BELAIR, Sint Maarten - The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams opened the Voice of Our Children Spelling Bee at the Belair Community Center on Saturday. Numerous participants from the Primary Schools on the island and their families attended the packed event.

The Prime Minister thanked the organizers and the sponsors and encouraged the students in continuing to excel. “I would like to thank the Voice of Our Children and the sponsors who have contributed to this event and helped to make all this possible.

“I am sure that, like me, the students are quite excited to get started in the spelling bee and I commend them for being young leaders in representing their schools at a very worthwhile project. It is important to also recognize all of those who have participated.

“The fact that you have participated in this important event shows that you can compete and that you have confidence in yourselves. You all deserve a round of applause. And I hope in years to come we can see many more students participating and of course to the teachers and parents in supporting and encouraging the students participating,” encouraged the Prime Minister.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (Ministry of VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake, recently met with the Board of the

St. Maarten Housing Development Foundation (SMHDF) regarding a number of housing matters.

Topics discussed was Belvedere painting and maintenance of buildings; appointment of supervisory board member by the end of May; family James Cole Bay property; the financial situation of SMHDF; Foga sewage plant; Foga infrastructure; subsidy; articles or incorporations; Senior Citizen Homes; purchasing of new property; Foga lease to own; and Duplexes in Belvedere for sale.

“I was very pleased with the outcome of the meeting that I had with the supervisory board of the housing foundation.  We are on the right track of what needs to be done and I am very confident that our joint approach will allow us to achieve and accomplish much for the residents.

“By mid-June, I, and the supervisory board will be informed on the starting date with respect to maintenance of the homes.  This is top of my agenda, and is also a major issue for the tenants as was discussed in an earlier meeting with the tenants.

“I am pleased to announce that the sewage plant for Foga will be in operation soon.  A test run has to be carried out first before its put into full operation.

“Housing for our senior citizens is very important to me, and I am also pleased to announce that work should start some time in the latter half of June.  In my back to basics approach, housing is one of the key areas for our people and in further improving the quality of life for our nation,” Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Sunday.

Housing for low-income people is also a priority for SMHDF.  A piece of property has been purchased by the foundation in St. Peters to possibly construct up to 40 units. 

GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Head of the Civil Registry Department Leona Marlin-Romeo, accompanied a delegation from Curacao, Bonaire and St. Eustatius who were invited to attend the Civil Registry Jubileum Congress in the Netherlands.

Prominent issues of identification management, address fraud, forgery, counterfeit, look-a-likes and the latest technology that exist to combat these issues were all discussed in the form of workshops, trainings and presentations from representatives from various countries such as Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Slovakia, and the Netherlands.

The Congress highlighted the growing trends of identity fraud and the need for Civil Registries to be equipped to be able to identify fraudulent documents. These trends are challenging many countries and St. Maarten is no different with 114 nationalities.  It is imperative that staff of departments are trained and equipped to handle all forms of documents being presented.

According to one presentation some documents are made on the streets, behind alleys and are generated from automated machines. With the swift minds of criminals Civil Registries must be technologically advanced to stay abreast to the latest schemes. Technology now makes it easier to detect fraudulent documents however, the first detection begins at the first contact at the window, and this was highlighted in the training.

Participants from numerous European Countries were present to commemorate the NVVB 20 year anniversary in the field of Civil Registries, and the organization is looking forward to assisting and strengthening ties with key partners in St. Maarten.

The Civil Registry of St. Maarten looks forward in continuing to work with this organization that has all of the Dutch Municipalities and some European municipalities as part of its membership.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (Ministry of VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake on Friday visited the nine-year old victim of a brutal attack that occurred in South Reward on Thursday morning.

Minister Lake spoke with the nine-year old and her mother on Friday at the St. Maarten Medical Center.  

Lake also condemned the murder of a young St. Martin/Sint Maarten businessman, and offered his condolences to the family, friends and business community after learning about the callous act by allegedly two suspects.

“Our communities both North and South were in a state of shock to learn about the senseless acts of violence that transcended upon our communities of Dutch Quarter, Cole Bay and South Reward from Wednesday night up to Thursday morning.

“As an educator, it touched my heart to hear about the act of violence against the nine-year old.  It is alleged that the perpetrator suffers from mental illness and is currently in custody.  I appeal to our community not to counter violence with violence. I realize that certain members in the community want to take justice into their own hands, but this is not the way to go. I call for restraint!  Next Tuesday I will be bringing the matter of violence within our communities to the Council of Ministers in our weekly meeting.

“Mental illness is not something that people cannot control.  I commend the mental health foundation for all their efforts.  I do believe that the foundation needs additional assistance and resources.  As Minister of VROMI I assisted with allocating a piece of government property near the zoo in Madame Estate where the mental health foundation could construct a modern facility.

“I would like to call on the business community to assist the mental health foundation with donations so that they can achieve in bringing this new much needed facility to fruition.  They need a proper facility in order to carry out the work that they need to do.  I have had discussions with Turning Point and Social Welfare with respect to social housing.

“I am ready to facilitate in any way or form to move this new facility forward.  We have a sad situation on our hands, but I think if every business chips in we can all make a difference.  We need proper mental health facilities in order to cope with the challenges in this area,” Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Friday.