Thousands turn out for Unity Jump-Up

PHILIPSBURG--The Carnival committees of Dutch St. Maarten and French St. Martin as well of the people of both North and South set records on Saturday night, when thousands of revellers took to the streets to take part in the 2012 Unity Jump-Up from Marigot to Philipsburg.

According to one estimate from Carnival officials, it is believed that as many as 20,000 revellers participated.

The long-anticipated event also featured five bands, the most ever to participate in a Unity Jump-Up, with the reigning Band of the Year from the Dutch side, Official Band, easily carrying the largest share of the revellers.

The lead players in St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) and Festivites Carnavaleques de Saint Martin (FCDSM) are basically the same as when the event was first held a decade ago, so their reflection on the historic night brought extra meaning.

FCDSM President Philippe Richardson and SCDF Treasurer Erno Labega started the Unity Jump-Up. Labega was president of the SCDF at the time.

In brief comments at the border monument at Bellevue, Richardson said it was an honour and pleasure to be still part of the Unity Jump-Up today. He urged Carnival lovers and revellers to support both organisations as they continue to strive to provide the public with the best Carnival product. "It's not easy. We need your help," Richardson said.

Current SCDF President Stuart Johnson congratulated the FCDSM for a successful Carnival season on the French side and expressed the SCDF's commitment to building a closer working relationship with the FCDSM.

For his part Labega jokingly wondered, "Where did all these people come from?" He said the Unity Jump-Up had started as a crazy idea years ago and it was pleasing to see that the people of North and South still embraced the concept to this day.

The jump-up started in Marigot in the vicinity of Home 'N Tools at approximately 8:30pm and arrived on Soualiga Boulevard in front of the St. Maarten Festival Village at approximately 2:45am.

Despite a few skirmishes between young boys, the jump-up flowed smoothly most of the way. The SCDF and the Police Force will issue stern statements to the public and "wild revellers" in the coming weeks for the upcoming Carnival season that acts of bad behaviour will be met with the full force of the law.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/26088-thousands-turn-out-for-unity-jump-up-.html

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Arrindell says figures show dropout rate at 33 per cent

PHILIPSBURG--When taking a general, not definitive, overview of the school dropout ratio in St. Maarten, Minister of Education Rhoda Arrindell puts the percentage at 33.

The Minister discussed this issue and more on Wednesday at the latest lecture series hosted by University of St. Martin (USM) focusing on achieving universal primary education, the second Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for St. Maarten (see related story).

With the recent disclosure by Member of Parliament Romain Laville that youth unemployment stands at approximately 36 per cent, the 33 per cent dropout rate correlates to an extent. However, the Minister made sure to point out that no specific reason could be identified at present.

Arrindell explained that with an elementary school population of more than 5,000 students, and a secondary school population of more than 3,000 students, with an average gross completion rate of 67 per cent (69 per cent for girls and 65 per cent for boys), the dropout ratio today probably would be approximately 33 per cent or one out of every three secondary school students in their final year.

"This is more or less the same proportion reported by Reda Social for 2001. What has happened is that a decade later the situation seems to have remained status quo," the Minister said. "These figures are still being crunched and fine-tuned to facilitate a comprehensive analysis of the situation that would help us identify the causes and find workable solutions."

For her, personally, Arrindell said there was no doubt that the figures mentioned pointed to the fact that "our education system is not adequate enough to satisfy our 21st century needs that would allow us to build a virile, dynamic and progressive St. Maarten nation. Some people would say our education system is failing too many of us. Indeed, a quick glance at the performance of our secondary schools last year is very revealing," she said.

"Why are St. Dominic High and St. Maarten Academy (academic section) doing so much better than MPC and Sundial School, for example? Is it because of the language of instruction, or the number of students at the schools? Is it the teachers or the curriculum or the teaching methods? Are the school boards, school management, or parents to blame also? Or is it a matter of general educational philosophy and policy?

"Honestly, if you ask me, I would say it is all of the above. However, to use a medical analogy, the patient (our educational system) is being diagnosed and the appropriate prescription will follow as soon as the symptoms have been X-rayed."

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/26018-arrindell-says-figures-show-dropout-rate-at-33-per-cent-.html

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USM to launch Master’s degree in Law this year

PHILIPSBURG--University of St. Martin (USM) will be launching a law programme in collaboration with the Open University in the Netherlands later this year, the university announced last night.

