitors. Young people from the districts will also be involved, the so-called 'boys on the block.' We need all hands on deck for this clean-up, and I call on the nation to monitor media reports for the dates of the clean-up which is spread over four Saturdays starting January 25.

In the Minister's back to basics approach, Minister Hon. Maurice Lake invited former retired civil servants who worked with the Department of Public Works or the Hygiene Department in the past namely Tony Boyrard, Neville "Doc" Lake, Roland Bryson and Freddy Maccou to a meeting on Monday afternoon to discuss the country-wide clean-up.

"We have a pool of retired civil servants who have worked for Government for a number of years and have provided their expertise during their service to country. I called upon them to attend the meeting to give advice and for them to assists where possible during the one-month campaign.

"Our seniors still can play a role in the development of our country, and that is why I invited them to come in and make a contribution," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Monday.

Also present during the meeting were members of the Minister's cabinet.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Hon. Cornelius de Weever says a country-wide clean-up in the various districts to eliminate mosquito breeding sites as the country confirms a total of 10 Chikungunya cases, eight in addition to the two announced earlier this month, will start Saturday, January 25.

Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure stated on Monday that his Ministry and stakeholders will start removing old car wrecks this week which can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

"I am appealing to the Sint Maarten population to take this matter seriously and do what has to be done to eliminate mosquito breeding areas. Every individual, household and business has a responsibility to take action and protect public health and our economy.

"My Ministry VROMI is busy working with waste disposal companies to draft a plan of action for a country-wide clean-up to start on January 25. We need everybody on-board for this country-wide effort," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Monday.

Prime Minister Wescot-Williams also stated on Monday that wide-scale inter-ministerial cooperation and cooperation on an international level is also part of the response to the virus: "Since there are now established cases on St. Maarten our medical health sector is working very closely with PAHO and WHO on the best ways to combat the virus and keep St. Maarten healthy for its Residents and Visitors.

"The focus right now is not only on communicating the steps which can be taken by all individuals to combat the virus but also important is the message stressing cooperation across the board. The emphasis is on all Ministries working together to understand the potential of this disease if left unchecked. In addition to that the individual responsibility, while we should not be pushing the panic button, we should all share the responsibility as far as curbing the spread of the Chikungunya virus," commented the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Wescot-Williams also stressed that the travel advisory, which was issued by the United States Department of State, is part of procedure once a transmissible virus such as Dengue and Chikungunya are concerned. "The advisories are not to push the panic button but are related to the reporting and advisory obligations. Despite the virus being recorded on St. Maarten the island is safe for residents and visitors and Government is focusing considerable effort in controlling the disease," ended Wescot-Williams.

Minister De Weever re-emphasizes that Sint Maarten remains a safe tourism and travel destination despite challenges posed by Dengue and Chikungunya.

The Ministry of Public Health continues to conduct epidemiological surveillance to collect and analyze data from the various stakeholders in the health field on a weekly basis. Control staff are visiting yards, and properties in the districts and advising residents to take immediate action.

Minister De Weever is appealing to social and civic clubs as well as community councils to come together with their members and assist the people in their districts with clean-up campaigns when the national clean-up action starts. For additional information these organizations can contact the Ministry of Public Health at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 542-2078.

Chikungunya, is a virus similar to dengue, transmitted by the same mosquito that spreads dengue. The symptoms are similar to dengue fever and may include a sudden high fever, headache, rash, nausea and muscle pain.

However, stiffness and severe joint pain, especially in the wrists, knuckles or ankles, are more often associated with chikungunya. The incubation period (time from infection to illness) can be two to 12 days but is usually three to seven days. Acute chikungunya fever typically lasts a few days to a few weeks and some infected patients in the Asia region have reported debilitating arthritic pain persisting for weeks or months.

The condition's outcome is that most patients feel better within a week; some people may develop longer-term joint pain; people at increased risk for severe disease include newborns exposed during delivery, older adults and people with medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease. Deaths are rare. There is no vaccine or medication to prevent Chikungunya virus infection or disease, the recommended prevention is to reduce mosquito exposure.

Residents and business leaders play a key role by continually being active in taking measures to mitigate the mosquito population in eliminating mosquito breeding sites.

Minister De Weever said that the Governments of both sides of the island are taking all measures necessary to mitigate the further increase in these mosquito-borne viral diseases.

Residents and visitors are reminded to protect themselves especially when out during dusk and dawn hours by using mosquito repellent or wear proper clothing to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

The Collective Prevention Services, an agency of the Ministry of Public Health once again calls on all businesses, schools, students, community councils, social clubs and public services to actively take actions on a daily basis to eliminate mosquitoes by checking containers such as buckets and water tanks for larvae and eliminate the breeding source. If there aren't any containers with water for mosquitoes to lay the larvae there won't be any adult mosquitoes.

Dengue Fever and Chikungunya are transmitted by the female vector Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The Aedes Aegypti mosquito lays her eggs in clear (clean) stagnant water. Within eight days the mosquito can complete its life cycle from egg, to larvae to pupae and to adult mosquito.

An increase in the mosquito population puts all residents and businesses at risk. Call for information on the Aedes Aegypti mosquito breeding sites and respective preventive measures at 542-2078 or 542-3003 or visit the Facebook Collective Prevention Services.

POINTE BLANCHE:--- On Monday afternoon at 4:30pm the cruise ship Mein Schiff made an unscheduled port of call.

The vessel left the island-nation of Antigua & Barbuda after encountering berthing challenges at the aforementioned island. There wasn't sufficient berth depth within the port area.

One member of port management stated that maintenance dredging in any port is necessary in order to maintain water depths for the safe docking of cruise and cargo vessels, adding that sea swells and currents move sand around on the sea floor all the time and port authorities have to monitor water depths all the time.

Mein Schiff will depart destination St. Maarten on Tuesday evening. Port management and staff organized a special BBQ for cruise passengers and crew while Taxi Drivers catered to the guests by offering them transportation services.

On Monday there was no scheduled cruise ship visits and the unscheduled call of the Mein Schiff was most welcome for the port and other cruise industry stakeholders such as taxi drivers and merchants.

Mein Schiff belongs to TUI Cruises. TUI Cruises was founded in April 2008. The cruise brand offers a contemporary holiday on the sea and is aimed at the German market. The company is a joint venture of TUI AG in Hanover, Germany and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

The Mein Schiff vessel can carry approximately 1900 passengers and has a crew complement of 780.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, and Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip on Saturday, January 18, 2014 attended the 21st edition of the annual SMSEF Interscholastic Soccer Tournament at the Johan Cruijff Court in Belvedere.

A total of 14 schools, registering 38 teams, will be participating in this year. The official opening ceremony started mid-morning at 11:15 a.m. after three games had been played.

The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs, Patricia Lourens-Philip, opened the tournament by performing the official kick-off.

POINTE BLANCHE:--- As part of the Port of St. Maarten's innovative green thinking started a few years ago, the Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority has installed two solar-powered lights at the Police Dock near the Simpson Bay Bridge.

The dock is used by tenders from mega yachts and other boats who handle business matters at the Lagoon Authority Office which is located in the same building of the Police/Immigration Services.

The Lagoon Authority back in December also completed renovations of the Police Dock deck which was made from wood. There were several rotten sections that warranted the deck to be repaired.

Now dock users including the staff from mega yachts and boats in the Lagoon can safely and comfortably step on to a concrete dock and conduct their business at the Police Sub Station.

The Lagoon Authority in executing the Harbour Group of Companies innovative green thinking policy which already includes wind power to generate electricity via Vertical Axis Wind Turbines at the Port of St. Maarten facility in Pointe Blanche; solar panels on the roof of the Cruise Terminal; and electric golf carts which will be fitted out in the future with solar panels. The Port of St. Maarten will continue to make use of alternative energy in order to meet its needs.

In the meantime the Lagoon Authority will continue to look at other areas where solar-powered lights can be installed in order to lessen the country's footprint on the environment.

Port of St. Maarten Management and members of the Supervisory Board of Directors are very happy that the port continues to move forward in harnessing solar and wind power in its day-to-day operations.

The installation of the solar powered lights and repairs to the dock was carried out by Liccom.

The mission of the Lagoon Authority is to be the driving force in the development of economically and environmentally sustainable and durable yachting tourism for country St. Maarten in conjunction with stakeholders.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Public Prosecutor's Office arrested Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge on Monday morning. A short press release from Prosecutor Tineke Kamps states that MP Illidge was arrested on January 20th, 2014 by the Landsrecherche. Kamps said the Member of Parliament was arrested on the accounts of bribery, money laundering, and taking part in an association that has its aim to commit criminal offenses. Kamps said MP Patrick Illidge voluntarily turned himself in, she further stated that the interrogation is pending. Kamps said in the interest of the investigation no further information can be disclosed.

The Orca investigation started in March last year following the showing of a film on the websites of The Daily Herald and the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. On the footage JvdH, owner of the "Bada Bing" brothel, can be seen handing over probably banknotes to the independent parliamentarian PI. JvdH was arrested last year. His pre-trial detention is suspended.

The Attorney General of St. Maarten Taco Stein was given permission by the Court of Appeals on December 30th, 2013 to prosecute the MP, but the prosecution chose to allow the Member of Parliament to be free and to travel until the draft budget debate for 2014 concluded last week.

According to well-placed sources, MP Illidge was supposed to meet with the Landsrecherche last week Monday but they postponed the appointment to this Monday in order for the budget debate to take place.

A source close to MP Illidge said that Illidge went to the scheduled appointment at 8am on Monday and he as arrested shortly after.

Arrest in Orca Investigation

Monday morning, January 20th, 2014 PI was arrested by the Landsrecherche. The suspect was arrested on the accounts of bribery, money laundering and taking part in association, that has as its aim the committing of criminal offenses. PI voluntarily turned himself in. The interrogation is pending. In the interest of the ongoing investigation no further information can be disclosed.
The Orca investigation started in March last year following the showing of a film on the websites of The Daily Herald and the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. On the footage JvdH, owner of the "Bada Bing" brothel, can be seen handing over probably banknotes to the independent parliamentarian PI. JvdH was arrested last year. His pre-trial detention is suspended.

Press Release from Public Prosecutor's Office

POND ISLAND:--- TelEm Group's Business Development Department will this week begin distribution of the brand new TelEm Group Phone Book 2014.

The TelEm Group Phone Book 2014 is a listing of landline numbers of residential and commercial customers from Dutch and French St. Maarten/St. Martin and also from the neighbouring islands of Saba, St. Barths and St. Eustatius.

The new phone book is packed with information about telecommunication services on St. Maarten with illustrations of Flora and Fauna from all the islands served by TelEm Group. It also features a yellow pages section for quick reference and of course is in the company's favorite red color.

In the foreword to introduce the publication to customers, Chief Financial Officer, Mrs. Helma Etnel says despite the advent of online information and new technology, "the traditional telephone directory is as relevant today as it has ever been," and she believes it is one directory that will remain in the household for many years. Mrs. Etnel has also promised that TelEm Group will be developing Directory and mobile Apps to further support efficient use of the TelEm Group Phone Book 2014.

First copies of the re-vamped telephone directory were presented to Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mrs. Helma Etnel, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), Mr. Brian Mingo and Chief Technical Officer, Mr. Eldert Louisa, during a short presentation ceremony at the TelEm Group main office last Thursday.

Mrs. Etnel thanked the directory team for a "great job" in producing one of the best directories that has been produced in many years.

"The idea of the team to involve the general public and TelEm Group customers in providing images and material for the Phone Book pages was especially creative and rewarding," said the CFO.

Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Brian Mingo also thanked the team for their input and many hours of hard work behind the scenes to produce the Phone Book 2014.

"There are many plans to develop the Phone Book further and to continue to make it relevant to our customers for the contact and other general information that the publication provides," said Mr. Mingo.

He congratulated, Directory Project Coordinator, Business Development Officer, Ms. Estalita Gumbs, Manager, Business Development, Mrs. Carmen Lake-Reyes, and Manager Sales & Marketing Mr. Emile Van der Weerd for coordinating the efforts of various departments and personnel within the company to ensure the publication was ready at the start of the year for distribution to residential and business clients.

The TelEm Group Phone Book 2014 was distributed to TelEm Group personnel Friday after which copies will be delivered to various stakeholders and the Shareholder Representative.

Customer copies will be delivered to homes by the Post Office and to businesses by TelEm Group Account Managers. Only one copy of the TelEm Group Phone Book 2014 will be given for each customer account. Different arrangements apply for business customers who will receive directories based on the number of telephone lines they have and also depending on their advertising contracts with the Phone Book 2014.

TELEM Press Release

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake, visited Cole Bay on Saturday to address some complaints his Ministry received from residents.

Residents of Bil-Bil Drive complained about their road being inaccessible to cars due to the condition of the road which can only be used by SUV vehicles, and residents with cars would have to park at the bottom of the road.

After the Cabinet of Minister Lake was informed, a Public Works truck was dispatched with milled asphalt to have the road filled in order to make it accessible to all vehicles.

Minister Lake during a tour through Cole Bay observed a number of issues that included fallen poles and cables related to utility company GEBE. The Public Works Department has been asked to follow-up with GEBE where it concerns rectifying the aforementioned in the interests of the community.

A number of potholes were also observed on the Well Road and Union Road and the Minister instructed immediate action to be taken to have these addressed while in the meantime grills in the vicinity of the business operation PDG are to be replaced.

A solution will also be found to strengthen the foundation of the Tamarind Tree which has fallen down in an area of Cole Bay.

The Minister will be scheduling a visit soon to meet with community council representatives and other stakeholders in the format of a town hall meeting.

"My back to basics approach means dealing with community problems right away, especially if action can be taken immediately. Residents who have concerns in their district should contact their Community Council, but my Cabinet is also ready and willing to learn about community infrastructure concerns and have these addressed as soon as possible.

"I was hoping that the 2014 budget of the country would have received the support of all members of parliament, since it's a budget that also addresses the infrastructure concerns of the various communities," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Sunday.

Members of the Minister's Cabinet were also present during the visit to the community of Cole Bay.

PHILIPSBURG:--- President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell on Thursday last received a courtesy call from Leutenant General Dr. J.A.I (Hans) Leijtens who is also Command of the Royal Marechaussee and Resident Governor, and Drs. Erik Akerboom, Secretary General (SG) of the Dutch Ministry of Defence along with support staff. President Arrindell was introduced to the new SG and it was also his first visit to the country.

POND ISLAND:--- TelEm Group's mobile provider TelCell, has apologized to prepaid customers for a prolonged interruption in service Saturday.

TelCell prepaid customers were left without service shortly after midnight Saturday when a card located on the pre-paid switch failed and a backup unit also failed to take up the load of the faulty card.

With the assistance of equipment vendors working remotely from the USA, TelEm Group technicians and engineers went through various troubleshooting exercises and were able to identify the problem with the backup unit and also were able to replace the faulty equipment part.

The service was restored at 2:23pm Saturday afternoon after rebooting and reconfiguration. Once back online, TelCell sent an SMS message to customers informing them of the outage and apologizing for the interruption in service.

Manager, Mobile Networks, Mr. Julien Lake, said the interruption was caused by a "freak coincidence" of failures affecting first the primary switch and the backup unit that is designed to provide redundancy to the primary switch.

"The chance of a recurrence of a double failure of equipment such as this is very, very slim," assured Mr. Lake.

Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Mr. Eldert Louisa said a full report about the double failure will be compiled and discussed with the equipment vendor with a view to providing a quicker response should a similar failure occur in the future.

"We are taking this outage very seriously because of the number of customers who were affected and I would personally like to apologize to all customers affected for any inconvenience caused," said Mr. Louisa.

TELEM Press Release

EBENEZER:--- While most families were spending time together on the first day of the 2014, thirty volunteers from the St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation spent January 1 entertaining and treating seniors at St. Martin's Home - a tradition that the foundation has been embarking on for the past ten years.

The extensive and entertaining programme began with a prayer. A New Year's cake was then cut and shared among clients and staffers.

Volunteers danced and sang for (and with) clients in a fun karaoke session; treated them to a lion dance performance and performed a skit about "three blessing men." The skit conveyed the message that love is the most important thing to have in a home.

Volunteers also delivered a special sign language performance, which clients followed.

The curtains closed on the celebrations with volunteers presenting 67 gift packages containing Dettol soap, Vicks VapoRub, a teddy bear, toothbrush, rice crackers, art drawing, colouring book, water, snack, instant coffee, etc to clients and 29 gift packages to staffers valued at US $1,296.

Tzu Chi volunteers are always grateful for the opportunity to pay homage to the country's senior citizens and felt that doing so for the New Year was extra special.

PHILIPSBURG:--- "It is rather unfortunate a signature is missing from the approved 2014 national budget of Country Sint Maarten.

"While the reason for the missing signature is being sorted by the Government, the Council of Ministers and President of Parliament signed the necessary letters the same night (Thursday, 16 January) of budget approval, and provided these together with the relevant documents to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of General Affairs.

"In regards to the one week extension to sort matters out from the sake of the Kingdom Council of Ministers, I want to state that I appreciate very much the understanding and willingness of the aforementioned Council to grant the Council of Ministers the one week extension.

"After having a successful workweek in the recent IPOK with colleagues from the Dutch First and Second Chambers of Parliament, having a good personal contact can go a long way in bridging any bumps or misunderstandings in issues affecting our countries within the framework agreed upon," President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell said on Saturday.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The OSPP has listened with keen attention to the 2014 budget debate and has concluded that the information shared with the public as it pertains to the parliament of St. Maarten was nothing more than a theatrical display. It is very unfortunate that the people of St. Maarten feels that their position is not going to be any better with the type of leadership displayed in the debate. The people were hoping to hear the plans to improve on creating new jobs and new businesses; how the food prices (cost of living) were going to go down; providing them with relief from taxes to lowering GEBE bills; building new homes at affordable rent; establishing a health insurance, a mandatory private pension plan; an unemployment benefit program and a proper functioning transportation system. The people expected that the government together with parliament would have shown some type of compassion for the tough times that they are going through in these trying times. It is very unfortunate that the government and parliament didn't cease this opportunity to present the people with hope, a social agenda that must take center stage over the next four years if our people are to improve on their quality of life here in St. Maarten.
The government and the parliament were bent on criticizing each other for things that could have been done but was not done for the people. Criticism was levied against the proposal from the previous minister of finance regarding the tax relief for the people prior to 2006. Neither the government nor parliament indicated if the proper legislation was going to put in place for this relief if it was not done in accordance to proper procedure. According to one of the members of parliament only the Receivers Office and parliament can write off taxes. Then how is it possible that a couple of months ago a motion were approved by the same parliament to extend the same tax relief to 2010 and that member voted for it. Who are fooling who here and this parliament should not under estimate the intelligence of the public. During this same budget debate several motions were passed but the public didn't get an indication from the government during the debate what their position were on those motions.
The OSPP has indicated from day one that the salaries of the members of parliaments should be slashed. The performance of parliament, according to their annual reports over the last three years, is a clear indication that their salaries should be reduced. Therefore, we were somewhat taking aback that the members of parliament didn't support the motion to cut their salary. Instead they choose to laugh about a serious matter as that. But it is our feeling that this motion was clearly an indication to mislead the people. It was never the intention, not even from the initiator of this motion for it to be taken seriously in the parliamentary debate. It was dead before arrival. Yet, our members of parliament are satisfied that because of the 2014 budget that they approved, the services to the general public in every area have been cut drastically. Shame on you parliament our people deserves better.

OSPP Press Release

BELVEDERE:--- On Saturday, January 18, 2014 the 21st edition of the annual SMSEF Interscholastic Soccer Tournament started at the Johan Cruijff Court in Belvedere. A total of 14 schools, registering 38 teams, will be participating in this year. The official opening ceremony started mid-morning at 11:15 a.m. after three games had been played; the first game had started at 9:00 a.m.
The opening ceremony was attended by the honorable Prime Minister, Sarah Wescot-Williams, the honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs, Patricia Lourens-Philip and the Tournament's new sponsor representing TelEm, CCO Brian Mingo.
In his opening speech St. Maarten Soccer Educational Foundation (SMSEF) President David Forsythe announced that the organization will start to bring soccer to the districts of Sint Maarten to enable the kids in the neighborhoods to play the sport close to home. This initiative is part of an USONA funded project and also involves basketball and netball. In order to make this possible existing courts will be fixed up or established starting in the following districts: St. Peter's, Cay Bay and Simpson Bay Village.
Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams was honored by SMSEF for her years of support to the organization, especially in regard to the Interscholastic Soccer Tournament, and was made an Honorary Member of the SMSEF.
The Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs, Patricia Lourens-Philip, opened the tournament by performing the official kick-off.
To involve all the participating schools in the official opening, the schools were asked to select two players from each team to participate in a penalty shoot-out. SMSEF was pleased that all schools attended and participated in this event. The following winners went home with a prize: 18+U Girls M.P.C. Sarah Courtar, 15+U St. Dominic High School Brandon Potmis, 13+U Leonald Connor Austel Richardson, 11+U Sr. Magda Quincy Wijngaarde, 9+U Sr. Magda Oliver de Vries, 7+U Learning Unlimited Sergio Vasseur, 13+U Girls Sr. Regina Aichelle Peters.

Opening Day results:

7+U age group category:
In the 7+U category Sr. Magda Rockstars played against Learning Unlimited Strikers. The game was full of energy and both sides went all out. Sr. Magda, however, had more luck in finding the back of the net. After the first half Sr. Magda had a 5 – 0 lead. The end result was Sr. Magda Rockstars 7 – 0 Learning Unlimited Strikers. Top scorer Sr. Magda Rockstars was Azaniah Oduber with 3 goals. In the same category Learning Unlimited Hotshots forfeited the game to Sr. Magda Greenboys.

9+U age group category:
In the 9+U category Sr. Magda Energetics faced newcomer Sr. Borgia. Sr. Borgia did not suffer any nervousness. The team was clearly well prepared and ready to play, resulting in a very exciting game for all involved, as well as the spectators. The lead kept switching between the teams. At half time Sr. Borgia had the lead with 3 – 2. Sr. Magda Energetics did not give up and in the end both teams went home winners with a well deserved tie 5 – 5. Top scorer for Sr. Magda Energetics was Jorginho Singodikromo with 4 goals. Top Scorer for Sr. Borgia was Amedeus Aventurin with 3 goals.
The second game in the 9+U category was between Sr. Regina and Leonald Connor. Leonald Connor is rebuilding its team with a lot of new faces after most of last year's players promoted to another age group. Sr. Regina, on the other hand can still count on a number of experienced players to carry the torch this year. The Sr. Regina 'veterans' did not disappoint. The team took a 7 – 0 lead in the first half and added 3 more in the second half for a final result of Sr. Regina 10 – 0 Leonald Connor. Top scorer for Sr. Regina was Thomas Bouman with 6 goals and 1 assist.

11+U age group category:
In the 11 +U category Sr. Magda FC faced Leonald Connor. After the first half the score was close Sr. Magda FC 2 – Leonald Connor 1. In the second half Sr. Magda FC stepped it up, adding 4 more goals, allowing 1 more for Leonald Connor. The end result was Sr. Magda FC 6 – 2 Leonald Connor. Top scorers Sr. Magda FC were Quincy Wijngaarde with 4 goals and Jeahru Richardson with 2 goals and 2 assists. The goal scorers for Leonald Connor were Gamy Charles in the first half and Hemproy Williams in the second half.

13+U age group category:
In the 13+U category Sr. Magda went up against Hillside Christian. The game was a nail biter. From start to finish the two teams kept each other in check. At half time Hillside Christian claimed the lead with 3 – 2 and even extending its lead to 4 – 2 in the second half. Sr. Magda showed character and battled back, scoring two goals to tie the game 4 – 4. Hillside Christian managed to put another one in the back of the net and time was running out for Sr. Magda. However, in the last minutes of the game Sr. Magda succeeded in putting another one between the posts. Both teams went home with a well deserved tie 5 -5. Top scorers for Sr. Magda were Jadon Gumbs with 3 goals and 1 assist and Gabriel de Vries with 2 goals and 2 assists. Top scorer for Hillside Christian was Khalid Tavernier with 3 goals.

Girls 13+U age group category:
The first game in the Girls 13+U category was played between last year's champion Sr. Regina and the up- and coming Girls of Sr. Magda. Sr. Magda managed to surprise Sr. Regina with quick early goal in the first half by Annabelle Verheij after an assist by Rawlisha Busby. The shock did not last long and Sr. Regina quickly started to dominate the game. Leading the Sr. Regina's offense was last year's top scorer Aichelle Peters. In the first half she got Sr. Regina back in the game by scoring the equalizer and assisting in the go-ahead goal. At halftime the score was Sr. Magda 1 – 4 Sr. Regina. In the second half Sr. Magda tried to find a way to break the Sr. Regina's defense, opening up for more counter attacks by Sr. Regina. Where Sr. Magda did not succeed to find the net, Sr. Regina kept capitalizing each opportunity. The final result was Sr. Magda 1 – 10 Sr. Regina. Top scorer for Sr. Regina was Aichelle Peters with 4 goals and 2 assists.
The second game in the Girls 13+U category was a match between Leonald Connor and Hillside Christian. Both teams played hard and created opportunities, but they both had a hard time putting the ball between the posts. Toward the end of the first half, Hillside Christian was awarded a penalty kick, which Desreena Boston was able to put in the back of the net, giving Hillside Christian a 1 – 0 lead. Leonald Connor kept attacking but had no luck scoring the equalizer. The final result was Leonald Connor 0 – 1 Hillside Christian.

Girls 18+U age group category:
From all the schools only M.P.C. registered an 18+U Girls team. In order to encourage this development, SMSEF found opponents for the M.P.C. Girls to play during the Interscholastic Soccer Tournament. Even though their opponents are not in their age group, it will give them the opportunity to play the game, to learn and to improve. It is SMSEF's hope that more secondary schools will follow next year.
The M.P.C. Girls played their opening game versus Soualiga FC Blue. It was the M.P.C. Girls first match on the Johan Cruijff Court. They started a little unsure in the first half, but after half time and talking to their coach Albert Gomes, they came out with more confidence and determination, succeeding to win more duels on the pitch and making some nice plays. However, M.P.C. did not manage to score a goal as yet. Experienced Soualiga FC Blue had less trouble finding the back of the net, scoring 6 times in the first half and 5 times in the second half, for a final result of M.P.C. Girls 0 – 11 Soualiga FC Blue. Top scorer for Soualiga FC Blue was Kerine Palmer with 4 goals.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Division Study Financing announces that persons interested in attending Johnson & Wales University in the United States are invited to an information session on Tuesday.

The information session will be held at the University of St. Martin (USM) on Tuesday, 21 January from 7:00pm to 9:00pm.

The Director of Caribbean and Latin American Relations for Johnson & Wales University, Victor Silva will also be visiting various high schools to provide potential students with information from Monday, 20 January to Wednesday, 22 January.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), hereby announces that there will be a partial closure of the Simpson Bay Causeway Bridge at midnight for two hours from January 24 to January 26.

There will be no through traffic on the Causeway Bridge between midnight and 2:00am from January 24 to January 26.

The closure is in connection with some bridge works that need to be carried out.

Motorists are requested to be vigilant and observant for the traffic directional signs.

Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience that this may cause.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Permanent Committee of Parliament for Finance will meet in a closed door session on January 21 with the Committee of Financial Supervision CFT.

The committee will meet on Tuesday at 10:15am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point for session is the financial situation of country Sint Maarten.

PM: "Considering that every sector is interconnected we need to have our focus on Sustainable Development and the four pillars that support it"

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams has again highlighted cooperation as one of the main focuses moving forward into the coming months with regards to projects and programs of Government. She especially stressed stakeholder involvement when discussing the projects and programs of Government. "My view and my vision as Prime Minister for this Country, and also the view and vision for the Democratic Party is that when we are discussing new programs and projects for St. Maarten we all need to sit together and see the implications associated with moving this country forward. When you have the pressure in getting the Budget ready for example you do not have the time to focus on matters that need full attention. One of these items is the public health of St. Maarten and especially considering the costs associated to that. Some time ago the Government studied and evaluated the introduction of a National Health Insurance for St. Maarten. Firstly our health system is very fragmented at the moment and in addition to that there is a large percentage of the population uninsured. It has actually been calculated that 30%, or one third of the population, has no health coverage. We also worked on looking at the cost, and being better able to control the cost, of healthcare itself on the island. These are things that we, as Government, should discuss with our stakeholders. If we do not do this people will be too critical of it and it will not work. And therefore the vision of myself as Prime Minister, and the Democratic Party of St. Maarten is about wide scale community discussions on various matters. We need to be able to inform the public ahead of time. When items are being criticized by the St. Maarten population they are right in doing so because as a Government we need to think in 2013 for what we need to do in 2015. The vision of the Democratic Party is that this country has grown and we need to be constantly on the ball. We need to move forward for St. Maarten in the direction this country needs to move to," emphasized the Prime Minister.

Similarly the Prime Minister expressed that it is also her view, and that of the DP, that the main focus regarding the future of St. Maarten should rest on the four pillars of Sustainable Development; "Considering that every sector is interconnected we need to have our focus on Sustainable Development and the four pillars that support it. These four pillars that I want to focus on are Economy, the need to grow economically to provide the jobs and income so necessary for the island; also we cannot look at anything we do on St. Maarten without balancing the environment and taking our natural resources into consideration; thirdly we need to look at the social development of St. Maarten; and number four we need to focus on proper Governance. And it is keeping this in mind and focusing on these four pillars of Sustainable Development that we can build the St. Maarten we all want to see," emphasized the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

Says Budget Discussions should be About Educating the Population and Not About Incorrect Statements Made For Popularity's Sake

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams thanked the Members of Parliament who voted for the passing of the Budget 2014 and clarified points specifically related to the Budget as it was passed: "I would like to specifically thank all of the Factions in Parliament that saw the importance in having the Budget approved so that we can continue with the Governing of the Country. Most Factions in Parliament understood that, while it is necessary for Parliament to deliberate on the Budget we, as a Country were facing a deadline. A Budget is a management tool, a tool by which you govern and the later the Budget is ratified the less effective that tool is as was the case in 2013. That is why we wanted to get the 2013 Budget out of the way and focus on the 2014 Budget.

"The CFT gave Government until the 16th of January to have the Budget approved. Last Thursday, as the Budget was being discussed in Parliament, the CFT already sent a letter to the Kingdom Government saying that Parliament was in the process of approving the Budget and it was expected to be approved later that day. If that would not have been the case the CFT would then have given an advice to give an instruction. Perhaps this could have been a cut in personnel or a cut in salaries," clarified the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister also highlighted that it was through cooperation and mutual understanding of the importance to have the Budget passed on time. "While there was an MP who referred to the Budget as a CFT Budget, this is not the case. There were some discussions but that can be considered politics. During the Parliamentary discussions I was kindly telling the Members of Parliament for us to use the opportunity of the debate on the Budget to educate our people. Let us not say things that are incorrect because they are the popular thing to say. Let us be honest with our people. If you want to provide the people of St. Maarten let us explain what is being done and give the information," stressed the Prime Minister.

The PM concluded by informing the population that the next step with regards to the Budget is that it now has to be signed off by the Governor and has to be sent for final review to the CFT: "Although we have congratulated each other last night that Parliament approved the Budget it is not yet ready however; the Governor, since the Budget is a National Ordinance, has to go to the CFT to make sure that we stick within the norms and laws Governing the Budget. Once we get the final nod we would have created an opening to look for loans to borrow and to invest in capital projects. So that if tomorrow we want to do a total revamp or rehabilitation of our road network for example, we can start to look at moving forward with this," concluded the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

Departments Already Making Use of Building

PHILIPSBURG:--- On her Weekly Radio Program One on One with the Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams announced that it is her projection that the Government can start moving into the new Government Building this year, perhaps as early as the mid part of 2014.

