PHILIPSBURG:---  The stage is officially set for Business Hoops 2026, taking place January 28th – February 7th, 2026. The highly anticipated Pool Draw was conducted on Tuesday, December 2nd at the L.B. Scotts Auditorium at 8:00 PM, where all 16 participating teams learned their path to championship glory.
Organizers say this year’s draw has produced some of the most competitive and intriguing groups in the tournament’s history, including an immediate rematch between the 2025 finalists.

Pool 1 features defending champions Port St. Maarten, SVOBE Schools, last year’s sub-champions Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE), and Hilton Grand Vacations.
With Port St. Maarten and Airport meeting in the same pool for the first time, fans are anticipating an intense early showdown between last season’s top two teams.
The second pool brings together four organizations representing essential pillars of the community: WINAIR, the St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), the Fire Department (Airport), and the Government of Sint Maarten.
These matchups are expected to deliver strong competitive energy driven by workplace pride and interdepartmental rivalries.

Pool 3 includes NV GEBE, NAGICO Insurances, the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC), and Rainforest Adventures St. Maarten, who claimed third place in 2025.
Rainforest Adventures enters the group looking to repeat last year’s deep tournament run, but will face determined opponents aiming to disrupt their momentum.
Rounding out the draw, Pool 4 consists of Collectivité de Saint-Martin, the St. Maarten Police Department, Menzies Aviation, and Prime.
With a mix of defensive strength and new challengers eager to make a statement, this pool is widely considered one of the most unpredictable.

Only the top two teams from each pool will advance to the next round, making every matchup crucial. With talent stacked across all four pools, fans can expect high-level basketball, electric atmospheres, and unforgettable moments throughout the tournament.
“Business Hoops 2026 is officially underway,” organizers said. “The draw is complete, the path is clear, and teams now know exactly what stands between them and the championship.”
The tournament schedule, team features, and behind-the-scenes coverage will be released in the coming weeks.
Business Hoops continues to grow as one of St. Maarten’s premier corporate sporting events, uniting businesses, public institutions, and the wider community through sport.

The Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic & Telecommunications (TEATT) has released its One-Year Overview for 2024–2025, outlining a year defined by structure, strategic focus, and stability during a period of limited financial resources and significant inherited challenges.

Upon assuming office, the Ministry faced one of the smallest discretionary budgets in government, longstanding contractual obligations, outdated systems, and operational bottlenecks across multiple divisions. Despite these constraints, TEATT delivered a productive first year guided by the R4 Effect; a framework that reshaped outdated processes, rebuilt institutional credibility, restructured service delivery, and reformed policies to support modernization and long-term national sustainability.

A Shift Toward Fundamentals and Structural Change

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ministry emphasized that the past year was not driven by optics or noise, but by addressing root causes and building systems that last. What began years ago as a call for accountability has since become a structured reform agenda grounded in compliance, transparency, and economic positioning.

While many results are not immediately visible, TEATT noted that meaningful change takes time. The Ministry intentionally shifted away from temporary fixes that keep the country in recurring cycles and instead committed to solutions that reduce the cost of living, strengthen governance, and improve service delivery in the long term.

Key Highlights from TEATT’s First Year

Despite financial and operational constraints, the Ministry delivered significant advancements across its mandate, including:

• Strengthened stakeholder confidence through structured consultations and renewed partnerships.
• Strategic planning for 2026–2028, including multi-year budgeting with TEATT’s management team.
• Expansion of Country Package E6 to include tourism projects and a national economic strategy.
• Launch of the Agri-Business Academy, with participants gaining access to 2% micro-loans for MSME development.
• Advancement of cannabis and gaming legislation.
• Major cleanup of licensing backlogs and modernization of policies to support digitization.
• Public transportation reform, including reintroduction of confirmation processes and drafting of a new policy.
• Strengthened MSME support through SEDC and the Chamber of Commerce.
• Increased international visibility through Public-Private marketing initiatives, partnerships with OTAs, FAM trips and Content Creators/ Social media Influencers from abroad.
• Expanded airlift for 2025–2026, including new service by Southwest and Contour Airlines.
• Strengthened cruise sector engagement with Port St. Maarten and FCCA.
• Progress on tourism product development, including the Tourism Authority, the Philipsburg Beautification Masterplan, and the Soualiga Marketplace.
• Stabilization of Carnival with subsidy support and long-term MOU development.
• Support for Festivals & Events such as the Soul Beach Festival to reduce seasonality.

