PHILIPSBURG--The Main Voting Bureau on Thursday allocated the colours to the four political parties contesting the early Island Council elections set for September 17.

The parties' lists were also numbered. Democratic Party has been allocated number one as well as its requested colour red; Concordia Political Alliance (CPA) has been allocated number two as well as its requested colour gold; United People's Party has been allocated number three as well as its requested colour green and National Alliance has been allocated number four as well as its requested colour white.

These parties will be listed according to their numbers on the election ballot. Thursday's meeting was chaired by Acting Chairperson of the Main Voting Bureau Ligia Stella as Chairman Acting Lt. Governor Reynold Groeneveldt had been chairing a meeting of the Island Council at the time.

On Wednesday the bureau had validated the candidates list of each party.

CPA's one-man list was validated. However, the party has until midday today to submit an updated list with one additional candidate to be validated. This is based on CPA winning a court case to have a candidate added to its list and re-inscribed on the voter's register on Wednesday.

PHILIPSBURG--Utility company GEBE reported on Thursday that the electricity supply from the power plant had stabilised. Repairs to the distribution grid continued throughout Thursday as GEBE technicians worked on repairing the high tension and low tension lines in the various districts.

As reported earlier, the priority is to first repair the primary distribution grid, consisting of the high tension lines and transformer houses. Although more than 90 per cent of the high tension system is underground, there are areas that still have an overhead system.

Next is the secondary distribution grid, consisting of the low tension lines. Once this has been completed, the technicians can start on the individual house connections. GEBE has approximately 18,500 electricity connections in St. Maarten.

GEBE is asking residents for their continued patience as the repair crews continue their work in the various neighbourhoods.

"The crews are working as fast as they can, but also as safely as they can," a GEBE statement read. "Reports that a repair worker in Antigua was electrocuted during the restoration of the electrical network after Hurricane Earl have underlined the need for our workers to be safe and take their time while working on the electrical grid. High tension lines can carry as much as 12,600 volts and workers need to be sure that lines are not electrified before they can begin their repairs."

As for St. Maarten Cable TV, technicians have already repaired and upgraded a number of areas, including Philipsburg, Fort Willem, Madame Estate, Guana Bay, South Reward, Ebenezer, St. John's, Saunders, Retreat Estate, Belvedere, Arch Road and parts of Sucker Garden. Cable TV and Internet services have been restored in these areas.

If any subscribers in these areas still do not have service, this is due to a broken house drop and they should inform the Cable TV offices. Cable TV management further explained that if there were damaged or broken poles on the main route or side streets, these needed to be replaced or repaired by the respective companies before any repairs could be done by Cable TV's technical team. Cable TV will provide a detailed listing of these areas in its next update.

Following the restoration of electricity in the Cole Bay area, the technical team was busy checking the main cable route right down to the Lowlands. The public should also note that if GEBE implements load-shedding in the districts, this will delay Cable TV's restoration process.

Cable TV offices can be contacted at 542-4361.

THE HAGUE--The Dutch Tax Department (Belastingdienst) is willing to assist St. Maarten in tax matters.

Dutch caretaker State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten stated this in a letter that she sent to the Second Chamber on Wednesday. In this letter, she evaluated her visit to the Windward Islands from August 17 to 20 this year.

Since her visit, there has been contact between the Dutch Tax Department and St. Maarten. The Dutch Tax Department can, against cost price, render assistance to the island, she announced.

This assistance is needed, because St. Maarten has insufficient knowledge and capacity in the area of taxes. In a meeting with St. Maarten's Executive Council on August 19, government had indicated that it wanted to reform its tax system.

St. Maarten wants to do this by introducing indirect taxes, realise improvements in the levying and collection of taxes and, if necessary, change the existing taxes and tariff structure.

Financial management is an important pillar for a new country like St. Maarten, said Bijleveld-Schouten. "St. Maarten will have to give content to that, both in quality and in quantity," she said.

She said this legitimises the Kingdom Law Financial Supervision for Curaçao and St. Maarten. "This law provides sufficient starting points and instruments to maintain constructive relations between the Netherlands and St. Maarten," stated Bijleveld-Schouten.

She explained that in the coming period there would be intensive contact between the Council for Financial Supervision CFT and St. Maarten to come to a "good view" on the island's financial situation and to assist with drafting a budget for 2011.

"More concretely, CFT will be present several days per week to advise and support the Financial Department of St. Maarten's Government. Knowledge will be exchanged on the drafting of the budget and the progress reports," she stated.

In the meeting with St. Maarten, the State Secretary further pointed out that local government wouldn't be able to escape "difficult policy decisions in the expenditures area."

In her letter, Bijleveld-Schouten also elaborated on her visit to Saba and St. Eustatius and the talks that she had held there with the local administrations. She further elucidated on the progress that was made in the constitutional trajectory to dismantle the Netherlands Antilles, the creation of Countries Curaçao and St. Maarten, and the integration of the BES islands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba into the Netherlands as 'public entities' per October 10, 2010.

The State Secretary updated the Second Chamber on the state of affairs concerning, among other things, the Kingdom Laws, the execution legislation, the Constitutions and organic laws for Curaçao and St. Maarten, the legislation for the BES islands and the plans of approach for Curaçao and St. Maarten to guarantee the execution of tasks that the new countries cannot fully carry out.

PHILIPSBURG--Brooks Tower Accord (BTA) permit-holders have an additional two weeks to file for extensions under the temporary-legalisation programme, chief coordinator Tiara Haselhoef said on Thursday.

Only about half of the 4,000-plus Brooks Tower recipients have applied for extensions since the project started on August 2.

The Central Government decided recently to give these persons until the end of September, past the initial September 18 deadline. The BTA extension allows most applicants to remain legal residents for three years as long as they "keep complying" with the mandates of valid insurance and passports.

Only 201 persons have collected their permits thus far and some 623 persons still need to collect theirs. The Central Government has posted the numbers of all persons whose permits had been approved at the Salvation Army Building in Cole Bay and the Immigration and Naturalisation Building on A.Th. Illidge Road.

Haselhoef urged persons to apply early and collect their extension permits before November when all the original BTA permits will expire. "They shouldn't wait until the last minute. They should come early." Haselhoef said. "The new one they are getting starts November 3."

Already 1,528 persons who fall under Category I-a – persons who arrived in the Netherlands Antilles before 2002 and are employed – have applied for extensions. Only 42 applied under Cat. I-b – self-employed persons who arrived before 2002. "Many people went from Category I-b to I-a," Haselhoef said, explaining that the change would be allowed if the permit-holder persuaded his or her employer to sign as his/her guarantor.

The change prevents Cat I-b candidates from having to pay application fees for a sole-proprietorship licence, one of the conditions for a self-employed person to stay under the BTA.

A total of 185 permit-holders who arrived between 2002 and 2005 have applied for extensions, while 429 persons have applied for family.

It has been nearly a year since Antillean Minister of Justice Magali Jacoba announced the start of the Brooks Tower Accord and the major information campaign to inform English-, Spanish- and Creole-speaking undocumented immigrants about legalising their status.

More than 4,000 persons had applied for themselves or family when the BTA ended its six-week term from November 3 to December 15, 2009. Most persons received permits, but many fell into the hands of a special review committee that evaluated applicants who did not exactly meet the Central Government-stipulated criteria.