"My projection is that the opening of the Building can happen this year. We will probably be moving Government into the building in phases. The building is already being used for the archives of some departments and behind the scenes preparations are starting for the large move into the building. Landscaping is being done and the cosmetic adjustments are also being finalized. Block D is also in the process of being developed and a plan is being discussed regarding the staged moving in and furnishing of the building. I hope to see type of action regarding the move of Government offices and by summer we should be seeing some serious movement with regards to the Government building," said the PM.

The Prime Minister's Radio Program One on One with the Prime Minister broadcasts live on 98.1 Pearl FM from nine to ten in the morning. Listeners are urged to interact with the Prime Minister through calling in on 5430462 or via sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams and the management and staff of St. Maarten Optical donated specialized protective eye-wear to the Philipsburg bike patrol at a ceremony on Friday afternoon. Every year St. Maarten Optical chooses a group from within the community that it feels gives a special service to give a donation to. This year, in cooperation with Prime Minister Wescot-Williams, the decision was made to make a donation of specialized protective sunglasses to the Philipsburg Bike Patrol. Some thirty officers were given the Oakley brand 100% UV protected polycarbonate wrap-around sunglasses to protect from sun, dust, glare and debris they might encounter while in the field protecting the population of and visitors to St. Maarten.

The Prime Minister congratulated both St. Maarten Optical for their work as well as thanked the police officers for their continued service to the people of St. Maarten: "Allow me to use this opportunity to congratulate the management and staff of St. Maarten optical with this wonderful presentation once again. This is a commitment that Mr. and Mrs. Heemskerk have made in terms of donating to the community of St. Maarten in, amongst other places the schools of the island. It was through these school donations where the initial discussions were had with me in order to make this presentation possible today. I think that the selection of the bike patrol officers for the receipt of this type of protective eye-wear is important and necessary considering the important work they do keeping the population safe. To the officers I would like to also say congratulations and thank you for your service and I hope with this donation your work in protecting the population of St. Maarten is a little easier," commented the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Voluntary Corps of Sint Maarten (VKS) kicked off the New Year with a Church Service held recently at the Philipsburg Methodist Church.

The service was lively with contributions from the Methodist Church Choir, the Boys and Girls Brigade, Philipsburg Community Brass Band, and a song by the newly VKS Choir. The latter was put together with the help of Esther Davis-Roach. The sermon was done by Brother James Ferris.

The service which was very well attended, Brother Ferris called upon the VKS to lead by example in both their professional and private lives in order for morality and good conduct to spread throughout the organization.

Acting Commander of the VKS Captain Paul Martens emphasized that one expression presented by Brother Ferris, "Look ahead, press forward," would be the theme of the VKS for 2014.

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten:--- The friendly island of St. Maarten/St. Martin (www.vacationstmaarten.com) has been named the fourth best Caribbean island in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards, as chosen by readers of USA Today and 10Best.

"St. Maarten is an island that is as unique as it is beautiful and our selection by USA Today readers as one of the top five islands in the Caribbean affirms our haven as an idyllic paradise for travelers of all ages," said Edward Dest, interim director of tourism for the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau.

St. Maarten came in fourth place in the poll, after Puerto Rico, Curacao and Dominica.

St. Maarten/St. Martin is home to 37 square miles of breathtaking beaches and boasts numerous historical and family-oriented attractions. During the day, watersport enthusiasts can take full advantage of the island's scuba diving and snorkeling facilities, while the capital of Philipsburg offers duty-free shopping with a bustling city atmosphere. 14 world-class, Vegas-style casinos and many nightclubs provide endless entertainment.

With the widest variety of dining experiences, compared to any other island in the world, Dutch and French St. Maarten offer a wide range of international and local cuisines with more than 365 restaurants. It is also the only Caribbean island with more than one establishment ranked on TripAdvisor's Travelers' Favorite Fine Dining Restaurants - Caribbean 2013 list, defining the destination as a stand-out culinary experience for visitors and reinforcing its reputation as the gastronomic capital of the Caribbean.

For more information on St. Maarten, visit the official site of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau at www.VacationStMaarten.com.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- During a closed door session with the Second Chamber Committee of Kingdom Relations and 10 Kingdom ambassadors in the Caribbean and Latin American region, it was discussed how to work closer together not only in the economic field but also in the fields of medicine and education.

Sint Maarten needs to strengthen its economic ties within the region and find ways to take advantage of the economic growth in Latin American and Central American markets, where it is sometimes cheaper to import products from.

The matter of visas for visitors and investors was discussed as was brought forward by St. Maarten at the IPKO meeting in Curacao.

The following points will be on the agenda of next year's Conference that might possibly be held on Sint Maarten, economic possibilities, energy, and children's rights.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago:--- The NAGICO Super50 Tournament was officially launched by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)in the tournament's host country of Trinidad on Thursday during a press conference held in the ballroom of the Queen's Park Oval Stadium; Port of Spain.
It was in this setting that the NAGICO St. Maarten delegation; consisting of CEO designate; Dwayne Elgin, Executive Marketing Manager; Paul Dijkhoffz and Christopher Henriques, General Manager NAGICO Trinidad & Tobago together with President and CEO of the WICB, Michael Muirhead and President of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), Azim Bassarath addressed the media; giving details of the new partnership and the upcoming tournament.
Mr. Elgin explained that NAGICO has a passion for cricket which is reinforced by the Group's Chairman; Mr. Imran McSood Amjad and this was demonstrated through the company's over 10 year sponsorship of the annual Leeward Island Cricket Association (LICA) 50 Overs tournament.
"For 10 years we were the headline sponsors for the LICA tournament, but we felt that with the expansion of NAGICO in the wider Caribbean, the time was ripe for us to sponsor something on a larger, more regional scale, that would benefit the development of regional cricket, especially the islands in which we operate," he said. "It is our hope that with this sponsorship of West Indies cricket we will see a resurgence in West Indies cricket.
CEO of the WICB, Michael Muirhead lauded NAGICO for taking such a bold step in sponsoring the tournament something that was much needed. "In this present economic climate when many companies are being forced to cut back, NAGICO has taken a step to sponsor the WICB Regional Super50 tournament officially named the "NAGICO Super50" and has made that commitment to West Indies cricket for the next 3 years, which should be applauded" he said.
The NAGICO Super50 tournament runs from January 30 - February 15 and will be broadcasted live on ESPN and on Caribbean Super Station radio and streamed live on www.windiescricket.com. Go to www.facebook.com/Nagico-Insurances to download an official match schedule.

Match Schedule:
January 30: Windwards vs Jamaica
January 31: Guyana vs Ireland
February 1: Leewards vs CCC
February 2: T&T vs Barbados
February 3: Jamaica vs Ireland
February 4: Guyana vs Windwards
February 5: Leewards vs T&T
February 6: CCC vs Barbados
February 7: Ireland vs Windwards
February 8: Guyana vs Jamaica
February 9: CCC vs T&T
February 10: Barbados vs Leewards
February 12: Semi-final 1 – Zone A winner vs Zone B second
February 13: Semi-final 2 – Zone B winner vs Zone A second
February 15: FINAL – Winner of Semi-final 1 vs Winner of Semi-final 2.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Permanent Committee for Justice of the House of Parliament is scheduled to meet January 20 regarding a draft Electoral Reconciliation Ordinance.

The public committee session is set for Monday at 10:00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

A presentation will be given by Julio Romney regarding a draft Electoral Reconciliation Ordinance.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com, and also via www.sxmparliament.org.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The University of St. Martin (USM) and the College financieel toezicht (Cft) are collaborating once again in organizing an informative lecture on the theme "Healthy Public Finance, a Foundation for Growth".
This lecture will focus on how we can build a solid foundation for sustainable growth in the Caribbean as part of the Dutch kingdom.
Keynote speaker for the lecture will be Professor Age Bakker, Chairman of the College financieel toezicht.
Professor Bakker will be addressing among others the comparison of the financial supervision between Curacao/St. Maarten and the Euro area, the budget surplus/deficits within the kingdom, the debt ratios between the kingdom and the challenges the countries within the kingdom are facing to balance their budget.
The Dean of Academic Affairs of the University of St. Martin, Mr. Francio Guadeloupe stated that In these times of developing the country status of St. Maarten, and all the issues related to the passing of the island budget, the University of St. Martin is committed to offering clear information to its student body and the general public. All Business and Hospitality students are encouraged to attend this lecture.
Key figures within the Ministries of Finance and Economic development and the business community are confirmed to attend this lecture.
The lecture is scheduled for Monday January 20th, 2014 in the USM lecture hall (room 202) at 7:00pm. The general public is encouraged to attend.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication Hon. Ted Richardson is very pleased with the news coming out of the Caribbean Travel Marketplace this week that Sint Maarten is one of the country's leading growth in Caribbean travel demand.

Demand for travel according to Expedia to the Caribbean region grew 20 per cent in the first three quarters of 2013, with the fastest growing markets being Sint Maarten/St. Martin at 35 per cent and Dominican Republic with 33 per cent when compared to the first three quarters of 2012.

The Caribbean Travel Marketplace started on January 12 and concluded on the 14th. It took place in Montego Bay Convention Centre, Jamaica.

The other countries named in the Expedia report were St. Lucia at 24 per cent, followed by Aruba with 21 per cent. In addition, travel demand for the Caribbean grew mostly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

"Government and the private sector have been working hard in doing what has to be done to promote the destination. We do all have our challenges; however, the efforts by all are paying off.

"I would like to commend the private sector for their efforts and to continue to do all they can in promoting the destination in North and Latin America as well as in Europe.

"One of the most important attraction to visitors to our destination is the hospitality of the people who work day and night in the tourism sector as well as the population overall. Continue to be courteous and helpful in providing service because your contributions have also contributed to putting our country in the lead," Minister Hon. Ted Richardson said on Thursday.

In 2013 there were over 1,240 delegates; in terms of buyers, 20 countries were represented; suppliers, 30 countries were represented.

POND ISLAND:--- TelEm Group's Sales team recently took delivery of five brand new vehicles to better serve the company's business and residential clients in 2014.

The vehicles were purchased from a local vendor and were quickly put into service on the first business day of the year 2014.

Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Brian Mingo (center) and Manager, Marketing & Sales, Mr. Emile van der Weerd (right) were on hand to accept the vehicles on behalf of the Commercial Department. The vehicles will be distributed to the Sales team, two of whom, David Evans (3rd from left) and Cherrelyn Jermain (3rd from right) were also present along with Manager Sales, Mrs. Lucrecia P. Lynch, (2nd from left) during a short handing over ceremony.
Also present were Manager, Purchasing and Vehicles, (2nd from right), Mr. Olav Reed and Vehicles Officer, Mr. Conrad Richardson (left).

"We are delighted that management has approved the purchase of five brand new vehicles in our favorite red color so that our sales team can work with the tools they deserve," said Mr. van der Weerd.

He said the new vehicles are a great morale booster to the department's Account Managers, who are planning more face to face contact with customers and clients in their 2014 sales drive.

TELEM Press Release

MARIGOT:--- A motorcycle accident has left a 42 year old man from French Quarter dead. According to information reaching SMN News, the man identified as Olivier Jedeo (42) was riding his motorcycle leaving French Quarter to go to Marigot when he slammed into a truck while overtaking a car on Orient Bay main road.

Captain of the Gendarmerie Sylvian Joualt confirmed that the man died on spot leaving his relatives in shock as he had just left his home to prepare for a ceremony for his new born child.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a government agency under the Ministry of Public Health, says that a second cycle of emergency mosquito fogging will start for the following districts South Reward, St. Peters and Ebenezer on Friday afternoon after 5:00pm and would be completed in a couple of days.

Homeowners during the time of the spraying should open all doors and windows. Dishes, bowls, pots and pans, fish tanks and bird cages should be covered. Stay away from open windows and doors during the spraying.

The fogging exercise is an effort by Government in fighting the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes which can transmit Dengue and Chikungunya viruses if infected. Chikungunya is similar to dengue.

Residents must bear in mind that fogging is not a total solution to eliminate mosquitoes. Fogging activity is kept to a minimum in order to prevent the mosquito population from developing immunity to the chemicals that are deployed.

Residents are strongly advised to continue to step up measures at homes and businesses to mitigate the rise in the viruses carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Aedes agypti mosquitoes lay their eggs in clean stagnant water. The diseases attributed to the mosquito are dengue and chikungunya. In order to mitigate the number of cases, elimination of mosquito breeding places and preventing mosquitoes from feeding are priority actions. "All, against Mosquitoes."

Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius de Weever, "Get Checked" campaign, is in line with the urgent efforts currently on-going eliminate breeding sites of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is most active at dawn and dusk, but residents and visitors should use mosquito repellent throughout the day in order to ward off mosquitoes.

An increase in the mosquito population puts all residents and businesses at risk. Call for information on the Aedes Aegypti mosquito breeding sites and respective preventive measures at 542-2078 or 542-3003 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Consult your physician to ensure proper diagnosis, registration, treatment and follow-up.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Plenary public meeting of the House of Parliament will continues on January 16th regarding the 2014 draft national budget.

The public plenary session is set for Thursday at 10:00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The main agenda point is the national 2014 draft budget. The Council of Ministers will be available to answer questions with respect to their ministerial responsibilities and budget allocations.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com, and also via www.sxmparliament.org.

MAHO:--- On January 9, 2014, the Mental Health Foundation celebrated the New Year 2014 and was honored by the participation of the Minister of Public Health Social Affairs and Labor. The board and staff were also joined by the newly established Mental Health Caregivers and Patients Association board Mrs. Claire Elshot, Miriam Haar, and Minerva Pinto.
Celebrations took place at Soprano's in Maho who treated the staff with a wonderful dinner in a great ambiance.
Minister de Weever, commended the board and staff for their efforts on behalf of the patients, their ability to multi task in difficult times providing the best possible care. He also mentioned that budget constraints are inevitable and thanked the foundations staff for understanding.
Claire Elshot, also thanked the foundation for a job well done and welcomed the cooperation between the council and the MHF. She also acknowledged the efforts made by the secretary of the foundation Miriam Haar and the treasurer Minerva Pinto in establishing and providing for the continuation of the council.
Dr. Holiday also thanked the staff of the foundation for the work done in 2013 and sincerely hoped the foundation will be able to continue the work in good harmony for the benefit of the patients.
The highlights of the foundation in 2013 was the launching of the anti-stigma spots on radio, TV, in the media and on the blogs, and the Transforming Care Congress in the Westin Resort, attended by 200 international, regional and local participants.
The amount of patients seen in 2013 was approximately 900.
Board, management and staff express their gratitude to all who supported the work of the foundation in 2013 and prays for continued support in 2014.

MAHO:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams highlighted resolve and solidarity in her opening remarks at the 53rd annual West Indies Baptist Fellowship Conference 2014 held at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort. The event, which featured delegates from around the Caribbean region, is an annual conference where Baptists congregations from across the region share ideas and fellowship.

After her introduction by Valerie Brazier, in which she highlighted the Prime Minister's contribution to the political and social development of St. Maarten the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of fellowship and resolve and its importance within the community: "I would like to welcome all here tonight and indeed highlight that if there is any place that is special enough to host this conference than it is definitely our lovely home of St. Maarten. However, having said that, I must also highlight that my mother, who will be celebrating her 93rd birthday was born on the island of Anguilla. I highlight this, as I would like to emphasize that if we have a strong foundation, a strong fellowship and if we are at once in solidarity with one another as well as with our savior we can overcome each obstacle, each hurdle that comes across our path.

"So in a very special way I would like to thank you for attending this event, I would like to thank the local churches and congregations for helping to organize this wonderful occasion, and I would like to encourage a fruitful discussion and information exchange in the days to come. Draw strength and support from your beliefs and from one another and may this country continue on the principles of the Christian Faith and move forward in solidarity," commented the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

By Lasana M. Sekou

GREAT BAY/MARIGOT:--- The American revolutionary writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism, died on January 9, 2014, at the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, where he was hospitalized last December. He was 79.

At House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP) the passing of the great man, teacher, and friend saddens us tremendously. The confidence he showed in publishing two of his books in St. Martin with HNP continues to encourage us in our work and becomes part of his international legacy.

In the USA, "he inspired generations of poets, playwrights and musicians, and his immersion in spoken word traditions and raw street language anticipated rap, hip-hop and slam poetry. The FBI feared him to the point of flattery, identifying Baraka as 'the person who will probably emerge as the leader of the Pan-African movement in the United States,'" wrote america.aljazeera.com on Thursday, adding that he was "as controversial as he was admired."

Amiri Baraka was born on October 7, 1934, in Newark, New Jersey, USA. The author of over 40 books of essays, poems, drama, and music history and criticism, Baraka was a poet icon and revolutionary political activist who recited poetry and lectured on cultural and political issues extensively in the USA, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe.

With influences on his work ranging from musical orishas such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Theophilus Monk, and Sun Ra to the Cuban Revolution, Malcolm X and world revolutionary movements, Baraka is renown as the founder of the Black Arts Movement in Harlem in the 1960s that became, though short-lived, the virtual blueprint for a new American theater aesthetics.

The movement and his published and performance work, such as the signature study on African-American music, Blues People (1963) and the play Dutchman (1963) practically seeded "the cultural corollary to black nationalism" of that revolutionary American milieu. Baraka would endure as "a major political, cultural and academic figure for more than five decades," said Trinidadian economist David Abdulah upon hearing of his death.

Other titles range from Selected Poetry of Amiri Baraka/LeRoi Jones (1979), to The Music (1987), a fascinating collection of poems and monographs on Jazz and Blues authored by Baraka and his wife and poet Amina, his boldly sortied essays, The Essence of Reparations (2003), and Razor (2011).

Published in St. Martin, The Essence of Reparations is Baraka's first published collection of essays in book form radically exploring what is sure to become a twenty-first century watershed movement of Black peoples to the interrelated issues of racism, national oppression, colonialism, neo-colonialism, self-determination and national and human liberation, which he has long been addressing creatively and critically. It has been said that Amiri Baraka is committed to social justice like no other American writer. He has taught at Yale, Columbia, and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Baraka's most controversial works in recent years include the poem "Somebody Blew Up America," which appears in Somebody Blew Up America & Other Poems, his first poetry book published in the Caribbean.

According to another great man of letters, Kamau Brathwaite, "The publication of Amiri Baraka's Somebody Blew Up America & Other Poems makes one more mark in the development in modern Black radical & revolutionary cultural reconstruction."
The title poem actually headlined Baraka in the media in ways rare to poets and authors.

The recital of the poem "that mattered" engaged the poet warrior in a battle royal with the very governor of New Jersey and with a legion of detractors demanding his resignation as the state's Poet Laureate because of "Somebody Blew Up America's" provocatively poetic inquiry (in a few lines of the poem) about who knew beforehand about the New York City World Trade Center bombings in 2001. The poem's own detonation caused the author's photo and words to be splashed across the pages of New York's Amsterdam News and The New York Times and to be featured on CNN – to name a few US city, state and national and international media.

Baraka lived in Newark with his wife and author Amina Baraka, and their children. Amiri and Amina had also headed up the word-music ensemble, Blue Ark: The Word Ship and co-direct Kimako's Blues People, the 'artspace' housed in their theater basement for some fifteen years.

His awards and honors include an Obie, the American Academy of Arts & Letters award, the James Weldon Johnson Medal for contributions to the arts, Rockefeller Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts grants, Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, an African Diaspora Youth Development Foundation plaque, and the Poet Laureate of New Jersey.

SIMPSON BAY:--- The Mangrove Management of the area surrounding the Simpson Bay Causeway has resulted in approximately 7850 new mangroves in the Simpson Bay Lagoon. During the initial phase of the construction of the Simpson Bay Causeway the Nature Foundation, SLAC, Ministry VROMI and Volkers Stevin held wide-scale consultations on how to best mitigate the effects the removal of mangroves will have on the ecosystem of the Simpson Bay Lagoon. In the initial stage of the project juvenile mangroves were removed and were replanted at various locations around the island. Follow-up stages included reforestation techniques, monitoring, replanting initiatives and ecosystem management of the area. Based on all of these initiatives a total of 7850 new mangroves covering an area of 600 square meters was recorded during follow-up monitoring on the 13th of January. This is considered a successful reforestation project and one of the most successful mangrove reforestation initiatives on St. Maarten to date.

Mangrove forests are under severe pressure and disappearing at an alarming rate and it is estimated that about 60% of the total mangrove areas have disappeared. All four species of mangroves were recorded at the Causeway namely Rhizophora mangle (Red mangrove), Avicennia germinans (Black mangrove), Laguncularia racemosa (White Mangrove) and Conocarpus erectus (Buttonwood).

Invertebrates were also recorded including Queen Conch (Strombus gigas), Cushion Stars (Oreaster reticulata), Sea Cucumber (Holothuria mexicana), and the Upside Down Jellyfish (Cassiopeia frondosa).

Mangroves also act as a filter for water being washed off the land by preventing harmful sediments from smothering the coral reefs, including those of the Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area. By establishing themselves successfully, the mangrove trees have the potential to become a thriving habitat for many other plants and animals as well as an important nursery for many species of fish. Fish using the mangroves as a nursery include Schoolmasters (Lutjanus apodus), Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus), Great Barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) and the Foureye butterfly (Chaetodon capistratus).

Additional Mangroves will be planted on the western edge of the Causeway landing with the support of all stakeholders and constant follow-up will be done to ensure the survivability of the reforestation project.

PHILIPSBURG:--- As part of Environmental Protection in the Caribbean's (EPIC) long-term songbird monitoring efforts on both the Dutch and French sides of St. Martin, researchers observed two species which are rare for the island, the Golden-winged Warbler and the Chestnut-sided Warbler. EPIC Senior Biologist Adam Brown stated that: "While carrying out surveys for songbirds below Pic Paradis, two EPIC researchers observed a small flock of migratory birds and among them detected both a Golden-winged Warbler and a Chestnut-sided Warbler. The Golden-winged Warbler is just the second record of this migratory species for St. Martin, while the Chestnut-sided Warbler was the third record for the species on the island."

EPIC's annual island-wide research effort monitoring songbirds began in 2001, making it one of the longest ongoing songbird research efforts in the Caribbean. This year was very successful for the EPIC team as Foundation staff and volunteers were able to study hundreds of birds in the forests of the island. The team banded and released dozens of birds as well as carried out general surveys where all the birds encountered in the study site were counted. Brown noted that: "Unique to this year was the large number of hummingbirds in the forest, probably the largest number of hummingbirds EPIC has ever encountered at study sites on St. Martin. It has rained a lot over the past few months and this may have led to increased numbers of hummingbirds in some portions of the island due to the additional sources of food."

EPIC is planning to continue its songbird monitoring in 2014 as part of its wider effort to understand bird populations on St. Martin and the factors which affect them. For more information and to download reports on the birds of St. Martin, please visit EPIC's webpage www.epicislands.org or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/epicislands.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministry of Justice racked up Naf. 211,967.72 in the past six months on traveling expenses alone. The figures were given to Members of Parliament on Wednesday morning based on the questions posed by Member of Parliament Frans Richardson on Monday during the Central Committee meeting. The Ministry of General Affairs used up Naf. 54,313.55, Ministry of Finance 14, 953.64, Ministry of Education Naf. 53,656.85, Ministry of VSA (Labor and Social Affairs) Naf. 24,556.37, Ministry of TEATT Naf. 35,574.60, and the Ministry of VROMI Naf. 1,283.00.

Another startling revelation in the written response given to the Members of Parliament is the amount of monies the Government of St. Maarten is still paying to the former Ministers who formed the first and second cabinet namely SWW1 and SWW2. Former Minister Silveria Jacobs received 71,566.20 and her salary ends on June 30th, 2014, former Minister of Finance Roland Tuitt received Naf. 82,645.70 which also ends on June 30th, 2014. The first Minister of Finance who is also a civil servant but currently stays home received Naf. 202,357.86 and his salary will come to a halt on January 31st, 2014, former Minister of Education Rhoda Arrindell received Naf. 189,422.40 and her salary will also come to an end at the end of this month. Former Minister of VROMI Theo Heyliger who is now a Member of Parliament received Naf. 158,866.88 and his payment ended on October 01st, 2013, former Minister of TEATT Franklyn Meyers received Naf. 189,422.40 and his salary will come to an end on January 31st, 2014. Two former Ministers that were accused of collecting salaries after they left office were the former Minister William Marlin and former Minister Justice Roland Duncan both of whom were over the age of 60 when they left office.

There are also Members of Parliament that are still on the payroll such as Ruth Douglass who received Naf. 95, 412.55 which will end on September 30th, 2015. Also on the budget are the two former assistant Ministers of Plenipotentiary Richard Panneflek who received Naf. 29, 130,40 which will end on January 31st 2014 and Henrietta Doran York who received Naf. 56,744.81 which ends on March 31st, 2014.

At the opening of the plenary session of parliament on Wednesday the Minister of Finance gave a run down of the draft budget, while the other Ministers that were present gave PowerPoint presentations on their plan of action for the rest of their term.

Members of Parliament George Pantophlet, Dr. Lloyd Richardson, and Patrick Illidge made their presentations prior to the meeting being adjourned for lunch.

MP Richardson stressed on several concerns he has regarding the health care sector while Member of Parliament Patrick Illidge who has to face legal ramifications in the ORCA investigation said he will present a motion to build a community center for the Middle Region area. Another point of concern MP Illidge raised is the funds that were set aside for the foundation that will provide second chances for people who got themselves entangled with law.

National Alliance Members Participated in Budget Debate in Protest.

Members of the National Alliance faction in Parliament made their intentions known on the onset of Wednesday morning when they informed the chair that they will participate in the 2014 budget debate but they are doing so in protest. Independent Member of Parliament Frans Richardson also expressed the same sentiments.

The MPs informed the chair that democracy was hijacked based on how the chair handled the meeting. The MPs said the chair closed the first round of the central committee meeting prior to the Ministers answering the questions they posed to them.

MP William Marlin made clear that he did not even receive an official notification for the plenary session that was held on Wednesday. Marlin said that the questions that Members of Parliament asked on Monday were not answered by the Ministers.

Marlin posed several questions to the Ministers regarding the monies they budgeted for short-term workers, he also asked about the casino fees that were to be collected from casinos over years. He further asked about the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) that is due to civil servants. Marlin said they did not see anything budgeted in the draft budget of 2014.

Marlin also made a proposal to Parliament to limit the amount of MPs that attend Parlatino meetings overseas. He said over the past two years a number of MPs travel abroad to attend these meetings and most of the time they are not on the island. He said his proposal is to cut back on the amount of people traveling, this does not mean that they are isolating themselves, it just means that the delegation will be smaller and the traveling budget of Parliament can be cut and be used to complete the Little League Stadium. Currently, Parliament has close to Naf. 800,000.00 for its traveling expenses.

Another topic Marlin discussed is the purchasing of the Emilio Wilson Estate which the Minister of VROMI is trying to blame him for. He said while he was in office a purchase agreement was drafted and agreed upon and for some reason the SWW3 cabinet wants the harbor holding company to do the purchase. Marlin said if that is how government wants to go then when it is purchased then it must be designated to those that have to make proper use of it and protect it as one of our historical sites.

Marlin made clear that the questions posed on this particular subject was not properly answered because the Ministers in Parliament seemed to be throwing the ball from one Minister to the other, instead the one Minister who is responsible for the purchase of the project should be the one to provide the answers to Parliament.

What is the Cause of Water Shortages?

Marlin also called on the Minister of VROMI who is also in charge of GEBE to tell Parliament exactly why there is so much water shortages on the island because these shortages have been affecting several persons on the island including students and workers.

Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger reminded the chairlady of the parliament that she too can use the phrase "you do not have the word" and that she should not be intimidated by the "men" in parliament. Heyliger said some media houses called the draft 2014 budget a skeleton budget. However, he has seen some worse budgets during his time in government. In regards to schools, MP Heyliger told the Minister of Education that she should try to work closely with the Ministry of VROMI to have repairs be done on a timely manner. He said he believes that inventories should be done during the school year in order to facilitate faster repairs. Heyliger even suggested that the designs of the schools should be revamped because some ceilings, steps and tiling are very dangerous and sometimes students get hurt while in school.

MP Heyliger asked the Minister of Education to provide Parliament with information on USM and if they are still in financial difficulties. As for the Ministry of VROMI, he wants to know how many hindrance permits were requested and what are the procedures that have to be followed prior to these permits being issued. MP Heyliger also asked the Minister to tell Parliament about building permits, then he moved to the roads and the signs that are being placed on the roads. He commended the Minister of VROMI for the current road repairs but said he should also look into purchasing land to construct homes for the people of St. Maarten.

He asked the Minister of VROMI to give some explanation on the "tunnel" vision, he wants to know if the Minister saw the plans for the tunnel and if he sat with the company that was supposed to build the tunnels. He said he also wants to make clear that it's because of the tunnel Union Road was not fixed. He said he wants to know how the tunnels would be financed.

MP Heyliger even mentioned the road tax that was not paid last year and what government could have done with the monies that was not collected. He said to him the road tax payment created last year was some sort of "Ponzi Scheme" that would have facilitated the people that did not pay.

The first round of the budget debate continued during the night on Wednesday. SMN News will bring you the outcome of the debate in a subsequent report.

Causeway Swing Bridge Opening Times Announced

SIMPSON BAY:--- In an effort to alleviate traffic on the island, St. Maarten has completed the construction of the new Causeway in Simpson Bay. Situated on the Dutch side of the island, the causeway improves accessibility to Simpson Bay, Princess Juliana International Airport, Cole Bay and Marigot by connecting the airport and the east bank of the Simpson Bay Lagoon. The causeway spans 760 meters and accommodates two lanes of traffic with protected sidewalks on each side, a bicycle track and a swing bridge at its center.

Motorists can enter the causeway via two round-a-bouts, one located at the Airport Road near the end of the runway and the other on Union Road near the border. The causeway's swing bridge allows boats and large yachts to pass side by side through two navigating channels during set opening times. The bridge stands at a height of 6.2 meters when closed and has a width of 23 meters, controlling depth of 6 meters and is VHF channel 12.

Opening 15 minutes apart, the Causeway Swing Bridge also serves as an alternate route in the event that the Simpson Bay Bridge is inaccessible.

The following is a schedule of the Causeway Swing Bridge and Simpson bay Bridge opening times:

Causeway Swing Bridge

• 8:15 hrs - In & Outbound traffic
• 9:45 hrs - In & Outbound traffic
• 10:15 hrs - In & Outbound traffic
• 11:45 hrs - In & Outbound traffic
• 15:15 hrs - On Call for In & Outbound traffic
• 15:45 hrs - In & Outbound traffic
• 17:15 hrs - In & Outbound traffic

Simpson Bay Bridge

• 8:30 hrs - Outbound traffic
• 9:30 hrs - Inbound traffic
• 10:30 hrs - Outbound traffic
• 11:30 hrs - Inbound traffic
• 15:00 hrs - Inbound traffic
• 16:00 hrs - Outbound traffic
• 17:00 hrs - Inbound traffic

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Women, parents with girls aged nine and 10-years, and all those interested are invited by KeLaHa-projects, Dr. Spencer and Collective Prevention Services (CPS) from the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labour, to an information session about cervical cancer prevention and the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine on Saturday, 18th January from 9:00am to 12:00pm at Dr. Spencer's Clinic in Saunders.

Dr. Spencer, KeLaHa-projects, and CPS are collaborating to bring awareness about cervical cancer, HPV and cervical cancer prevention.

The information session fits into the campaign of the Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius de Weever under the banner of "Get Checked."

During the session girls aged nine and ten years can receive their HPV vaccine. Women aged 25-65 can get a HPV test and everybody can get information about cervical cancer, PAP-smears, HPV-testing and the HPV vaccine.

