PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT) Grisha Heyliger-Marten on Monday opened the Strategic Economic Stakeholders Consultation by declaring that St. Maarten must move beyond survival and deliberately design a future focused on sustainable growth, fiscal reform, and coordinated action.

A number of dignitaries at the event including retired head of the Culture Department Clara Reyes and former Governor Eugene Holiday.

~Language mismatch remains serious issue ~

PHILIPSBURG--Children should not be taught in a language they do not understand, dream in or pray in, linguist and former Education Minister of the former Netherlands Antilles Linda Richardson said Wednesday evening, warning that education systems fail children when instruction is delivered in a language “totally alien to them.”

MP Francisco Lacroes holds up a copy of The Daily Herald prior to presenting his motion.

PHILIPSBURG--United People’s Party (UP) Member of Parliament (MP) Francisco Lacroes on Wednesday presented a motion sharply criticising Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina for his handling of the Fire Department, Ambulance Services, and several government departments during the continuation of an urgent public meeting of Parliament.

Environmental Hero Award recipient Hailey Beauperthuy (centre) with Tradewinds’s Operations Director Ian Ingram (left) and Sint Maarten Nature Foundation Director, Leslie Hickerson (right). (Robert Luckock photo)

SIMPSON BAY--Sint Maarten Nature Foundation’s Hailey Beauperthuy was the recipient of Tradewinds’s third annual Environmental Hero Award at a press conference at Sint Maarten Yacht Club (SMYC) for the eighth annual Caribbean Multihull Challenge (CMC) Regatta on Wednesday.

Greenpeace Netherlands director Marieke Vellekoop (right) described the ruling as a historic victory, saying it finally acknowledges that the government has discriminated against Bonaire’s residents.

THE HAGUE--The Dutch State has failed to adequately protect the residents of Bonaire against the effects of climate change and has unjustifiably treated them differently from residents of the European Netherlands. That conclusion was reached on Wednesday by the District Court of The Hague in a landmark ruling in a case brought by Greenpeace against the Dutch State.