Email Newsletter

In support of our independent media By Hilbert Haar ~ The Rotary Club Mid-Isle invited me to join in for a club meeting last Tuesday at Wasabi Charley in Simpson Bay. After having turned down quite some previous invitations due to conflicting work schedules, this time I managed to... Read more stmaartennews.com

Dear Reader Yesterday, we meant to publish a poll asking whether government should set up a Land Tribunal. However, due to some strange technical quirk the previous day's poll got republished instead. We hope the system publishes the correct poll today. In any event, one of our avid readers was quick to point out in an email to the editor that there are enough institutions already and no need for another one. He pointed out that the case of Mr. Lee Halley has more to do with the corrupt, non-transparent and unbridled issuance of government land in long lease. Our reader also pointed out that the law has specific regulations regarding undivided succession land. Our reader was of the opinion that instead of yet another institution, one should simply start improving their knowledge of the law. We wish it was that simple. If it was, there would be no need for lawyers now would there? The response we received today via email from a representative of the other Marlin family, after our published report about Cee Marlin's fight against illegal occupation of his family's land, shows that these cases are not so easily resolved as the law would dictate. We hope that the other Marlin family uses the opportunity to tell their side of the story. In any case, we agree with our reader that we all should acquaint ourselves with the letters of the law and follow proper procedures when it comes to making certain claims. However, human beings are emotional creatures and often sensible solutions can only be achieved when people are willing to sit down and talk things out. If a tribunal is too bureaucratic an organization to set up, the use of a mediator can also do wonders in helping people reach consensus. Three judges quickly reached a consensus yesterday in their verdict that the ruling of the court in first instance should be upheld and that the Telem holding company has until February 10th to finalize a manpower assessment for the workers of the St. Maarten Cable TV company and until then, the workers can not be dismissed nor laid off. So today, hopefully, you have the opportunity to let us know your opinion about a Land Tribunal. See the Poll further down below in this edition of our newsletter. ###  Sponsor Message ### www.ReyJets.com, for when you need a private jet charter from St. Maarten to Aruba, Bonaire or Curacao. "It's simply smarter to charter!" Use promo code SXMNEWS to earn extra Sunmiles points. ###  End of Sponsor Message ### You can support and ensure you get the news on a daily basis in your inbox by buying a subscription online at https://stmaartennews.com/registration. We use Paypal to process creditcard payments. However, you do not need a Paypal account to pay for your subscription with us. All you need is your creditcard and an email address (which you already have if you are receiving this email newsletter). You can also select the Manual Payment option and receive an invoice via email. You can then pay via banktransfer to our WIB or RBC bank accounts. If you wish to pay in cash or with a check, please email us to arrange pick-up or instructions where to drop off the payment at one our three (3) collection points on St. Maarten (in Philipsburg, Cul-de-Sac and in Cole Bay). Remember, StMaartenNews.com is foremost a news site, but it is also an e-commerce business. Therefore, we do not have offices or any such overhead burdensome costs. So there are no offices for you to visit. Communications with us is via email ( info@stmaartennews.com), telephone ( 588-0800) or whatsapp ( +1-721-588-0800). You can add 588-0800 to your Whatsapp service. We will be starting the Whatsapp news alert service this month. But to make even that possible, we need your financial support. In the form of subscriptions and in the form of advertisements. Without your support, there can be no independent media on St. Maarten. Make sure read Hilbert Haar's appeal in support of our independent media on St. Maarten as well. Thank you and do have a great weekend. The Publisher StMaartenNews.com PS: You can also email info@stmaartennews.com to request us to sign you up for a Yearly subscription for only $75. We will email you an electronic invoice for payment at your convenience. You can choose to pay with your creditcard, banktransfer, check or cash.