CPS is responsible for the National Vaccination Program. The program is designed to prevent the country's children and population from vaccine preventable diseases.

In September 2013 the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labour introduced the HPV vaccine.

HPV causes cervical cancer which is the second most common cancer in women worldwide. In 2008, there were an estimated 529,000 new cases and 274,000 deaths due to cervical cancer. HPV viruses are common throughout the world.

The primary target group in most of the countries recommending HPV vaccination according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is young adolescent girls.

For additional information you can call Youth Health Care at: 543-0295 or 542-3003.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association, the largest private sector representative on the island, was concerned to read in a recent article by the Public Administration Integrity Committee that the corruption on St. Maarten would be measured against regional standards. SHTA strongly feels that there should only be one standard for corruption across the board. i.e. "The abuse of entrusted power for private gain; acts committed at a high level of government that distort policies or the central functioning of the state, enabling leaders to benefit at the expense of the public good; manipulation of policies, instruction and rules of procedure in the allocation of resources and financing by political decision makers, who abuse their position to sustain their power, status and wealth." – Transparency International.
Further to SHTA's meeting with the Integrity Committee in December 2013, they are of the opinion that the definition of integrity as per Transparency International i.e. "Behaviors and actions consistent with a set of moral or ethical principles and standards, embraced by individuals as well as institutions, that create a barrier to corruption", should be the operative measuring stick for determining whether the current system is adequate. It is a well-known fact that when integrity is low, it is always the population that suffers as limited resources on the island are allocated based on personal gain instead of community benefit. We may just want to approach each and every allegation as factual in order to determine whether the right checks and balances are in place that will guarantee resilience to corruption.
Though it is certainly a step in the right direction for the Integrity Committee to have started their investigation into public and private sector, it is important to note that as a growing country we need to have the proper international standards in order to be perceived as an ethical society and to be able to attract additional investment to the country.
SHTA is dedicated to bringing quality to all aspects of life on St. Maarten by promoting sustainable economic development for its members in cooperation with the social partners and the creation of a fair marketplace. For more information, please contact the SHTA office: 542-0108, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our website www.shta.com.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a unit of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, encourages individuals, families to make healthy eating choices in order to prevent chronic diseases.

As part of CPSs Annual Calendar of Health Observances, "Healthy Weight & Nutritional Awareness," is promoted within the first month of the year, and is also part of the Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius de Weever "Get Checked" campaign of living a healthy lifestyle.

CPS would therefore like to encourage parents and guardians to foster and encourage healthy dietary choices for children and promote the maintenance of a healthy weight. Parents and guardians of course need to discuss the healthy dietary choices with their children and to set the proper example in order for their children to follow.

Healthy eating and physical activity reduces or eliminates chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, several forms of cancer, osteoporosis and dental disease.

Obesity: the imbalance between declining energy expenditure due to physical inactivity and high energy in the diet (excess calories whether from sugar, starches or fat) is the main determinant of the obesity epidemic. Increasing physical activity, plus reducing intakes of foods high in fat and foods and drinks high in sugars, can prevent unhealthy weight gain.

Diabetes: excess weight gain, overweight and obesity and physical inactivity account for the escalating rates of type 2 diabetes, worldwide. Diabetes leads to increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, stroke and infections. Increased physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight play critical roles in the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

Cardiovascular diseases: cardiovascular diseases, the major killers worldwide, are to a great extent due to unbalanced diets and physical inactivity. Risk of their main forms, heart disease and stroke, is reduced by eating less saturated and trans fats, and sufficient amounts of (n-3 and n-6) polyunsaturated fats, fruits and vegetables and less salt, as well as by physical activity and controlling weight. Reduction of salt intake helps reduce blood pressure, a major cause of cardiovascular diseases.

Cancer: tobacco is the number one cause of cancer, but dietary factors contribute significantly to some types of cancer. Maintaining a healthy weight will reduce the risk for cancers of the oesophagus, colorectum, breast, endometrium and kidney. Limiting alcohol intake will reduce risk for cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, liver and breast. Ensuring an adequate intake of fruit and vegetables should further reduce risk for oral cavity, oesophagus, stomach and colorectal cancer.

Dental disease: caries is preventable by limiting the frequency and amount of consumption of sugars and by appropriate exposure to fluoride. Erosion of teeth by dietary acids in beverages or other acidic foods may contribute to tooth destruction.

Urges Community to Look at Draft Budget on Parliament Website

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams will be reflecting on the Budget Handling which has been ongoing at Parliament House this Friday on the PM's weekly Radio Program One on One with the Prime Minister. The PM also urged the community to themselves look at the draft Budget that is available online. "I will be discussing the Budget handling and deliberations which are currently ongoing on my Radio Program this Friday and I urge the community to listen in in order to be informed. Similarly, in order for the population to be fully informed, I urge everyone to have a look at the draft Budget online on the Parliament's website," commented Prime Minister Wescot-Williams.

The draft 2014 Budget can be found on St. Maarten Parliament Website www.sxmparliament.org. The Prime Minister's Radio Program One on One with the Prime Minister broadcasts live on 98.1 Pearl FM from nine to ten in the morning. Listeners are urged to interact with the Prime Minister through calling in on 5430462 or via sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

SIMPSON BAY:--- On Tuesday 14 January 2014, at approximately 1:15pm, the Central Police Dispatch received a call informing them that a KLM flight had just landed at the Princess Juliana International Airport and while making a left turn, in the vicinity of Mary's Boon and Karakter Beach Bar, to head towards the main building, blew out several windshields and windows of at least seventeen cars parked in the area. This damage was caused due to the pressure coming from the engines of the aircraft. No one was hurt during the incident. There was safety glass all over the parking area. The airport authorities were immediately informed of the situation and sent out their inspectors to investigate the matter. The matter will be settled between the airport authorities and KLM.

KPSM Police Report

EBENEZER:--- A Chinese family was robbed at gunpoint in front of their home in Ebenezer Estate on Saturday January 11th, 2014 at approximately 11:00pm by two armed men. As the family was about to drive into the drive way, they were attacked by the robbers who were dressed in very dark clothing. During the robbery the female victim was struck in her head with a gun, while the other family members were threatened. The personal belongings of the victims and an amount of cash were stolen. After committing this act the suspects fled the seen in an unknown vehicle. This case is under investigation by the Special Robbery Unit.

KPSM Police Report

MADAME ESTATE:--- Staff of St. Maarten Cable TV/TV15/CableNet recently held short ceremony for the former cleaner Catherine Dickens who retired from service after 26 years of working at the company. Since Cable TV management did not do anything for her retirement, workers decided on their own to honor Ms. Dickens for her years of service at a dinner and gave her a basket with items.
Ms. Dickens who was born in Dominica and lived most her life in Middle Region thanked all Cable TV staff members present for recognizing her as part of the family. She started work at St. Maarten at the time the St. Maarten Cable TV was established in October 1988 until last December.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Three members of the Windward Islands Chamber of Labor Unions (WICLU) held their first bi-monthly press conference for the year 2014 on Tuesday. Apart from the New Year's wishes from the three members of the WICLU, they updated the media on several issues that are affecting the working class.

President of the Windward Islands Civil Servants Union and Private Sector Union WICSU/PSU who is now also the President of WICLU Derie Leonard told reporters that the WICSU/PSU filed a court case against the Government of St. Maarten for the remainder of the 2011 COLA payments and the COLA for 2012. Leonard said that the union is now awaiting the court date. President of the Windward Island Teachers Union (WITU) Claire Elshot said the teachers union did not take a definite stand as to if they too will file a court case against government. She said they will be seeking legal advice since government did not respect the payment structure when they accepted the 50% payment last year. "We specifically told government that we will accept the 50% but it must be indexed to the worker's salaries and not be paid out in a lump sum. The COLA structure on how it is to be paid was done by a reputable firm and we believe government needs to respect this," Elshot said.

The WICLU during its revamping discussed the solidarity charter, they made some changes as who will be representing the unions in the tripartite committee, a six member dismissal committee was formed while they also discussed the upcoming ILO conference. Another concern the WICLU will be tackling is the Consumer Foundation that is supposed to be in place to protect consumers. Leonard said not too long ago some tourists bought jewelry on St. Maarten that turned out to be fake, while there are supermarkets selling expired goods. She said when this happens the consumer has no one to assist them. Therefore, the WICLU wants to know if the Consumer Foundation is still in existence. "If this foundation is still functioning then we need to know where is their office and who is the person or persons in charge."

Ludson Evers who representing workers from Telecommunication and Post said they have a number of issues at TELEM. "Right now a government owned company is operating without at CEO. Secondly, we sent a number of letters to the Minister of General Affairs starting since November 2013 and to date the union has not received a response." Evers said on Friday and Monday the union dispatched some letters of reminder to the various ministers and this time the letters were copied to the Ombudsman. Evers said they are also seeking clarity from the Inspectorate of Health who was called to TELEM because someone that is residing on the island illegally was hired by the government owned company. He said they have a letter to show that the chairperson of the board stated that the person would be taking up a position in the company but when the inspectorate paid TELEM a visit they were told the person was there to give technical support. "I want to know who does the inspectorate listen to or believe because there is a letter signed by the chairperson stating what position this illegal person holds but he chose to accept the verbal explanation given to him by management. Because of this we wrote a letter to the Minister of Labour Cornelius de Weever and that too was copied to the Ombudsman.

MIDDLE REGION:--- On Saturday January 11th, 2014 at approximately 11:40am, a Philipsburg Police patrol was sent to a home in Old Man Cactus Drive to investigate a case of ill-treatment and destruction. On the scene the investigating officers spoke to the victim, the mother of a sixteen year old boy, who stated that during a discussion with her son he intentionally slapped her face and then destroyed a window of the house with a piece of wood. He then left the scene. The victim wanted her son arrested and she pressed charges against him. On the arrival of the officers the suspect was not at the home. The suspect was later found in the Middle Region where he was arrested and taken to the Philipsburg Police Station. At the police station he was held for questioning by the detectives.

KPSM Police Report

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Rotaract Club of St. Maarten Sunrise, Rotaract Club of Saint Nord and Rotary/Rotaract Liaison Paula Gordon, attended a fundraising event for Mr. Ramon Perez a.k.a Dj Fabulous; a well-known Dj in the community whose home was completely destroyed on New Year's day 2014 due to a fire blast. The event was held at Vernon's Hangout Spot on Sunday 12th January 2014 organized by Dj Fabulous's sound team; Big and Serious Sound. The Rotaract members presented Dj Fabulous with a check and expressed gratitude to him for always being a great contributor to the club and only saw it fitting to extend the same support and assist him in his time of need as they try their utmost best to help him get back on his feet. Dj Fabulous was very thankful for the assistance that Rotaract has been giving him thus far and thank the members for coming out and supporting him on Sunday.

Rotaract is an international organization for young men and women between the age group of 18-30 who believe they can make a difference. Rotaract clubs provide an opportunity to young adults to enhance the knowledge and skills that will assist them in personal development, address the physical and social needs of their communities and to promote better relations between all people worldwide through a framework of friendship and service.

The Rotaract Club has a mission in place for disasters. During the months of June to November, The Rotaract Club holds annual Hurricane Awareness Missions (HAM) where they collect nonperishable items that they in turn are donated to the Red Cross in the event of a fire or natural disaster on the island. According to past president of the Club; Elisia Lake, the H.A.M initiative has helped many families who have been affected by a fire and natural disasters over the years. President of the Club; Norissa Anatol stated that the community of St. Maarten can help their fellow citizens who have been affected by disasters by donating to the Rotaract Club. You can contact the club's President at 721-5229215 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

If you are interested in joining this dynamic club, you are welcome to attend their general meetings every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month at Holland House Conference Room at 7pm.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Mr. Franklyn Richards, Chairman of the Council for Law Enforcement, on Monday, January 18th 2014 presented its report, 'The process of Adult Probation on St. Maarten' to St. Maarten's Minister of Justice, Mr. Dennis Richardson.
The report is a compilation of inspections conducted by the Council on law enforcement into the process of rehabilitating adults in Sint Maarten who have committed a criminal act. Pursuant to international legislation and regulation Sint Maarten has a responsibility to resocialize detainees and to assist them in playing a constructive role in society after committing an offense. The offering of rehabilitation is a method in which to achieve that objective and which must therefore be carried out in a responsible way.
In Sint Maarten, it is mainly the probation department of the Foundation for Judicial Institutions Windward Islands (known by the abbreviation FJIW), that executes the task of rehabilitation and probation.
The report shows that in 2012 only 2% of the suspects in police custody have had contact with the FJIW and only 17% of the cases that were dealt with by the Public Prosecutor's Office or that were dealt with in court, reports by the FJIW have been issued.
In 2011 and 2012 only a third of sentences of community work are completed successfully. Furthermore, the amount of delinquents that make an appeal to the probation department for assistance during or after detention are rather few, in 2012 only one person voluntary rehabilitation contact has taken place. Supervision by the FJIW after detention practically always arises from a special condition imposed by the Court or the Public Prosecution Office.
The FJIW indicates that they would like to give more time to the guidance of clients after detention, but mainly because of the low offer of programs and provisions they are limited in their possibilities.
The data gathered have to be placed within the context of the seriousness of and the amount of crimes that are committed on Sint Maarten. Also of importance is the fact that the probation and rehabilitation department of the FJIW faces serious challenges in carrying out tasks due to limited resources.
The Council for Law Enforcement is nonetheless encouraged by the initiatives of the Ministry of Justice to better implement the rehabilitation of adults by incorporating the FJIW in a new to be established service of the Ministry of Justice. Additionally as of 2012 an increase is projected in subsidy for the FJIW.
The council is of the opinion that in the interest of public safety, it is imperative that this attention by the Ministry of Justice remains a priority in keeping with that of the reduction of repeat offenses and the reintegration of former detainees into the Sint Maarten community.
In accepting the report, Minister Richardson expressed gratitude and indicated that the findings mentioned in the report serve to guide initiatives aimed at improving the overall situation regarding adult probation in St. Maarten.
The presentation of the report comes just days following approval of the needed operational budget for the council on law enforcement.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour Hon. Cornelius de Weever made a national appeal on Sunday calling on the country to come together to eliminate mosquito breeding sites this week, and re-emphasizing that Sint Maarten remains a safe tourism and travel destination despite challenges posed by Dengue and Chikungunya.

Residents and business leaders play a key role by continually being active in taking measures to mitigate the mosquito population in eliminating mosquito breeding sites.

"Fogging is only one of the instruments used in the fight against mosquitoes. What is important is that each person and in their language understand their behavior and role in this fight. We must individually and collectively including the business sector keep our yard and business premises free of areas of standing water.

"I am making a national call to all ministers, and cleaning companies that have contracts with the Government, the district Community Councils, and the people of this country to dedicate this week to cleaning up our island and eliminate mosquito breeding sites.

"We cannot afford to let mosquitoes have a negative and financial impact on our high tourism season; therefore the business community has a role to play because it is not only the livelihood of the Government, but that of each business organization on the island who pay their taxes. Mobilize yourselves and staff and let's make this a national effort.

"I would like to thank the airport and harbor for their efforts, and I am calling on our telecommunication companies to join the effort by sending out SMS broadcast to their customers asking them to join us in our collective responsibility as a country to protect our economic well-being," Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius de Weever's national appeal to the nation.

Vector control activities continue to be executed by the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labour which has been proactive in addressing the issue with respect to site searches (yards and gardens) for mosquito breeding sites; mosquito fogging has been carried out in all districts on the entire Dutch side of the island with a followed up second cycle also completed within the past couple of days.

Minister De Weever said that the Governments of both sides of the island are taking all measures necessary to mitigate the further increase in these mosquito-borne viral diseases.

Residents and visitors are reminded to protect themselves especially when out during dusk and dawn hours by using mosquito repellent or wear proper clothing to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

The Collective Prevention Services, an agency of the Ministry of Public Health once again calls for daily actions to eliminate mosquito by checking containers such as buckets and water tanks for larvae and eliminate the breeding source. If there aren't any containers with water for mosquitoes to lay the larvae there won't be any adult mosquitoes.

Dengue Fever and Chikungunya are transmitted by the female vector Aedes Aegypti mosquito. The Aedes Aegypti mosquito lays her eggs in clear (clean) stagnant water. Within eight days the mosquito can complete its life cycle from egg, to larvae to pupae and to adult mosquito.

An increase in the mosquito population puts all residents and businesses at risk. Call for information on the Aedes Aegypti mosquito breeding sites and respective preventive measures at 542-2078 or 542-3003 or visit the Facebook Collective Prevention Services or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

PHILIPSBURG:--- UTS has introduced a new customer service number which will allow its Chippie and CaribServe customers to contact the company free of charge with their Chippie telephone. "Our new number is +1721 588 1010 and customers can call this new number for all inquiries on CaribServe Broadband internet, UTS Long Distance Telephone Service and Chippie Mobile telephone services," says UTS Marketing and Communication Officer, Ivy Lambert. "It is our goal to offer our customers the most positive and pleasant experience possible when contacting us and we believe that enabling them to contact us by telephone free is something they will appreciate," Lambert continues. The free Customer Service number is accessible to all Chippie customers of the Eastern Caribbean and is available for general inquiries and technical assistance on any of UTS's telecommunication services. In addition, customers can also reach the UTS Contact Center by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on Facebook at ChippieSXM.

UTS Press Release

PHILIPSBURG:--- Last week Thursday Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication Hon. Ted Richardson met with representatives of the Sint Maarten Yacht Club Regatta Foundation, where both parties stated that they were in a committed partnership to see a successful 34th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta set sail from March 6 to the 9.

Minister Richardson was briefed by the organizing foundation with respect to preparations for the 34th edition of the regatta, which is one of the centre-stage events in the annual calendar of activities that the destination offers visitors and residents.

The full schedule of regatta events will take place and preparations are well underway to prepare the logistics involved.

"Despite what was published in the media recently, Government is committed to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. We support each other, and are working together to make sure the 34th edition will be better than the 33rd.

"Government and regatta organizers have a long history of working together, and are committed despite current financial challenges, and it only means that we will have to be more innovative and think outside of the box to pull off another successful regatta," Minister Hon. Ted Richardson pointed out.

John Gifford, Chairman of the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Steering Committee, said, "The 34th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta will be the best regatta in our 34 year history. Everyone seems to be worried about the budget cuts, but to put it in simple terms, none of the financial issues will change the fact that we are going to sail this year in the Caribbean's largest regatta. We're going to have to work smarter this year, but we're going to sail, we're going to sail fast with serious competition and serious fun. So come join us for what just might be the best St. Maarten Heineken Regatta yet."

"The destination has never missed an edition of the regatta, so I am calling on all yachting enthusiasts, boat racers and others to start registering from today for some 'Serious Fun'," Minister Hon. Ted Richardson emphasized.

Minister Richardson added the Government is but one contributor to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. The organization itself has its own network of other contributors from the private sector.

"Sint Maarten is a resilient destination, and time again, the people have proven themselves to overcome any challenges that come their way, including the Government.

"Financially, there are challenges, and yes, there have been cuts across the board in order to be able to present a balanced draft 2014 budget, but the show must go on," Minister Hon. Ted Richardson added.

John Leone, Commercial Director of International Liquors and Tobacco, who distributes Heineken locally, stated "Our many local sponsors, ILTT and Heineken have all made long term commitments to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta. We will continue the same high quality events, parties and serious fun that you have enjoyed for the last 33 years. International Liquors, Heineken, Captain Morgan Rum, UTS, and all of the regatta sponsors and the entire St. Maarten Heineken Regatta Team promise to deliver a legendary event. Remember it takes a whole island to throw a party this big!".

"The next major event for the country after the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta is Carnival, and the organizers also have our full committed support as well," Minister Hon. Ted Richardson concluded.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Dolphin Defenders St. Maarten representatives Mercedes de Windt, Kim Frye and Tadzio Bervoets donated a copy of David Kirby's bestselling book Death at SeaWorld to the Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams. The organization, which calls for dolphins and whales to remain free in their local environment and is against captive dolphin facilities on St. Maarten, presented a copy to the PM of the bestselling book as well as the draft law against dolphins in captivity on St. Maarten and various information sources on the importance of keeping dolphins and whales in their wild habitat.

Death at SeaWorld is a groundbreaking scientific thriller that exposes the dark side of SeaWorld, America's most beloved marine mammal park. From the tragic death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010, to other, less-publicized violent incidents, journalist David Kirby puts the attacks in context and explores the controversial and even lethal ramifications of keeping killer whales in captivity.

Dolphin Defenders will be making similar presentations to the Council of Ministers within short.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake, last week met with representatives from the Department of Environmental Affairs, the Department of Maritime Affairs and Nature Foundation regarding environmental issues.

Minister Lake wanted to know the status of the Service Level Agreement between Nature Foundation and Ministry VROMI for the environmental and conservation management of the natural resources of Sint Maarten.

The protection of Wetlands in connection with the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was also discussed as Country Sint Maarten has an obligation to protect wetlands.

Pending parliamentary motions related to Ministry VROMI was also discussed and included one on the country's Beach Policy.

The historical site of Fort Amsterdam was deliberated upon. Minister Lake during the session stated that discussions have been held with the Chief Executive Officer of Divi Little Bay and all parties are on the same track to resolving the Fort Amsterdam issue, with the Minister adding that Fort Amsterdam is accessible to the public at all times.

The removal of boat wrecks in the country's territorial waters was touched upon as well as dredging activities.

The Department of Maritime Affairs elaborated on its experiences where it concerns carrying out site visits for oil spills, sewage running in the ocean etc. The matter of a sewage situation in Oyster Pond was discussed in-depth.

Another point touched upon was public access to beaches.

"My Ministry is responsible for the environment and the objective of the meeting was to get an update on the state of affairs regarding environmental issues that the department has been busy with or should be looking into after receiving information from other departments and entities.

"In my back to basics approach we must move forward in protecting various aspects of our natural resources. This also reflects upon the quality of life of our people and I will see to it that the necessary management structures are put in place that would manage our natural resources for generations to come," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Monday.

Members of the Minister's Cabinet were also present during the meeting.

GREAT BAY:--- The Ministry of VSA with the assistance of the Ministry of VROMI are currently executing an awareness campaign which aims to stimulate the public's knowledge and ensure a safe and healthy workplace, thereby familiarizing and preparing the businesses and the public in general for future OSH adherence. This campaign effort is being supported by the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA), Windward Islands Civil Servants Union / Private Sector Union (WICSU/PSU), Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) and the Windward Islands Teachers Union (WITU) and will utilize two articles of the current safety ordinances which will be specifically promoted and enforced within the country, thereby introducing increased awareness and inspections on the matter.
"I applaud the efforts by our Tripartite members to improve the working environment. This only illustrates that when we keep the worker central to our decisions and discussions we automatically improve the business environment," said Minister Cornelius De Weever.
The selected articles that will be focused on are: 1) The presence of first aid kits in ALL businesses (Veiligheidsbesluit I article 50) and 2) Hard hats and safety shoes being worn on ALL construction sites (Veiligheidsbesluit II article 39). The current legislation (article 5 "Veiligheidslandsverordening") gives the inspectors the authority to stop work from being performed. The director of a company who contravenes that command is committing a crime and can be punished with imprisonment of up to six (6) months or a maximum fine of two thousand ( 2000) guilders. In order to prevent this, employers should ensure compliance to, at minimum, the previously mentioned articles at all times.
If the general public has any further questions pertaining to OSH and the campaign, feel free to contact the Department of Labour at 54-23704 / 23702, the Department of Public Health at 54-22078, the Inspectorate of VSA at 54-23579 / 22059 / 2209 or the Inspectorate Department of VROMI at 54-24289. In addition, all current local legislation is available on the website http://www.sintmaartengov.org/Laws/Pages/SearchEngine.aspx. All international standards and recommendations can be found on http://www.ilo.org/safework/lang--en/index.htm

PHILIPSBURG:--- IMBRACE, under leadership of its CEO, Jacqueline Louis has been contracted by the Division for Educational Innovations (DEI) formerly known as (DERPI) to conduct three key USONA funded projects over the coming months.

"Our professional teams at IMBRACE are comprised of diverse individuals with specific expertise to work on these projects with DEI. We are truly excited about this opportunity as we share similar passions for education, research and innovative project development and execution," states Jacqueline Louis, IMBRACE CEO.

Included among these projects is a focus on essential educational initiatives. This involves firstly, the completion of the Labour Oriented Education program curriculum currently being implemented at the St. Maarten Vocational Training School. Additionally, IMBRACE has also been tasked with the development and implementation of Workshops for School Managers and School Boards on in-service training for teachers. The purpose of these workshops are to provide them with the skills, content and correct attitude to acknowledge that they have an important role to play with providing their staff with structured in-service training opportunities in order to raise the standards of learning and education in their school communities.

Lastly, but certainly not least, is the much-needed adaptation of a St. Maarten based comprehensive program and curriculum for Cultural Artistic Formation at the Preparatory Secondary Vocational Education schools on the island.

Ms. Zuleima Salmon, VSBO Coordinator at DEI shares in the enthusiasm for IMBRACE's professional contribution to these projects: "We have undergone a tedious selection process and were pleased with teams presented by IMBRACE to effectively execute these projects and look forward to a great working relationship." Ms. Salmon further thanked USONA for their willingness to collaborate on all the projects mentioned above.

These projects have long-term implications on the various levels of education of our students, as well as the continued professional development of our teachers. This will serve to strengthen the culture of the education community throughout St. Maarten.

IMBRACE is a private consulting company providing services in International, Marketing, Business Development, Research, Advertising, Communications, and Event Planning/ Production. For further information, please contact Jacqueline Louis, CEO IMBRACE at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

PHILIPSBURG:--- As of January 7th 2014 Sint Maarten has its own Medical Disciplinary Board (Medisch Tuchtcollege) after 1.5 yr. of discussions and preparatory legal work by the Ministry of VSA.
The MDB evaluates complex cases were medical professionals are involved (e.g. doctor, dentist, pharmacist, nurse) and may take disciplinary measures against the medical professional. These may vary from a warning, suspension, permanent prohibition to exercise one's official duties.
The cases usually involve suspected malpractice and/or medical fraud and can be submitted to the MDB by the Inspectorate or directly by a patient or family member. Every case presented to the MDB needs to be substantiated and properly documented.
Because of the small amount of cases brought forward, the limited amount of available medical professionals to become a member and the experience needed to evaluate a case properly it was decided to use the pre-existing Netherlands Antilles MDB, now Curacao MDB, but as a legal Sint Maarten entity extended with Sint Maarten members. MDB sessions on local cases will be held on Sint Maarten.
The MDB is chaired by Judge L.van Gastel from the common court of Justice and consists further of 4 permanent members (2 doctors, a dentist and a pharmacist) and 6 substitute members. Dr. G. Spencer and Mrs. Natasha Carty, pharmacist have been nomiare the members on behalf of Sint Maarten.
The Ministry VSA continues its efforts to improve the health care sector by introducing updated and/or new legislation, by developing policy, by enforcing regulations and legislation, by supporting health care institutions and by establishing proper operational and regulatory mechanisms in the sector.

Press Release from Inspectorate of the Ministry of VSA

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Plenary public meeting of the House of Parliament is scheduled for January 15th regarding the 2014 draft national budget.

The public plenary session is set for Wednesday at 9:00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The main agenda point is the national 2014 draft budget. The Council of Ministers will be available to answer questions with respect to their ministerial responsibilities.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com, and also via www.sxmparliament.org.

Discussion, new book launch with Lasana Sekou and Fabian Badejo

GREAT BAY/MARIGOT:--- The 27th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture, organized by Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF), takes place at Philipsburg Jubilee Library, on Wednesday, January 15, at 8 PM.

"A Revolution of Values..." – from a Dr. King quote – is the theme of this year's program, formatted as a discussion and new book launch by Lasana Sekou and Fabian Badejo, said CLF president Shujah Reiph.

The book is Maroon Lives – Tribute to Maurice Bishop & Grenadian Freedom Fighters by Lasana M. Sekou; Revolution As Poetic Inspiration: Grenada in 'Maroon Lives' by Fabian Adekunle Badejo. "I'm very interested in seeing how the writers will make the lecture theme relevant to ideas and actions in today's St. Martin and in our relationship with the wider world," said Reiph.

Badejo and Sekou will read from Maroon Lives after which Dr. Rhoda Arrindell will moderate the discussion with both authors, said Reiph. The MLK lecture has been an annual opener of the island's cultural calendar for a number of years – with speakers from St. Martin, from throughout the Caribbean and the USA.

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture takes place on January 15, the birthday anniversary of the world renowned US civil rights leader, said Reiph. The lecture is usually alternated between both capitals of the island "to honor and continually inspire the traditional unity in all of the people of St. Martin," said Reiph.

Reiph will also introduce the MLK lecture theme on "Let's Talk About It," his new SOS Radio talkshow, live on 95.9 FM, Monday, January 13, at 6 PM, with guests Sekou and Badejo.

The SOS radio show will feature a tribute to Amiri Baraka, the recently deceased US author/activist. Baraka, who lectured and published in St. Martin on two occasions, had himself met and discussed freedom and development issues with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in the 1960s, said Reiph.

"The talkshow and the Dr. King lecture are free for everyone to attend, over the SOS airwaves on Monday, and in person at Philipsburg Jubilee Library on Wednesday," said Reiph.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Louie Laveist sent a strong message to a particular reporter whom he said writes all sorts of articles in the newspaper he works for criticizing how government functions.

The most recent article written by the reporter criticized how Members of Parliament handle the budget debates each year. Laveist said if the reporter in question is interested in politics he should place his name on a list and contest the parliamentary elections. Furthermore he said the budget debate meetings is the only meeting where Members of Parliament could question everything that affects the proper functioning of government. "I don't tell the media how to do their work and I don't need media houses to tell me how to do my work because as a Member of Parliament and citizen I know my rights. A budget encompasses everything about the country and this is the only reason we can debate any and everything. The reporter in question could write as much as he wants or until their fingers drop off and I will do my job because I cannot figure out the hogwash the media house is trying cram down my throat."

As for the budget meeting, Laveist said that he is contesting the way the Government of St. Maarten chose to make its budget presentation on Monday. He said 97% of his questioning was geared for one Minister in particular but the Minister in question was not in Parliament, the Minister of TEATT. The MP said it appears as though the Minister in question thinks that he only has to give answers to the MPs that appointed him or the ones that he is related to, "I had a whole lot to say to one particular Minister who chose not to be here today but he will hear from me during the plenary parliamentary meeting on the budget. Today I can tell you that Minister got away by a "coat of paint", 97% of my questions were geared towards the performance or non-performance of that Minister, today he is saved by the bell." MP Laveist further stated that Ministers do not represent certain MPs or a clique, instead he is in office to represent the people of St. Maarten. "The arrogance of power by certain Minister will come back to haunt them. What is happening here is heavy handed and is marginalizing parliament," Laveist said.

Laveist said he represented St. Maarten in Parliament for a number of years when St. Maarten was part of the former Netherlands Antilles. "The way the budget presentation is done here today can only take place in St. Maarten where the only Minister in Parliament during the central committee meeting is the Minister of Finance." Laveist said the Ministry of Justice received severe cuts and he wants to know what programs have been eliminated and what was done in order to protect the people St. Maarten. He said he wants the Minister of Justice to tell Parliament how much crime fighting is affected due to cuts in the budget.

He asked the Minister of Finance to tell Parliament how much government squandered on the government building that is still not in use. He said monies were flushed down the toilet by the Minister in charge of the government building which is not in use. "Today you are coming here with some gimmick to tell parliament how many cuts were made and even Ministers are willing to cut their salaries. You did not have to do that, all you had to do is tell the people how much monies you would have gotten if you had done the right thing with regards to AUC. Don't try to give me any gimmick."