These accomplishments were achieved while executing the 2024 budget under inherited commitments and managing the 2025 budget with strategic prioritization of limited resources.

Aligned With the 2024–2028 Governing Program

The One-Year Overview confirms that TEATT’s work remained fully aligned with the Governing Program’s pillars of:

• Economic growth and diversification
• Tourism expansion and product development
• MSME sustainability and investment-readiness
• Public sector reform, transparency, and good governance
• Infrastructure modernization and data-driven decision-making

The Ministry notes that it stayed on course—not straying, not reacting, but implementing.

Challenges and TEATT’s Response

The Ministry acknowledged several realities affecting national progress, including a constrained budget not designed by the current administration, legacy backlogs across government, rising public expectations, global economic volatility, and the need to grow tourism while pushing diversification.

Rather than being deterred, TEATT focused on:

• Rebuilding structure where systems were outdated or weak
• Advancing projects that drive long-term economic value
• Delivering wins without overspending by reallocating resources
• Supporting MSME and tourism development even with lean staffing
• Strengthening Public–Private Partnerships to restore trust and transparency

TEATT’s 2026 Theme: Forward By Design

The Ministry announced Forward By Design as the strategic theme for 2026.
This approach reflects TEATT’s commitment to shaping St. Maarten’s future skillfully and wisely, through evidence-based leadership and long-term planning rather than reactive decision-making.

Forward By Design emphasizes:

• Stronger foundations
• Better execution
• Measurable outcomes
• Data-driven decisions
• Improved service delivery
• New tourism products
• A more competitive business climate
• Enhanced investment readiness

It marks TEATT’s transition from stabilization to acceleration.

A Year of Foundation - A Future of Delivery

The One-Year Overview concludes that TEATT’s first year was about cleaning up what was inherited, restoring order where it was missing, and strengthening the systems that anchor the country’s economy.

The Ministry reaffirmed that long-term transformation requires patience and collective effort, and emphasized that the work continues.

The Minister concluded by saying that, “The foundation is stronger, the direction is clear, and TEATT remains committed to delivering meaningful, lasting progress for the people of St. Maarten; because only together can the country move forward. “It time for the People!”

Cayman Islands:--- In the wake of Hurricane Melissa, which left thousands of low-income Jamaicans struggling to rebuild their lives and livelihoods, a groundbreaking parametric insurance product, the Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP), is being launched in Jamaica this week.

The LPP is a parametric microinsurance product explicitly designed for groups most exposed to climate shocks yet traditionally excluded from formal insurance markets. Some of these groups include small farmers, fisherfolk, market, food, and craft vendors, seasonal tourism workers, day labourers, amateur entertainers, and micro- and agri-entrepreneurs, among others. By providing fast cash payouts within 14 days of extreme rainfall or wind events, the LPP is designed to empower these groups and households to recover quickly, avoid falling into poverty, and protect their futures.

Following Hurricane Melissa, CCRIF made record-breaking payouts of US$91.9 million (J$14.8 billion) to the Government of Jamaica under its tropical cyclone and excess rainfall policies, within 14 days of the hurricane. The launch of the LPP now extends this protection directly to households and low-income groups, ensuring that resilience is built not only at the national level but also at the community level. Together, CCRIF’s government/sovereign policies and the LPP form a comprehensive disaster risk financing framework that would enable Jamaica to respond faster and more equitably to future climate shocks.

The LPP was first piloted under the Climate Risk Adaptation and Insurance in the Caribbean (CRAIC) Project, implemented since 2011 by the MCII in collaboration with CCRIF SPC and the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility, with financial support from the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Government of Germany. Within the Federal Government, the IKI is anchored in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN).

The CRAIC Project piloted, tested, and refined the LPP across five Caribbean countries, ensuring that the product reflects the realities of low income and vulnerable groups and lessons learned from addressing early skepticism around insurance. This collaborative effort has laid the foundation for scaling-up microinsurance in the Caribbean region, embedding the LPP within broader resilience and social protection strategies.

In Jamaica, the LPP will initially be sold through Guardian General Insurance Jamaica Limited, ensuring trusted local distribution and immediate accessibility. Beyond Jamaica, the LPP will also be available in 2026 in Belize, Grenada, and Saint Lucia, extending its benefits to vulnerable communities across the wider Caribbean. Guardian General will work with a range of distributors and aggregators, including credit unions and cooperatives, to make the LPP easily accessible.