StMaartenNews.com Feature Article

The Caribbean demand: obey me or else By Chris Morvan ~ There is a character trait I've noticed in other parts of the Caribbean that I was dismayed to find exists here: the official's need to be obeyed. By "official" I mean anyone in any walk of life who is in charge of something. Read more stmaartennews.com

StMaartenNews.com Headline News

Port St. Maarten & Stakeholders briefs French CoC PORT ST. MAARTEN - Last week Port St. Maarten representatives, and stakeholders - Intermar Group/St. Maarten Shipping and Stevedoring NV President George Pelgrim and CMA CGM Managing Director Liliane Hohl, met with representatives of the French... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

Lagoon navigation hazards marked in joint French - Dutch ... SIMPSON BAY - The Lagoon has just been made a safer place to go boating after the successful completion of a joint French and Dutch initiative to iden... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

TelEm Group Cabinet replacement scheduled for Simpson Bay POND ISLAND - TelEm Group technicians will be replacing a damaged telecommunication cabinet in the Simpson Bay area between 8:00 am 5:00 pm Saturday, February 3. Residential and business customers located on both sides of the road between the... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

StMaartenNews.com Photo of the Night

Moon over Real Auto Tune in Monday for a full report on Real Auto's Night with the Stars event held last night at Porto Cupecoy where visitors enjoyed drinks and snacks and the chance to win several raffled prizes while checking out the newest auto models on display. Read more stmaartennews.com

StMaartenNews.com Entertainment

Smart Conversation Advertisement Read more stmaartennews.com

StMaartenNews.com Government News

Minister De Weever announces return of Westjet PUERTO RICO - WestJet, a Canadian airline, will begin weekly scheduled service to the destination as of April 23 and thereafter every Saturday. In the past the Canadian market was the country's fastest growing market. Acting Minister of Tourism,... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

St. Maarten Development Fund grants 3 million guilders... PHILIPSBURG - Culminating the closure of its financial year 2017, St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF) presented its unaudited financial statements and management report for the year 2017 to Prime Minister and Minister of General Affairs Leona... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

St. Maarten gets liquidity support, no budgetary aid THE HAGUE - St. Maarten will be receiving 30 million euros in liquidity support, but there will be no structural budget support to cover the deficits, Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops stated during a... Read more curacaochronicle.com

StMaartenNews.com Media News

SXM-TV15 back on air POND ISLAND - Cable TV's community access channel, SXM-TV15 made a welcome return to tele-viewers on St. Maarten Thursday with a "soft launch" aimed at attracting the island's popular producers back to the channel. First of the locally produced... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

Dutch cabinet will not help media on Sint Maarten THE HAGUE - Several journalistic media on Sint Maarten are having it financially difficult because of the devastation of Hurricane Irma. Secretary of State Raymond Knops is not planning to assist them for the time being. ... Some articles are... Read more stmaartennews.com

StMaartenNews.com Aviation News

More layoffs at InselAir; MD-80 will not be operational WILLEMSTAD - There will be more layoffs at the local aviation company InselAir. That's what financial director André Delger told trade union leader Wendell Meulen from UGTK / Cadmu. The airline has informed the union leader of the fact that they... Read more curacaochronicle.com

PAWA Dominicana faces difficult financial situation SANTO DOMINGO - Executives of PAWA Dominicana admitted that the airline has a difficult financial situation and that they have an outstanding debt of US $ 3 million. Of this amount, one million 500 thousand dollars is owed to the Dominican... Read more curacaochronicle.com

Sunrise Airways ticket now for sale at any Cpost branch WILLEMSTAD - Clients can now purchase Sunrise Airways tickets at any Cpost International N.V. branch on the island. Cpost International N.V and Sunrise Airways recently signed an agreement making this possible. Sunrise Airways flies twice weekly... Read more curacaochronicle.com

StMaartenNews.com Legal Reviews

Ombudsman starts Systemic Investigation Rent Committee Philipsburg - The Bureau of the Ombudsman continues to receive visits from citizens concerned about their housing conditions, as well as complaints about the Rent Committee allegedly not cooperating or responding adequately when addressed by the... Read more stmaartennews.com

The Cooperative Association explained Under the law of Sint Maarten it is possible to form a co-operative association (coöperatieve vereniging, or coöperatie) also called a co-operative. The co-operative is a distinct legal entity, a special kind of association, formed by two or more ... Read more stmaartennews.com

The Motion of No Confidence In general a Motion is a question or issue put to a vote in Parliament expressing its position on a particular topic or issue, its feelings or view, a desire or an instruction of Parliament on any particular subject. A Motion must be submitted in ... Read more stmaartennews.com

StMaartenNews.com Opinions "Robo-calls" by Hilbert Haar

I’m still not sure whether the guerilla warfare that is currently underway to convince voters to choose a particular party on February 26 is because of Hurricane Irma our political parties do not have wealthy sponsors anymore to finance their expensive billboards or that it’s because we have entered a new era in political campaigning fueled by technology. This thought came up after reports emerged about robo-calls and complaints to telecom provider UTS about these unsolicited calls. UTS quickly explained that it had not sold its phone numbers to any political party; instead, the provider noted, robots are used to generate random phone numbers. Once they connect and the phone is picked up, the receiver hears a pre-recorded message. [More.....] Click here to continue reading the rest of this article online...