It said the law programme will be offered "on the basis of a tutor system and distant teaching materials (print and online) that will culminate in a certified law degree (NVAO accreditation)."

The university explained further: "The intention is to launch a cohort system in a fixed specialized track. This means that the students will all start at the same time in the Fall semester 2012. This cohort study, in principle, gives the group opportunity to equal guidance to the entire group with the added benefit that students will be able to enjoy collaborative learning."

It said in the provisional framework the Open University will offer the curriculum materials in print, access to its online teaching environment and the exams.

USM will coordinate the training and supervision thereof via a tutor system with a view to ensuring that the cohort of students will maintain the required pace of study.

In addition, "the task of the USM facilitators will be to provide further explanation of the substance in the material, answer questions and assist in preparing for eventual exams."

The guidance will be provided by local experts, all holders of a Master's degree in Dutch law.

The university advised that persons interested in pursuing its law programme should contact USM's Admission Office at the University or by calling 542-5171 or 542-2356 Ext. 1000 for further information.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/25946-usm-to-launch-masters-degree-in-law-this-year-.html

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How Has Social Media Affected Palestinians.

 

 

Kuwait, (Pal Telegraph) - This is a continuation of my last article {Palestinian Freedom Fighting & Social Media}

I explained in my previous article how Palestinians have taken to social media in order to voice their cause and have utilized it as an outlet that has proven mighty in the fight for justice.

In this piece I look into how Palestinians have changed tactics after the infusion of social media into their resistance.

As social media grows stronger and reaches a wider audience, we have seen how nearly everything is being revolutionized by it, from the revolutions of the “Arab Spring” that used social media as a form of organization outlet, to journalists and news networks using social media to gather stories and compile public opinion on various issues.

Today I ask the question of how has social media affected the user and specifically Palestinians, the dynamics of social media are always changing but one variable that is constant is that social media runs on user contribution and would fail without it.

Everything in life is a balance of positive and negative, such is the case with social media, as a spontaneous mass empowerment of Palestinian voices is emerging through social media, some Palestinians fear that it might have a negative effect on actions on the ground of the struggle.

Abbas Hamideh {a Palestinian organizer, born and raised in Puerto Rico. He is a charter member of Al-Awda, working with Al-Awda New York. He currently serves as a coordinator of he Al-Awda Refugee Empowerment Committee.}

“ The fighting for a free Palestine has always been the will of the people on the ground more so than social media. Social media has advanced the plight of the Palestinian people to a certain degree but we should never solely rely on social media as we all know that it could be censored or even blocked in a moments notice

If a movement relies on social media you always run the risks of losing momentum in a moments notice, social media enjoys some populatrity by instantly reaching out to people around the globe real time. The Palestinian movement is strong both on the ground and on the social networks, therefore we must continue to maintain a balance in order to continue being effective, ground work is essential to success."

As Mr. Hamideh states social media may advance the Palestinian struggle and voice the cause in real-time but it is necessary that Palestinians do not become overwhelmed by the charm of reaching out to people and neglecting ground work.

Another point of view that has to be taken into account is briefly explained by a member of the Palestinian circle of social media activism

Doctor Tariq Shadid {Also known as Doc Jazz, a Palestinian doctor who was born in the Netherlands. He is a surgeon by profession, and has a passion for music.}

“Before we had the internet and social media, all we had was mainstream media to try and promote our cause. Just as it is today, it was extremely difficult to have the Palestinian voice heard, seen or read through corporate media because of its inherent pro-Israeli bias. When the World Wide Web came into being, this radically boosted the amount of exposure of the public to our situation. The arrival of social media made sharing this information radically easier and faster. We can safely say that these developments have taken the promotion of our cause to new and unprecedented levels, and that social media has become an incredibly important tool for our struggle for the liberation of Palestine. ”

Doctor Shadid points out the media bias experienced by the Palestinian cause and the neglect of MSM, as social media is becoming a validated news outlet, Palestinians have become the journalists reporting on their own-selves and spreading their news to the world and to all those whom care to listen.

