Marigot: --- The gendarmes are busy investigating the shooting of 18-year old Franck Petion better known as Vebby who was brutally murdered early Saturday morning in the vicinity of the sorting station of La Poste (Centre de Courrier) at Rue Francois Hunt in Concordia.

According to bystanders, the young man was shot and pushed in the nearby bushes next to the La Poste but somehow a doctor that was passing through the main road saw him and summoned the ambulance and gendarmes, the victim was rushed to the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital but later succumbed to his wounds. It is not clear if the victim was shot more than once and where exactly he was shot.

Relatives of the young man said a woman saw the victim who was still alive and asked her for some water but the woman did not stop to render any assistance probably out of fear. His mother Vinette Petion told SMN News on Saturday evening that her son was in his bed about 8:30 am when his cellular phone rang. The bereaved woman said that she asked her son who had called him that early since he also had the flu. Mrs. Petion said her son told her it was a friend that called him and that he was going out for few minutes. The mother further explained that she looked at her son as he took his scooter and drove off as if he was going towards Bellevue.

The mother of five said about fifteen minutes later a young man came to home at number 19 St. James and told her that her son Franck was dead. Mrs. Petion said the youth also told her to go the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital to see what had happened to Franck. She said she immediately got dressed and rushed to the hospital and saw when the ambulance arrived with her son but he was already dead.
According to the mother and other bystanders, several young men all on scooters rushed to the Louis Constant Fleming Hospital hoping that their friend was alive. Most of them SMN News learnt was wearing bandanas on their heads. One bystander said the brigade was called to the hospital to maintain law and order.

Asked if Franck was attending school or if he was working, the woman said her son was no longer in school and he was not working. However, he was attending a stage somewhere in Galisbay.

Sources in the St. James neighborhood said the deceased young man was part of a gang, and that he was involved in public mischief however, efforts made to contact Prosecutor Jacques Louvier on Saturday evening to confirm the allegations proved futile.
SMN News further learnt that Franck Petion was condemned some years ago for a sexual crime when he was a minor and he was sentenced to a juvenile correctional home in Guadeloupe.

One neighbor said Franck Petion whose parents are Haitians was born on St. Martin but he was in the wrong company. Sometime last year the gendarmes arrested him and they searched his mother's house for stolen items. The neighbor further explained that some months ago, one of Franck's good friend's got killed in St. James and the killers had allegedly warned they were going to come back for Franck.

The woman who spoke on the condition of anonymity pointed out several youths in the area where the now dead man had lived as being part of the same gang. "Look at them they all have the head bands and scooters and none of them are working or going to school, all they do is steal and make other people's life miserable." The woman said. Another neighbor said while Franck was a known drug user and had his problems he was also very mannerly when he is around older people.

The Daily Herald - BELAIR--St. Maarten Pride Foundation expressed concern Friday that there is a possibility that the sand being used for the ongoing replenishing of the Belair beach might have been contaminated.

The foundation's vice president Rueben Thompson on Friday said apparently the sand being used is the same as that for the ring road project, which was dredged from the Great Bay harbour. He said the Great Bay area was a very busy shipping area and hull cleaning and painting took place in some of the boatyards along the Great Bay shoreline.

Tributyltin-based (TBT) anti-fouling paints often used for hull painting in Great Bay are a great reason for concern, Thompson said. "The sand may, therefore, be contaminated with suspended particulate material associated with chemical hull-cleaning and painting contaminants copper and lead."

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PHILIPSBURG - On Friday, March 12th, Commissioner Hyacinth Richardson held a press conference to talk about the appointment of 2 gynecologists that will be working in St. Maarten.

GREAT BAY (GIS)—On Wednesday the 3rd of March, Dion "Mega D" Humphreys and Gene Herbert of the Mega D Youth Foundation in St. Eustatius visited the students of the Youth Development Program in St. Maarten.

Both persons gave motivational speeches during the students' Social skills class at the Caribbean Institute for Social Education Foundation (CIFSEF). They talked to the youngsters about second chances, the importance of social skills, perseverance, and living purposefully.

In addition, Humphrey and Herbert gave a short presentation of the foundation's activities in St. Eustatius and urged and encouraged the youngsters to give back to the community.

The program Social Pedagogic Worker (SPW/Care) is aimed at persons who want to work with children. After successful completion of this course, one can work in a daycare, an afternoon school or a foster home with persons within the age group of 0-18 years.

The department/program wants to invite more persons (especially young persons doing well) from the community to deliver motivational speeches and hold workshops on issues in the community such as violence, drugs, HIV/AIDS, active parenting, among other topics.

We plan on linking with the different organizations and institutions to achieve this.

Currently the social and educational program is doing well; the success rate of the pilot courses held before has been high, above 80%, and there are 48 students placed in the preparatory program.

The Social Skills course which we refer to as the preparatory part of the program is held at CIFSEF, where the youngsters are placed for 3 months to work on their social skills. The first set of students is currently in that phase.

We have 23 students who were part of the pilot preparatory program, now in the main part of the program. They are following the courses of PC Repair/SPW1/Front Desk Agent.

The other courses that the program offers are Bartender, Waitress, Room Care Attendant, and Hospitality Security.