SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) – “I remember my first day of work at the Government of Sint Maarten like it was yesterday. After working for municipal and provincial governments in the Netherlands for several years, I decided it was time to leave that cold, foggy country and work on the development of our Antillean islands,” Loekie Morales said in a statement on Saturday.

“I chose Sint Maarten, and I have never regretted my choice of a vibrant island that had potential, but then-insufficient capacity to run complex national development programs and projects.

“I started by designing an industry package with environmental regulations for car- repair companies and contributing to the federal Antillean Nature Policy Plan. A year later, then-Commissioner Roy Marlin placed me in the Strategy Policy and Development Department (SBO) to develop the new field of heritage conservation.

“The idea of ​​identifying, designating and eventually restoring or preserving potential monuments in Sint Maarten for future generations was mainly encouraged by then-Lieutenant Governor Franklyn Richards, who gave me a lot of support in that process.

“In partnership with the Foundation for Monuments and the Curaçao Monuments Fund, I started to lift the monuments policy, legislation, and financial framework, including a Monuments Revolving Fund. We also set up the Foundation for Conservation of Monuments and established the Monuments Advisory Council, a government advisory board of cultural-heritage experts.

“Working with a team of Dutch students specializing in heritage restoration, we identified and described the interior and exterior of more than 100 potential monuments.

“This enormous job was completed with the generous cooperation of monument owners in Sint Maarten and the unconditional support of Herman George, former director of the Monument Fund in Curaçao.

“The capital of Curacao, Willemstad, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and provided an outstanding example of preservation of monuments. George’s employees often flew to Sint Maarten to advise me on monument policy, legislation, financing and designation. We began by designating 28 monuments, which are on the official monuments list of Sint Maarten.

“In 2004, the reorganization of the civil service was underway, and SBO became a Program and Projects Bureau, set up to implement large development programs, with millions of Antillean guilders from the Netherlands managed by USONA.

“All ministries had to be focused and aligned in Sint Maarten’s development endeavor. Stakeholders were players to reckon with. Government deployed specialists in the field of leading programs and projects, such as the SEI, a Social Economic Initiative program, and the Institutional Strengthening Program, with good governance of government and NGOs as a pillar.

“In the Netherlands, I had worked for many years on large spatial-planning and environmental projects, such as water-purification installations and drawing up provincial plans to manage and renovate estates and castles in the Stichtse Lustwarande area. As a result, my skills were a good fit for Sint Maarten’s new “development strategy” model.

“From Oct. 10, 2010, Sint Maarten was to be developed in such a way that it would be stable on the way to becoming an autonomous island.

“I was briefly in charge with the new portfolio regarding development via the European Development Funds. The National Development of Sint Maarten was soon taken up. Basis was the Millennium Development Goals, since 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals, a portfolio that I managed and became my passion.

“Before that, I led a working group that wrote the first Millennium Development Goals report for Sint Maarten. This was followed by the development of the Millennium Acceleration Framework, in which development goals such as poverty alleviation and environmental sustainability were cross-linked. Sint Maarten was lagging with these goals. With relevant stakeholders, we developed a program to strengthen these targets.

“Today, I end an interesting journey, in which I learned a lot and represented Sint Maarten in various national, regional and international forums and contributed to its development.

“The road to the sustainable development of Sint Maarten has many challenges, yet it is worth following to achieve a cohesive, decisive country, with more equality in wellbeing and progress.

“Sint Maarten can best focus on recruiting and supporting specialists in creating and leading development programs and projects, developing new forms of income outside the tourism pillar and providing our young people with tools and skills to promote self-reliance, including knowledge of government finances and the ability to recruit funds from international organizations.

“During my years in government service, I am happy to have contributed to Sint Maarten’s development process. I would like to thank all those who helped me in the shaping of programs and projects, and I wish them continuing insight and inspiration on their way to a sustainable Sint Maarten,” the statement from Morales concludes.

SINT MAARTEN (POND ISLAND) - As of August 8th, at 18:00, St. Maarten has confirmed twelve new cases of persons who have tested positive for the Corona Virus (COVID-19). The new total of confirmed cases now stands at 189.

Of the active cases, the Collective Prevention Services (CPS) are monitoring 82 people in home isolation. The Minister of Public Health Social Development and Labour (VSA) the honorable Richard Panneflek stated, “we now have eighty-six (86), active cases of persons who have contracted COVID-19.”

Three patients are currently hospitalized, and one patient is isolated and being monitored. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 is now 17.

The number of people recovered since the first case surfaced on St. Maarten is 86. Ninety (90) people are now in quarantine based on contact tracing investigations carried out by CPS of persons who may have been in contact with any of the active cases.

In a continued effort to control the spread of the virus, CPS has tested 350 travelers arriving at the Princess Juliana International Airport, (PJIA) and 984 people throughout the community. As the numbers of positive cases continue to increase, CPS will continue to actively execute its contact tracing measures.

If you have been exposed to someone with the virus or  experiencing flu-like symptoms, please remain at home and contact your family doctor immediately. For any questions or concerns, call CPS at emergency number 914.