Another important point of view is provided by Maysoon Zayid {an actress, comedian and activist,She was born in New Jersey }

“I would absolutely say the introduction of social media has changed the way I approach the subject of Palestine. It's really a double-edged pen. What I love about it is the fact that it has made it much easier for my friends and fans in America to understand what's happening when I can tweet an image, a video, a link. I remember during the Gaza Christmas massacre of hundreds of children feeling utterly helpless because Israel refused to allow journalists to enter Gaza. Now there's 500,000 little journalists tweeting live everything Israel wants to hide. However, this is all the personification of Big Brother watching, so I don't really have the freedom to say anything I want because as an American citizen traveling to Palestine, I must cross Israeli borders. And I know people who were banned from entering for life for one tweet. It has made me much more aware.

Gay Girl in Damascus kind of ruined everything for everyone. There is definitely a place for anonymity in social media when the author's life is genuinely at risk, but I've seen anonymity/ "sock puppets" used to discredit the Palestinian movement. Suddenly everyone and their mother is an expert on Palestine, even if they've never been there. I've got Florence of Arabia from Ohio telling me how I, as a Palestinian, should resist. And kids these days believe everything they read, even if they don't know who's saying it or who's paying them. I'm thrilled that social media has made it so much easier to relay the reality of segregation in Palestine but I'm saddened that it's made spies' jobs a piece of cake.”

Israel has also utilized social media to spread falsified information commonly referred to by Palestinian as “Hashbara”, Israeli authorities have also reached out to social media as a form of monitoring activists as Mrs.Zayid states.

Palestinian/Israeli Debate:

Palestinians have grouped and gathered online, changing the dynamics of social media as-well as changing themselves by adapting to new terminology to keep “political correctness” as it is becoming vital in this day and age for credibility and acceptability by the common public.

The Palestinian/Israeli debate is often unjustly stereotyped as being hate fueled and blinded by bias on both sides of the debate, the reality is that before the infusion of social media into the debate this stereotype would have been easier to believe as the opportunity for the average Palestinian to express his voice and make it heard was unavailable, after the social media eruption on the internet, Palestinians solidified their role and status within the online community by embracing platforms such as twitter and blogging websites in-order to debate and explain where they stand in-terms of solutions provided for peace.

Palestinians have changed the way they address issues regarding Palestine, instead of just watching the news and waiting on governments to act in their place, they have voiced their disapproval of initiatives put forth by the Israeli and Palestinian government, collectively refusing the two-state solution and explaining their support for the one-state solution, today with the help of social media you can talk to Palestinians in Gaza, Westbank, Tel Aviv, diaspora, around all corners of Palestine and or outside of Palestine and ask them what they wish to accomplish for Palestine.

You see Palestinians and Israelis debating online and influencing each-others opinions wihtout hate filled speech that many wish to allude to in-order to imply that peace is impossible, while I don't deny the existence of fanatics on both sides that do not engage in debate but rather shell out curse words and death threats, we can't deny the opportunity for the eloquently spoken and articulated majority to be stifled by the existence of such people.

As social media blossoms it seems to be on the road to becoming the Palestinian voice instead of news networks and governments, possibly redefining what may become the next generation of governments, moderated online by the public opinion that begs so strongly to be heard and inevitably changing the dynamics on the ground.

Everything Palestinians have experienced has taught them lessons and such is the case with social media, while some may argue that social media is also a battle ground of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, I wish to look at it as a platform of debate and so do many else, we must recognize that even in debates you have a winning side and a losing side, the biggest battle/debate right now that faces Palestine is the One-State VS Two-State, if you wish to learn the public opinion go online and find out for yourself.

 

{Author: Yasir M. Tineh / Click Here To Visit Blog}

Twitter: @YasirTineh

Source: http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/palestinian-refugees/10531-how-has-social-media-affected-palestinians.html

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Large-scale cruise ship evacuation training held

POINTE BLANCHE--A large-scale cruise ship evacuation training was conducted on Tuesday morning, causing quite a stir because the road into Pointe Blanche where Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities are located was closed off and traffic diverted. This also led to some rumours of a possible bomb threat in the area.

St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies Head of Security Max Phelipa told The Daily Herald the exercise, conducted with cruise ship Norwegian Epic, port security, police, ambulance and other emergency personnel had gone well.

Police spokesman Inspector Ricardo Henson said this training had been "a success and showed that all emergency services are capable of responding in time and through proper coordination getting the job done with as few casualties as possible."

