SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY (DCOMM) – As the clock ticks down to Christmas 2024, families have already been looking at their holiday meal options and shopping requirements, and these final days will be very busy. 

Cooking up a storm for this holiday season is one of the Christmas traditions, and therefore proper food preparation is key to avoid food-borne health hazards that can ruin more than just a holiday meal – they can cause serious illness and even death.

Double check expiration dates on food items prior to purchasing or for use in meal preparation. 

As part of Collective Prevention Services (CPS), Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Safe Holiday Season calendar of observances, in collaboration with the Department of Communication (DCOMM), residents are advised to keep the season safe by following some tips on how to enjoy holiday meals safely.

Here are some tips to avoid bacteria growing in your meals and delicious dishes:

1. Use a thermometer. Be sure stuffing, chicken and any other poultry dishes are cooked thoroughly to 165 degrees F; ground beef and ham must be cooked thoroughly to 155 degrees F. All other foods, including eggs should be cooked to 145 degrees F.

2. Do not leave foods containing meat, milk, eggs, fish, or poultry at room temperature for more than four hours. This includes pudding and custard-type pies that are popular during the holidays.

3. Cool all leftovers to 41 degrees F within four hours after cooking.

4. Do not thaw food at room temperature. Plan ahead and thaw them in the refrigerator. If the food needs to be thawed quickly, use the microwave or cold running water, and then cook promptly after it has thawed.

5. If you are traveling with food, be sure to keep it cold 41. F. or hot 140 F or above while transporting.

6. After the big meal, be sure to refrigerate any leftovers within 1 hour. Bacteria love room temperatures and grow quickly in amounts enough to make people ill.

To Prevent Food from Becoming Contaminated

1. Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and warm water before food preparation and after coughing, sneezing, using the toilet, changing diapers, eating, drinking, or smoking. If you have diarrhea or are feeling ill, avoid handling food in order to prevent the transmitting or spreading of oral/fecal infections.

2. Do not prepare or handle food if you are ill; a cook’s gastrointestinal illness could be spread to others sharing the meal.
3. Thoroughly clean and sanitize knives, cutting boards and other utensils before and after preparing raw foods and foods that do not require further cooking. Sanitize with a solution of one tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water.

4. Wash all fresh fruits and vegetables.

Contrary to popular belief, if you do become ill from contaminated food, it is not always the last meal you ate that’s the culprit. Food-borne illness can occur anywhere from one hour to 72 hours and even longer after eating contaminated food.

Please help make the 2024 holiday season be safer by paying attention to proper food preparation and handling techniques. Happy Holidays!

SINT MARTIN - Roseann Rumnit’s How to Get to the Bridge is St. Martin’s newest “personal health” and lifestyle book, published by House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP).

The 2025 book received an early release just in time for the holiday season and is available at Arnia’s Bookstore (Zagersgut Road/Bush Road) and directly from the author, according to HNP.

Rumnit shared that over the years, she has endured a stillbirth and received diagnoses from doctors for “hormonal imbalances, cirrhosis of the liver, psoriasis, kidney and ovarian cysts, sickle cell anemia, high blood pressure, among other serious ailments.” 

How to Get to the Bridge chronicles her “journey to get to the bridge, to where,” as she describes it, “I got my life back.”

The slim volume begins with “brief meanings and references of diseases, conditions, testing procedures, and terms” related to the writer’s “health education” over the last 50 years.

“The second part of How to Get to the Bridge is about using liquids, health drinks, and different types of beverages and soups for cleansing the body,” Rumnit wrote in the preface to her debut book.

“The third part focuses on hydrotherapy (external), such as bush baths. St. Martiners and other Caribbean people might be reminded of sea bath and river bath traditions.”

“Part four is linked to the age-old practice of reflexology. Here I share a type of ‘rub down,’ information that provides relief from body pain and soreness,” said the author. Sections 2, 3, and 4, show photos of material and ingredients used by the writer.