Another issue Laveist raised is the motion passed by parliament instructing government to stop issuing work permits for certain positions. Laveist said that the motion was not properly thought out. He said he did not support the motion because it will have some ramifications just as the SHTA said.

MP Louie Laveist then launched an attack on the powers given to the Harbor Holding Company. He asked the chairlady of Parliament to provide Parliament with the articles of incorporation because he wants to know what powers the Harbor Holding Company has. "The way I see things going it looks as though there are three governments on St. Martin, one being in Marigot, one on Clem Labega Square, and the other one at the Harbor." He said just recently he read that the purchase of the Emilio Wilson Park was taken away from the Government of Clem Labega Square and given to the one on the harbor. "I need to see all the documentation on the harbor because the ones I have seems to have some things missing. I want know who runs the harbor because in the near future the harbor will be responsible for the issuance of long lease land. The harbor seems to have orchestrated to render the Government on Clem Labega Square "impotent", do we have an impotent government at Clem Labega Square that they cannot execute the purchase of Emilio Estate and since when the harbor has the authority to purchase the people's patrimony?"
Laveist said it seems as though one man in the political arena owns St. Maarten and has all the say on what should take place in St. Maarten. "I want to know since when government give this one man the power to decide on the peoples patrimony. We all know who decides what on the harbor and what take place there, yet we play blind."

Laveist was especially peeved that the current government decided they will take cuts in their salaries and they did not consult Parliament. He said had government done so they might have gotten the go ahead on this. "Your government chose to do this in a sneaky way and leak it to the media who eventually called me to ask if I was willing to take a cut in my salary." He said he could have advised them to cut a wing in the government building instead of cutting salaries. "We could have taken a different approach and you as Minister of Finance could have balanced this budget otherwise." He further asked which holes the cuts in salary will fill. "I think I should have been afforded the decency and respect about the salaries and to be honest I am disgusted with you, knowing this will have a boomerang effect on MPs I find your actions repulsive."

Member of Parliament Frans Richardson posed several questions on the draft budget. MP Richardson said that it appears as though the current government is on a tight rope to ensure that the 2014 budget is run through parliament before an instruction is given to the Government of St. Maarten. Richardson said he personally knows how to work long hours and he is prepared to do just that to ensure that he gets proper answers on the draft budget presented to them on Monday by the Minister of Finance. He asked the Minister of Finance to give Parliament explanations on how he intends to complete the Little League Stadium and other projects that were halted. He said that he noticed that government has been using the same figures for the past five years. One example he gave was the amount of persons employed in the civil service even though new people are hired. MP Richardson said he wants the Minister to further explain to him how he intends to cut salaries by 5.2 million guilders. Richardson pointed out a number of areas where government used the same figures and wants to know if this is not a dangerous precedence government is setting.

He asked the Minister of Finance to provide parliament with the measures they are taking to stimulate the economy. He said based on the draft budget presented to parliament they did not state how they intend to pay off their old debts as well as their creditors. He asked the Minister to provide parliament with the documentation they have that states that SZV will no longer need subsidy from government. He asked for the amount of persons holding lottery licenses on the island and how many of those licenses were issued. MP Richardson asked for the legislation that will permit government to charge fees for residence permits as stated in the draft budget. He asked for an explanation on the debt figures that the budget states stand at two million guilders. Richardson also asked for an explanation on the 35 million guilders that the St. Maarten Medical Center owes its creditors. MP Richardson said he has no problem assisting SMMC but that hospital operates as a foundation that no one can get their hands on and moreover he is not in favor of assisting SMMC when it is governed by someone that is residing in Curacao.

When the meeting resumed Monday afternoon, Member of Parliament Romaine Laville chaired the meeting since some MPs left to attend a funeral when the meeting adjourned. Member of Parliament Dr. Lloyd Richardson told the Minister of Finance that this is the third budget within the past nine months. MP Richardson said St. Maarten was instructed to make cuts in the budget. Despite that he has concerns as to how the cuts will affect the country. He said in some parts of the budget there are some large increases. He gave examples such as increases for cars and asked if this could not be postponed. Another concern from MP Lloyd Richardson, a doctor by profession, was the decision by government to cut the premiums for family members to SZV. He asked if government is prepared for legal actions because such decisions were taken in the past but that left SZV with huge debts. He said everyone knows the situation at the St. Maarten Medical Center but if the institution starts serving Saba and Statia properly that would increase their revenues.

Member of Parliament William Marlin in his presentation said he could not peruse the draft budget properly which he received by email. However, he managed to go through the hard copy on Monday morning. He said he noticed that the government took a decision to cut salaries. Marlin said he wants to know if the salary cut would only be for Ministers or if civil servants in other sectors would see cuts in their salaries too. Marlin said he believes the Minister of Finance knows that the salaries of MPs are set by law and government just cannot increase or decrease the salaries of MPs and Ministers. Marlin said he strongly believes that there is an ordinance in place on the regulation of these salaries. Marlin asked if the change of salaries requires a change of law, if so he wants to know how soon this would be in place because just recently the CFT informed government that if there is no legislation in place to do certain things then it cannot be in the budget. He said what government is trying to show the people of St. Maarten is that they are taking from the rich to give to the poor.

Marlin asked the Minister of Finance to tell parliament exactly how this will be done. He gave an example on how the tax system works depending on one's salary. Therefore, he asked the Minister to tell Parliament exactly how much monies the (Ministers) will be taking home after the cuts in their salaries, "I want to know exactly how this will work." Marlin also questioned the short term labor contract which he said is being abused by the private sector. Marlin further asked the Minister to tell parliament how many people are working for government. He said he noticed in the budget there are monies allocated for temporary workers. He said he wants to know how many persons have short term contracts and are working for government. He said there are people that are on their third or fourth contracts with government. Marlin asked for a complete report on the amount of persons working for government and exactly how many are on short term contracts. Marlin said it would be hypocritical for government to smack the short term contract and here it is that government is doing just what parliament is trying to curb.

The leader of the National Alliance and Member of Parliament also addressed the debt relief that was agreed upon with the Dutch Government. He said that process was hindered because certain accountants did not want to deliver certain documents. He said the previous government had agreed to take the Dutch Government to court on the issue of the debt relief. He said he wants to know if this current government shelved the plans to take the Dutch Government to court and if it was then he wants to know what approach government is taking and what they hope to achieve.

Marlin said parliament's budget shows "representation cost" 2013 was Naf. 30,000. But in this budget 2014 they budgeted Naf. 200,000. 00 for representation cost. Marlin said this is an increase by Naf. 170,000.00 which he believes needs an explanation. Marlin said that the budget of parliament had budgeted Naf. 20,000.00 for 2013, this year 2014 government budgeted Naf. 152,000.00. He said in 2013 Naf. 0 was budgeted for overtime but in this draft budget there is Naf. 10,000.00. Marlin asked what work there is that created so much over-time pay.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Residents on the Dutch side of the island are called to conserve water as there is a water shortage island wide. SMN News reported last week that GEBE management has been hindering progress at GEBE.

Last year October, the Dutch side was negotiating with the French side to provide them with water in order for the French side to shut down part of its water plant for repairs. Sources within the company told SMN News that the connection was never done because management of GEBE was dragging their feet. "Today, the Dutch side is negotiating with the French side to provide the Dutch side with water which they would have to buy with Euros." A source at GEBE said that the French does not have sufficient water for themselves because the Dutch side never made the connection for the French side to upgrade and repair their water plant.

SMN News further learnt that AIRFIN, the company that has been supplying water to GEBE, has been pleading with GEBE to get its act together and to do what is necessary for the water plant in Pointe Blanche to become operational. SMN News learnt that GEBE has to install a pump house and a transformer for the water plant in Pointe Blanche to function but that was never done.

Residents of the island began seeing water shortage over the weekend and instead of preparing the people of St. Maarten for the water crisis they are about to face, the COO of GEBE Romellio Maduru jumped on a plane and left the island.

Maduru and his management staff posted a letter on their Facebook page blaming AIRFIN for the current water shortage. SMN News will bring you a full report on AIRFIN, their water production, and the cause of the water shortage in a subsequent report.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Parents of pupils attending the Dr. Martin Luther King School in Dutch Quarter are hereby notified there will be no school in session at that location tomorrow, January 14, 2014. The cause of this results from the fact that there is no running water at that location which would result in an unhygienic condition that that is not conducive to learning.
It is expected that with the assistance of the Utility Company, GEBE, water will be at the facility on Wednesday January 15, 2014 making it possible for school to be in session.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports regrets the inconvenience caused by this unfortunate decision.
Buses transporting pupils to the Dr. Martin Luther King School in Dutch Quarter are kindly asked to pay heed to given the notice.

PHILIPSBURG:--- President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell who headed a delegation to Curacao early last week for the Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Summit (IPKO), described the outcome of the summit as successful.

The Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Summit also included parliamentary delegations from the Netherlands, Aruba and Curacao who met in Curacao from January 6-10.

The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Curacao's President of Parliament Hon. Marcolino Franco.

The four parliamentary delegations discussed a number of issues that included the following: education; energy matters where attention is paid to geothermal energy opportunities; public health and the organization of a Public Health Conference in the second half of 2014 for the entire Kingdom; youth affairs related to the UNICEF report.

Also discussed was integrity and governance within the Kingdom; racism and intolerance within the Kingdom; and economic opportunities within the Kingdom.

It was agreed that the next Inter-parliamentary Kingdom Summit will take place in the Netherlands in the first half of June 2014.

The Sint Maarten delegation included Chairman of the Kingdom Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations Committee Member of Parliament (MP) Hon. Roy Marlin, MP Hon. Janchie Leonard, MP Hon. Dr. Lloyd Richardson, MP Hon. Frans Richardson, MP Hon. Patrick Illidge, MP Hon. William Marlin, and Parliament's Secretary General J. Semeleer.

Click here to view IPKO Summit's conclusion points.

GREAT BAY:--- Minister of Public Health, Social Development & Labor, Cornelius de Weever on Friday, January 10, 2014 signed off on the 2014 performance management contracts together with his department heads. These contracts are signed just in time for the 2014 budget debate scheduled to begin this week, which outlines the ministry's goals for 2014.
For 2014 the ministry will continue to execute Minister De Weever's call for "Putting People First." To enable "Putting People First," the Year Plan 2014 focuses on achieving the objectives of society as set by government, and in order to execute the objectives, priorities and performances, the ministry will continue to work according to the legislative format of the organizational structure of the ministry.
"It will be a challenging year, but as a ministry we will not lose focus, and do our utmost to put people first," said Minister De Weever. "Two thousand fourteen will be a year of opportunities, choices and hope but more importantly about making responsible decisions to maintain a balance in our society between employers and workers, healthcare providers and clients and assisting those vulnerable groups."
"I would like to thank the acting SG, the management team and the staff of the ministry for all their efforts to finalize year plan 2014 which will justify our portion of budget 2014," said Minister De Weever.
The minister would also like to thank all of them for the first draft of the end of the year report of 2013. "As a ministry we believe in preparing year plans and executing them according to our budget and also reporting whether or not our plans were executed accordingly."
"In the past our year plan which was delivered to parliament was used by some members of parliament to bring motions but to avoid this from happening again - our year plan 2014 will be made public."
Minister De Weever further stated that they are all looking forward to continuing the work in 2014 and continuing putting people first. "We are also synchronizing our efforts with the other ministries and sharing resources human or financial where possible," said Minister De Weever.

GREAT BAY:--- Minister of Public Health, Social Development & Labor, Cornelius de Weever is asking the residents and visitors of St. Maarten to conserve water during this period. Persons are asked to report any water leaks that you see or suspect to GEBE to ensure that we have less water leakage.

Water saving tips:

• Check faucets and pipes for leaks. A small drip from a worn faucet washer can waste 20 gallons of water per day. Larger leaks can waste hundreds of gallons.
• Don't use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket
  Every time you flush a cigarette butt, facial tissue or other small bit of trash, five to seven gallons of water is wasted.
• Check your toilets for leaks
  Put a little food coloring in your toilet tank. If, without flushing, the color begins to appear in the bowl within 30 minutes, you have a leak that should be repaired immediately. Most replacement parts are inexpensive and easy to install.
• Use your water meter to check for hidden water leaks
  Read the house water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.
• Take shorter showers.
• One way to cut down on water use is to turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. A four-minute shower uses approximately 20 to 40 gallons of water.
• When washing dishes by hand, don't leave the water running for rinsing
  If you have a double-basin, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have a single-basin sink, gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a spray device or a pan full of hot water.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Saturday, January 11, 2014 more than 40 young leaders from the Interact Clubs across St. Maarten assembled at the University of St. Maarten to continue the leadership training they began in December. At the December session, held at Learning Unlimited, Interactors learned about project planning, budgeting, public relations and they practiced their presentation skills. This past Saturday morning was markedly different than the first workshop as the young leaders had the opportunity to present what they had learned in the form of full-fledged project presentations.

Interact Clubs from St. Maarten Academy, Milton Peters College, St. Dominic's High School and Learning Unlimited Preparatory School each delivered a detailed project presentations that will be undertaken by their respective clubs in the coming months. President of the Rotary Club of St. Maarten, Maria Buncamper-Molanus said, "We were completely blown away by the quality of the presentations and the clear evidence that each Interact Club comprehended the information presented at our first meeting in December. The Rotary Club of St. Maarten, in conjunction with CIBC First Caribbean Bank and Island 92 radio, will divide $1,500 between each of the participating clubs to allow them to start their projects. A job well done by all. I would like to encourage the community to support these young leaders, through sponsorship or otherwise. These young people are inspired, motivated and positive and deserve the support of the community".

The event was organized by the Rotary Club of St. Maarten and was sponsored by CIBC First Caribbean Bank, Office 1 Superstore, Domino's Pizza, Le Grand Marche, Prime Distributors, Cost U Les, the University of St. Maarten, Sheriff Security and the Administration of the Learning Unlimited Preparatory School. For more information about the Rotary Club of St. Maarten, 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. or visit the website www.rotarysxm.org.

MULLET BAY:--- During a site visit by the Sint Maarten Pride Foundation this past weekend the Foundation's volunteers found that parts of Mullet Bay Beach had been left covered in garbage after a party which was apparently held in the afternoon of Saturday January 11th, 2014. The Foundation subsequently took up contact with Community Police Officer Josepha and executives of the waste management company Leonard Enterprises N.V., who assured the Foundation that the garbage would be immediately removed on Monday morning.

Sint Maarten Pride Foundation is once again calling on residents, visitors, business and organizations to dispose of their garbage in a responsible manner during and after all beach visits.

Last year some eighteen garbage bins were placed on Mullet Bay Beach and four on Kim Sha Beach in partnership with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau, Environmental Protection In the Caribbean (EPIC), St. Maarten Pride Foundation, St. Maarten Timeshare Association and The Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Development, Environment and Infrastructure.

Pride calls on the public at large to please make proper use of the garbage bins. Small waste items from beach parties, barbecues etc. should be disposed of in the nearest garbage bin which is not yet full or put in the large garbage containers such as the one placed on the Mullet Bay Beach parking-lot.

Odd-sized, large garbage items and full garbage bags should not be placed, in, on, next to or around the small garbage bins nor anywhere else on the beach. These items should be disposed of in the aforementioned large garbage containers on the parking lot or taken back home if no containers are available in the immediate area.

Sint Maarten Pride Foundation

PM: "Despite the virus being recorded on St. Maarten the island is safe for residents and visitors and Government is focusing considerable effort in controlling the disease"

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams on Friday informed the population on the state of affairs regarding the Chikungunya Virus and its effects on the population of the Country. The Prime Minister explained Government's response to the virus and the cooperation currently on-going with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The PM informed that the Chikungunya, or CHIKV virus which is carried by the same mosquito that carries the dengue virus, is being addressed extensively by Government: "The Government of St. Maarten has an emergency response team that is constantly assessing the situation and regularly updates various institutions regarding how to address the issue. Although the virus was first established on French St. Martin as the old saying goes the gale does not stop at the frontier and definitely mosquitoes do not stop. There are now established cases on St. Maarten and our medical health sector is working very closely with PAHO and WHO on the best ways to combat the virus and keep St. Maarten healthy for its Residents and Visitors. WHO Virologist dr. Glen Washington is also assisting the country with the response and the Council of Ministers is being updated on the developments," emphasized the Prime Minister.

The PM also highlighted that communication and cooperation is essential in the widespread responds to the virus. "The focus right now is not only on communicating the steps which can be taken by all individuals to combat the virus but also important is the message stressing cooperation across the board. The emphasis is on all Ministries working together to understand the potential of this disease if left unchecked. In addition to that the individual responsibility, while we should not be pushing the panic button, we should all share the responsibility as far as curbing the spread of the Chikungunya virus. Government will be engaging the community councils in coordinating wide scale neighborhood cleanups where potential breeding areas for the mosquitoes can be eliminated. There is also a specific role for our Minister of VROMI and Minister of Tourism and economic affairs," commented the PM.

Prime Minister Wescot-Williams also stressed that the travel advisory, which was issued by the United States Department of State, is part of procedure once a transmissible virus such as Dengue and Chikungunya are concerned. "The advisories are not to push the panic button but are related to the reporting and advisory obligations. Despite the virus being recorded on St. Maarten the island is safe for residents and visitors and Government is focusing considerable effort in controlling the disease," ended Wescot-Williams.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary Hon. Josianne Fleming-Artsen recently received her certificate of attendance after completing a diplomatic course at The Hague Political Academy.

The Minister attended the Academy in order to learn about the inner workings of Dutch Society and Politics in order to be able to carry out her responsibilities at the Sint Maarten House, and was also featured in the Diplomatic Magazine in The Hague.

"With a firm belief in continued education, it's imperative that we grow our knowledge and build our skills to become familiar with the Dutch society and politics.

"Therefore becoming more proficient in my capabilities to work along well with the Dutch political establishment, the other international diplomats based in The Hague can only enhance our country's presence in The Hague and as an integral part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands," Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary Hon. Josianne Fleming Artsen shared on Sunday.

The Hague Political Academy organizes five different modules in order to familiarize foreign diplomats and expats with Dutch Society and Politics.

The Course Supervisor was Dr. Bob van den Bos, political scientist and former Member of the Dutch and European Parliaments.

During the course, according to Deputy Minister Hon. Fleming Artsen, several distinctive guest speakers shared their knowledge and experience with the participants.

The program included courses on Dutch Domestic Politics; How to deal with Dutch and Diplomatic Protocol; Dutch Foreign and European Policy; European Policy; and the Role of the Media.

27th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lecture

Philipsburg Jubilee Library

"A Revolution of Values ..."

A discussion and new book launch

with Lasana M. Sekou and Fabian Adekunle Badejo

Organized by Conscious Lyrics Foundation in corporation

with SOS 95.9 FM, House of Nehesi Publishers, PJD2 1300 AM.

ST. PETERS:--- Halfway through the toastmaster year, the Disciples Toastmaster club has met one of its goals by earning the acclamation of Distinguished Club.
Toastmasters International is an organization that empowers individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders. Each member has their individual goal and together with the elected club officers, they work to help the club achieve their goals. When a club member receives a communicator or leadership award the club is closer to its goals.
Toastmasters International is a fun way to grow individually and collectively.
To achieve the Distinguished Club award the Disciples Toastmasters club had to achieve 5 out of 10 goals. The individual goals of four club members attributed to this success; two received Competent Communicator awards, Amanda Bedminister and Linda Moise; one Competent Leader award was achieved by area governor Sinatra Rouse; and one Advanced Leader Bronze award was met by club president Ingrid Holaman. Other goals of the club were met by the induction of four new members, and the timely payment of membership dues and submission of other administrative information.
The club officers take this opportunity to congratulate all club members who have succeeded in achieving their goals.
With 6 more months left in the Toastmaster year, the Disciples Toastmaster club is working their way to meet the second goal of Select Distinguished Club then finally President Distinguished Club.
Disciples Toastmasters club will hold their next meeting on January 12, 2014 at the St. Maarten Academy at 4:45pm. The meetings are open to anyone who is interested in developing their speaking and leadership skills. Visit the club's website at 1036731.toastmastersclubs.org to learn more about the Toastmasters club.

GREAT BAY:--- Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius De Weever recently congratulated Patricia Pantophlet on her 38 years of service in government. Pantophlet is currently employed within the ministry at the Department of Labor Affairs as a Dismissal/Complaints Officer.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday morning Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication Hon. Ted Richardson, Minister of Education Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip, Eunicio Martina, representing the Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius de Weever and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies Mark Mingo, visited the Sister Borgia Primary School in Philipsburg to present school management with mosquito repellent to be used in the country's fight against mosquitoes' that carry dengue/chikungunya mosquito-borne diseases.

The locally made repellent known as "Bug Off" was a donation from the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies and a collaborative effort of the Harbour and Ministers Richardson, Lourens-Philip and Minister Hon. Cornelius de Weever.

Sister Borgia School was the first school to receive a supply of the mosquito repellent followed by St. Joseph School, Oranje School and Genevieve de Weever School. The other schools will receive their supply next week.

Schools are reminded once their supply runs out they can contact the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies concerning replenishing their stock.

Electoral Reform to Ensure Political and Economic Stability

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams commented on her weekly radio show One on One with the Prime Minister on 98.1 on Friday that the Decree establishing the Electoral Council has been signed: "The Decree establishing the Electoral Council as required by law has been signed off and will be published and made public at the beginning of the week. The Governor and I signed off the decree and, as I mentioned, will be made public in a few days," commented the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister also elucidated that she wants to maintain her focus on two aspects of Electoral and campaign reform: "I want to keep the focus on two aspects of reform. The way we conduct politics and creating a more level playing field in terms of politics; no harassment, no coercion, no vote buying through monetary terms or gift giving etc. I have stated on several occasions that when you consider that some of these matters are already addressed in our penal code it means that they are already prohibited according to law. Considering this it is clear that most of the things that Parliament wanted to see addressed are already. It now comes down to informing and educating the population regarding enforcement. I have informed Parliament very specifically where the regulations lie and where enforcement is located. The second part is a more constitutional and political reform. The most incisive matter would be to look at our constitution when it comes to the Independence of members of Parliament. There is, or should be, an emphasis on the part of political parties regarding the philosophy and plans of action regarding politicians as part of political parties and that emphasis does not jive with the thinking of an Independent Member of Parliament because they get in that position on the strength of a political party based on the responsibility of the political party for the acting of their Member of Parliament," clarified the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister also reiterated that the instrument of calling irregular elections needs to be used cautiously. "The calling of irregular elections is something which needs to be considered very carefully as it destabilizes the country and has wide-scale social and economic consequences. Snap elections cause political and economic instability and that was definitely not the intention with which this was put in the Constitution. Imagine that anytime there is a misunderstanding in Parliament new elections are called. This creates uncertainty and instability which in turn results in a lack of planning and the associated economic issues," concluded Prime Minister Wescot-Williams.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- During the inauguration speech of the OSPP on August 1, 2013 the Interim Leader, Mr. Lenny F. Priest stated that the salaries of the council of ministers and the members of parliament should be cut drastically. This position was reiterated in his New Year address to the nation on January 6, 2014. The OSPP is elated to learn via the media that the ministers' salaries were cut by an average of 12.27% to be effective in the 2014 budget. The OSPP was hoping for a cut of minimum 15%, nevertheless we certainly applause this decision of the council of ministers but we anxiously await the members of parliament following suite in reducing their salaries. If it is good for St. Maarten it has the OSPP 100% support.
In a previous release we have proposed that the Minister of Finance make the 2014 budget available to the public after being approved by the council of ministers. Now that the council of ministers has approved the 2014 it can be put on the government webpage for easy access by the general public. It gives the general public an opportunity to participate in the budget debate by having access to it now. The budget is the most important policy document of any government and therefore the public should be able to go on line and review it and submit questions to parliament and make certain recommendations as well.
We can't continue doing things as we have been accustomed to for over forty years. Mr. Minister of Finance let the 2014 budget debate begin including the public.

OSPP Press Release

GRAND CASE:--- The Les Fruits de Mer Association unveiled an impressive slate of public events for this year at its first annual General Assembly on Tuesday, January 7th. The schedule includes four major free Wildlife Discovery Events Les Fruits de Mer will be producing in 2014: SnorkelFest on January 25th, the Endemic Animal Festival on April 26th, the Migratory Bird Festival on October 11th, and Birds & Bugs 2014 on December 6th. The Association also announced plans to host a booth at the weekly Mardis de Grand Case street fairs on Tuesday evenings in Grand Case. "It's a great opportunity to create an unexpected space where people can engage with the island's natural heritage in a fun new way every week," said Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes, "We're excited to give residents and tourists the chance to learn something about local wildlife in a totally unique context!'" A variety of additional events for members were announced as well.

The Association also outlined plans to expand its education programs on both sides of the island, and discussed upcoming publication projects, including the in-progress French edition of The Incomplete Guide to the Wildlife of Saint Martin and a guide to the wildlife of St. Eustatius, which is currently in the planning stages. The proposed program for 2014 was approved in a unanimous vote by the members in attendance.

Les Fruits de Mer's next free public Wildlife Discovery Event, SnorkelFest, will be held on Pinel Island on January 25th and will feature snorkeling, marine life education and other activities for people of all ages. The Association is currently seeking sponsorship for event materials including art supplies, t-shirts, and drinking water, as well as additional volunteers to help out at the event. People, businesses, and organizations interested in being involved can contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Les Fruits de Mer is a non-profit association based in St. Martin whose core mission is to raise awareness about nature, culture, and sport. The organization carries out this mission through publications, an education program, and special public outreach events that entertain, inspire, and inform. The Association is currently accepting new member and corporate benefactor member applications on its website, http://ass.lesfruitsdemer.org.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Over the weekend Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake was seen in Cole Bay next to the Leopold Bell Primary School observing along with former Cole Bay Community Council President Freddy Maccow, the demolishing of the old Police Post.

Minister Lake stated that he has been working closely with a number of stakeholders from the Cole Bay community including Freddy Maccow, Members of Parliament (MP) Hon. Louie Laveist, MP Hon. Jules James and Prime Minister Hon. Sarah Wescot-Williams, regarding the creation of a recreational area for Cole Bay youth.

The building was infested with vermin and needed to be taken down. On Tuesday the Minister is expecting to receive a plan from Freddy Maccow on behalf of the Cole Bay community.

"This across party lines broad support is what will move country Sint Maarten forward. I do hope this week we will get the same support from all faction in the House of Parliament regarding the national draft 2014 budget.

"We have come together in the best interests of the community, and this demonstrates that it can be done. This same approach is needed in building the country.

"I am a back to basics minister. My approach is rather simple. It's all about putting people first, and if the people do not have the basics to improve the quality of life, then we are not going anywhere as a nation.

"I will be working closely with other stakeholders and community council organizations in the various districts to create green recreational areas where families can come together on weekends and during holidays, and during special events to enjoy the company of each other and bond and make the family circle stronger," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Sunday.

GREAT BAY/MARIGOT:--- University classes, in Trinidad and New York, will open January 2014 with books by two St. Martin writers as required reading for students.

Firstly, Skin by Drisana Deborah Jack is a literature course book at Dutchess Community College (DCC) in New York. The poetry collection is among the literary texts for the semester, starting in mid-January, said Jacqueline Sample, president of House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).

At the University of the West Indies (UWI), it is Brotherhood of the Spurs by Lasana M. Sekou that will be studied along with other class material. Sekou's collection of short stories "will be used in the Caribbean Civilisation course (Foun 1101) at the UWI in Semester II, from January 2014 to June 2014," said Dr. John F. Campbell, the lecturer in charge of the course at the St. Augustine campus in Trinidad.

"It is uplifting and rewarding to have St. Martin's culture and literature taught in universities abroad," said Jacqueline Lubino-Hamlet, a teacher at Collège Mont des Accords in Marigot. "It should not only give a sense of pride to the writers but to the island's people as a whole," said Lubino-Hamlet, who has also studied American literature. The books by Jack and Sekou are both HNP titles.

To Lubino-Hamlet, known for involving her students with literature projects, the use of Skin and Brotherhood of the Spurs in university courses "sends out a positive and strong image of a culture that is productive and worth knowing thoroughly. The positive image on the youth is tremendous!"

According to Sample, the DCC, part of the State University of New York system, is one of two US universities to have taught Skin since this second Jack collection was published in 2006. Both of Jack's poetry books have been taught in US universities. Sekou's poetry and fictions have been studied in Caribbean, US, Canadian, and European universities.

Scholarships to USM and AUC Part of Government Agreement to be Granted Soon

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten expressed her satisfaction at the completion of the new wing of the AUC Medical School and announced that the first scholarships for St. Maarteners to both attend the University of St. Maarten and the AUC will be granted in the coming weeks.

"The Government is quite pleased with the fact that that construction of the AUC School of medicine took place. We are pleased because the story of the AUC on St. Maarten goes back a few years after the campus relocated to St. Maarten from Montserrat with the decision being taken to make St. Maarten the permanent location. When the Medical School was taken over by DeVry University the vision for the school was a two-phased expansion to the tune of 30 million dollars and Government entered into an agreement with the school. That agreement included things like utilizing as much as possible, and informing government of, local contractors, sub-contractors and local suppliers in constructing the school. This is a documented agreement that we had with the University. This document also including scholarships for attending the University of St. Maarten and also to attend AUC and for local students to receive a medical degree at the medical school. Seeing this expansion realized was a proud moment generally speaking and to see the realization of scholarships I was very happy and I hope the first medical scholarship to a St. Maartener will be announced soon as well. We need to realize that as a country these type of activities and initiatives can do much for us in terms of further growth for our country and it is important to realize how interlinked these activities are and what they mean to the further growth of St. Maarten, commented the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

Need to Carefully Examine Proposals Regarding Emilio Wilson Estate

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams expressed her hope that there will be a speedy and conclusive approval of the 2014 Budget when deliberations begin in Parliament on Monday. The PM also commented on the purchase of the Emilio Wilson Estate.

"It is my fervent wish that we can get the Budget approved by Parliament as soon as possible and I hope that we do not have a repeat of 2013. Last year was a bad example but this year we hope to have a functioning Budget that will allow us to move forward with governing. Parliament has scheduled the handling for this Monday in a Central Committee setting and once that is completed deliberations will then move to the public meeting. The Minister of Finance the Honorable Martin Hassink will have the initial presentation to Parliament followed by more wide-scale interactions between Government and Parliament. The CFT recommended that Government be given until the 16th to have an approved Budget so if Parliament starts the handling of the Budget on Monday the hope is that we will be able to have the Budget approved within the time frame give or take a few days. There is a balanced Budget now in accordance with CFT laws and the CFT will vet and approve the Budget after the Parliamentary approvals' stated the Prime Minister.

Wescot-Williams also stressed that the 2014 Budget is very lean and trimmed down due to the financial climate and projections on income for 2014: "The Budget 2014 is a very lean one based on the collection pattern and what it has yielded, based on the economic growth in terms of revenues, and based on Government income. Considering all of this, this year's Budget would be at 426 million Guilders. The Justice area is very much an area where we need considerable investments. We need to provide a higher level of security to our people and this costs considerable money. So we are in a critical situation as a Government right now and there is much that we have and would like to do but we are at a time where we do not much room to maneuver. We are in a very financially challenging time and therefore are carefully considering creating the type of environment and activities that give the people of St. Maarten the type of opportunities they need, with Government attracting investments that the we need to focus on," stressed the PM.