Phelipa said he had learnt from the ship's personnel during the debriefing after the exercise that St. Maarten had been chosen for this large-scale drill because its port security and emergency response crews were of "a very high level." Similar exercises will be conducted here in the future. Tuesday's drill was the first large-scale one.

The debriefing session also emphasised the need for communication among all security and emergency personnel from the side of the ship and the ground crew. Consistency of training for port security and the ship's crew also were highlighted.

The drill simulated a fire being set aboard the ship by two disgruntled crew members who were "apprehended" later. The security and emergency response personnel had to evacuate some 1,400 crew members from the vessel as the fire was contained and extinguished by the ship's security.

Port security was tasked specifically with crowd control and other duties while the ambulance team had to tend to two "heart attack victims" who had to be transported to the medical centre.

The exercise started around 10:00am and ended at 11:45am.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/25945-large-scale-cruise-ship-evacuation-training-held-.html

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Energy policy sees revised legislation, GEBE benchmarks, green energy plan

~Identifies new structure for GEBE~

PHILIPSBURG--The new energy policy of the government of St. Maarten identifies energy issues that are of great importance for the island and addresses the actions needed to move from policy to implementation, with the ultimate goal of ensuring a sustainable, affordable and environmental friendly energy situation for St. Maarten.

Commissioned by Minister of Energy Theo Heyliger, the policy calls for (but is not limited to) revised legislation in order to implement the policy, benchmarks for GEBE, a green energy plan, the feasibility of implementing natural gas, and establishing a regulatory authority for regulating the energy sector.

The policy also outlines a detailed timeline for implementation, culminating in the preparation of revised legislation. It is unclear, however, when the minister has targeted the start of the first activity. He did say recently he would prefer it sooner rather than later.

Heyliger had announced last year during a green energy conference at Westin that the policy was nearing completion and indicated just last week that it would be ready soon. In essence, the policy calls for a number of studies and technological investments from GEBE, funded primarily by the company. It also identifies a management structure at GEBE that will put the government of St. Maarten in charge as Shareholder, not the current Shareholding Foundation of GEBE.

In preparation for revised legislation in order to implement the energy policy, including improvement of the Ministry of Energy's governance and control of the electricity sector and including the establishment of the regulatory board, and implementing rules and regulations for a regulatory framework, government will also establish an Energy Committee for undertaking a number of tasks.

The policy was developed by the firm KEMA.

Policy items

The new energy policy outlines the following objectives:

1. Initiation of a Supply Side Energy Efficiency programme with which the fuel efficiency of GEBE's power station will be improved with 5 per cent after two years and with which the overall efficiency of GEBE and its power system– apart from fuel efficiency--will be improved with two per cent per year until an improvement of five percent has been reached within 2.5 years.

2. Preparation of a Green Energy Plan. An assessment of St. Maarten's Green Energy potential has already been started. The objective is to have 20 per cent of the electricity demand of St. Maarten to be generated with renewable energy sources by the year 2015. The Green Energy Plan includes the introduction of wind power, solar power and so-called waste to energy.

3. The Green Energy Plan will also provide in allowing households and commercial enterprises to produce electrical energy with renewable energy sources like solar power and wind power for their own consumption, while it will facilitate the delivery of the surplus of power produced to the GEBE grid, making use of net metering. For this purpose GEBE should develop a so-called "Interconnection Policy" including technical and commercial requirements for connecting the distributed renewable energy sources to the grid.

4. A program for introducing attractive incentives for solar water heating will be developed.

5. The St. Maarten government will implement an Energy Efficiency Programme for stimulating electricity consumers to reduce their energy consumption.

6. A study will be initiated to identify the feasibility of introducing LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) as a major fuel for GEBE's production park. In case LNG turns out to be a feasible option, the fuel cost for power generation will become lower, while at the same time the emission of Greenhouse Gases and other pollutants (particularly SO2) will be reduced substantially. Once the feasibility of using LNG for power generation has been proven, it is envisaged that more than 50 per cent of all power can be produced with LNG.

7. Government will investigate whether joining current studies on interconnecting island power systems with submarine cables would bring benefits for the St. Maarten power situation. An example of a current study: a study on a cable connection from St. Kitts/Nevis to Puerto Rico via the US Virgin Islands with the purpose of exporting geothermal power from Nevis to Puerto Rico and/or the US Virgin Islands, or exporting power from Puerto Rico to smaller islands.

