PHILIPSBURG:--- As part of its 15th anniversary celebrations, the Parliament of Sint Maarten launched the MP Read Aloud Project, a community-driven initiative aimed at promoting literacy and civic engagement among primary school students across the island.

On September 18 and 19, 2025, Members of Parliament (MPs) visited 16 elementary schools to read to Grade 4 (Groep 6) students. The selected books “A Kids Book About Democracy” by Nora C. Melendez and “Democracy” by Philip Bunting, were chosen for their engaging and age-appropriate approach to introducing democratic values. Copies of both books were donated to each participating school, ensuring that students and teachers could continue exploring the themes of democracy and civic responsibility beyond the event.

Participating schools included:

- Martin Luther King Jr. School

- Prince Willem Alexander School

- Marie Genevieve de Weever School

- Sister Regina Primary

- Seventh Day Adventist School

- Leonard Connor Primary

- St. Dominic Primary

- Ruby Labega School

- MAC Gumbs Campus

- MAC Milliard Campus

- Sister Magda

- Helmich Snijder Hillside Christian School

- St. Joseph School

- Sister Borgia Primary

- Oranje School

- Asha Stevens Hillside Christian School

The MP Read Aloud Project is one of several initiatives planned to commemorate the Parliament’s milestone year, reflecting its ongoing commitment to education, transparency, and community engagement.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Public meeting on September 22, 2025.  

The Public meeting is scheduled for Monday at 13.00 hrs. in the Legislative Hall at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg. The Minister of Finance will be in attendance.

The agenda point is:

Question hour: Questions from MP A.M.R. Irion directed to the Minister of Finance regarding the recent appointment process of the Chairman of the CBCS (IS/069/2025-2026 dated September 17, 2025)

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules.

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

The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, Soualiga Headlines, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, www.pearlfmradio.sx and www.youtube.com/c/SintMaartenParliament 

Oranjestad/Willemstad/The Bottom/Philipsburg/Kralendijk:--- The Where Culture Lives project has reached a new milestone after a summer filled with conversations across Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Statia, St. Maarten, and Saba. Between June and September, focus group discussions and interviews brought together cultural practitioners, educators, heritage experts, policy makers, and community members who openly shared their experiences, challenges, and hopes for the future of arts & culture (practices), cultural heritage, and creative expression in the Dutch Caribbean.
To the center of the project for the next phase are the (recently) activated Island Coordinators, a group of socially engaged professionals on each island who ensured the successful execution of the focus groups. They include:
● Aruba – Dr. Gregory Richardson, leading scholar and anthropologist
● Bonaire – Lara Chirino, consultant and community leader
● Curaçao – Elton Villarreal, cultural advocate and social entrepreneur
● Saba – Sharifa Balfour, Director of the Saba Heritage Center
● Statia – Paula Pandt-Pompier, educator, community development and research professional
● St. Maarten – Ludmila Duncan, social entrepreneur and researcher (for focus groups), and as of this week the University of St. Martin, who involved Ashayna Nisbett, a research consultant and cultural practitioner for the upcoming survey phase.
Thanks to their coordination and commitment, over 100 voices were brought to the table, ensuring that the project’s findings are firmly grounded in local realities across sectors.
Aruba is the last island to finish its focus groups this week. According to Lead researcher/ Island coordinator Dr. Gregory Richardson, “Aruba is currently experiencing so much at the moment with quite some dynamics and activities for culture and the creative industries. The participation of many organizations and community persons was strong, and with the two other lead researchers (Ludmila Duncan and Elton Villareal), we are excited to transcribe now and analyze all that was expressed and brought forward”.
The entire team hereby expresses their sincere thank you to everyone who participated. With this phase complete, the project now prepares to move into the survey stage, which will invite the wider public to share their cultural engagement, practices, and perspectives. Both digital and physical surveys will be launched in October and will be open to all residents across the six islands. The island coordinators will play a key role in managing the success of this stage and encouraging as many responses as possible. The island coordinators and to-be-recruited surveyors will be trained and prepared by the WCL team, supported by USM, NAAM, and the Boekman Stichting. Surveys will include questions about cultural, arts, and heritage education in schools and cultural activities as practiced by young and old outside of school. This is the most crucial reflection point in the Where Culture Lives project, laying the groundwork for the first comprehensive cultural mapping of the Dutch Caribbean.
“The insights from the focus groups help to formulate survey questions that are relevant to the local context and help to identify potential barriers to participation that can be tested in the survey. It’s exciting to be moving forward with the next phase with Paula, Lara, Sharifa, and USM with Asheyna on board, as we were very intentional that this project is based on ownership to reflect our cultural practices accurately. These practices & voices matter to our sense of identity and future,” reflected Project principle Jorien Wuite.
Ludmila Duncan, Elton Villarreal, and their fellow Island coordinators are enthused and encouraged that the discussions provided such rich insights, unique perspectives, and the extent of cultural engagement and practice on islands.
Duncan and Villarreal echoed this call to action: “If you are an artist in your spare time, a dance teacher, a fervent heritage practitioner, or the parent of a steel pan player or aspiring young painter, we ask you humbly to participate in the survey. By doing so, we can not only understand our, but also provide solutions and recommendations to policy makers to better support culture, the arts and cultural heritage development of our islands.”
For more information, please (WhatsApp) contact the Project principals Jorien Wuite, (721) 5202335, and Elton Villarreal, (599) 95213108 .
The Where Culture Lives project was commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and is managed by St. Maarten-based consultancy Lemonade B.V.

PHILIPSBURG:---  Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), Mr. Richinel S.J. Brug, expressed his appreciation for being part of the Tourism and Health Program (THP) workshop at the Simpson Bay Hotel. The two-day workshop brought together Chief Medical Officers of Health, surveillance, port health officers, and environmental officers from across the Caribbean region to highlight the critical connection between health and tourism.  This workshop provided small island states with an opportunity to engage cruise line partners in strengthening health security through surveillance collaboration and aligning regional guidelines to sustain safe cruise tourism.  

In his opening remarks, Minister Brug emphasized the unique role of tourism in Sint Maarten’s economy and the region’s vulnerability to health threats. “Tourism is not just an economic sector; it is the lifeblood of our nation. Protecting tourism means protecting health, and safeguarding health means securing the very stability of our society,” he stated.

The Minister highlighted the importance of the THP, an initiative spearheaded by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), which introduced tools such as the Tourism and Health Information System (THiS) and the Caribbean Vessel Surveillance System (CVSS). These tools have been made available to the region to strengthen early warning systems and enable timely responses to public health threats linked to tourism and travel.  

Reflecting on Sint Maarten’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister Brug noted that the island’s seaport and airport became critical points of health security. “Our experiences have taught us invaluable lessons. Health and tourism are inseparable—two sides of the same coin. This program is about embedding resilience into our economy and ensuring the sustainability of livelihoods,” he said.

Minister Brug reaffirmed the government’s commitment to collaborating with CARPHA, regional governments, and the private sector to advance this agenda. He underscored the progress already made through CARPHA’s technical visits earlier this year, which focused on mass gathering surveillance and capacity building for the local public health team.

The workshop underscored the importance of ongoing regional cooperation, aimed at safeguarding both public health and the long-term resilience of Caribbean economies.