The book maintains a clear connection to agriculture and healthy living—an expected theme given Rumnit’s agriculture advocacy in the 1980s and 1990s.

Rumnit also “calls on the reader to consult her and his health provider and to follow the advice of her and his doctor before making any use of information” from her “personal health journey.”

The publication of How to Get to the Bridge was made possible in part through the Sparks Association’s arts grant from the Collectivity of St. Martin, said Sparks president Leon Noel.

Rumnit was a founding member of Reserve Naturelle. She served as the founding president of the St. Maarten Dushi Tera Aruba Foundation and as vice president of the Handismart Handicap Association.

Rumnit has written newspaper articles and appeared on Lady Grace show (PJD-2), Youth Radio 92.5 FM, Laser 101.1 FM, MSR TV “Prevention Health Program,” Oral Gibbes Live TV, and other St. Martin media to address health and agricultural issues.

She has organized or participated in health and agricultural workshops for the Methodist and Anglican churches, Lions Club Health & Wellness Fair, UNESCO heritage programs, and the St. Martin Book Fair.

The island’s newest author, who hails from French Quarter, is the project coordinator of the Association Patrimoine Agricole Past and Present.

SABA/SINT EUSTATIUS - The report ‘Governmental-administrative integrity in the Caribbean Netherlands’ of the Research and Data Centre (WODC) offers a current perspective of the vulnerabilities with regard to the integrity of public office holders and civil servants in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.

The report shows that improper use of authorities probably happens a lot. In general, this does not result in criminal offences such as fraud and corruption.

Still, the Dutch government and the island governments consider the findings of the report alarming, and they see the need for a joint approach with strict measures.

In that approach, the island administrations are responsible for their own integrity policy, is the state secretary of Digitalization and Kingdom Relations responsible for the governmental and legal criteria and the minister of Justice and Security for all that pertains to criminal law.

State Secretary Zsolt Szabó: “Integrity of political office holders and civil servants is an essential part of good governance and a precondition for economic growth and self-reliance of the islands”. 

Minister David van Weel: “Residents and entrepreneurs in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba should be able to trust that the government is transparent and righteous and works for the general interest”.

In the policy reaction on the report that was sent to the Dutch Second Chamber, State Secretary of Digitalization and Kingdom Relations Zsolt Szabó and Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel announce measures and a joint approach with the island administrations.

This approach is based on the findings from the report: strengthening of the legal framework and procedures, exemplary conduct at the top, strengthening of the inter-administrative supervision, putting social preconditions in place and monitoring of integrity.

SABA (THE BOTTOM) - The Black Rocks Harbor Project is set to commence initial site preparations in early 2025. Associated road access construction will follow shortly thereafter, within the first quarter of the year.

Preliminary activities, including design planning, surveys, logistics, quality assurance and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) checks, have been underway since the project contract’s commencement with Ballast Nedam on October 8, 2024.

Recent design model testing started in the United Kingdom. In a wave trench a scale model of a section of the new breakwater was attacked by hurricane waves to see how the construction will stand those forces.

As part of the project’s environmental preservation efforts, coral rehabilitation will begin in January 2025. In collaboration with the Saba Conservation Foundation, a comprehensive inventory has already been made to guide these efforts.

The goal of the rehabilitation plan is to achieve:

• Minimize the impact from the construction of the harbor on the coral reef ecosystem;
• Successful coral relocation for the safeguarding of protected and threatened coral species;
• Monitoring relocated corals as well as corals that do not need relocation and only intervening when necessary to allow for the highest possible survival rate for coral colonies;
• Knowledge and capacity building on Saba.

The project also entails various marine works, preparations for which are currently ongoing. Concrete components required for the harbor breakwater will be constructed in St. Martin, with onsite activities scheduled to commence after the 2025 hurricane season.

The Black Rocks Harbor Project represents a significant step forward in strengthening our infrastructure and promoting growth in several areas for Saba.

Further updates will be provided as the project progresses.

Black Rocks wave model and breakwater.