Another example: the Dutch government will start investigating the geothermal power potential in Saba. In case the study reveals the feasibility of geothermal power production in Saba, a cable connection to St. Maarten could be a feasible option for St. Maarten for importing geothermal energy from Saba.

8. Government will establish a regulatory authority for regulating the energy sector based on performance-based principles, which include price cap regulation and performance regulation. For power generation – particularly with renewable energy sources and with "waste to energy" – Independent Power Producers (IPP's) will be allowed to bid in competition, while power produced by the IPP's will be purchased and distributed to the customers by GEBE according to the Single Buyer Model, although regulated by the regulatory authority.

9. The study on the feasibility of LNG as mentioned under 6, will include a study on the usage of LNG for cooking gas and for using it as vehicle fuel.

10. At the same time the feasibility of introducing electric cars will be studied.

11. In case the studies reveal that using natural gas and/or electricity for the transportation sector is a feasible option, the government will issue incentives for stimulating the usage of gas-fired cars or electrical cars.

Implementation

The Energy Committee will undertake the following tasks:

1. Monitoring fulfilment by N.V. GEBE of the current requirements as set in the Electricity Ordinance and the concession, particularly regarding quality of supply and safety. Monitoring actions that are undertaken by GEBE to meet the timeline as set for accomplishing the requirements in the year 2014.

2. The committee will add measurable targets to the performance requirements in GEBE's concession on efficiency and productivity, while performance indicators should be compared with indicators of similar Caribbean islands' utilities by means of a Benchmark Study. GEBE could realize this by joining the Carilec Benchmark Study again. GEBE participated in this study for the last time in 2006.

3. The Energy Committee will report findings of the fulfilment by N.V. GEBE of the current requirements to the Minister of Energy.

4. Preparation of further amendments to the current ordinance and concession - next to adding measurable targets and performance requirements - in order to be compliant with the goals of the Energy Policy.

5. Review the Green Energy Assessment as currently being prepared by a consultant and identify feasible targets for initiating renewable energy projects.

6. Design of a Regulatory Framework while establishing the Single Buyer Model where GEBE as well as Independent Power Producers will produce electricity and where GEBE will be the sole and regulated distributor and supplier of electricity, according to Regulatory Rules and Standards regarding efficiency, reliability, quality of supply and safety.

7. Develop an Energy Efficiency programme for country St. Maarten, including energy efficiency issues in the transportation sector.

8. Development of an implementation plan for achieving the goals of the Energy Policy, including the renewable energy projects.

9. Prepare recommendations on adapting the current situation of governing GEBE to the new situation where only the government of St. Maarten is GEBE's shareholder, which implies that the Shareholders Foundation representing the governments of St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba will become superfluous.

This means that N.V. GEBE should be supervised by a Supervisory Board, to be appointed by the Ministry of Energy, and that the Shareholder's role should resort directly under the St. Maarten government, represented by the Minister of Energy and supported by the Regulatory Board, which is fulfilling its Regulatory activities according to the legal framework and mandates as to be established in the new Ordinance or Electricity Act.

10. Preparation of a renewed Electricity Ordinance (or Electricity Act as a replacement of the Ordinance) covering the changes and newly developed arrangements as prepared by the Energy Committee, once approved by the government, including the addition of performance targets in the Electricity Concession and establishment of a Regulatory Board.

It is recommended that the Electricity Committee should consist of: a representative of the Ministry of Energy, a representative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, a legal advisor, two experts who can cover regulatory as well as economic and technical issues. The intention is that the Energy Committee will report monthly to the Minister of Energy on progress of the activities, as well as on any hurdles or barriers experienced during the execution of activities.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/25676-energy-policy-sees-revised-legislation-gebe-benchmarks-green-energy-plan-.html

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Hana Shalabi: Palestine's Female Gandhi

West Bank, (Pal Telegraph). No sooner had Khader Adnan ended his life-threatening 66-day hunger strike than new urgent concerns were voiced for Hana Shalabi, another West Bank hunger striker now without food for more than 33 days.

Source: http://www.paltelegraph.com/palestine/west-bank/10532-hana-shalabi-palestines-female-ghandi.html

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