The Prime Minister also commented on the purchasing of the Emilio Wilson Estate: "We definitely need to look carefully at the Emilio Wilson Estate. The question is: can Government buy it outright? Government does not have that money in cash so the funds necessary for the purchasing of the Estate needs to come in the form of a loan. We therefore need to have a hard proposal in place with a well-motivated project in order to attract a loan for that purchase. Once that is done all stakeholders need to examine the way forward on researching if there are employment and income opportunities in addition to preservation for example. Will the income go to Government or will it go to another entity? We need to be very clear on what the plan is for that area," concluded the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake said he is in favour of the sustainable development of the Emilio Wilson Estate.

Minister Lake said he is a firm backer behind the development of agriculture and small gardens in a sustainable manner. Heritage tourism is also another area where visitors to the country are taught about the heritage and the historical role the estate played in the country's development.

The Nature Foundation according to Minister Lake has produced a "Provisional Plan for Terrestrial Protected Areas on St. Maarten," as a proposal to establish the St. Maarten Land Park, and secondly as a guidance document for developing the Parks once they are under management of Nature Foundation St. Maarten.

The proposed St. Maarten Land Parks would offer protection to the island's indigenous terrestrial flora and fauna while allowing sustainable recreation.

"First and foremost, the Land Parks of the country are for the people and by the people, and the younger generations to enjoy and utilize in a sustainable recreational manner.

"Sustainable usage and sustainable development is the key to moving forward in the development of country Sint Maarten's terrestrial resources," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Friday.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the National Alliance and Member of Parliament William Marlin for the first time this new year assured the people of St. Maarten on Sunday morning that the National Alliance is not going anywhere and they will be presenting a full slate for the 2014 Parliamentary Elections.

Marlin was being interviewed on the radio program "View Point" on Sunday morning when he was asked if he fears losing support now that the deputy leader of the party Frans Richardson formed his own political party as well as Lenny Priest who formed the One St. Maarten People's Party.

Marlin gave several examples of persons who left one party to form another party, most of whom he said did not last more than one term in office. Those persons include Gracita Arrindell who left the Democratic Party to form the PPA, Julian Rollocks, and the late Vance James.

Marlin said after the elections in 2010, several persons were very unhappy with how the government was formed leaving the party with the most seats out. Marlin further explained that he is of the opinion that the people of St. Maarten, namely the voters, have seen what transpired this past four years and had to accept three cabinets. He said while politicians shifted gears and some supporters may have moved because their relatives is running on another list, people must realize that over the past four years there are a number of new voters, younger people who have reached the age of 18 and the amount of non-nationals who were naturalized are now part of the voting population.

The host of View Point asked Marlin what he thought of the electronic items that were given out by the leader of the USP when he launched his party on December 22nd, 2013. Marlin made clear he was not there and does not know what transpired but based on what he heard there was a raffle held during the launching. He also urged the host to ask the USP leader that question whenever he is on the radio program.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament Leroy de Weever is accused of assaulting internet blogger Judith Roumou on Saturday afternoon on Front Street in the vicinity of the Guavaberry Emporium. According to information reaching SMN News, the MP and his nephew who is a Minister were on Front Street when the incident occurred.

In a telephone interview with SMN News, Roumou said she was walking down Front Street holding a tablet which she recently got, her telephone, and $10 note in her hands. Roumou further explained at the time she was trying to figure out how to use the tablet when she saw the MP walking up to her. Roumou said when the MP got close to her he did not say anything to her but hit her in the crotch with his knee. "MP de Weever kicked me in the groin, directly on my vagina before taking the tablet away, as he did that he said I will kill you, I will kill before rushing through the alley where his daughters have a store. By then a crowd gathered including Minister of Labour and Public Health Cornelius de Weever who saw what happened. When the MP came back on the street he did not have the tablet in his hand and he told the people that gathered at the scene if anyone of them was willing to beat me up, he will pay them. I took my phone and I tried to dial 911 but MP de Weever took away my phone and slammed it on the ground. His nephew (Minister Cornelius de Weever) picked it up and placed it on his jeep. At the moment MP de Weever is denying that he took away my tablet," Roumou said. Roumou said police went to the scene and they sent her to the emergency room for treatment. On Sunday morning she was in consultation with doctor Mercuur because of the injuries.

Roumou explained that she is bleeding from the injuries she sustained and that the doctors told her if she got a miscarriage due to the assault then it will constitute murder. When SMN News asked Roumou if she is pregnant she said she will not confirm or deny that.

In response to the allegation made by Roumou, MP de Weever said he was on the boardwalk with his nephew when he heard that there was a commotion taking place in his daughter's store with Roumou. MP de Weever said over the past months he has been assisting Roumou with monies and just recently his daughter told her (Roumou) that they will be holding an event in Dutch Quarter for less fortunate children and they invited her to attend that event. MP de Weever further explained that Roumou was demanding $100 to attend the event which his daughters and him refused to pay. He said over the past days Roumou sent several text messages to him threatening him and his family while trying to extort monies from him. MP de Weever said he never took away any tablet and he bluntly denied hitting Judith Roumou during the fracas "I have those messages which I gave to my lawyer to file an official complaint against her."

Chief of Police Peter de Witte confirmed Saturday evening that a detective took a complaint from the blogger who had to be transported to the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) for treatment.

De Witte said that the statement taken by KPSM will be sent to the Prosecutor's Office because it involves a Member of Parliament.
Attorney General Taco Stein also told SMN News on Sunday that he was informed that Roumou pressed charges against MP de Weever for assault, threats, and maltreatment. Stein said the police took a statement from the victim and that statement will be sent to the Prosecutor's Office early Monday morning for a decision to be taken.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau and the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA) have come together once again in a major public/private partnership to create a St. Maarten marketing and advertising campaign to drive visitors to the island. Set to appear in The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald, the campaign will run from January until April 2014.

The SHTA has contributed $236,000 in advertising dollars while the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau has provided marketing expertise resources to design and implement the campaign.

"The St. Maarten Tourist Bureau appreciates the private sector stepping up to help fund the much needed campaign to create more awareness about the great vacation options in St. Maarten for travelers," said Edward Dest, interim director of tourism for St. Maarten. "We have chosen to target the South Florida region as a primary source market for potential visitors," he said.
"We are happy to be able to partner with the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau in order to expand the island's marketing efforts," said SHTA board member Ricardo Perez. "Our hope is that this campaign will help to increase bookings for the 2014 summer season," he said.

St. Maarten is home to 37 square miles of breathtaking beaches and boasts numerous historical and family-oriented attractions. During the day, watersport enthusiasts can take full advantage of the island's scuba diving and snorkeling facilities, while the capital of Philipsburg offers duty-free shopping with a bustling city atmosphere. 14 world-class, Vegas-style casinos and plentiful nightclubs provide endless entertainment.

With the widest variety of dining experiences of any other island in the world, the Dutch nation of St. Maarten and the French overseas collectivity of St. Martin offer a wide range of worldwide cuisine with 365 restaurants - one for every day of the year. It is also the only Caribbean island with more than one establishment ranked on TripAdvisor's Travelers' Favorite Fine Dining Restaurants - Caribbean 2013 list, defining the destination as a stand-out culinary experience for visitors and reinforcing its reputation as the gastronomic capital of the Caribbean.

LITTLE BAY:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams opened the Kingdom Justice Ministers Meeting at Divi Resort on Wednesday. The meeting, which involves all of the Justice Ministers of the Dutch Kingdom and their Cabinet members and support staff was one of the first major Kingdom level meetings for 2014.

The Prime Minister welcomed the delegates and wished them a fruitful meeting; "Allow me to welcome you warmly to St. Maarten and wish you very fruitful discussions. It is also opportune to wish you all the very best for 2014 for yourselves, your cabinets and families. I know your time is extremely short but I hope that you get the opportunity to still enjoy St. Maarten. I wish that in other areas the kind of respect for one another, acknowledging that we all have our challenges and we all have some strengths that we share with one another for us to come together to exchange ideas and best practices on the basis of equality, respect and understanding. The area of combating criminality is a very complex area and a matter of great concern and giving all people of the Kingdom a feeling of safety and security is top priority. And to Minister Richardson I want to thank you for hosting this meeting so early in the year for these fruitful discussion and St. Maarten is ready to accommodate that," stated the PM.

The meeting featured delegations headed by Ministers Navarro of Curacao, Minister Dowers of Aruba and Minister Opstelten of the Netherlands and was hosted by Minister Dennis Richardson of St. Maarten.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

National Institute of Art expands course offering with Sound Engineering course

PHILIPSBURG:--- The National Institute of Arts will launch their Audio Department on February 5th, 2014. The NIA Audio Department will offer courses in Sound Engineering. The course aims to teach the basics of sound engineering. Students will also learn the history of sound equipment, how various sound equipment works, including where and when they are most effectively used.
Students will also acquire knowledge of basic studios skills, open-air stage setups, in-door setups and setting up and mixing their own recordings.
The NIA sound engineering course is taught by Patrick Halley, who holds Bachelor of Arts in Sound Engineering.

According to Mr. Halley, "The NIA sound Engineer course is a great opportunity to improve your skills and even provides the basis for further study in Sound Engineering". This course expands the wide range of interdisciplinary art education classes available at the National Institute of Arts.
The course will be offered every Wednesday, 5:00 to 6:30 to students ages 15 -18 at pm and students 19 years and up from 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm.

For more information or to register for the classes, you can visit the National Institute of Arts Facebook page, www.facebook.com/NationalInstituteOfArts or call the NIA at +1 (721) 543-0600.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs the Honorable Patricia Lourens-Philip met with Dr. Heidi Chumley, Executive Dean of the AUC Medical School at the Prime Minister's Cabinet on Wednesday. Tomorrow the Prime Minister will be dedicating the new AUC Campus building in Cupecoy, a 30 million expansion of its St. Maarten campus to support continued academic excellence.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

ORANJESTAD, St. Eustatius:--- This week dispatchers of the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force (KPCN) have started a course to increase their knowledge specifically for the task they have to perform. Dispatchers, in cases of emergency, are the first contact for Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius at the moment when a person makes telephone contact with police. Therefore the team then answers the telephone, after taking sufficient information, will direct the patrol to the scene.
This training for dispatchers is the first in a series of three courses that they will follow. The first training regards the police process. Here the participants will learn how to communicate on a service system handling incoming calls, taking information and dispatching vehicles to the scene.
The second course regards the fire department module and the last for ambulance. A total of nine persons are participating in this course which ends on January 31st. Following this course dispatchers will continue their work with far more knowledge on how to deal with cases which they encounter on on a daily basis.
The objective of this course is for participants to be able to do their work in a more professional manner, as an individual as well as a team. This must also result in better service to the community and visitors to the islands of the Caribbean Netherlands. Two teachers from the Police Academy of the Netherlands are charged with giving this course. In this manner the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force (KPCN) will continue to improve and professionalize the service they render to the community.

KPCN Press Release

PHILIPSBURG:--- Parliament has now passed and approved a motion to halt for a period of no less than two years the issuance of all work permits to unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled foreign workers, except for company directors and managers, with the objective, to increase employment opportunities for St. Maarteners. These baseless recommendations, not founded in logical economic policy, aimed at playing with the emotions of the Electorate, have sparked concern from the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association. It seems that some politicians are underestimating the electorate.

As Ms.Patricia Pantophlet's, former president of the WICSU, stated in her article of November 18th, 2013 on the topic of increasing the minimum wage and the increase in the cost of living as a side effects of such an unstructured proposal: "Generally the public understands and can differentiate between a genuine political statement or initiative to a purely political statement and an initiative for campaigning purposes in the run-up to 2014 elections". SHTA concurs with the sentiment expressed in her article, that Members of Parliament should 'go back to the drawing board' and revisit their proposals and motions. The electoral landscape has changed and voters are very capable of discerning political rhetoric from genuine plans to move the country forward.

SHTA's main concern is that no adequate research was done to support the work permit motion, that due to the seasonality of our main industry, figures fluctuate considerably month by month, making them outdated by the time they are published. Furthermore, work permit and economic policies need to be synchronized. If there is a freeze on work permits, then there should also be a freeze on all economic activities. Doing so would of course severely hamper the productivity and as a result weaken our economic output, resulting in amongst other things lower revenues for government.

Although the SHTA agrees that the local work force should have priority when it comes to recruitment and hiring of personnel, this is unfortunately not always possible, due to a mismatch between the output of local educational system and the demands of our local economy. Consequently, restricting permits in order to facilitate the local workforce, without a clearly structured plan to get the available labor in sync with the job market (by for instance re-training), is equally futile as a call for another increase in minimum wage.

Pointing out similarities between Curacao and St. Maarten, in his article of December 17th, published in the Today Newspaper, notable Curacao businessman and philanthropist Jacob Gelt Dekker, mentioned that the last few years have shown a tremendous mismatch between the education system--the level provided in the schools, and what employers seek. According to Gelt Dekker, the local labor force is insufficiently educated and trained to fill business requirements and he believes nobody will hire unproductive workers. Thus equating the real minimum wage to zero, regardless of the laws, and that is the wage that many workers receive in the wake of the creation or escalation of a government-mandated minimum wage, because they lose their jobs or fail to find jobs when they enter the labor force. Making it illegal to pay less than a given amount does not make a worker's productivity worth that amount—and, if it is not, that worker is unlikely to be employed. A proposed freeze in permits similarly will not automatically make the available labor qualified, leading to an increase in cost of doing business. As available qualified labor gets severely restricted the result is stagnation in economic activity. The proposed restriction in work permits will thus increase the cost of doing business, consequently resulting in an increase in the cost of living, which at the end of the year will result in an increase or indexation of the minimum wage...thereby creating a vicious inflationary cycle the island's economy will have a hard time getting out of.

Apart from the negative impacts on the cost of living and inflation, these measures counter the call to action by the CBCS of July 2013 to improve the investment climate. A call to initiate economic policy that will stimulate the economy in the short term and result in a sustained higher growth and more employment in the future; to implement a policy that focuses on strengthening the competitive position of St. Maarten to stimulate the growth of exports (read: tourism). Moreover, the climate for investment should improve substantially enough to stimulate direct international investments in the country. A consistent implementation of such growth strategy would contribute to the necessary stable macro-economic environment in which our young country can flourish. The measures presented in the motion passed by Parliament do exactly the opposite.

The St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association, the largest business representative on the island, is dedicated to bringing quality to all aspects of life on St. Maarten by promoting sustainable economic development for its members in cooperation with the social partners and the creation of a fair marketplace. For more information, please contact the SHTA office: 542-0108, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our website www.shta.com.

GREAT BAY:--- Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius De Weever would like to have the statement in The Daily Herald of Thursday, January 9, 2014, with the headline "De Weever shrugs off elections 2014 rumors-Says 'I will not get involved in politics'" rectified, as he did not state the latter.
During the weekly Council of Ministers Press Briefing Minister De Weever was asked if he will be contesting the 2014 Parliamentary elections, and the minister clearly stated that he is a professional appointment, and is in government to do his job the right way. "I will not get involved in the politics of it," the Minister clearly stated.

POINTE BLANCHE:--- Port of St. Maarten Management, a member of the Supervisory Board of Directors and staff welcomed on Friday the Norwegian Breakaway to the destination. The ship has been awarded the 'best new ship' by Cruise Critic Editor's Picks Awards.

Captain Hakan Svendung stated he was happy once again to be back in St. Maarten. Svendung visited the island before on the Norwegian Epic and Dawn.

Hector Peters, Port of St. Maarten General & Governmental Affairs representative welcomed Captain Hakan Svendung to the destination before presenting him with a real-time plaque showing the vessel docking at Pier 1 on Friday morning.

Captain Svendung was very impressed and told those gathered for the presentation that he would put the plaque up on the bridge.

The Breakaway was in port with 4031 passengers and 1653 crew for total complement of 5684. The cruise vessel started its itinerary from New York City with stops in San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

"Norwegian Cruise Lines is one of our best clients and we value the cruise lines relationship with the Port of St. Maarten and with the destination. They are a partner in the cruise business and we work together with them and the other cruise lines to make sure the country maintains its position as premier destination in this part of the region," Chief Executive Officer of the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies Mark Mingo said on Friday.

Norwegian Cruise Line has been named 'Caribbean's Leading Cruise Line,' by World Travel Awards

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) took delivery of the 146,600 gross tonnage Breakaway in April 2013. The vessel carries 4,000 cruise passengers and 1,650 crew and is 1063 feet long and 130 feet wide. The Norwegian Breakaway was built at the German Meyer Werft shipyard.

In 2013 the Port of St. Maarten surpassed the cruise record of 2012 where the destination catered to 1,785,670 million cruise passengers.

Also at the port to welcome the vessel and plaque exchange was a representative from the Tourist Bureau and Water Taxi Service.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St. Maarten has formed a committee to address a reported mix-up of deceased bodies that occurred during the Thanksgiving weekend in 2013. On the 29th of November 2013 two elderly females passed away from natural causes while vacationing on St. Maarten. One of the females was of Canadian Nationality and the other was an American Citizen. Both women were approximately the same age (83 and 85 respectively) and both were delivered to the same funeral home. The next of kin requested from the Ministry of Health, Social Development and Labor permission that the bodies be brought over to their respective places of internment namely Canada and the United States. The request was granted in accordance to the legal stipulations outlined in the respective laws of St. Maarten and both were flown to the United States on the same airline with one body needing further transport to Canada after arrival at the US destination. Upon collection of the deceased the next of kin of both deceased persons claimed that this was not the body of their respective relatives and have lodged a complaint with the local law enforcement authorities. The body that was flown to Canada has since been cremated.

The Foreign Relations Department received an official request from the United States Consulate to look into the matter and has communicated to the US Consulate that the matter is being investigated by the Health Inspector considering its seriousness and the potential implications this may have. The Health Inspector will investigate all aspects of the incident and will report to the Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, the Honorable Minister Cornelius De Weever. Close contact will be maintained and information will be continuously exchanged with the respective consulates of both the United States and Canada. The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams is in contact with the representatives of the various entities involved and is being updated as the investigation continues.

A DNA analyses will be carried out in order to verify conclusively the identity of both bodies. As soon as there is more information available it will be made available through the representatives of the respective Governments, the families of the deceased and the respective media outlets.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- Management of KPSM and Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson were presented with the keys of six new police vehicles on Friday. The six vehicles are the first of their kind for St. Maarten's Police Force, they are Ford Interceptors custom made for policing. The vehicles were ordered from Caribbean Auto by former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan while he was in office. Reporters were given a first-hand look at the vehicles that were parked in front of the Police Headquarters in Philipsburg prior to the official handing over ceremony. Police Spokesman Ricardo Henson showed reporters multiple features that the vehicles have including the different sounds of sirens and the various lights that can be used to direct traffic when in certain situations. Henson said the police is especially pleased with how the back seat of the vehicles are made because prisoners and or suspects when arrested have limited space and could hardly move around to attack the officers transporting them. There is enormous space in the trunk section of the vehicles which Henson said is to transport tools and other items to crime scenes. Henson said the police intend to install cameras on the dashboard and radios inside the vehicle. The designs on the six vehicles were done by TRAXX designs in Cole Bay.

Dylan Smith, Marketing Manager of Caribbean Auto Sales thanked the former and current Ministers of Justice and the management of KPSM for placing their confidence in Caribbean Auto and Motorworld and giving them the opportunity to provide KPSM with six Ford Interceptors. Smith said the vehicles were ordered and built based on US police specifications. Smith said the process to obtain these vehicles stared way back in 2012, therefore he complimented the management of KPSM for planning and implementing the plans they have to further improve the police department on St. Maarten.

Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson said that acquiring these vehicles is indeed a major step for KPSM because when he was Lt. Governor of St. Maarten, the police had to buy used cars from the car rentals because they were unable to purchase new ones. Minister Richardson also thanked the former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan for the initiatives he took while he was in office. Minister Richardson said that Duncan was mostly in the news in a negative light but people need to be credited when they do good things also. Shortly after the speeches, the keys of the new vehicles were presented by Caribbean Auto Marketing Manager Dylan Smith to Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson, who immediately handed over the keys to Chief of Police Peter de Witte. De Witte then handed over the keys to Commissioner Carl John who is responsible for the operations of KPSM.

Chief of Police Peter de Witte expressed gratitude to the Minister of Justice for providing KPSM with some top quality vehicles. De Witte said when he took over the helm of KPSM in 2010 the police force was in bad shape and they only had old cars. De Witte further stated that today KPSM has something to be proud of because it is indeed another step forward. De Witte said at one point the KPSM had to rent cars in order for them to conduct their jobs. "Without vehicles the police were not able to go everywhere on the island." He said with the six new vehicles he believes that the police now has one major tool to place them all over the island.

Commissioner Carl John told the small gathering that the process started when he went with others to visit the Miami Dade Police Department to seek training for the community police officers (CPO), he saw the Ford Interceptors since that school had just ordered the same type of vehicle for the entire police department. Commissioner John said when he learned of that information, one evening while in Miami he took the opportunity with another officer to sit with one of the instructors who showed them the project and what it took for the US Justice Department to order the Ford Interceptors. Commissioner John said when he returned to the island he discussed the idea with the police management team and the former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan who gave them the green light to proceed with ordering the vehicles for KPSM. John said that while speaking to the Chief of Police of Curacao earlier this week, he learned that Curacao will take the same direction as St. Maarten and they will be ordering 16 of the Ford Interceptors for their police force. John also informed the gathering that Curacao will send three persons to St. Maarten to get some training on how to use the highly technological vehicles. He said the six vehicles will be used for smart policing and they will not be used driving around the island idly. John said with that in mind they intend to make KPSM a five star police force.

Caribbean Auto also ordered and have in their possession two more of the vehicles for the Immigration Department but the process with IND is not yet completed.

At the end of the ceremony, CPO Felix Richards posed with a framed copy of the newspaper that nominated them as persons of the year for 2013. De Witte said it is indeed a proud moment for the Police because in 2012 some detectives were selected by SMN News as persons of year and last year another newspaper recognized the CPOs as their persons' of the year.

Click here to view more photos of the Ford Interceptors that were handed over to KPSM on Friday.

Minister Dennis Richardson presents keys to new Police Vehicles; Poster presented in connection with Community Police Officers as Persons of the Year 2013.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Justice Hon. Dennis Richardson on Friday presented the keys to six brand new fully outfitted Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles to Chief Commissioner of the Sint Maarten National Police Peter de Witte. The presentation took place in front of the Police Philipsburg Headquarters.

The vehicles were supplied by Motor World and were customized according to the specs of the Sint Maarten National Police by the manufacturer Ford Motor Company.

During the same ceremony, the country's Community Police Officers (CPOs) presented to the Chief Commissioner of Police Peter de Witte in the presence of the Minister of Justice Hon. Dennis Richardson a poster of the front page of the Today daily newspaper which named the CPOs as Persons of the Year 2013, recognizing them for their work.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip reminds the community to come out and attend the National Day of Prayer Service on Sunday, January 12 which is being held under the theme, "God Is Speaking! Are We Listening?"

The National Day of Prayer Service will take place in front of the Government Administration Building. The ecumenical service will begin at 4:30 pm with Praise and Worship by the Christian Faith Ministry (CFM).

The Order of Service includes a welcome by Moderator Doran Joseph. The St. Maarten song will be led by CFM; Call to Worship Pastor Royston Philbert; Invocation Rev. Nichola Barrett-Glasgow; Congregational Hymn 'I Come to the Garden Alone'; Scripture Reading 1 Kings 19: 11-13 by Natasha Yawood; Choir Selection: Seventh Day Adventist Choir; Scripture reading: John 10:24-27 Maria Prince; Sermonette Minister Jeannette Harigan; Intercessory Prayers; The Lord's Prayer led by Brother Brother Walley Havertong; Remarks Prime Minister Hon. Sarah Wescot-Williams; Vote of Thanks by Minister of Education Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip; Benediction Prophet Edwin Arrindell; and Closing hymn 'It is Truly what the Lord has done.'

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the second Sunday of January, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was decreed in 2005 by an Executive Council resolution of the then Island Territory of Sint Maarten, and became part and parcel of the annual cultural calendar of program and activities.

The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip hereby encourages the general public to participate in the National Day of Prayer to intercede for St. Maarten's leaders and the entire population as we begin a New Year.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), hereby announces that Pigeon Road in Point Blanche will be closed for two days starting Monday, 13 January.

There will be no through traffic from Monday till Wednesday.

The closure is in connection with repairs to the road crossing.

Motorists are requested to be vigilant and observant for the traffic directional signs.

Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience that this may cause.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- On Tuesday morning health officials from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) gave a presentation to the Council of Ministers about Chikungunya in the format of integrated vector management. Representatives from the Ministry of Public Health were also present.

Sint Maarten now has two confirmed cases of Chikungunya on the Dutch side, and it is important for collective intervention and responsibility not only of government but also from the community and the people.

Fogging is not the sole response based on the fact it only knocks down the adult mosquito that is important however to control the mosquito population, it is necessary for community to eliminate mosquito breeding sites, where persons are requested to clean their immediate surroundings.

An awareness campaign is currently underway by the Department of Communications where the information is distributed within the media but also within the various sectors in our community.

In collaboration with the French Side in addition to fogging, banners are hung across the streets to place emphasis on the need of working together in decreasing the mosquito population and ensuring the control of the disease.

Citizens are called upon to be advocates in the elimination of the mosquito breeding sites, which is a collective responsibility.

The CARPHA/PAHO team comprises of Dr. Babatunde Olowokure (CARPHA), Dr. Karen Polson. (CARPHA), Camille White (CARPHA), Dr. Pilar Ramón-Pardo (PAHO/WHO HQ), and Dr. Washington Lum (PAHO/WHO Venezuela).

PHILIPSBURG:--- Orco Bank's Manager Mr. Ronald Halman and Account Executive Jimmy Challenger made a courtesy visit to NAGICO's newly appointed CEO for the Dutch Caribbean, Mr. Dwayne Elgin. The three gentlemen discussed various points, including ways in which their respective companies can further enhance their mutual clients' service experiences.
Mr Ronald Halman: "Orco Bank's objective is to maintain a healthy relationship with all its business partners – with special attention to insurance companies, as they play a vital role in the banking process to mitigate the potential risks associated with financing of private and business (construction) mortgages. We saw it fitting to pay a formal visit to congratulate Mr. Elgin on his new appointment and at the same time discuss areas of cooperation that would be mutually beneficial to our (potential) clients. We thank Mr Elgin for finding the time to meet with us and wish him well in his new position"
Orco Bank's approach to build mutually beneficial relationships with other corporate citizens isn't new; sometime back, the company held a joint Pension Seminar with Fatum Insurances, a member of Guardian Group, and will continue going forward to ensure that it makes significant contributions towards providing services and information on financial services to the community of St. Maarten.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Thursday Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake said he is working closely with the Minister of Tourism & Economic Affairs Hon. Ted Richardson and Minister of Finance Hon. Martin Hassink and other stakeholders to find a win-win for the purchasing of part of the Emilio Wilson Estate.

Minister Lake said in his back to basics approach, he is fully behind Government taking over the estate which can then be enjoyed by the people of the country and visitors.

Minister Lake added that Government has been in communication with the owners of the estate in finding a solution.

"The first plan presented by the former Minster of VROMI Theo Heyliger a few years ago was the best way to go because the estate would have been maintained in a proper professional manner, and various family activities would have been organized for the benefit of the people and visitors. The estate is great for horse-back riding and many other family related activities.

"The first plan was thrown out due to petty politics when Government fell in 2012. We need to get away from petty politics because that will destroy us. Our focus must be on the bigger picture.

"Government is working diligently on different alternatives in order to finance the purchasing of part of the estate. A section of the estate is reserved and to be developed by a part owner/developer.

"The Government's current financial situation presents challenges and the purchasing of the estate could not be included in the draft 2014 budget. However, we need to move forward in the best interests of the people.

"The outgoing National Alliance Government was irresponsible knowing Government had no money to purchase the estate. The 2013 budget was not even approved when they made an agreement. The former Minister of VROMI was irresponsible to make such knowing there was no approved budget.

"Since the 2013 budget was approved, there is still no money to purchase the estate, but Government is committed to the people in finding a win-win solution. Thank God for the harbour group of companies showing interests in the estate and stepping up to the plate. I am confident that we will overcome this challenge.

"We need to hold past Ministers accountable for their actions, poor decision-making and bad management practices in putting the country and the people in this predicament," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Thursday.

GREAT BAY:--- The Ministry of Public Health Social Development & Labor as of January 1, 2014 have enforced the non-smoking legislation (AB 2013, GT no. 229) within all of the ministries buildings.
"As ministry we have to set an example to the rest of the community, and by enforcing a smoke free zone I hope that the business community will follow suit and do the same," said Minister of Public Health Social Development & Labor, Cornelius De Weever.
The public is hereby informed that "No Smoking" signs will be noticeable in all buildings where the ministry offices are housed. This is being done in an effort to promote "Clean air for all".

PHILIPSBURG:--- Town hall presentations about Dawn Beach, Guana Bay & Point Blanche; Greater Philipsburg Area; and Over the Pond/Sucker Garden areas, are available for download on the Government website www.sintmaartengov.org.

Interested residents and stakeholders can go to the website and select the drop down tab "Government," followed by "Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Development, Environment and Infrastructure (MinVROMI)."

On the aforementioned page you then go to "Zoning/Development Plans" and a page will open with an interactive map. Select one of the maps noted above and you will go to the presentation that was made at the town hall meeting which is in a PDF file.

All presentations have been uploaded to the website which would allow residents and stakeholders an opportunity to review the aforementioned at their own leisure.

Persons can also write MinVROMI via the following email address This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with respect to their views and ideas regarding the development of the island.

Government has embarked upon the process to develop plans, and the plans will guide the future spatial development of the country where it relates to government and private land.

The Zoning Ordinance (EROP) prescribes that development plans are established regulating the development possibilities and land usage on the Dutch side of the island.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The commercial manager of GEBE Steve Duzanzon remains in limbo even though he met with management of the company on Thursday to further discuss the indefinite suspension he received from them on Tuesday. SMN News learned that GEBE gave a proposal to Duzanzon who worked for the company for 10 to 15 years. The source said that the management of GEBE told Duzanzon he could either accept another position within the company because both the management and staff of the company has lost confidence in him or he could accept a payout for his years of service.

SMN News also learnt that a receptionist of GEBE took $1,100 to pay the utilities bill for Defiance Heaven Club (St. Maarten Angel Hotel) located in Sucker Garden but that bill was never paid.

The source said that even though the company is behind in its payments they have a payment arrangement with GEBE and when the agreement was not lived up to, GEBE disconnected the utilities of the business establishment. SMN News further learnt that the incident took place since September 2013 and management of GEBE was conducting internal investigations prior to taking the decision on Tuesday. "When the disconnection was done, the owner of the company contacted GEBE and informed them that the monies were given to the receptionist who is related to a Member of Parliament and also a shareholder of Defiance Heaven Club."

Sources from GEBE said that GEBE made several reports on the case because they learned that this is not the first time the receptionist took monies from people to pay their bill and she would often ask Duzanzon to get it done by the cashiers for her.

According to some of the workers who spoke to SMN News on Wednesday, the receptionist first admitted to collecting the monies and she at one point said the monies were in her drawer causing management to break open the draw to look for the monies which was not there. The workers said after that the receptionist told management that she gave the monies to Duzanzon to pay the bill that sparked an investigation because workers of GEBE are not allowed to take clients' monies to pay their bills.

SMN News learnt that the receptionist has some severe issues with paying her own bills and GEBE was about to disconnect her utilities and remove the meter from her residence but Duzanzon (the commercial manager of the company) jumped in and ordered the technicians not to do the disconnection.

SMN News further learnt that the employment agency that hired the receptionist suspended her on Thursday.

SMN News contacted Steve Duzanzon on Thursday for a comment, he admitted that he was suspended from the company for the allegations SMN News reported on Thursday but said he is not at liberty to speak to the media since he is still in discussion with management of GEBE.