Minister Panneflek urges all to continue to wear your masks, practice social distancing, sanitize your hands as frequently as possible, wash your hands with soap and avoid mass gatherings.

May GOD continue to protect us all.

ARCHIVE, FRIDAY, AUGUST 07, 2020 - SINT MAARTEN (POND ISLAND) - The Honorable Minister of Public Health Social Development and Labour (VSA) Richard Panneflek expresses his deepest sympathies to the bereaved family and friends of Sint Maarten’s 17th Covid-19 victim, who passed away this morning. He wishes the family strength and courage as “they” navigate through their time of loss.

As of August 7th, at 16:00, St. Maarten has confirmed one new person who has tested positive for the Corona Virus (COVID-19). The new total of confirmed cases now stands at 177.

Of the active cases, the Collective Prevention Services (CPS) are monitoring 70 people in home isolation. Minister Panneflek stated “We now have seventy-four (74), active cases of persons who have contracted COVID-19.” Four patients are currently hospitalized, and the number of isolated patients remains at zero.

The number of people recovered since the first case surfaced on St. Maarten is 86. Seventy-seven (77) people are now in quarantine based on contact tracing investigations carried out by CPS of persons who may have been in contact with any of the active cases.

In a continued effort to control the spread of the virus, CPS has tested 312 travelers arriving at the Princess Juliana International Airport, (PJIA) and 960 people throughout the community. As the numbers of positive cases continue to increase, CPS will continue to actively execute its contact tracing measures.

If you have been exposed to someone with the virus or experiencing flu-like symptoms, please remain at home and contact your family doctor immediately. For any questions or concerns, call CPS at emergency number 914.

Please continue to wear your masks, practice social distancing, sanitize your hands as frequently as possible and wash your hands with soap, as we cannot stress this enough.

SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) - “Last Tuesday afternoon was another closed door virtual  meeting of Parliament with the Prime Minister in attendance to apprise Parliament of the “negotiations” with the Dutch Government regarding liquidity assistance and specifically the proposal by the Dutch Government to legislate a Caribbean Reform Entity (CRE).

“In the meeting, the Members of Parliament were informed of Government’s first official response to the proposal put on the table by State Secretary R. Knops regarding this CRE. As with most of these closed door meetings with the Government, one is left wondering, what the secrecy is all about,” stated United Democrats Member of Parliament, Wescot-Williams in a recent statement. 

The MP believes that the population is entitled to hear their Government defend its position on any topic in  Parliament, and are equally entitled to hear the reactions of their representatives in Parliament. “While I support, especially during these times, finding ways to more efficiently use the time of Ministers and Members of Parliament and that informal communication between the Parliament and Government also can be constructive, the premise of formal political dialogue via the highest body in the land, should never be relegated to a sort of secret society”, she stated. 

“This, regardless of how strong or large any  Government coalition is. In fact, the broader the coalition, the more need for that openness and accountability by the Ministers, and always  with respect for the separation of powers”. Case in point: the same proposal  for a CRE by R. Knops  was, as is required for Kingdom Council of Ministers’ deliberations, confidential and could not be shared with the Parliament of St. Maarten by our Government, the same Government that was expected to agree with this proposal and ensure its Parliament supported the proposal. State Secretary Knops decided the same day however to provide HIS Parliament with the information, in so doing making the whole package public”, Wescot-Williams further elaborated. 

“So while I am all for more efficiency by means of e.g. a) structuring the question hour of Parliament and making this a standard part of open  communication between the two layers of Government; b) sending questions for meetings ahead of time and eliminating the long adjournments or the rushing off of answers; c) not obliging Ministers to read hours and hours of answers, which are provided in writing anyhow, Government should respond timely to questions by MPs, and this should go hand in hand with Government’s respect for the role of Parliament and for the duties of every individual Member of Parliament”, MP Wescot-Williams concluded.

SINT MAARTEN/CURACAO - The Coast Guard officer training, “Basis Opleiding Kustwacht” (BOK) was reinitiated on August 3, 2020, the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard announced on Friday in a media statement.

“Last March the training was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. As a precaution, all students from Aruba and St. Maarten returned to their homes and families. The students flew back to Curaçao in June 2020 and last Monday the training was reinitiated.

“The students from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten started with great enthusiasm and energy on their first assignment, a tough hike in the “drie gebroeders” area. The “drie gebroeders” are three hills in the rugged landscape of Curaçao.

“The youngsters got up very early last Monday and challenged the heat and the rugged terrain of the three hills until noon. In the coming weeks, the 18 students will receive the follow-up modules from the BOK.

“The entire week was a refreshment course of the first training weeks; these were the modules they followed in January and February 2020. During the training weeks, the students were challenged both physically and mentally.

“Under the guidance of Coast Guard instructors, the youngsters camped in various rough terrains, marched for miles, swam kilometers, cooked, kayaked, built rafts, participated in classroom programs as well as completed amphibious exercises.

“After the training weeks they followed the nautical education, where the modules of basic rescue training, firefighting, manual VHF and first aid course were included. After this refreshment week the youngsters will continue the BOK program as planned, with next on the planning the weapons and shooting program.”