StMaartenNews.com Dutch Caribbean News

CAft: The financial situation of Aruba is of concern.... ARUBA - The year 2017 is expected to be closed with a financial deficit of 3.1% GDP. According to the National Ordinance on temporary financial supervision (LAft) a financial deficit of 0.5% is allowed. In order to be able to comply with its... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

French developer receives geothermal licenses on Saba/Statia In a release today, French geothermal developer Teranov, based in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean advises that the company has been recently granted geothermal exploratory licenses by the Executive Councils of Saba and of St Eustatius, two small... Read more www.thinkgeoenergy.com

Local businesses St. Eustatius waiting for relief fund ORANJESTAD - Local businesses of St. Eustatius are waiting to hear back from the 2.6 million euro relief fund from the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the Netherlands. "I've sent my application but still no response. There is the need for more... Read more caribbeannetwork.ntr.nl

Cft: Bonaire, tangible steps are necessary to improve... BONAIRE - During its visit to Bonaire on January 30 th, the Board of financial supervision Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba (Cft) requested the Executive Council and the Island Council to take the necessary steps in order to get the financial... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

StMaartenNews.com Poll

Government should set up a Land Tribunal to deal with land disputes. Agree? Yes Select No Select

Poll sponsored by StMaartenFlowers.com, because Valentine's Day is right around the corner.

PUBLIC NOTICE

DISCONNECTION NOTICE The Management of NV GEBE hereby informs the general public the following regarding disconnection: Disconnection will resume as per February 5, 2018. Customers with outstanding bills are advised to pay prior to the above mentioned date to avoid being disconnected. Customers that require a payment installment plan are advised to visit our office prior to the above mentioned date. A down payment of 1/3 of the outstanding bills will be required to obtain the payment plan. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 542-2213, 546-1100, 546-1160 or via our toll free number 1-844-432-3213 or e-mail us at: customercare@nvgebe.com. Our business hours are 7:45am to 3pm Mondays to Fridays. The Philipsburg and Simpson Bay branch are available for payment plans, payment of bills and other customer related inquires.

StMaartenNews.com Advertisement

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StMaartenNews.com Online News Stories

Sunday is World Cancer Day under the slogan "We can. I can" GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) - The global cancer community will commemorate World Cancer Day on Sunday, February 4, with the slogan ''We can. I can''. Cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body. Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

Click here to buy a StMaartenNews.com subscription today... Advertisement Read more stmaartennews.com

Let's Cruise - Eastern, Western, Southern Caribbean... Lets-Cruise.co is offering cruise vacations on the best and biggest cruise ships in the world with brand name cruises and destinations in the Eastern, Western and Southern Caribbean, Alaska, Europe and the Mediterranean, ... Read more www.lets-cruise.co

St. Maarten Rotary Mid Isle Awards Vocational Service Awards COLE BAY - The objectives of Rotary are to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service, Rotary Club of St.... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

Consuming a healthy diet in 2018. Make a healthy weight... GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) - Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults 18-years and older, were overweight. Of these over 650 million were obese. 39 per cent... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

Partial Road closure over the Weekend of Front Street GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) - Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Development and Infrastructure (Ministry VROMI), announces that Front Street will be partially closed for vehicular traffic. The closure is in connection with remodelling works ... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

The Philipsburg Jubilee Library adjusts their opening hours In order to facilitate general staff meetings the Library will now open at 10.00 on Mondays instead of 9.00 am. So as of Monday February 5 th 2018, the library will be open on Mondays from 10 am to p.m. and from Tuesday to Friday from 9 am to... Read more www.soualiganewsday.com

