PHILIPSBURG:---The Student Support Services Division (SSSD) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports Affairs will be holding an informative workshop on Thursday, August 29, 2019, entitled “Applying for a U.S. Student Visa or Canadian Study Permit.”
The workshop, which is free of charge, will be held at the University of St. Martin from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
In this workshop, information will be given on the application process for obtaining a U.S. Student Visa or Canadian Study Permit. Students who are looking to apply to schools in the U.S.A. or Canada or those who have already been accepted to a school in either of these countries can attend the workshop to receive a step by step approach on how to complete the application process. The process can seem overwhelming and confusing, however, SSSD will help students to better understand the process.
Students who do not own a U.S. passport, U.S. Permanent Residence (Green Card), Canadian passport, or Canadian permanent residence are considered international students in the U.S. and Canada respectively. Applying for a student visa ties into immigration matters, therefore, it is essential that students are aware of the procedure and take care in preparing their application. SSSD officials stressed that improper preparation or incomplete applications can delay the process at the embassy.
“We have seen students having to wait a whole year before attending college or university because they encountered bottlenecks with for example their Canadian study-permit. So, knowing certain aspects beforehand can help students with their application process, “ an SSSD official said.
SSSD provides many services to students. Some services include psychological services, counseling services, social work services, educational diagnostic services, career services, and parent education.
Students and parents are encouraged to contact SSSD at 543-1235 for more information or to register for the workshop on August 29, 2019. They can also visit the SSSD office which is located in the Amigo Building across from the Police Station and next to WIB.

PHILIPSBURG:--- We all still have vivid memories of the devastating force of Hurricane Irma. To stay on top of our game when it comes to providing humanitarian aid, Defence is organizing Exercise Caribbean Coast. Ensuring a good crisis communication structure and maintaining public order and safety in a natural disaster are two of the key elements that will be addressed during the exercise. This year, Caribbean Coast will be held from 9 to 19 September on Sint Maarten, Saba, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Curaçao.
Caribbean Coast is a Dutch exercise, involving the participation of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN), the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) and the Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA). Four naval vessels will join the exercise: HNLMS Snellius, HNLMS Groningen, HNLMS Pelikaan and HNLMS Johan de Witt. The amphibious transport ship HNLMS Johan de Witt will leave on 26 August for the transatlantic crossing from Den Helder. The other vessels are already in the area. The RNLAF will participate with three helicopters and the RNLA will send supporting engineer, medical and CIMIC units. A total of over 700 Dutch military personnel will participate, together with French and German military personnel.
During the Caribbean Coast, military personnel will train in the evacuation of civilians in distress, making the affected area accessible, maintaining public order and safety and providing immediate emergency relief to victims of natural disasters.
Hurricane Irma underlined the importance of being well-prepared for hurricanes and other natural disasters. Defense personnel train for these situations so that they can provide effective assistance to Dutch citizens in a crisis situation. Every four years, Defence organizes a large-scale humanitarian exercise in the Caribbean, the location was chosen deliberately – during the hurricane season – to ensure that the situation is as realistic as possible. Military personnel, therefore, exercise on different islands, together with local and civil authorities.

~Display of power and personal vendetta against civil servants.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin disconnected all cellular phones that are held by civil servants on Thursday. Civil Servants whose phones were disconnected were not warned or even informed of the measures taken by the Prime Minister.
At the moment, some offices including the Inspectorate of Health and Labor, TEATT and VROMI has been crippled due to the irresponsible actions of the Prime Minister.
SMN News learned that the Prime Minister along with her cabinet members are handpicking whose cellular phones of certain civil servants will be connected either postpaid or prepaid.
With the actions taken by the Prime Minister, she has bypassed head of facility affairs Rick Martina who is charged with the distribution of cellular phones to civil servants and Hensley Plantijn Secretary-General of General Affairs.
While Romeo Marlin is pretending to cut cost she is actually hindering government operations while those civil servants that use their government for social media purposes cannot do so unless they have WIFI connection.
Civil Servants working for government emergency services has been severely affected with the impromptu disconnection. These civil servants already indicated that they will not be using their personal cellular phones for government services.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The adjuster Smith Orloff and Associates that was hired by the Leona Romeo Marlin cabinet to negotiate with NAGICO Insurances are not making any headway that would put more money in government coffers.
SMN News learned that the local representative for the American based company Mitty Katz already indicated that she cannot obtain more than Henderson International negotiated because it been two years since the passing of hurricane IRMA and there is no way claims can be filed for the damages such as mold caused to government buildings that were not repaired in time.
In the meantime, Henderson International has filed a court case against the government of St. Maarten that case will be called in October 2019.
Smith Orloff was handpicked by ousted Minister of VSA Emil Lee. So far the new adjuster cannot even justify their claims submitted to NAGICO Insurances.
In a matter of days,’ it will be two years since the passage of hurricane IRMA and government is yet to repair major buildings while they received $5.5M from a total projected claim of almost $30M. It should be noted that the delay comes from Leona Romeo Marlin cabinet who chose to terminate the contract with Henderson International and hire an incompetent adjuster that is now blaming NAGICO Insurances for their failures and incompetences.