SMN News also learnt that on Wednesday GEBE suspended another worker identified as Vincent Lake claiming that one of his diplomas is fraudulent. The source said that Lake's diplomas were damaged during hurricane Luis. It is further understood that Lake has three months to contact the school to get new diplomas, if he cannot produce new diplomas within the time frame given then the company will fire him.

PHILIPSBURG/WILLEMSTAD:--- The nrc.nl of the Netherlands reported in April 2011 and released the names of five police chiefs of the Netherlands who received excessive funds and had to pay it back. Among the five is the man the Dutch Government chose to place at the helm of one of main justice institutions that is supposed to give cooperation to the countries within the Kingdom (The Netherlands, St. Maarten, Curacao, and Aruba). At the time of the incident Wim van Vemde was a deputy chief of police who worked as the chief of Gooi and Vecht in the Netherlands.

A research conducted by NRC Handelsblad showed that the five had to refund the monies they were overpaid, that announcement was made by the Minister of Security and Justice of the Netherlands Ivo Opstelten from the (VVD).

Surprisingly, Opstelten attended the four party justice meeting held on St. Maarten on Wednesday and when SMN News posed the question to him about Wim van Vemde he refused to answer the question and referred it to the Minister of Justice of St. Maarten Dennis Richardson who had no knowledge of the information. Even though Minister Opstelten knew of the monetary issues the Netherlands had with Wim van Vemde, they chose to appoint him head of the RST, one of the most critical justice agencies that has to give the countries cooperation when investigating certain cases.

Opstelten told the house in 2011 that eight unjustifiable grants were paid in 2008 and 2009. He stated that seven persons in top police positions were involved. He further stated it was five cases of high representation allowances, one case high reimbursement for childcare, two for rental fees and compensation for taxes. Parties in the Netherlands agreed at the time that the five persons involved, one of which is the current head of the RST for the countries within the Kingdom, will repay the extra monies they claimed and received.

Since it was clear to Minister Opstelten that the five top cops were not honest and they needed to show that the police of the Netherlands had honest people in the Korps, they chose not to appoint any of them to high positions in the Netherlands. Currently there are 14 National Police Departments with several regional chiefs. However, miraculously, Wim Van Vemde was appointed head of the RST.

This of course raised several questions that have to be answered by the various Ministers of Justice and the Attorney General Dick Piar. On September 30th, 2013 the Kingdom Council of Minister ordered the Governor of St. Maarten by Royal Decree to conduct an investigation on the integrity within the Government of St. Maarten. It is now left to be seen what actions will be taken against the persons that knew of Wim van Vemde's actions while he was working in the Netherlands, yet chose to appoint him head of the RST.

Click here to view the article from nrc.nl that was published in April 2011.

Encourages King Yen School for Martial Arts Representatives

MAHO:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams showed her support for the St. Maarten delegation at the 2014 International Congress of Martial Arts held at the Maho Convention Center on January 4th. The Congress, organized by world-renowned Martial Artist Tom Shamuon, featured teams from St. Maarten, the United States and Canada. St. Maarten was represented by students from the King Yen School, under the direction of Grand master Theo Liu and featured athletes ranging in age from four to 50 years old under the theme of friendship through martial arts.

Prime Minister Wescot-Williams opened up the congress and wished participants much success in both exhibitions bouts. "I would like to welcome all delegates to St. Maarten and I encourage all of you to enjoy this island as you gather to practice your art on our beautiful island. It is also good to see so many young students practicing the Martial Arts, particularly as it develops discipline and strength of mind in especially the younger practitioners," commented Wescot-Williams, who was also presented with an honorary medal at the tournament.

Grandmaster Liu thanked the PM for her attendance and stated that this was the first time a Government official was in attendance at a similar event. "We are very happy the Prime Minister was able to come to the tournament and welcome delegates and encourage the St. Maarten team," commented Grandmaster Liu.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

Classes to officially start on January 13th 2014

PHILIPSBURG:--- The NIPA is hereby informing all registered students and other interested persons that student registration and orientation will take place during the week of January 6 – 10, 2014. There will be two orientation sessions daily from Monday to Friday. The morning orientation session begins at 10 am and ends at 1 pm. The afternoon session begins at 2 pm and ends 5pm. All registered students and interested persons are invited to attend one of these orientation sessions.

Interested persons that have not yet registered are urged to bring along with them two passport pictures, proof of registration from the Census Office (no older than three months), residency papers (for non-Dutch citizens), copy of identification card or passport and a copy of diplomas or certificates. All registered students who still need to submit missing documents are urged to bring in these documents during the orientation week.

Classes will start on January 13th 2014 and the courses that will begin are Maritime level 1, Hospitality Assistant level 1, Cook level 2, ICT level 2, SPW level 3 and Registered Nurse level 4.

For further information, contact the NIPA office at 543-0497.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministers of Justice from the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao, and St. Maarten met at the Divi Little Bay Hotel on Wednesday for their bi-annual meeting where they discussed at least 15 topics related to justice. Minister of Justice of St. Maarten Dennis Richardson told reporters that Wednesday's meeting is record breaking for Netherlands because he believed it's the first time the four Ministers who meet frequently to discuss justice related issues managed to deal with all the points on the agenda prior to speaking to the media at 2pm. The Minister of Justice of St. Maarten said some of the issues discussed were the evaluation of the Kingdom Consensus Law (Justice), the Ministers decided to establish a work group to conduct an inventory and the criteria that has to be used for the evaluation while a committee will be installed to do the actual evaluation. The plans for the Coast Guards for the next three years have been approved by the Minister of Justice of all four countries.

Another positive agreement reached on Wednesday was how the police of the various countries will proceed with their education package for police officers of each country. Minister Richardson said instead of sending recruits away for education, the various countries will cooperate by sending certified people to the various countries to teach in their country which will be more effective and less costly.

The yearly plan of the RST was also discussed and division of costs for the RST. The budget for the council on law enforcement was approved on Wednesday.

As for the monitoring of prisons based on international standards, a committee was established during Wednesday's meeting. A committee with members from St. Maarten, Curacao, and Aruba was also established to monitor the compliance in prisons based on international requirements. Two agreements were also signed, one between the Netherlands, Curacao, Aruba, and St. Maarten while the second agreement was between Curacao, the Netherlands, and St. Maarten.

Heavy focus will be placed on combating organized crime, human smuggling, and drug smuggling.

The Ministers said that they intend to focus on human smuggling and trafficking of persons.

When asked by SMN News if the RST will remain a separate entity as is on St. Maarten, Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson said that the RST is a body that is supposed to cooperate with other justice agencies. The Ministers admitted that this was a heavy topic last year and it started as a Dutch organization in the past but today it's a joint organization which falls under the Attorney General. Minister Richardson made clear that sometimes there are crossing of paths.

SMN News reporter asked the Ministers to explain how the head of the RST is appointed and who appoints this person because it came to our attention that the current head of the RST had some questionable if not legal problems in the Netherlands. Minister of Justice Dennis Richardson said the allegations are new to him while the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Opstelten refused to answer the specific questions about the allegations of monetary issues in the Netherlands but stated that the head of the RST is appointed by the Netherlands. According to information SMN News received, the head of the RST used monies that was allocated to him for things that it was not intended for. SMN News further learnt that when this became known in the Netherlands the person repaid the monies that he used up. However, he was not appointed Chief of Police in the Netherlands even though that country has 14 National Police Departments. SMN News further understands that when the person applied for the position with the countries of the Kingdom, he did not make a full declaration on the issues he had while working in the Netherlands. SMN News will bring you a full report on the RST on St. Maarten, Curacao, and Aruba in a subsequent report.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Reporters tried to get Minister of Health, Labor and Social Affairs Dr. Cornelius de Weever to say whether or not he will be contesting the 2014 Parliamentary elections. In responding to the question Minister de Weever said that as a professional Minister who was appointed to office by the Democratic Party he is not focusing on politics because that will distract him from his duties. The leader of at least one political party has claimed that Dr. De Weever will be contesting the elections on his slate.

However, SMN News has been reliably informed that the brother of the Minister (Miguel de Weever) is busy preparing to be a candidate in the upcoming elections. The source said that Miguel de Weever was planning to run on the National Alliance slate in 2010 but backed out when he was pressured by other family members because his uncle was running on the Democratic Party slate.

The source said that while Miguel de Weever is preparing for the elections, he is still to decide on which list he will run. It is highly likely that De Weever will run on the UP or USP list depending which one is more feasible to him.

In the meantime, leader of the Democratic Party Sarah Wescot Williams made clear on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing that her party will not be looking for quantity instead they will focus on quality candidates to participate on the DP slate for the 2014 elections. Wescot Williams said it is likely that the DP will not submit a full slate of 21 for the upcoming elections.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell has made available for public review the country 2014 draft budget via the parliament's website.

The country's budget for 2014 is Naf. 426,695,000 million.

Persons can visit the parliament's website at www.sxmparliament.org and go to Documents where you will see several links related to the draft budget 2014 that are available to review online or download.

These documents are: Budget Country Sint Maarten 2014; Draft Budget 2014 and Multi-Year Budget 2014-2017; and supporting documents from the Governor, the Council of Advice and the Explanatory Memorandum.

The Central Committee of the House of Parliament is scheduled to meet January 13th regarding the national budget.

The public committee session is set for Monday at 10:00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Finance Martin Hassink issued a strong call to all road users on Wednesday asking them to start paying their road taxes now. Minister Hassink said the number plates are already on St. Maarten and the sale of those number plates began on January 8th, 2014. He said the deadline for the payment of road tax is February 28th, 2014 and made clear that there will be no extensions. Minister Hassink said on March 1st, 2014, the police will begin road controls to ensure that all vehicle owners pay their road tax. As for the 2013 road tax, the Minister said that the Government of St. Maarten collected some Naf. 7.2 million while they lacked about Naf. 1.5 million guilders. The Minister had announced late last year that persons who did not pay their road tax would have been fined Naf. 350. 00 since the police would have conducted some stiff controls to catch the persons who did not pay their road tax for 2013. When asked about that on Wednesday, the Minister of Finance said they had to abandon that plan because the legislation for issuing the fines finished too late in the year and the police did not conduct the controls as planned.

2014 Budget to be Discussed Next Week.

The Minister of Finance also announced on Wednesday that he intends to present the 2014 budget to parliament next week. The proceedings will begin in a central committee meeting before it is discussed on the floor of parliament for the approval of parliament. Minister Hassink said the CFT gave St. Maarten until January 16th and he is hoping to get through the Parliamentary sessions at least one day prior to the deadline.

The 2014 budget which had to be cut several times based on the advice of the CFT stands at 427 million guilders.

The Finance Minister also made clear that this year the Government of St. Maarten will place strong focus on cost cutting measures and tax compliance.

"We have not taken a Decision on the report" --- Stein.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams started off the New Year well by being more open and transparent. On Wednesday just after the Council of Ministers' weekly press conference, the Prime Minister distributed copies of the decision rendered by the Council of State to the Minister of Plenipotentiary who asked them questions on the Royal Decree issued by the Kingdom Council of Ministers ordering the Governor of St. Maarten to conduct an investigation on integrity within the Government of St. Maarten. Besides the investigation that is conducted by the Governor, the Government of St. Maarten installed a committee to conduct their own integrity investigation while they also contracted the services of Transparency International to conduct a systemic investigation. Wescot Williams told reporters on Wednesday that the General Audit Chamber will be conducting a similar investigation which will be made public since they report to the Parliament of St. Maarten.

SMN News reporter asked Prime Minister Wescot-Williams to say what measures if any were taken with the ongoing investigation against the head of VDSM James Richardson who has been suspended since it became known that monies are missing from the institution.

Wescot Williams said that the Government of St. Maarten gave the SOAB report to the Public Prosecutor's Office in order for them to study the report and take a decision on whether or not they will prosecute.

Attorney General of St. Maarten Taco Stein confirmed to SMN News that they received the report in early December 2013. Stein said the Prosecutor's Office have not taken any decision on what they will do regarding the head of VDSM.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Management of GEBE suspended their commercial manager Steve Duzanzon on Tuesday due to some monetary issues. Reliable information provided to SMN News states that one of the contracted clerks took a client's money to pay their GEBE bills but never paid the bills, leading GEBE to disconnect the person utilities, the source said the clerk who is a close relative to a Member of Parliament first told her superiors that the monies were inside her drawer but she lost the keys. "When this matter surfaced the contracted clerk went on sick leave and GEBE waited until she returned to work to address the matter. The source said that management broke open the drawer and there was no money inside the drawer. They said the clerk then said she gave the monies to the commercial manager Steve Duzanzon, with that information coming from a relative of an MP, management of GEBE immediately suspended Duzanzon until further notice while the female clerk is still on the job. SMN News tried to reach Duzanzon by phone for a comment but he could not be reached on Wednesday.

Sources at GEBE said the company is in chaos and is heading downward because Minister Maurice Lake and other members of government are allowing the Chief Operating Manager to do as he pleases. "Basically management is hiring unqualified persons for major positions. Can you imagine they got rid of the HR manager and appointed someone that simply cannot do the job, besides that this person has a questionable character."

They said that the COO Romellio Maduru hired someone that was interviewed by the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ivan Solomon who found the candidate to be under qualified.

The workers who spoke to SMN News on the condition of anonymity said that this person is from St. Maarten but GEBE is paying a hotel room at Great Bay Hotel and rental car for her while her salary is the second highest in the company. "We were told that this person also applied at PJIAE for a job and when she was interviewed at PJIAE they found she was not qualified for the job even though she walks around with several certificates. We heard that the certificates are fraudulent and we are calling on the Minister in charge of GEBE to do a proper background check on the person who is taking information from the human resource department and discussing it at bars. We are also asking the Minister to tell us why GEBE paying a hotel room and rental car for someone that lives on the island. Besides that, we want to know since when people working on contract for GEBE could get paid vacation to travel overseas to do liposuction and plastic surgery on their buttocks. This person is walking around as if she owns GEBE and she is treating the workers very badly." Another strong concern for the workers is the decision taken by management to take away a position from a young St. Maartener that has Bachelor's and Master's degrees in communication and give it to someone from St. Kitts who does not even have proper documentation for the island. "Just recently the company had to run around to fix re-entry permit for someone they give a high salary when William Brooks was managing the company. This woman does not have the qualifications for the job. She was hired by Brooks and given a huge salary. In order to justify the salary and benefits this persons is getting they took away the communications job from a young local who is highly qualified and gave it to someone who does not have the required certifications. The same person was working at customer service and she created a huge problem there, the company got several complaints about her attitude towards clients and instead of giving her a warning they promoted her to a position she simply cannot handle."

The workers of GEBE said that the company was supposed to do business with the French side but they could not because GEBE is not providing sufficient water for its customers on the Dutch side. The company (Seven Seas) is pleading with the management of GEBE to get its act together because they simply cannot produce sufficient water for its customers and management refuses to go ahead with building the power station for the water plant in Pointe Blanche. "Right now it's a total mess and government knows about this but they are not doing anything to rectify the issues because GEBE gave them three years concession fees in advance.

Three New Members Appointed to GEBE Supervisory Board.

Just recently Minister of VROMI Maurice Lake who is also responsible for GEBE appointed three persons to the supervisory board, they are Veronica Jensen Webster, Attorney at Law Zylena Barry, and Kelvin Bloyden.

Efforts made to reach Minister Maurice Lake on Wednesday afternoon proved futile.

PHILIPSBURG:--- GEBE conducted a weekend of Motivational Talks with World Renowned Speaker Mr. Les Brown from January 2 – 4, 2014. This event was organized to help individuals and companies to be motivated and recognized the greatness in us all. Mr. Les Brown arrived on St. Maarten on January 1, and immediately went to work where he met with approximately 230 GEBE employees on January 2 at its Employee Motivational morning.

The need to help guide our young people in the right direction and afford them the opportunity to perform for the general public was one of the reason a Youth night was factored into the weekends event. The youth of St. Maarten put on a spectacular show and left the audience and Mr. Les Brown with big smiles on their faces. The weekend ended with GEBE Black Tie event where Mr. Les Brown spoke about his life stories and lessons. He reminded the audience that "we all have Greatness within us, and to continue to surround our self with Only Quality People". Mr. Maduro, President of the Managing Board stated that "GEBE would like to thank the public of St. Maarten for embracing this initiative and promises to continue to support the community with much more needed events such as this".

It is good for St. Maarten, and then it has the OSPP full support

PHILIPSBURG:--- We were very delighted to hear that a member of the parliament of St. Maarten, namely Mr. Roy Marlin is planning to submit a motion during the 2014 budget debate calling for the lowering of NV GEBE tariffs. During our 2014 New Year address we have indicated that a social agenda should take center stage as it has been lagging far behind infrastructural projects over the years. This imbalance has caused many problems within our communities and we are paying very dearly for this neglect. It is therefore imperative that we addressed those social ills that are hurting our communities today. However, leading the pack is the high Cost of Living that is affecting the livelihood of our people preventing many of them from putting food on the kitchen tables on a daily basis. Many parents are forced to have two jobs to make ends meet and in many cases leaving their young children unattended because they can't afford to pay a babysitter from their measly income. Long gone are the days when parents, grandparents and other family members will take care of your children while you are at work.
Today the OSPP has forwarded a letter to the Shareholder Representative of NV GEBE, Minister Maurice Lake and copied to the Member of Parliament, Mr. Roy Marlin; NV GEBE, Chairman of the Board, Mr. Kelvin Bloyden and NV GEBE, Managing Director, Mr. Romelio Maduro indicating our full support for the proposal to be tabled in the 2014 budget debate to lower the tariffs. We strongly believe in the new politics of today, "It is good for St. Maarten" then it has our full support no matter who proposes it, says Interim Leader of the OSPP, Lenny Priest. The OSPP has also suggested that the tariffs reduction should only be applicable to the residential consumers for now and not to the commercial sector at least not yet.
The OSPP further indicated that the commercial tariffs should no longer be charged to our educational institutions, especially those that are subsidized by the government of St. Maarten. And that NV GEBE should without further delay invest in the installation of solar panels at those same schools. These savings for these institutions can be used to further develop our much needed educational product in particular in the area of information technology.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Wednesday Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake forwarded a letter to NV GEBE Managing Director Romelio Maduro requesting the utility company to look into opening several district payment/customer service offices.

The request comes after observing long lines of people standing outside NV GEBE offices in Philipsburg and Simpson Bay.

Minister Lake would like to see payment/customer services offices opened in Cole Bay, St. Peters and Belvedere.

A copy of the letter has also been forwarded to the newly appointed board members Kelvin Bloyden, Chairman of the Board of Supervisory Directors of NV GEBE; Veronica Jansen-Webster and Zylena Bary.

"The lines of NV GEBE customers standing out in the hot sun and rain at times shows that additional payment/customer services offices are needed in other districts. In going back to basics, it's about providing the best services to your customers. Offices located closer to the people in the districts will benefit the disabled as well as our senior citizens.

"By cutting down on the thousands of customers who have to drive to NV GEBE office in Philipsburg and Simpson Bay to pay their bills, it would have a positive influence on relieving traffic and parking congestion.

"At the same time, workers who have to leave their jobs to stand in long lines won't have to do so anymore. This would also benefit productivity in a business, because if an employee is out of the office spending hours in a line then the business loses money.

"And it is also not nice for employees to spend their lunchtime break standing in long lines to pay utility bills. The customer is King as they always say, and additional NV GEBE offices in the districts would benefit the company's customers," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Wednesday.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- An emergency fogging cycle will be carried out early Thursday morning in the district of Cay Hill and Belair in the country campaign to eliminate mosquito breeding sites, according to the Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a government agency under the Ministry of Public Health.

The emergency fogging is in connection with the country's second confirmed case of Chikungunya of a resident residing in Cay Hill. The so-called "shantytown area in Cay Hill will also be fogged.

This notice is in particular for online media-evening newscast broadcast to inform the residents of the aforementioned areas who monitor these mediums that fogging will start at 5:00am weather permitting, and residents are being asked to open doors and windows. Those with respiratory problems should keep theirs closed.

Minister of Public Health, Social Development & Labour Hon. Cornelius de Weever and Dr. Karen Polson from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) will be present to observe the fogging exercise at 6:30am on Thursday.

The fogging exercise is an effort by the Government in fighting mosquitoes that carry the Dengue and Chikungunya viruses, the latter, a dengue-like sickness.

Residents are strongly advised to continue to step up measures at homes and businesses to mitigate the rise in the viruses carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Homeowners during the time of the spraying should open all doors and windows. Dishes, bowls, pots and pans, fish tanks and bird cages should be covered. Stay away from open windows and doors during the spraying.

An increase in the mosquito population puts all residents and businesses at risk. Call for information on the Aedes Aegypti mosquito breeding sites and respective preventive measures at 542-2078 or 542-3003 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Consult your physician to ensure proper diagnosis, registration, treatment and follow-up.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams joined numerous dignitaries on Tuesday evening at Divi Little Bay Resort in wishing Minister of Justice the Honorable Dennis Richardson a very happy and prosperous birthday. The well-wishers also included the Justice Ministers of the other Countries within the Kingdom celebrating the birthday of Minister Richardson.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

POINTE BLANCHE:--- The Port of St. Maarten on Friday will welcome another cruise vessel as the latest edition to the cruise industry; the Norwegian Getaway visits the destination for the 2014 cruise season.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) took delivery of the 146,600 gross tonnage Getaway mid-November 2013. The vessel carries 4,000 cruise passengers and 1,600 crew and will sail out of the Port of Miami to the Eastern Caribbean. The vessel is 1063 feet long and 130 feet wide. The Norwegian Getaway was built at the German Meyer Werft shipyard.

Norwegian Getaway is similar to its sister ship Norwegian Breakaway. The vessel will dazzle guests with the excitement of 678 Ocean Place and The Waterfront, a variety of interconnected indoor and outdoor venues on three dynamic decks.

New vessels calling at the Port will add to the existing fleets of cruise vessels that visit the destination thereby increasing cruise passenger numbers. In 2013 the Port of St. Maarten surpassed the cruise record of 2012 where the destination catered to 1,785,670 million cruise passengers.

Port management of the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies is looking forward to welcoming another new vessel to the Port of St. Maarten on Friday. The ship has many new features which cruise passengers will very much welcome besides visiting the beautiful destination of St. Maarten/St. Martin.

"Norwegian Cruise Line is an important cruise partner for destination St. Maarten. The cruise line has been an innovator in cruise travel and has a 47-year history of breaking the boundaries of traditional cruising. The destination looks forward to welcoming the cruise passengers and crew to our country," Chief Executive Officer of the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies Mark Mingo said on Wednesday.

Norwegian Getaway will sail seven-day cruises from Miami to the Eastern Caribbean with ports of call including St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and The Bahamas.

Norwegian Getaway will feature a dazzling display of fireworks on every cruise. As guests dance the night away under the stars in the open-air Spice H20 venue at the aft of the ship, a mesmerizing color-filled fireworks show will light up the night sky, right above the ship. The fully-produced show is a visual masterpiece that is set to music, creating an incredible finale to the cruise.

Aqua Park is one of Norwegian's biggest features, a five multi-story water slide. Norwegian Getaway and her sister-ship, Norwegian Breakaway, are the first cruise ships to feature the Free Fall two side-by-side slides where guests will stand up and have the floor drop from underneath, propelling them into a thrilling loop. Offering another first with a twist are two additional side-by-side twister slides called The Whip – that deliver an unforgettable adrenaline rush as they plunge guests on a spiral race to the finish line.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), hereby announces that a section of the E.C. Richardson Street (Police Station Street) will be closed for through traffic Friday morning, January 10 from 8:00am to 12:00pm.

The section of the road to be closed is between Zout Steeg and Peterson Street.

Motorists are requested to be vigilant and observant for the traffic directional signs.

Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience that this may cause.

EDITOR'S NOTE: After a book is published it is often critics and various "talking heads" that review the meaning of the text. Between the water cooler and social media regular readers may express their ideas about the new title. But can the writer have an "after thought" about his or her own book? The following "word from the author" is from Emilio Jorge Rodríguez about his arguably cornerstone collection of essays, Haiti and Trans-Caribbean Literary Identity – at the launch of the book at the 23rd annual Haitian Studies Association Conference in Jamaica. The book is available in English, Spanish and French.

By Emilio Jorge Rodríguez¹

In recent years, I have basically centered on the research of historical and cultural relations between Haiti and its neighbors. First, on the rich cultural trans-Caribbean exchange through its border with the Dominican Republic and, later, the impact of Nicolás Guillén's visit to Haiti in 1942, considered a pioneer among a series of Cuban visitors – such as Alejo Carpentier, Carlos Enríquez, Wifredo Lam, Roberto Diago and Teodoro Ramos Blanco –, who reinforced both country's mutual influence in several areas of culture.

When I traveled to Port-au-Prince in December 1999, I had access to valuable sources of information at the periodicals section of the most important libraries in the city – dozens of references unknown till then, including lectures, daily information regarding his activities, reviews about his work and a large coverage of the creation of the Société Haïtien-Cubaine des Relations Culturelles.

Sifting through the antecedents and consequences of the Cuban poet's visit led me to an analysis of the cultural relations between Haiti and Cuba, marked principally by two lines of development: migratory displacements of citizens from the neighboring island to the provinces in the eastern region of Cuba since the end of the 18th century, with the resulting contribution of cultural elements (like music, dance, language, religion, architecture, folklore) and exchanges among intellectuals in both countries, whether individual or professional, or through the production of works that serve as communicating vessels in this cultural endeavor.

Indeed, studies on Caribbean trans-nationalization indicate the expansion of cultures beyond national administrative boundaries, although some have examined said expansion to the metropolis as examples par excellence of "globalized" phenomena or have focused on diasporas from the South in large metropolitan centers, with a strong emphasis on validating their importance while underpinning their original identity.

Perhaps a look at Caribbean trans-nationalization based on intra-regional studies may contribute to demonstrate how identity-building has shaped our history and culture.

A small part of the experiences accrued on Haiti and the importance of its history, folklore and literature for the entire Caribbean region is to be found in the essays gathered in this volume [Ed. Note: Haiti and Trans-Caribbean Literary Identity / Haití y la transcaribeñidad literaria / Haïti et l'identité littéraire trans-caribéenne].

In my modest opinion, just as Alejo Carpentier highlighted in 1951 the pressing need of taking into account Haitian novels when drawing an overview of Latin American literature, today we can assert that in any attempt to define the cultural geography of the Caribbean and Latin America, the trans-Caribbean links emerging since the Haitian Revolution, are one of the pillars that gave rise to our hemispheric specificity.

In addition to the book's introduction entitled "Confessions to justify Devotion," Haiti and Trans-Caribbean Literary Identity [in all three languages], include the following chapters:"Fernand Hibbert's novel Séna in the wake of the Haitian 20th century," "Alejo Carpentier in His Quest for Amerindian and African Genesis," "Creole Transgression in Quisqueyan Written/Oral Discourse," "Nicolás Guillén and the Debate on Race and Culture in Haiti," and "On Jacques Stéphen Alexis's L'espace d'un cillement."

¹Emilio Jorge Rodríguez is a Cuban author, essayist, literary critic. The Havana University graduate is a former director of the Casa de las Américas' Center of Caribbean Studies. He has lectured at universities in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the USA.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The President of the Soualiga Corporate Toastmaster Club Ms. Linette Gibs was elated to present Mrs. Leona Romeo Marlin with her Distinguished Toastmaster Award. This award (DTM) is the highest level that any member can achieve once completing the Advanced Communication Gold and Advance Leader Silver assignments. It normally takes 5- 8 years of service and completing the manuals to reach this level. DTM Romeo-Marlin achieved the award within 6 years.
This is not the end of the road for DTM Romeo-Marlin as she intends to start the program over again and assist the club wherever and whenever possible. DTM Romeo Marlin intends to participate and give as many workshops to both members and the general public. This achievement has gained the Soualiga Corporate Toastmasters Club 2 points in its journey to once again become a President Distinguished Club for the year 2013.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Inspection Department TEZVT - Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (LVV) would like to remind Sint Maarten fishermen that the fishing ban for the Red Hind implemented as of the 1st of December 2013, remains in place until 28th of February 2014, off the island of Saba.

A decree was issued by the Dutch State Secretary of Economic Affairs for the seasonal closure of fishing in the Red Hind Spawning Aggregation Area on the Saba Bank based on advice from the Fishery Commission of the BES Islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba).

The ban will allow the Red Hind and Queen Triggerfish to replenish fish stocks. The ban is related to a specific area on the Saba Bank.

The ban was initiated to protect the unique and rich biodiversity of the Saba Bank and to keep the effects of fishery activities on the marine ecosystems at a sustainable level.

For further information with respect to the fish ban off the island of Saba, you can visit the Inspection Department TEZVT-LVV at Cannegieter Street (next to the Sister Borgia School) in Philipsburg or call 520-7213 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Committee of the House of Parliament is scheduled to meet January 13th regarding the 2014 national budget.

The public committee session is set for Monday at 10:00am in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelmina Straat #1 in Philipsburg.

The main agenda point is the national 2014 budget. The Minister of Finance Hon. Martin Hassink will be present at Parliament for the budget debate.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the Internet www.pearlfmradio.com, and also via www.sxmparliament.org.

Highlights Poverty Reduction and Environmental Sustainability as Main Focus of Millennium Development Goals and the National Development Plan

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams received the report of the Governor's Symposium on Sustainable Development from committee members last week at her Cabinet. The PM previously outlined Government's steps to ensure a sustainable development for St. Maarten going forward, outlining how successive cabinets under her leadership have been committed to the sustainable development of the country, taking into account global strategies and commitments as well as compliance and goal attainment as set forth in various strategic frameworks. "The term sustainable development is a topic in its own right. It has been modified and sometimes criticized, but the understanding and importance remain the same. It is also widely accepted that the 'interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars' of sustainable development are: Economic and Social developments, and Environmental Protection as outlined in the UN 2005 World Summit Outcome Document. With sometimes the social and environmental parts fused into ecological sustainability, along with economic, cultural and political sustainability, making it a 4-prong developmental model, " commented the Prime Minister.

The PM also went on to elucidate on St. Maarten's participation at the Rio+20 conference and other environmentally oriented conferences and symposia in order to place the Country within the context of a global partnership for sustainability, while simultaneously ensuring that its own development occurs in a sustainable manner. The PM further explained Government's initiatives on Sustainable Development through the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report and as part of the drafting of the National Development Plan, stressing that, coming out of the report two pilot projects will be launched in order to address two sections which the MDGs' report found challenging to St. Maarten: Goal 1. Poverty Eradication and Goal 7. Ensuring Environmental Sustainability; "Cognizant of the need to accomplish quick wins on the road to the NDP, I have announced two MDG pilot projects in the areas of Poverty Eradication (1) and Environmental Sustainability (7) and government's commitment to work on all MDGs towards the deadline of 2015.In other words, while we continue with the daily governance of St. Maarten and the realities this brings with it, I have prioritized the long term sustainability of our country and its citizens. And that is only possible with the involvement of all sectors and individuals within our society," stressed the PM.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

GREAT BAY:--- The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labor solidified its push to enter into partnership agreements with private sector entities in December 2013. The Department of Labor Affairs – under the umbrella of the award-winning program – SEI Employability through Training has already successfully partnered with various businesses to ensure sustainable employment for those registered as unemployed.
"The mantra 'Putting People First' must live within each facet of my Ministry – and I intend to hold my Management Team accountable to making this happen," said Minister de Weever.
As a show of further dedication to address the needs of the people – The Department of Social Services partnered with Prime Distributors and Rotary Club- and received 100 food baskets for immediate distribution to those in need during the festive Holiday Season. Social Workers, Case Managers joined Minister de Weever in the distribution of the baskets throughout the community.
Minister de Weever stated that his Ministry will continue to work diligently in areas that affect the needs of the people, and will therefore make it top priority to forge on going partnerships with the private sector.