3-year old girl may have spent a week alone with dead mother A three-year-old girl is thought to have spent up to a week alone at home in Rotterdam with the body of her dead mother and a dog before being found by police. The child was found on January 20 by police who had been summoned by the landlord... Read more www.dutchnews.nl

Advertise Here Email info@stmaartennews.com today and request our advertising rates for 2018. Read more stmaartennews.com

Father of two dies during 'incident' with police A 39-year old man has died during a 'violent arrest' by police, reports the AD on Friday. The man, who has been named as father of two Paul Selier from The Hague, is apparently seen being repeatedly punched by police as they shout at him to... Read more www.dutchnews.nl

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StMaartenNews.com Letters

Caribbean Micro- and Mini-States by Jacob Gelt Dekker Hurricane Maria of 2017 posed a tough question to Caribbean islands, to rebuild or not to rebuild. And a far more intriguing dilemma, can Caribbean mini- and micro-States continue to exist? The devastation on Puerto Rico, St. ... Read more stmaartennews.com

Hiram Beakes of Saba by Jacob Gelt Dekker Sex, romance, and true love played out with Hiram Beakes. Hiram Beakes was a young man and a scion of the ruling family on the island of Saba. His story of licentious sex that turned into true love, stolen gold, ruthless... Read more stmaartennews.com

Why we are called Civil Servants Dear Editor, The main motivation when postulating one's self to political party is to serve the people. It's why we are called Civil Servants. Unfortunately, however; not every postulated candidate shares this motivation. Also noticeable are... Read more stmaartennews.com

Why yes to Spadaro and not a basketball court for the youths Dear Editor, Why is this interim cabinet hell-bent to destroy the approval granted by his predecessor CHRISTOPHE EMMANUEL of the NA to build the long awaited and promised basketball court for the youth of Fort Willem and St. Maarten as a whole?... Read more stmaartennews.com

Plan of Action for Mental Health Foundation Guided Living Dear Mr. Editor, As a community spirited person and the former Minister of VROMI who believed in helping institutions such as the Mental Health Foundation, during my tenure I assisted the former with a parcel of land around the zoo to build their ... Read more stmaartennews.com

Time to put down the flag Dear Editor, After hurricane Irma the site with the flagpole was set up. A lot has been said about the flagpole. Mostly about the costs of USD 150.000. Despite all the negative, I find it was good idea. From many areas in Simpson Bay you can see... Read more stmaartennews.com

SXM Daily News - 2 Feb 2018

SXM Daily News February 2, 2018 SXM Daily News February 2, 2018 Read more www.youtube.com

Book AirSXM With the high season upon us and more and more airlines are resuming flights to and from St. Maarten, we are also open to take your flight bookings to and from St. Maarten as well. BOOK NOW

NEW !!! MANAGE YOUR PROFILE ONLINE IN OUR ACCOUNT-INFO SECTION Click here to update your account profile at StMaartenNews.com Cancel your present free Newsletter subscription first if you wish to upgrade to a paid subscription with either a Daily, Monthly or Yearly subscription. ~~~ We welcome you to our growing community of readers. Those of you who have not done so yet, can do so online at http://stmaartennews.com/registration. You can choose to pay immediately online with your creditcard or request to receive an invoice from us for manual payment processing. We will be putting more and more of our recently published articles and archived news articles behind the paywall. Therefore it will be important for you to eventually purchase a paid subscription. Register today online at http://stmaartennews.com/registration. If you wish to discuss a corporate account for your company, organization or department, feel free to drop us an email to discuss your needs as well. If you have any questions, comments or if you also wish to advertise with us, email us via info@stmaartennews.com. We will continue to bring you reports and articles via this email newsletter. But for the latest news, updates and photo reportages keep an eye on our website online at www.stmaartennews.com  or follow us on Facebook, where we will also post community billboard notices, government announcements and urgent public notices as we receive them via our news desk. If you also wish to receive news headlines, alerts and breaking news via Whatsapp, email us your whatsapp number via info@anykeyservices.com. Thank you for your attention to our email newsletter. Your readership is very much appreciated. Sincerely yours, STMAARTENNEWS.COM Email: info@stmaartennews.com Website: www.stmaartennews.com A service of ANYKEY SERVICES N.V.

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