GREAT BAY, Sint Maarten (DCOMM) – Contractors and builders are requested to have a plan in place to prepare and secure their job sites in the event of a passing hurricane.

PHILIPSBURG - Organizers of the annual poetry event Summer Speaks has announced the dates for the three nights of spoken word this July.

PHILIPSBURG,Willemstad - There are serious reservations surrounding the Curacao Dry Dock and the manner in which the Minister of Economic affairs El Hakeem are handling the problems of the company.

PHILIPSBURG - A problem facing many Caribbean islands is the illegal infiltration of coastal areas and as far as the problem is concerned, St. Maarten is no exception.

PHILIPSBURG - Marcia de Castro the UNDP Resident representative who visited St. Maarten last week, is looking forward to the continued contribution from Sint Maarten to a global commitment to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals.

PHILIPSBURG - Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot-Williams denied last week that the government is cutting back on the amount of money allotted for pension recipients living overseas.

The problem of seemingly reduced pension is of particular interest to those recipients living on French St. Martin.

According to the Prime Minister the problem has to do with the applicable laws of the land which she is of the opinion should be reviewed.

She further reveled that a solution for the problems has been placed at the feet of Mr. Dennis Richardson the Director of the SZV.

The problem of those persons receiving social assistance is also being looked at the Prime Minister confirmed stating that she has tabled a proposal for a revision of the system in the Council of Ministers.

PHILIPSBURG - GEBE engineers were shaken up on Sunday morning when an explosion took place in the high tension room where they were working on Front Street.

PHILIPSBURG - This weekend saw cricket action in the St. Maarten Women's Cricket Association (SMWCA} league.

in the Male Division it was Firestorm vs Cliff and Firestorm batted first making 165 -7 in 15 over's. Top scorers Damian Williams 50, Raphael Baptiste 43 and Akeem Charles had 29.

Best bowler for Cliff was C.Hippolyte 3-17 and K.Philiph 2-38.

In reply Cliff made 144 All Out in 15 Over's. Top scorer was L. Baptiste 37, T. Charlie 27 and C. Hippolyte 20. Bowling for Firestorm L.Muesa 5-27 and Gemma Richardson 2-37.

In the last Game it was the Conquerors vs the Toppers team.

In the Ladies Division Conquerors batted first and made 25 all out in 5 over's. Top scorer Cindy Minville 6, S.Williams 6 and the best bowler for the Toppers was Ivy Francis 5-17.

In Reply Toppers scored 26-3 in 3.5 over's and the top scorer was Nesha Samuels 9. The best bowler for the Conquerors was Pamela Baptiste who had 1-1.

Roseau, Dominica, CMC – Shivnarine Chanderpaul's typically defiant 23rd Test hundred, and two crucial wickets for Ravi Rampaul helped West Indies escape with a draw in the third and final Digicel aTest against India on Sunday.

Chanderpaul was undefeated on 116 that earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, and led the resistance before West Indies were dismissed for 322 in their second innings about 45 minutes before tea on the final day at Windsor Park.

PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Recently Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications Franklin Meyers, was briefed about the Inspectorate of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (LVV) that falls under his ministry.