PHILIPSBURG:--- President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell on Monday along with Chairman of the Kingdom Affairs and Inter-parliamentary Relations Committee Member of Parliament Hon. Roy Marlin and Parliament's Secretary General J. Semeleer, met with their other colleagues from the Netherlands, Aruba and Curacao in a presidium session to discuss the procedures to be followed during the Kingdom members of parliament sessions being held in Curacao this week. The meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Curacao's President of Parliament Hon. Marcolino Franco. Faction leaders have been invited to attend the Kingdom parliamentary sessions.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Bringing passengers to the Caribbean Islands can be quite a challenge. There are many high net worth individuals who have a house or estate there; others fly there to board their private yachts. It is a demanding clientele. The more important it is to have Caribbean partner on location that one can rely on for smooth and high quality services.

Two experts for private and executive aviation in the Caribbean will visit the NBAA Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference in New Orleans, USA (Jan. 14-17). They are Steven Kong, Managing Director and Sheldon Palm, Director of TLC Aviation headquartered at Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM - TNCM) in St. Maarten, Steven and Sheldon are always available to respond to any questions that attendees or exhibitors at the conference may have. They are easily recognized by the bright orange shirts that they wear at the event.

TLC –The Logical Choice-, TLC Aviation N.V. is an upscale full end-to-end services provider from executive and private aviation Ground Handling to Yacht Support and Concierge Services. The company stands out for its ability and competence to combine landside, airside and seaside services into a seamless and convenient experience for passengers, crews, and those creating the trip plan.

NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference is the private and corporate aviation industry's premier event for schedulers, dispatchers and their suppliers. The annual Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference provides the opportunity to meet about 2,500 professionals who are directly responsible for the scheduling and dispatching of aircraft and procuring services for aircraft operations for flight departments and on-demand charter operations throughout the world.

An aircraft dispatcher or flight planner is a person responsible for planning and monitoring the progress of an aircraft journey. Depending on the type of certification the airline has, and depending on where the airline is based, both the pilot in command and the dispatcher are legally responsible for the safety of a flight. A dispatcher may have the authority to delay, divert or cancel a flight at any time, and a flight might not be able to be released without the signature of both the pilot-in-command and the dispatcher, depending on the jurisdiction.

GREAT BAY:--- The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor will launch their "Putting People First" initiative in the coming weeks. Honorable Minister de Weever stated that this Ministry is the 'People's Ministry', and all that we do is geared towards the improvement of quality of life for our citizens.
Last year the Ministry solidified its push to meet the needs of the people by entrenching their products and services within the districts, by conducting workshops, training for the civil servants, and information sessions to create the needed transparency for all. Honorable Minister de Weever is pleased with the turn-around in services at all the execution agencies- and takes note of the Ombudsman report which has indicated a significant decline in citizens' complaints over the calendar year 2013 for the Ministry.
"We're doing something right, we're doing better – but we can excel to do our best," said Minister de Weever. "In this light, there are many who are unable to reach out to us, so we will reach out to them," the Minister went on to say.
A team, consisting of senior management of all executing agencies, will visit households within key neighborhoods, to gain deeper insight on the needs of the people and to more importantly address these needs on the spot. Minister de Weever will join the team, and has committed to continue the work which was started last year – Putting People First – for the betterment of our citizens and the betterment of our Country.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Minister of Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, and Sports Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip says the theme for the National Day of Prayer Service on Sunday, January 12 is, "God Is Speaking! Are We Listening?"

The National Day of Prayer Service in front of the Government Administration Building. The ecumenical service will begin at 4:30 pm with Praise and Worship by the Christian Faith Ministry (CFM).

The Order of Service includes a welcome by Moderator Doran Joseph. The St. Maarten song will be led by CFM

Honorable Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams and Honorable Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs will speak on behalf of government.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the second Sunday of January, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was decreed in 2005 by an Executive Council resolution of the then Island Territory of Sint Maarten, and became part and parcel of the annual cultural calendar of program and activities.

The National Day of Prayer Committee's mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for St. Martin and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Law enforcement, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.

The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs Hon. Patricia Lourens-Philip hereby encourages the general public to participate in the National Day of Prayer to intercede for St. Maarten's leaders and the entire population as we begin a New Year.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The board of the St. Maarten National Basketball Association hereby makes known that of Saturday, 11th January, 2014 and every Saturday following, during the same period of time.
Registration for the 2014 SXMNBA Basketball Season for the B-Class/Juniors, A-Class/Seniors, Veterans & Females will take place at the L. B. Scott Sports Auditorium from 10am to 1pm, Registration deadline is Saturday, 25th January 2014, for more information please call 5530238 & 5593320 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The board of the St. Maarten National Basketball Association hereby makes know that the 2014 Basketball Season for the B-Class/Juniors, A-Class/Seniors, Veterans & Females will get started on Sunday, 2nd February 2014 at the L. B. Scott Sports Auditorium, Registration deadline is Wednesday, 22nd January 2014, for more information please call 5530238 & 5593320 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

New SER information booklet now available to the general public

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Monday January 6, the Social Economic Council (SER) presented the library with the very first copy of its new information booklet, along with hard copies of the full range of advices that were submitted to government since the SER came into existence in 2011.

Copies of the SER information booklet are now available to the general public free of charge through the library. The booklet gives the reader an overview of the functioning of the SER, while the board, staff and objectives are further outlined. Making copies of the information booklet available at the library is the first step in a campaign to inform the public on the workings of the SER that will unfold during the year 2014.

The public can now visit the library and read up on advices such as; establishment of a National Library for Sint Maarten, AOV, crime prevention, minimum wage, short term labor contracts, emancipation day and the monetary union/dollarization. As the SER continues to strive to inform the public on all socio-economic matters, the advisory body hopes that its most recent effort will reach young adults and teenagers in particular. The SER information booklet is written in English, is user friendly and specifically written with an eye on educational purposes.

The Philipsburg Jubilee Library, already the go-to place for all publications produced in and about Sint Maarten, can now also offer the public the opportunity to peruse all solicited and unsolicited SER advices that are made public to this date.

The SER is delighted to cooperate with the Philipsburg Jubilee Library in making essential socio-economic information available to the general public, and looks forward to a continued fruitful working relationship.

All SER publications, and digital copies of the SER information booklet will also be available for download on www.sersxm.org.

PM: "The most important thing for a country is political stability"

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams will be on PJD2 Radio with Wendell Moore this Wednesday in order to inform the public on Electoral Reform and the Formation and Establishment of an Electoral Council. The Prime Minister has consistently emphasized that there is a need to inform the public about electoral reform and they way elections and campaigns are conducted on St. Maarten. The Prime Minister has also called for an examination of the laws that allow for shifting allegiances within Parliament that can cause political instability for the country.

"The most important thing for a country is stability and that is the basis for why we need to examine our laws and the way we govern the country. For example the calling of snap elections will always throw a country in instability and that is what needs to be clearly understood. Our Parliament has also said that necessary steps should be taken to ensure a fair and balanced electoral system by changing the electoral law and issuing a code of conduct in terms of integrity and equality. I have responded to this motion by informing Parliament that many of these things are already regulated in our penal code. Coercing persons to vote is punishable by law and I have summed up and pointed out where these legislations can be found. I have sent this to Parliament on which I have not yet received a response and I have suggested that I also be invited to Parliament in order to elucidate. In addition to informing Parliament we should also inform the population. We need to inform people that these laws are in place and that we should indeed enforce them. We are growing as a society and we cannot allow these things to be tolerated anymore," emphasized the PM.

The Prime Minister will be live with Wendell Moore on PJD2 Radio this Wednesday from five to six.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PM: "The temptation to abuse drugs, any drugs including alcohol, may be great, but it is organizations such as this one that highlights the potential of individuals and as members of this society as being even greater"

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams, on behalf of the Democratic Party of St. Maarten, presented a donation to members of the Key to Freedom Organization, a Christian Rehabilitation Center that focuses on using the Christian Faith to help persons overcome their challenges with drug and alcohol abuse.

The Prime Minister stated that she commends the activities of the organization and therefore, on behalf of the Democratic Party, presented her token of support to the organization: "The temptation to use and abuse drugs, any drugs including alcohol, may be great, but it is organizations such as this one that highlights the potential of individuals and as members of this society as being even greater.

Government is working very hard with its partners, including Key to Freedom, to address the issue of drug use and drug abuse within the community in general and with our youth more specifically. To those who already have a problem and are seeking help I would like to stress that there is support and assistance out there. Do not be ashamed and do not hesitate to seek out that help. Together we can overcome addiction and you can be a positive contributor to this wonderful country we call home.

"Keeping this in mind, on behalf of the Democratic Party, I would like to thank Pastor Elvison Adamus and his team for helping numerous individuals overcome their addition through faith and hard work," concluded the PM.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

Upgraded Properties, Awards and New Developments Solidify the Island as a Preferred Destination

PHILIPSBURG:--- The island of St. Maarten heats up the new year with hotel and facility enhancements, new properties and an exciting schedule of events, making this Caribbean oasis a top spot for travelers in 2014.

Resort Enhancements:

Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino recently completed a series of renovations around the property and has rebranded itself to appeal to a more adult audience. Each room now has Wi-Fi, a flat screen television and a clock radio with an iPod dock, among other amenities. The all-inclusive experience now features champagne check-in, premier liquors, stocked mini bars, beach service, room service, afternoon tea, evening turndown service and a host of other extras. Rooms and suites have been updated with a contemporary Caribbean décor, vibrant colors, smart new furnishings indoors and out including teakwood tables and chairs on guest room balconies, and revamped bathrooms with thoughtful lighting. Personalized butler service is provided to guests staying in one its Miramar Wing suites. For more information visit www.sonesta.com/greatbay/.

The Towers at Mullet Bay is nearing the completion of a multi-million dollar renovation scheduled to conclude the first week of February 2014. The renovation will include upgrades of the fridges, stoves, ranges, dishwashers and microwaves in the units' kitchens, along with new beds, drapes and other soft furnishings in the rooms. The hotel's bar has been renovated and the grounds are being enhanced with new paint to the exterior of the building as well as redesigned landscaping. The Towers at Mullet Bay is also going forward with a complete rebranding including a new logo and website. Visit www.TheTowersAtMulletBay.com for more information or reservations.

Oyster Bay Beach Resort began the last phase of its unit renovation plan in Fall 2013 which includes the renovation of 24 units in four separate buildings. The project will result in a complete remodel of the units in a "classy Caribbean" style with additional modernization and refreshing of each unit. For more information, or to book, visit www.OysterBayBeachResort.com.

Sapphire Beach Club Resort, located just three miles from the Princess Juliana International Airport, has recently unveiled a newly-renovated on-site bar and restaurant. Guests can now relax in an open-air dining room set amidst tropical gardens with views of the sea. Visit www.sbcwi.com for more information or reservations.

New Developments:

Baker's Suites, St. Maarten's first and only all-suites boutique hotel, has recently opened in Simpson Bay. The new property offers travelers 10 luxurious condo-style suites at affordable prices. Amenities include full mini kitchens, free Wi-Fi, daily maid service, on-site car rental, free private parking, cable TV, private balconies and more. For more information or to book, visit www.BakersSuites.com, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (721) 544-0095.

The Blue Mall 110,000 sq. ft. shopping center has officially opened its doors in St. Maarten following its soft opening earlier in 2013. Some of the shops at the luxury-focused shopping center include Dolce and Gabbana, Adidas, La Perla, Brioni, Guess and Salvatore Ferragamo.

The roadways in St. Maarten have been improved with the construction of the new Simpson Bay Causeway including a swing bridge which will alleviate traffic and improve accessibility to Simpson Bay, the airport, Cole Bay and Marigot. The causeway contains two round-a-bouts at the Airport Road near the end of the runway and at Union Road near the border and will also have two protected sidewalks for pedestrians and a bicycle track.

A brand new marina is under construction at the Oyster Bay Beach Resort with 38 boat slips - five slips reserved for the resort and 33 for private owners. Oyster Bay Marina will be a focal point for the watersport excursions available to Oyster Bay Beach Resort owners and guests and will include amenities such as: a resident harbor master; access to Wi-Fi, telephone, showers, restrooms and individually metered water and electricity; a private, gated entrance with 24-hour security; rental program and services; and foot patrol.

Upcoming Events:

For over three decades, the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta has showcased top boats and sailing - and has become equally famous for its world-class slate of parties and musical entertainment. The 34th Annual St. Maarten Heineken Regatta will be taking place March 6 - 9, 2014, with the successful musical group LMFAO, known for their hit song "Party Rock Anthem," headlining the event. The Regatta has become a world-wide, one-of-a-kind sailing event with exciting entertainment, musical performances and parties that attracts thousands of sailors and enthusiasts each year. This international event plays host to more than 32 countries and over 200 entries, making it the largest regatta in the Caribbean. For more information, visit www.HeinekenRegatta.com or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

2014 will be a special year for St. Maarten as it will be the destination's 45th Annual Carnival celebration, taking place April 21 - May 5. St. Maarten Carnival is the island's largest celebration featuring colorful parades, pageants, musical performances and other activities culminating with the traditional "Burning of King Momo." St. Maarten's Carnival stands out among other regional celebrations due to the length of the carnival celebration and the way locals embrace participating vacationers who get swept away in the revelry.

St. Maarten will play host to the premier cruise industry event of the year - the 21st Annual Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Cruise Conference and Trade Show. The event will bring together more than 1,000 cruise industry partners and approximately 100 cruise executives when St. Maarten hosts the mega event during Sept./Oct. 2014.

In Case You Missed It...

• St. Maarten was named one of the "Best Honeymoon Destinations" in the world by Destination Weddings & Honeymoons. The island offers couples traditional honeymoon vacation options highlighted by romance packages from resorts across the island or non-conventional getaways that couples create themselves based on their interests.
• Oyster Bay Beach Resort was chosen as one of the "Top 10 Top Family Hotels in the Caribbean, Bermuda and the Bahamas for 2013" by Travel + Leisure readers. The resort placed #7 on the list of family favorites. The property was also voted a "Top 5 Hotel for Value in the Caribbean" in 2012 by Travel + Leisure readers.
• St. Maarten's Westin Dawn Beach Resort & Spa and the boutique Princess Heights Hotel were named the island's leading resort and hotel for 2013, respectively, at the Caribbean and North America Gala Ceremony of the World Travel Awards held in Antigua on Sept. 14, 2013. Acknowledged across the globe as the ultimate travel accolade, the WTA celebrates companies, organizations and brands that push the boundaries of industry excellence in product and service.
• St. Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) was named the number one most stunning airport approach by travel fans around the world in PrivateFly.com's Airport Approaches Survey. The survey was conducted on PrivateFly.com, the leading online booking platform for private aviation charters. SXM airport was selected from a group of airports chosen by a panel of high-profile travel industry experts with travel enthusiasts voting for their favorites.
• The friendly island was selected to host the first ever Women With Purpose Global Summit which took place June 18-22, 2013.The event brought together multi-cultural, business-savvy women with a passion for professional growth and personal development for a five-day conference with keynote speakers including Soledad O'Brien, CNN news anchor, Carmen Wong Ulrich, financial contributor to CBS This Morning, and Iyanla Vanzant, OWN Network life coach, among others.
• St. Maarten, recognized by many as the "entertainment capital of the Caribbean," hosted an eclectic array of top performers from around the world in 2013 including John Legend, Shaggy, The Commodores, Miguel, Busta Rhymes, Damian Marley, Percy Sledge, Jah Cure and more.

For more information on St. Maarten, visit the official site of the St. Maarten Tourist Bureau at www.VacationStMaarten.com.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday January 3rd, 2014, the Fraud Department of the Police Force of Sint Maarten (KPSM) received notice from a local bank, that there are many false NAF. 100.00 bills in circulation on the island which states as follows:
"We have noticed that there are counterfeit Naf. 100 bills circulating that are of fairly good quality. Especially the watermark, normally a very reliable security feature, is of extremely good quality. The counterfeit can still be detected through:

• The print is not as sharp as should be;
• The paper quality is insufficient;
• The see-trough register ("N" on front " A" on back) is a bit blurry;
• The golden foil patch is painted on the bill and not glued;
• No intaglio printing;
• So far the bills detected all had the serial number 8209866690.

All businesses and the entire community should pay keen attention to this information and contact their bank or the Fraud Department if they receive any of these bills.

KPSM Police Report

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Build Your Future Project started as a joint initiative of St. Maarten Marine Trades Association (SMMTA) and St. Maarten Sailing School, was introduced to 5 schools in 2013 including MPC. During the first year, some of the 4th formers of Milton Peters College VSBO-PKL/PBL, Division Carpentry participated in building a small Norwegian-style boat called a Skerry. The vessel, "Sir Milton Peters", has been visited by both the Governor of St. Maarten and by the Netherlands Royal Couple during their recent visit to MPC on November 13th.

After the launch of the schools boats, held during the 2013 Heineken Regatta in conjunction with the MPC Inaugural Heineken Race Team, the Kids at Sea Foundation was formally established to oversee and grow youth initiatives of the Marine Industry. Kids at Sea Foundations has subsequently been chosen by the SAMENWERKENDE FONDSEN, as a grant recipient for 2014. All founding organizations are extremely excited about the Grant Award as it will solidify the programs of Kids at Sea for Many years to come!

In December, in order to fulfill some of the grant requirements an MOU was signed with MPC and Sundial Schools, the islands largest public high schools. The Build Your Future portion will be fully integrated into the curriculum of the carpentry class at MPC and at Sundial it will be done as an after school project, and approximately 30 students will participate in an after school sailing certification program over the course of 2014.

The boats are being built using the traditional stitch and glue method. They students have "joined" the boat panels with epoxy and have now completed the stitching part to hold the boat in shape and in the picture you see them starting the glue process. Once the gluing is complete they will cut the pieces of wire off and then lay the Fiberglass cloth over the panels.

The photo shows the first set of students who will participate in the sailing certification. For more information please contact KIDS AT SEA FOUNDATION.

Classes to officially start on January 13th, 2014

PHILIPSBURG:--- The NIPA is hereby informing all registered students and other interested persons that student registration and orientation is taking place during this week (January 6 – 10, 2014). There will be two orientation sessions daily from Monday to Friday. The morning orientation session begins at 10 am and ends at 1 pm. The afternoon session begins at 2 pm and ends 5pm. All registered students and interested persons are invited to attend one of these orientation sessions.

Interested persons that have not yet registered are urged to bring along with them two passport pictures, proof of registration from the Census Office (no older than three months), residency papers (for non-Dutch citizens), copy of identification card or passport and a copy of diplomas or certificates. All registered students who still need to submit missing documents are urged to bring in these documents during the orientation week.

Classes will start on January 13th 2014 and the courses that will begin are Maritime level 1, Hospitality Assistant level 1, Cook level 2, ICT level 2, SPW level 3 and Registered Nurse level 4.

For further information, contact the NIPA office at 543-0497.

CUPECOY:--- Certain areas on the island experienced a shortage in water today as the Water Plant in Cupecoy had an emergency maintenance shut down from 9am to 6pm. Certain areas were affected with low water pressure. Areas that were affected were Dawn Beach, Guana Bay, Defiance, Oyster Pond, Pelican and Maho. A crew has been working around the clock to have this rectified, the plant should be up and running by late evening with the affected areas being restored later.
Mr. Maduro and the GEBE team met with Government, Minister de Weever and team to discuss and have this resolved as soon as possible.

GREAT BAY:--- On Wednesday, January 1, 2014, at approximately 11.30am, a row of homes on Tamarind Street (known as Downstreet) in Philipsburg were destroyed by fire. Some surrounding structures also sustained water and smoke damages, and the cause of the fire, although yet unknown, is being investigated by the authorities in the Fire Department. Gratefully, no lives were lost, but a total of ten (10) persons including three (3) children were left homeless, having lost all but the clothing they wore for that day.
The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development & Labor through the established chain of command, immediately effectuated the Crisis Care Unit – and deployed the necessary manpower to assess the impact on lives and take the necessary steps to ensure well-being of those impacted. Through the work of the Crisis Care Unit, basic and most immediate needs were met, such as shelter, food and dry goods for the evening. The Red Cross was also on the scene and provided water, clothing, sheets, blankets, pillows and other basic dry goods for the that evening.
All impacted persons were further asked to visit the department of Social Services for further intake, which was done and completed on Thursday, January 2, 2014. Through the Crisis Care Policy, the eligible victims will receive the aid, inclusive of the one-time financial assistance. Social Workers are providing on-going counseling for the victims and the young children as well, with close collaboration with third party care givers.
The Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor addresses these matters through its policy governing crisis care, and furthermore remains committed to the victims for the long term to address any post-traumatic stress that this event may cause.
Finally, we kindly ask that donations for the fire victims be delivered to the Red Cross, this to ensure proper disbursement of the donated items to those who are indeed affected by this crisis.

PHILIPSBURG:--- On Friday Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake held his first NV GEBE Sint Maarten shareholders meeting where three new board members were appointed.

The new board members are Kelvin Bloyden, designate Chairman of the Board of Supervisory Directors of NV GEBE replacing Julius Lambert as of January 8, 2014; Veronica Jansen-Webster and Zylena Bary as members of the Board of Supervisory Directors of NV GEBE effective immediately.

The other board members would be appointed after adjustments have been made to the articles of incorporation.

The board appointments were in accordance with the decision of the Council of Ministers of Sint Maarten of December 17, 2013 and subsequently the advice of the Corporate Governance Council St. Maarten dated December 30, 2013.

During the meeting on Friday the board accepted the resignation of Julius Lambert as Chairman of the Board of Supervisory Directors of NV GEBE effective January 8, 2014 as per his request by letter of January 3, 2014. Reason given by Lambert was due to his personal schedule. The Board thanked Lambert for his contribution during his tenure as a Chairman.

The Board also dismissed James Hassell as a member of the Board representing Saba, and Ivan Berkel who represented St. Eustatius, effective immediately. Their dismissal is in connection with the setting up of two new utility companies on the islands of Saba and St. Eustatius. The Board thanked Hassell and Berkel for their contributions during their tenure.

"It was a historical moment last Friday to call the first shareholders meeting where Sint Maarten is 100 per cent in charge of NV GEBE. The company belongs solely to the people of this country.

"We have gone back to basics to create a brighter future for Sint Maarten, and have achieved this within a short period of time. The previous National Alliance led government left NV GEBE up in the air where absolutely nothing was done over a 12-month period. Nothing was achieved for the people during that period of time.

"After I took over in mid-June, I made it a priority in my back to basics approach to have a plan of action made to bring GEBE home to the people of this country. This was achieved early December, a mere five-months since I became Minister.

"GEBE can now move forward in tackling pertinent issues relevant to the people, and infrastructural needs of this country. Some of these entail a reduction in the fuel clause and investment in alternative renewable energy sources, waste to energy, switching from heavy fuel to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Has (LPG), water and sewage infrastructure investments. I would like to see NV GEBE starting to invest in our sewage system and infrastructure for the entire Dutch side of the island.

"I congratulate the new board and look forward to a plan of action regarding the strategic development of our utility company. I wish the members strength and wisdom as they go about their new tasks in taking NV GEBE to another level and creating a brighter future for Sint Maarten," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Monday.

The meeting last Friday was chaired by Romelio Maduro.

Minister Lake proudly signed the attendance list for the meeting on behalf of Sint Maarten, the sole shareholder of NV GEBE.

In order to avoid any semblance of conflict of interest, the task carried out within the Cabinet by Veronica Jansen-Webster as these pertain to NV GEBE has been shifted to Senior Policy Advisor Joseph Richardson.

Minister Lake is very appreciative in the manner Julius Lambert functioned as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

The Minister also looks forward to meeting Julius Lambert to personally express his gratitude on behalf of the shareholder of NV GEBE and its people.

PM: It is my task and my job to ensure that the position of St. Maarten is very well represented

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams met with the eight-member delegation of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Committee for Kingdom Relations at her Cabinet late Friday afternoon. The delegation, which is in the Dutch Caribbean as part of the Inter-Parliamentary Consultation of the Kingdom, discussed various items with the Prime Minister, particularly following up with items discussed with the PM during her visit to the Netherlands in November. The delegation is comprised of Committee Chairman Jeroen Recourt, Committee Registrar Tim de Lange, Wassila Hachchi (D66), André Bosman (VVD), Gert-Jan Segers (CU), Roelof van Laar (PvdA) Ronald van Raak (SP).

Prior to the meeting the PM stated that during my recent visit to the Netherlands she made it a point to ask for a meeting with the members to discuss various issues; "I have put forward facts about St. Maarten during these meetings but still am amazing that members would take information from disputed sources that misrepresent our country. We have our challenges but it is unfortunate to hear how St. Maarten has been represented. It is my task and my job to ensure that the position of St. Maarten is very well represented and that all misrepresentations are disputed," stressed the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- President of Parliament Hon. Gracita Arrindell on Friday received an update from the Chairman of the General Audit Chamber Ronald Halman and Secretary General Joane Dovale-Meit with respect to the process of research as laid out in the regulations of the General Audit Chamber. Also present in the meeting was Parliament's Secretary General J. Semeleer.

Fellow Citizens,

We are at the beginning of a new year that I believe has lots in store for us, a year that the OSPP will continue to be with you and that together we can make St. Maarten shine again. We can't and should not dwell on the past but make every effort to make St. Maarten a better place to live than the preceding years. We can't continue to develop this young nation as it has been going over the last three years. St. Maarten needs a change of direction and we need it now.
We must praise the almighty and seek his guidance in everything that we do and we are planning to do. We have an obligation to continue to honour our brothers and sisters, an obligation to love one another, to respect one another and to work together to make St. Maarten and the outer world a better place for all mankind.
The OSPP together with your support will take action that would enable our people to live comfortable and not from pay check to pay check. The high cost of living is slowly but surely eating up the basic fabric of our society by making the majority of our people poorer and poorer by the day. Much has been said about the high cost of living on St. Maarten but unfortunately the power that's being has not lifted a finger over many years to improve it and you should not expect anything different from them over the next four years no matter what they tell you during this election year. Our people are hurting and our present elected officials don't seem to care. A change must come and it must come sooner than later. St. Maarten is in need of a social agenda to better serve our many communities that are falling apart day by day.
We don't need to hear from the same elected representatives that are sitting in the cockpit of opportunities for the last three years and more what they will do. It is too late now, they had their chance and they have not delivered the goods to the people. They have all received an insufficient grade, an "F" with no exception. They have brought shame to this young nation with many of their actions. The OSPP together with you will restore honor to the office of parliament and to the council of ministers.
Under an OSPP watch we will strengthen our existing economic pillar, namely tourism and set up programs to encourage the setting up of small businesses and agriculture. Without any further delay we will tackle the cost of living by lowering the high GEBE bills, the astronomical high food prices, the unemployment in particular amongst the young people, rent that is bursting out it seams and we will move our minimum wage to a living wage.
We will introduce for the first time a mandatory private pension plan that will allow those who have contributed in building this nation to a decent income after reaching the pensionable age. An unemployment insurance; that will compensate those who lost their jobs for no fault of their own must be part of the 2014 St. Maarten agenda. This insurance will also be tied into to those unemployed persons having to enroll in some type of training program. The services of the National Institute For Professional Advancement (NIPA) will be used to train those unemployed persons to enter the job market again.
We support the fact that our people living abroad especially our students should be able to vote in our elections and that all elected and appointed officials should make their personal financial reports available to the election commission once this is established.
We want to stress once again that the OSPP believes very strongly that the salaries of our ministers and members of parliament are too high and they must be lowered based on performance.
The task ahead for St. Maarten to grow and for all to enjoy is a gigantic step, but Team OSPP is up to the challenge because together we will make St. Maarten Shine again.
On behalf of the OSPP family we want to wish you a very prosperous 2014 and remember a change must come in 2014. Let's live the St. Maarten dream.

Lenny F. Priest
Interim Leader
One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP)

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Officials from the Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a government agency under the Ministry of Public Health, will welcome representatives from the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Tuesday who will be on a five-day working visit to the country.

The overall objective of the visit is to review the current response to chikungunya by the Ministry of Public Health, and what assistance or resources can be provided to assist the Government's current campaign to eliminate mosquito breeding areas throughout the country.

The initial request came from Sint Maarten's Ministry of Public Health to PAHO, and the end result of the technical visit is the development of a response plan to chikungunya. The country has only one confirmed case to date.

Sint Maarten's Ministry of Public Health is working closely with the Government of the Collectivity of French St. Martin and public health officials in a joint effort to eliminate mosquito breeding sites that lead to vector borne diseases such as chikungunya.

Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius de Weever says he welcomes the technical visit adding that the CARPHA/PAHO mission can only further strengthen the country's capacities.

"Our associated membership with PAHO and our direct relationship with CARPHA allow us to call upon these regional international entities for technical assistance, capacity strengthening, networking and much more.

"Our relationship with all these organizations has been built by attending and participating in local, regional and international meetings, seminars and workshops. I am extremely grateful for their assistance and looking forward to continue working with them.

"There is no need to re-invent the wheel while we can call upon these international bodies that come with a whole wealth of public health experience for assistance. We live in a time of changing public health challenges and we must be prepared as a country to address them," Minister Hon. Cornelius de Weever said on Sunday.

The CARPHA/PAHO team will comprise of Dr. Babatunde Olowokure (CARPHA), Dr. Karen Polson. (CARPHA), Camille White (CARPHA), Dr. Pilar Ramón-Pardo (PAHO/WHO HQ), and Dr. Washington Lum (PAHO/WHO Venezuela).

The aforementioned specialist will review the surveillance systems for chikungunya detection and monitoring including establishing communication mechanisms with relevant national and international organizations and networks of experts.

The delegation will also want to raise awareness and improve healthcare provider's capacity for early detection, adequate management, and timely reporting of suspected cases of chikungunya.

The CARPHA/PAHO health specialist will also determine whether capacity, capability and coordination procedures of laboratories including laboratory networking; and integrated vector management strategy and the entomological surveillance targeting known chikungunya vectors need to be strengthened.

At the end of the visit a draft report of their findings will be presented to the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labour at a debriefing.

PM: I am championing very much for in 2014 openness and dialogue between the Government and the different sectors of St. Maarten

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams, during her first live radio show held every Friday from nine to ten on 98.1, again expressed best wishes to the population of St. Maarten for 2014 while admitting that there will be some challenges ahead for the country going into the New Year; "I would like to extend all of the residents and visitors a very blessed, happy, healthy and prosperous 2014. There will be challenges but I think that with the right spirit and resolve we can make a grand year of it. Overall 2013 has been good for St. Maarten if we only consider that we have been spared from any major natural disaster. However I would like to express our sympathy to those families that fell victim to the fire that destroyed several homes. We should and are doing all that we can to support these families. Similarly I would also like to extend our empathy with the Government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia and Dominica who have faced a natural disaster which caused lost of life and property.

"In 2013 our economy has and is picking up and that is very important. It is important that we all understand the inter linkage between the different sectors and participants within the society. Our economy is essential in ensuring that jobs are created, that persons can maintain their jobs, and that there will be investments in our island so that we can see this growth continue.

"I would also like to emphasize that our country is growing and that the services that Government needs to provide are many, for example in fighting crime and providing safety and security, in the area of education and health, these are all big cost items to Government and needs to be able to finance these services. It is therefore important that we ask ourselves what we as individuals can do to promote that common vision for St. Maarten and understand how they connect to one another. And in that regard it has not been a bad year. All over the world there are so many expectations from the populace for their Government there is a constant tension to satisfy these expectations. On St. Maarten the Government is confronted by needs and expectations and we need to be on a constant look-put on how we will deal with the issues.