With the launch of CCRIF’s new Microinsurance Facility in partnership with Celsius Pro and its subsidiary, Global Parametrics, in June of this year, multiple insurers across the Caribbean and Central America will be able to distribute the LPP and other inclusive insurance products. This will expand reach, strengthen competition, and ensure affordability and scalability of microinsurance solutions.

Hurricane Melissa underscored the urgent need for accessible financial protection. Farmers lost crops, fisherfolk were unable to go to sea, and market vendors saw their daily incomes vanish. For many, recovery has been slow and remains uncertain. The LPP offers a new safety net, ensuring that when the next storm comes, affected individuals will have immediate resources to replant, repair, restock, and rebuild. According to CCRIF CEO, Isaac Anthony, "Hurricane Melissa reminded us that disasters do not only damage homes – they disrupt lives and livelihoods. The Livelihood Protection Policy is about restoring dignity and resilience, giving low-income and vulnerable groups across the Caribbean the means to recover and bounce back faster. By embedding the LPP within national disaster risk resilience frameworks, the region is positioning itself as a global leader in livelihood-focused climate risk financing. This launch represents a critical step toward scalable, shock-responsive social protection that can be replicated across the Caribbean and beyond."

Strategic Benefits of the LPP
• Fast payouts: No lengthy claims process - cash within days.
• Equity and inclusion: Designed for those most exposed to climate-related events and least protected.
• Financial empowerment: Improves creditworthiness and access to financial services.
• Policy alignment: Supports Jamaica’s disaster risk management, social protection, and climate adaptation strategies.

Resilience starts with protecting what matters most - your livelihood and your family.

All LPP target groups, including farmers, fishers, market and food vendors, taxi drivers, construction workers, seasonal tourism workers, amateur musicians, and microenterprises are encouraged to ask their local credit unions, cooperatives, and Guardian General Insurance Limited about enrolling in the LPP today.

PHILIPSBURG:---The Government of Sint Maarten and the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) invite the public to a community consultation for the Sint Maarten Wastewater Management Project on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Belair Community Center. The session will explain planned upgrades to the island’s wastewater systems and allow the community to share feedback before designs are finalized.
Only about 10 percent of households in Sint Maarten are connected to the public sewer network, making wastewater management one of the island’s biggest environmental challenges. The Sint Maarten Wastewater Project is a US$25 million investment, co-funded by the Government of Sint Maarten (US$15 million) and the Sint Maarten Trust Fund (US$10 million). The work includes expanding the sewer network in Dutch Cul de Sac and improving the A. Th. Illidge Road wastewater treatment plant so it can manage more household connections and operate more efficiently. The improvements are expected to reduce reliance on aging septic tanks and lower the risk of wastewater entering yards, streets, and ponds.

The consultation will include a walkthrough of the Environmental and Social (E&S) Risk Management Instruments prepared for the project. The E&S Instruments explain how the project's construction and long-term impacts will affect people, homes, roads, and the environment, and outline measures to reduce noise, dust, traffic delays, water pollution, and other impacts. It also allows the community to understand the project, ask questions, and propose improvements before designs are finalized.
The project’s timeline, work areas, and anticipated traffic impacts will be presented at the meeting. There will also be a question-and-answer session so the public can raise any concerns directly with the Government of Sint Maarten and the NRPB.

The Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (VROMI) Patrice Gumbs is encouraging the community to get involved. “We want to improve how wastewater is managed across Sint Maarten. This work affects neighborhoods and daily routines, so community participation is incredibly important. Your feedback will help us refine the designs and prepare for construction.”
The consultation is the first in a series of stakeholder engagement activities that are free and open to the public. Additional meetings for schools, community groups, directly affected households, and stakeholders will take place in the coming weeks. Feedback from all sessions will help guide the final design.
A livestream will be available for those who cannot attend in person, and the recording will be available online after the event. The NRPB encourages all households and businesses, especially those in the Dutch Cul de Sac area, to join the session on Wednesday, December 10, from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Belair Community Center. The community’s valuable input will help guide improvements that support cleaner communities and a healthier environment for neighborhoods.

Following this consultation, the next steps will be shared with the public to ensure the community stays informed throughout the implementation of the project.
The NRPB implements the Sint Maarten Wastewater Management Project on behalf of the Government of Sint Maarten. It is funded by the Trust Fund, which is financed by the Government of the Netherlands and managed by the World Bank. The project is co-funded by the Government of Sint Maarten.