The Prime Minister also highlighted that, in terms of Governing, 2013 was a year of learning, a year where St. Maarten continued to find its way in the political landscape as a new country; "2013 also saw political change with the swearing in of a new Cabinet. 2013 was also very much dominated by the Budget process and then of course regarding the instructions; the procedural instruction on the budget and then again the issue regarding integrity. But if you look at those processes all of these issues are a part of the learning process for St. Maarten. It was definitely a year of learning, learning what we want for this country and where we want to go with St. Maarten. A common vision for people knowing where we want to be as a nation. I am championing very much for 2014 openness and dialogue between the Government and the different sectors of St. Maarten," emphasized the Prime Minister.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

SIMPSON BAY:--- On Saturday January 4th, 2014 at approximately 2:00am, a Simpson Bay police patrol was sent to "Dunes Casino" where a couple who had been robbed was waiting on police assistance. On site the investigating officers spoke to the victims who stated that they were walking on the beach next to the "Sunset Beach Bar". At that time the couple was approached by about six persons on scooters. The victims could not give any description of the suspects because it was too dark. The male victim stated he was threatened by one of the suspects with a black handgun of a large caliber. Both victims were robbed by these persons on the scooters of several bank cards, wallet, house keys, driver license, car keys, purse, cellular phones, and an iPad. After committing this act, the suspects took off on their scooters. The Special Robbery Unit is investigating this case.

KPSM Police Report

PHILIPSBURG:--- Over the weekend the Prime Minister of St. Maarten gave an update on the integrity investigations and what is to be expected in 2014 regarding this. The PM stated that the integrity investigation results will be delivered this year. "Integrity is a very broad term and has to be observed in all sectors. Critical to this matter of integrity is for all of us to understand what it we are talking about. Educating the public in all sectors is also very important to integrity. It is not only about the investigation but also about educating the populace and working on changing the negative image.

"We will have these two investigations going on and we will have transparency international carry out their assessment and we will ask ourselves where we are in terms of promoting an open society and educating the people of St. Maarten. It has to do with that level of being a country and are all bared to the rest of the world in terms of what we do and how we do it. We will have obstacles and bottlenecks as we go along but if it makes us a stronger country with better people we will go through that process."

The PM again emphasized that the Government of St. Maarten has integrity programs within the Civil Service and has been working steadily on it, informing civil servants about their obligations and the pitfalls which they may encounter during their work. "We are also focusing on the rules, policy and regulations making them extremely important. Formally it was not that critical as the population was smaller but our community is much more complex right now; diverse persons with their diverse requests making it extremely important to have rules and regulations in place with the necessary checks and balances. In this case we should not forget how important the Ombudsman is in this process. More and more the Ombudsman is being utilized by the population and is also looking at our legislations and laws. Our systems are working, sometimes slower than some would like to see, but they are working. Information to the public of St. Maarten is very important and creating that dialogue is equally important. St. Maarten has come a long way in terms of being vocal within the community. Persons on St. Maarten are now speaking their opinion. I hope that what we will see is an elevation of the level of discussion on St. Maarten. Of course we can be critical but let us keep it at a high level. The kind of attacks that some of our people engage in on websites towards other people is a disgrace. It is good to express your opinion but it needs to be on a certain level and of a certain standard," stressed Wescot-Williams.

From the Cabinet of the Prime Minister

PHILIPSBURG:--- A former immigration officer who was fired from her job after the Prosecutor's Office confiscated a boat registered in her name that was smuggling illegal drugs from St. Maarten wants to know where is the boat that was seized by the Prosecutor's Office. The former immigration officer said the real owner of the boat died but she was asked to register the boat since the man did not have the proper documentations for St. Maarten. "Before I registered the boat by the name of Blue Moon, a blue sail boat in my name, I asked my boss if that would compromise my job and if it was alright for me to do so. My boss told me there was no problem in registering a boat for anyone." The former immigration officer who is still jobless said the prosecutor charged her with import, export, and distribution of marijuana, cocaine, and heroin as well as immigration corruption. She said in 2007 she was acquitted on all the drug charges but the court found her guilty of immigration corruption because they found a letter of invitation on her job that she wrote inviting a Haitian national to St. Maarten.

The former law enforcement officer said ever since 2007 she has been trying to get back the boat that was confiscated by the prosecution but to date she cannot trace the boat. The woman said a certain detective told her a "Dutch man" claimed the boat and it was sold.

However, just recently a resident of St. Peters found some boats including "Blue Moon" stored at JMC Marina and Boat Yard in Sandy Ground. The well-known resident posted photos of the boat and the boat yard where these boats are being stored on Facebook demanding that the Attorney General of St. Maarten tell the people of St. Maarten why items such as boats that were confiscated are stored on the French side. He is also calling on the Kingdom Council of Ministers to order an investigation on the Prosecutor's Office of St. Maarten.

SMN News contacted an agent of JMC Boat Yard in Sandy Ground who confirmed that the Coast Guard dropped off three boats at their place since 2008 and never returned to check on it. The agent who preferred to remain anonymous said that one of the three boats had be crushed because it rotted. He said right now Blue Moon and another white boat is there on the premises but they can no longer see the name of the boat because it's covered with grass.

SMN News contacted Attorney General Taco Stein earlier this week and he said the name of the boat did not ring a bell and he could not remember anything about the boat being seized. On Saturday SMN News contacted Stein again and told him when the boat was seized and from whom it was seized and the year in which the boat was seized and which former immigration officer was prosecuted and acquitted. Stein said that was six years ago when he was the Chief Prosecutor of St. Maarten but he could not remember the case. He instructed SMN News reporter to contact KPSM because in 2006-2007 immigration was under the Police Department.

It should be noted that items seized on the Dutch side cannot leave the territory unless written authorization is given by the Minister of Justice. In these cases it is not known if former Minister of Justice David Dick or Magali Jacoba gave permission to the Attorney General and Prosecutor's Office to store the seized items on the French side of the island.

SMN News contacted former Minister of Justice Roland Duncan who spent almost three years in office as the Minister of Justice of St. Maarten to inquire if he knew of the boats that were seized by the Prosecutor's Office and is stored on the French side of the island. Duncan said that two years after being in office he was informed by Attorney General Dick Piar that they had items that were seized that had to be sold. The former Minister of Justice said that he suggested to the Attorney General to contract one of three companies to hold a public auction and the monies be placed in St. Maarten's Crime Fund. Duncan said he suggested that either SOAB, KPMG, or Price Waterhouse Coopers be contracted to conduct the public auction if the Prosecutor's Office did not have the manpower or knowledge to conduct public auctions. The former Minister of Justice further explained that he knew of the "Slipanchenco" case where Naf. 8 million was seized. He said most of that money went to the former Netherlands Antilles and he had to fight to get two million guilders out of it for St. Maarten. In that same case, Duncan said there were land, boats, and vehicles that had to be sold by public auction but up to when he left office that was not done. Duncan even referred SMN News reporter to the Attorney General of Curacao Dick Piar since he is the one that gave him the information on the seized items. The boats belonging to Slipanchenco can be seen at Bobby's Marina Boat yard while there are others allegedly stored Port de Plaisance.

When SMN News contacted Piar on Saturday he said he could not comment on anything relating to St. Maarten and the person that knows everything about St. Maarten is Taco Stein and he is the one that has to comment. It is still not clear how many vehicles, boats, land, and other moveable and immoveable items that were seized over the years by the Prosecutor's Office are still sitting some place losing its value while St. Maarten, especially the Ministry of Justice, is badly in need of monies since they too had to slash their 2014 budget in order for the CFT to approve it.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation went to the aid of the families affected by fire on Tamarind Steeg, between Front Street and Back Street on New Year's Day.
The Foundation donated 20 cases of water to the affected families on Thursday and some clothing to those affected on Friday. The foundation will continue to support the fire victims Tzu Chi Commissioner Sandra Cheung said.
Four families lost everything in the fire. Two of the families had their businesses attached to their homes, which also went up in flames.
Affected were a tailor and his wife; a hairdresser, her husband and child, and two families with several members.
One of the affected persons, a 75-year-old retiree, supplemented his small pension by sewing men's clothing to be able to pay his rent and other bills. His wife had been in the Dominican Republic at the time of the fire. He lost everything including his reading glasses and his professional sewing machine. Sea Palace Hotel has offered him accommodation in the interim.
Another fire victim, a 27-year-old flight attendant lost everything including her airline uniforms. Her eight-year-old son and one-year-old daughter and her 53-year-old mother had been staying in a nearby hotel donated for two nights after which they are expected to move into an apartment in the area.
The hairdresser and her family are staying with friends until they get somewhere else to settle down.
The other family is expected to occupy accommodation close to where they were living.
Several residents in the area have also gone to the aid of the fire victims and have been assisting them in several areas including with hot meals and temporary accommodation. One resident has been preparing meals for those affected daily.
The "blessings" from Tzu Chi came as a surprise to the families, who were still reeling from the shock of the fire. They were very happy with the kind words of encouragement given by Tzu Chi volunteers.
Before leaving the area, Tzu Chi met with, amongst other persons, members of the Down Street Business and Community Council, who were there to meet the fire victims and talk about their concerns.

POINTE BLANCHE:--- A police vehicle was seen around 11pm Friday night blocking the driveway of MP Patrick Illidge who lives in Pointe Blanche. The vehicle bearing the number plate L-44 was seen flashing its siren lights as it was parked in the driveway.
According to information provided to SMN News, MP Illidge returned to St. Maarten on Friday and was expected to travel to Curacao to attend the IPKO Parliamentary meetings which is scheduled to begin on Monday in Curacao. SMN News further learnt that MP Illidge is scheduled to travel from St. Maarten to Curacao on Saturday January 4th, 2013.
The Court of Appeals rendered its decision on December 30th, 2013 authorizing the Prosecutor's Office to prosecute MP Illidge for charges they submitted to the court on December 17th, 2013.
SMN News further learnt that Attorney General Taco Stein agreed to go after MP Illidge after he returns from Curacao on January 15th, 2014. When contacted late Friday night, Stein said he had no knowledge of why the police paid a visit to the MP's house and it was not on his account, he even referred SMN News reporter to the Court of First Instance for more details.
SMN News could not establish if the police visited the home of MP Illidge to execute the decision of the Appeals Court or it there were other reasons to do so.
SMN News will bring you more information on this latest development as it becomes available.

POINTE BLANCHE:--- The countries port has created another record by surpassing the number of cruise passengers in 2012 when compared to 2013, and this welcome news comes at the time when the port will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. The Port of St. Maarten received 1,785,670 cruise passengers, 32,455 passengers more than in 2012. Cruise passengers arrived on 631 vessel calls for 2013.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Mingo of the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies is very pleased with the year-end figures adding that the board of supervisors, management and staff continue to work diligently to make sure that the country maintains its position in the North Eastern Caribbean as one of the leading cruise ports of call as well as in the Caribbean Basin.

CEO Mingo added that much praise must also go to the all those working in the hospitality sector on the island as well as to the cruise lines who see the value of calling at the Port of St. Maarten.

Overall for 2012, the destination received 622 ship calls with 1,753,215 cruise passengers.

In 1980 the destination only received 105,000 cruise passengers for the entire year. This grew to 564,251 in 1995 and to 1,055,040 eight years later in 2002.

The Port of St. Maarten maintains a prime position in Caribbean Cruise tourism.

The economic contribution of cruise tourism to destination economies have been outlined in a survey-based analysis of the impacts of passenger, crew and cruise line spending prepared by the Business Research & Economic Advisors (BREA) for the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) in September 2012.

A total of 21 destinations participated in the aforementioned edition while 20 took part in the 2009 volume.

Destination St. Maarten with respect to economic contribution of cruise tourism by destination for 2011/2012 cruise year, came in number two after The Bahamas (US$ 393.8 million) where total cruise tourism expenditures is concerned with US$ 356.2 million; third was the United States Virgin Islands US$ 339.8 million, followed by Puerto Rico with US$ 186.6 million and the Cayman Islands with US$ 157.7 million.

The 21 destinations accounted for close to two billion US dollars ($ 1,990.0) being spent in the Caribbean. The combined five destinations above accounted for US$ 1.43 billion in direct expenditures for 72 per cent of the total cruise expenditures among the 21 destinations.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Minister of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake says an urgent review is needed with respect to the emergency services coordination dispatch center.

This urgency comes after much discussion related to the alleged untimely response of the emergency services regarding a fire that razed several buildings in Philipsburg on Wednesday morning.

Minister Lake plans to meet with the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Health to discuss the current status of the country's emergency services coordination dispatch center.

"One emergency services coordination dispatch center is essential and is part of country Sint Maarten's response in consolidating calls that come to the Police, Ambulance and Fire Services into one dispatch center.

"This makes responding to an emergency more efficient and effective therefore offering the best service to the people and our visitors. During the six-month hurricane season this would also be a plus.

"The current Fire/Ambulance Station in Cay Hill should serve as the central location for such a dispatch. In an emergency situation we are dealing with life and death situations and the protection of property. The staff or persons working in such a center would need to have the proper training in order to be able to handle calls during an emergency situation.

"Let us get down to basics and use the existing technology and infrastructure that we have in place to provide a coordinated dispatch service from the Fire/Ambulance Station in Cay Hill. At least this back to basics approach could be implemented as soon as possible in the interests of the people and visitors to our island," Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Thursday.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), hereby announces that a section of Front Street will be closed Saturday morning, January 04 from 5:00am to 7:00am.

The section of the road closure – there will be no through traffic - will take place between Hendrik Straat and D.C. Steeg.

The closure is in connection with the installation of an air-condition unit.

Motorists are requested to be vigilant and observant for the traffic directional signs.

Ministry VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience that this may cause.

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao:--- Volunteers from the U.S. Forward Operating Location (US FOL) donated more than 80 volunteer hours and 127 Christmas gifts in support of local Children's programs at Fuik for Fundashon Amigunan di Cristo and for the children of Siloam Children's Orphanage Hospice. The gifts were individually given to the children by the US FOL volunteers.
Personnel from the US FOL often donate time and resources to various "not-for-profit" organizations on the island in order to express appreciation for the hospitality received from the citizens of Curacao.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Collective Preventive Services (CPS), a government agency under the Ministry of Public Health, says that a second cycle of emergency mosquito fogging is almost completed with several districts left to do.

The pending districts are: L.B. Scott Road, Cape Bay, Pelican, Simpson Bay, and Beacon Hill.

Those that have been completed in the second cycle in 2013 are: Belvedere, Dutch Quarter, Middle Region, Dawn Beach, Oyster Pond, Hope Estate, Madame Estate, Pond Island, Point Blanche, Philipsburg, Fort Willem, Belair, Cay Hill, Saunders, South Reward, St. Peters, Cole Bay, and Low Lands.

The fogging exercise is a joint effort by the Governments of both sides of the island in fighting mosquitoes that carry the Dengue and Chikungunya viruses, the latter, a dengue-like sickness.

Residents are strongly advised to continue to step up measures at homes and businesses to mitigate the rise in the viruses carried by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Aedes agypti mosquitoes lay their eggs in clean stagnant water. The diseases attributed to the mosquito are dengue and chikungunya. In order to mitigate the number of cases, elimination of mosquito breeding places and preventing mosquitoes from feeding are priority actions.

Minister of Public Health Hon. Cornelius de Weever, "Get Checked" campaign, is in line with the urgent appeal for residents, and business owners, to check-in and around their homes, and businesses in order to reduce breeding sites of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, and making them mosquito-free zones.

Fogging is one intervention of several, and the main measure is for every household and business to take action by removing potential mosquito breeding spots in and around their premises on a daily basis. The Aedes aegypti mosquito is most active at dawn and dusk.

Homeowners during the time of the spraying should open all doors and windows. Dishes, bowls, pots and pans, fish tanks and bird cages should be covered. Stay away from open windows and doors during the spraying.

An increase in the mosquito population puts all residents and businesses at risk. Call for information on the Aedes Aegypti mosquito breeding sites and respective preventive measures at 542-2078 or 542-3003 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Consult your physician to ensure proper diagnosis, registration, treatment and follow-up.

GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- The Inspection Department TEZVT - LVV informs individuals who import agricultural, animal and seafood products to resell that approved import rules and guidelines have to be followed. These conditions have been implemented to protect human, animal and plant health.

Part of the responsibilities of the Inspection Department TEZVT - Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (LVV) which is part of the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications, includes the issue of pre-entry application forms and the inspection of agricultural, animal and fruit products when they arrive in the country via inter-island ferries. The process and forms have been approved by the Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications.

Individuals desirous of importing agricultural, animal or seafood products must fill out and submit an import application form. This must be done at least five (5) working days prior to the arrival of the products and will give adequate time for the preparation of the import permission. Individuals importing agricultural products from within the region have to comply with enhanced import protocols that have been put into place at our port border control points.

Prior to any produce leaving an inter-island vessel, TEZVT and/or IVSA inspectors will first check if all paperwork is in order; an inspection of the produce will be carried out; and once everything is in order, only then will the importer/distributor will be allowed to approach the vessel and take away the products for sale.

Sint Maarten as part of the Caribbean community is obligated to comply with international laws, rules and regulations. The measures are to identify and mitigate potential risks to the country; contribute to global food security by meeting our international obligations; and ensure community well-being.

For further information and to request permits, you can visit The Inspection Department TEZVT-LVV at Cannegieter Street (next to the Sister Borgia School) in Philipsburg or call 520-7213 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

PHILIPSBURG:--- On December 30, 2013, the Common Court of Appeal of Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, and Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba passed sentence on Meyshane Johnson, the main suspect in the OCEAN case, in which the King couple lost their life. In the Court of First Instance of Sint Maarten, Johnson was sentenced to life imprisonment.
This sentence was not upheld by the Appeals Court. All arguments that were brought forward by the defense were rejected by the Court, with which the issue of the allegedly invalid subpoena is a thing of the past. An argument that the prosecution had deliberately misled Johnson when served with the summons was also passed, with the consideration that defense had argued that the prosecution had intentionally prepared an ambiguous document but had failed to produce any substantiation of said claim.
An argument that the prosecution should be declared inadmissible also failed to impress the Appeals Court.
As for the case itself, the Appeals Court ruled against all the arguments brought forward by the defense to refute the evidence presented in the case. All charges on the indictment were declared legally and convincingly proven.
These charges were: one count of committing theft with violence by two or more persons, one count of committing theft with violence by two or more persons, causing the death of Michael and Thelma King, one count of deprivation of the liberty of Thelma King, one count of murder in the first degree of Thelma King, one count of murder committed by more persons of Michael King, and one count of laundering the proceeds of said crimes.
In accordance with the reports that were prepared after a psychiatrical and psychological observation of six weeks the Appeals Court concluded Johnson was fully responsible for his actions.
In the considerations on the penalties the Appeals Court stated the following: murder is one of the most serious offenses in our criminal law and is therefore threatened with lifelong imprisonment. Such a punishment should, however, be approached with the utmost restraint. In this case the facts are serious: escalating violence, leading to the incomprehensible and horrific death of two people. But the Court also finds that the suspect is only 30 years of age. In this situation a life sentence will be very lengthy! The Court also considers that the suspect has not been sentenced for earlier crimes in this jurisdiction and that the facts happened in the space of a few hours, concluding that one cannot speak of a pattern of violence. These arguments have motivated the Appeals Court to reach a punishment of 30 years of imprisonment.
The co-suspects in the case, Jamal Woolford and Jeremiah Mills were acquitted of part of the charges and received lower sentences accordingly. The Appeals Court didn't consider it proven that Woolford was involved in the murder of Thelma and
Michael King, as he had left the home of the couple before the actual killing took place. He was convicted for his part in the theft with violence committed by two or more persons in the Chinese restaurant, and his part in the theft with violence committed by two or more persons, causing the death of Thelma and Michael King, the deprivation of the liberty of Thelma King and the laundering of the proceeds of these crimes. The Court of First Instance of Sint Maarten had ordered a 22 years imprisonment for Woolford, the Appeals Court lowered that to 18 years.
Mills was acquitted of the murder of Thelma King, as the Appeals Court concluded that he too had left the home of the couple at the time Thelma was murdered. He was convicted for his part in all the other crimes mentioned before. In first instance he received a sentence of 28 years of imprisonment; the Appeals Court lowered that to 25 years, taking into account that he had been sentenced earlier for theft and extortion and was currently on probation. The Prosecution is studying the verdicts in this case to assess the possibilities of bringing the case before the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in The Hague.

Press Release from the Attorney General's Office

~Give gifts to inmates, prison guards~

POINTE BLANCHE:--- The importance of love, kindness, giving and preserving the environment was among a host of information the St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation shared with inmates of the Pointe Blanche and Simpson Bay Prisons during separate visits on Saturday and Sunday December 28 and 29.

Tzu Chi also presented gift bags to the 153 inmates and 37 prison guards at the two facilities.

A total of 23 volunteers visited the two prisons, which is part of an annual exercise of the St. Maarten Tzu Chi Foundation. The gift bags contained an exercise book, reading book, pen, toothbrush, towel, soap, noodle soup, snack and water.

Volunteers had already visited and presented gifts and fans to inmates in the detention cells at the Philipsburg Police Station earlier in the month and shared positive messages to inmates there as well.

The visits to the Pointe Blanche and Simpson Bay Prisons were lively with inmates interacting with volunteers and absorbing the information shared.

At Pointe Blanche, inmates were given information about Tzu Chi's history and the importance of preserving the environment, going green and eating healthy. Several videos were shown including one of last year's visit to the facilities, Tzu Chi's work in the community over the past year and videos about environmental preservation, going green and eating healthy.

Volunteers also performed a skit depicting the value of love. Volunteers also performed the "Strength of Love" sign language which inmates followed with keen interest. Similar activities were held during the visit to the Simpson Bay prison.

A number of inmates at both facilities said they had been touched by the visit, which some described as educational. Some expressed interest in joining Tzu Chi once released.

At Simpson Bay, a group of inmates presented gifts to prison guards on behalf of Tzu Chi.

Tzu Chi Commissioners Sandra Cheung, Wing Cheung, Rolex Cheung and Yamile Bastidas along with volunteers were happy to have gotten the opportunity to visit the prisons and share some positive messages with inmates, while spreading some holiday cheer.

PHILIPSBURG:--- GEBE our Water and Electricity will be hosting a Talent and Motivational evening on Friday evening January 3, 2014, at Port de Plaisance "under the tent".
Friday night promises to be an exciting evening as GEBE host Talent and Motivational evening. The general public and family and friends of our youth is invited to come out and enjoy the show. In addition to Motivational Speaker Mr. Les Brown the night will be filled with many great acts on tap. Tickets to this event are $5.00 for adults and free for any youth under 19 years of age and can be purchased at the Main Branch office. A limited amount of tickets will be available for purchase. To inquire about tickets for the show, please call Iris Hunte Arrindell, or Agnes Aventurin at 546 1123.
Attendees will be treated to world renowned Motivational Speak Mr. Les Brown, who promises to be a real hit with the crowd. This particular part of the show promises to be a real favorite for adult and youth alike. The youth of our island will be performing a variety of talented routines. There will be a piano exhibition as well as many dance and musical talents on display.

We hope to see you at the show!

A new year is upon us, what will it bring?

Standing on the doorstep of another year, it is always opportune to reflect on the past year, but the focus should be on the year ahead. That's what you can steer and where necessary adjust your sails. Standing at this same juncture in 2012, the Government of St. Maarten consisted of an NA/DP government, supported by 3 independent members of Parliament. The change in that constellation however came after a majority of Parliament declared that the sitting government no longer had its support.

After a protracted length of time, with tensions running high in Parliament and in the government, a new Council of Ministers was sworn in on June 14th. The constitutional directive to call new elections by national decree took center stage in the discussions, as did the convening and adjourning of Parliament meetings. Again looking back at 2012, this unleashed discussions regarding our political and electoral systems. As Prime Minister, I have taken it upon myself to conduct the preliminary research necessary to present Parliament and the people of St. Maarten with the options available to us in this regard and I am convinced that if the Parliament wishes to enact changes, this can be accomplished to go into effect for the 2014 Parliamentary election. Already I have provided Parliament with a response to its motion to effectuate electoral reform, namely that the laws to regulate what Parliament expressed in its motion regarding electoral reform, are already in place. And what is necessary is to educate our people, citizens and politicians alike.

Amidst this all, the primary instrument of Parliament to dictate the actions of government by means of the national budget, was not completed until in the last quarter of 2013, severely limiting the operations of government to practically "going concern" only.

2013 was also the year of "instructions". While such was technically already the case for the budget 2013, that instruction was procedural in nature.

That was not the case with the instruction to the governor, which also dominated much of the final quarter of 2013. Fortunately, as we approach 2014, everything points in the direction of a working relationship between the 2 committees, charged with executing an integrity investigation into the functioning of government. The stance of the government of St. Maarten regarding the Kingdom decree is now being understood and even third parties have weighed in on the controversial approach of the Kingdom government in this regard.

It is the expectation of Government that the 2014 budgetary process will be completed mid-January. Government will then be able to focus on executing some of the projects for which long term capital is required. This however will not completely offset the constrains government faces with its finances. A stable financial climate is important for investors, who are needed to provide jobs and other business opportunities. Government is therefore at that critical juncture, where money is needed, both for government services and investments, but at the same time our economy is also at that critical stage, where careful thought needs to be given to the measures (to be) taken by government.

We say we are a young nation, a country in development, which is true. However, in becoming a country and taking up that mantle, it is expected of us that we meet and comply with international standards. Yes, many of the organized international contacts go through the Kingdom government, however compliance and reporting are our responsibilities.

For this reason, I continue to clamor for dialogue amongst all stakeholders. Of course, it is important that we continue to work on the long term plan for St. Maarten, the nation's National Development Plan, but the consultation that I am propagating is a more immediate and intense one.

For this to succeed, openness from the side of government is key and timely dissemination of information and plans by government should be the norm. As the minister responsible for information to the public, I believe that also includes an element of educating the people of our young nation, regarding government and its relationship with the people, the civic responsibilities we all have and a feeling of patriotic pride. Even in a parliamentary democracy and its inherent ministerial responsibility, the government of St. Maarten needs to portray that common vision of where we want to go. Petty politics have no place in the bigger scope of things our nation is confronted with.

Government financial ability is weak and so we all need to do our part to help contain the big cost items of government. Noteworthy in this regard are the general medical costs and the cost associated with a crime-free society. In both instances, an element of prevention is key in suppressing the skyrocketing costs.

Concerns have also been expressed regarding government's personnel cost. There are however instances where more qualified personnel is urgently needed, e.g in the legislative area to develop draft legislation and in very specific disciplines. There is a component of nation building in this as well. While we have been able to attract many young and bright St. Martiners to government service, we still have a long way to go.

Noteworthy in 2013 was the King's visit in November. I think his approach bodes well for the future of the countries that make up the Dutch Kingdom and the spectacular show that was put on for his Majesty by our very own will long be remembered.

2013 has surely been a year of learning for St. Maarten. I hope we all are the wiser because of it.

As of 2014, a new Overseas Association Decision (OAD) will be in effect, regulating the relationship between the European Union and the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs). The cooperation with French St. Martin has intensified during 2013, with both sides working diligently on the first program for joint funding from the EU.

Government is actively seeking out relationships that offer the potential for growth for us in the area of investments, funding, partnerships etc.

Urgent public(private) projects in my opinion are the waste management and disposal, fossil fuel dependency reduction (alternative energy) and affordable housing. We need to look at ways of reducing the cost of living and elevating the quality of living.

Governments all around the world fight an uphill battle in terms of public confidence. Societies, big and small fight complex issues that need urgent solutions. St. Maarten is no different. At least in our case, it is a more manageable process, once we have the public's confidence that the government is serious and committed to solving the myriad of problems facing present day societies. Each member of government and each community leader must put all his/her efforts in creating that basis of trust amongst the population. Allowing or encouraging the erosion of that trust, will come back at us like a boomerang.

While I am cognizant that 2014 is an election year, I must caution that it is also the year of critical decisions in terms of where we want to go as a nation. And the election will not change that or wish that away, regardless to what some politicians would like us to believe. There is no magic wand. And to use an old cliché, there are no free lunches.

What our country needs at this time, is a focused approach to our further development. One that requires thinking "outside of the box" or paradoxically, looking into the very box, as there are some solutions and ideas that are there, just in need of focus and agreement.

One example is the often times mentioned complimentary sectors to our tourist industry, such as the hub function that we could exploit. And several sectors of our economy are doing exactly that. What is missing until now is a common hub strategy, utilizing all the country's assets to promote that strategy. Other specialized areas remaining in the tourist industry, are medical tourism and with some planning, education tourism.

We need to focus much more on sustainable development. Often when speaking of sustainable development, we delineate the sector of the economy versus the environment. However, sustainable development is that and more; the social sector belongs in that equation, as does the so-called institutional sustainability (politics and governance).

We need to focus on all of these areas to make lasting progress.

To sum it up:

In this phase of our development as a young nation, we have a lot to learn and educate ourselves about.

We all have a responsibility.

We need to come to a common vision for St. Maarten.

All four areas of sustainable development are important: the economy, the environment, the social sector and governance.

I want to stand still a moment and express thanks to those who because of their work, make life and living easier for all of us. The people you see every day on the streets, the cleaners, newspaper vendors and the many volunteers this country relies on.

I pray that our people will rise to a level, appreciative of what we have, working together for what we want and considering the needs of others. We should all educate our children not only academically, but also through example by being the best parents, role models and leaders of this community.

With that I would like to wish all a very Happy 2014. Enjoy the New Year, be proud to live here and God bless you and our Sweet St. Maarten Land.

My Fellow Sint Maarteners at home and abroad,

I join you in welcoming the New Year 2014 as a new chapter unfolds.

The year 2013 has been a challenging year for the community and the business community. The country once again went through a change in Government. The United People's party was asked to give its support in forming a new Government of the people, for the people, and by the people. We took this decision knowing that the people wanted political stability and to deal with governing the country.

Much has been accomplished in the past little over six-months since the UP party joined with coalition partners the Democratic Party and Independent Member of Parliament Hon. Romain Laville to form a Government.

On various fronts actions have been taken to further solidify the governing of the country in education, sports, youth, health, justice, public finances, and public infrastructure. The coming six months will also be a busy period for the Government, especially after the 2014 budget has been approved by the House of Parliament.

The year 2013 has been a challenging one for the country, but I expect that 2014 will be a better year for the people of this country. 2014 is also an election year where the country will go to the polls to elect members of the 2nd Parliament of Country Sint Maarten. This is an important year, where the stewardship of the country will demand a Government with foresight, and determination to make the right decisions in the interests of the people of this great country of ours.

For 2014, I would like to see our community continue to make headway due to the hard work and efforts of the hard working people in all facets of society. Let 2014 be the year of the Sint Maarten people. There are many positive examples of Sint Maarteners doing good deeds and helping others. These persons reflect the best of our society which embodies all that is good. Let their spirit once again spread to others and further strengthen the Sint Maarten society in building a stronger Sint Maarten nation for all.

As a nation of people, let us all work together to advance the interest of all the people bringing their hopes and aspirations to fruition by creating opportunities that would allow the human spirit to grab at it and reach for the stars. Let us make 2014 a year of action.

I wish all Sint Maarteners a Blessed and Very Happy New Year on behalf of my family, as well as the UP party family.

Theo Heyliger
Leader of the United People's (UP) Party, Member of Parliament

PHILIPSBURG:--- A fire of unknown origin gutted four wooden structures located at Tamarind Alley in Philipsburg. Fire Officer Clemente Jones told SMN News that the fire started around 11 am on New Years Day. Jones said two fire trucks responded to the scene and it took them just under half an hour to bring the blaze under control.
The fireman said that up to four homes have been destroyed, two of which burnt flat while the two are severely damaged leaving at least eight persons homeless.
SMN News will bring you more information on this latest tragedy when the information becomes available.