Zagersgut became a river on Friday night after heavy downpours of rain. Flooded streets around Philipsburg hampered traffic and last minute Christmas shoppers. In some areas the water did flow off the roads and streets quickly, while on others the flooded conditions remained for a while.

~ SZV says it discussed options available to client ~

PHILIPSBURG--Oliver Arrindell, the father of a son, who is a year and seven months old, has accused Social Health Insurances SZV of dragging its feet on the referral of his son to the Netherlands for various forms of therapy to recover from a condition he suffered at birth.

In an invited comment, SZV said it has had extensive communication with Arrindell related to the care of his son and had discussed the different options that are available to him, which are covered by his insurance at SZV, as is regulated by the law.

Arrindell said his son was born at St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) with a condition that is still affecting him. His son was originally flow out to Curaçao when he was three days old for medical attention. He spent nine days in Curaçao and he received medical care. The father said the condition affected his son’s ear, neck, hand and brain. His son was later flown to the Dominican Republic where he spent two months undergoing various therapies.

After returning to St. Maarten, his son was later scheduled to be flown back abroad for further therapies in December 2015, but couldn’t because the doctor was on vacation. In March 2016, his son was flown abroad again but the hospital was full and he did not receive any therapy. His son had also received care from professionals in Colombia, who advised that his son needed therapy and that he couldn’t remain in St. Maarten as such care was not available.

Arrindell said a local doctor recommended that his son be flown to the Netherlands for proper medical care and he was under the impression that all was ready for him to take his son to the Netherlands, but SZV is giving him the run around. He said SZV first informed him that he must “write out of St. Maarten and write into the Netherlands, he will have 90 days to obtain medical insurance for his son from the Netherlands. He did not agree with this and via an attorney communicated this to SZV.

He said his lawyer was requesting that the child be first diagnosed in the Netherlands and if he will be required to remain in the Netherlands in excess of four months then he will write out of St. Maarten and into the Netherlands.

He claims SZV had agreed to this initially, but later asked him to sign a letter indicating that it will not be responsible for him and the child in the Netherlands. He said the situation is currently at a standstill.

Arrindell said he wants SZV to act and approve his child’s care in the Netherlands so that he can get the necessary therapy he needs to get better because at the moment his child is getting worse. The man said he has been contributing to SZV via premiums in excess of 20 years and now it is time for SZV to take care of his child’s medical needs.

SZV said: “We can confirm that we have had extensive communications with this customer pertaining to the case of his son up to December 22, 2016. We discussed the different options that are available to him, and that are covered by his insurance at SZV, as is regulated by the law. SZV cannot disclose personal and medical details of our customers to the media. For this reason we will not be able to go into detail into (The Daily Herald’s) inquiry.

“In general SZV would like to state that the different health care packages are regulated by laws and managed by SZV. The packages do have limitations in the care that is covered. We do our best to communicate these to our customers as clearly as possible. In cases where the required care is not available on St. Maarten, we also offer limited assistance and usually this consists of directing customers to third party institutions who may be able to offer support where we cannot.”

For the second time in less than two weeks a garbage collector was hit by a car slamming into the back of the truck (see Friday paper). One victim suffered a broken leg, while the other was reportedly not seriously hurt.

Some will no doubt be surprised by today’s report that Hasani Ellis is tipped as the country’s new Deputy Minister Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands. He ran on the list of the Democratic Party (DP), which was apparently afforded the post during the formation of the incoming white, blue and red coalition.

However, it was argued in the recent past that having such a substitute in The Hague is not really needed and actually a waste of money, because the Cabinet Director at the St. Maarten House can also stand in for the Plenipotentiary Minister when needed. The Cabinet Director happens to be Perry Geerlings, also a DP candidate and next in line to enter Parliament now that fraction member Emil Lee has again been sworn in as Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour.

Perhaps the fact that Geerlings has indicated an interest in returning to St. Maarten and occupying his legislative seat may have had something to do with the nomination of Ellis. In that case it might be worth considering not appointing a successor to Geerlings, at least for the time being, and thus avoid too much increase in cost.

After all, if the director was able to effectively replace the acting Minister in a satisfactory manner, the same should in principle be possible the other way around, with the help of staff. That would probably make Finance Minister Richard Gibson, but also taxpayers in general, quite happy.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad--You can call him Dr Santa Claus!

Trinidadian ophthalmologist Dr. Ronnie Bhola is not bearing gifts from the North Pole, but in Port of Spain he’s delivering the gift of improved sight for cataract patients for the fourth straight year.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados--Barbados has temporarily banned meat, meat products and eggs coming from the United Kingdom (UK) and member states of the European Union (EU).

ALLENTOWN, Pennsylvania--A cargo plane emblazoned with "Prime Air" descended from an empty sky at Lehigh Valley International Airport on Tuesday, ninety minutes from the bustle of New York City, loaded with crates of goods during the peak holiday shopping season.

ZURICH/FRANKFURT--Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank have been hit with a combined penalty of more than $12 billion over the sale of U.S. toxic debt, further hampering two of Europe's leading investment banks as they struggle with weak earnings.

LOS ANGELES--Actress Carrie Fisher suffered a "cardiac episode" on Friday during an airline flight from London to Los Angeles and was rushed to a hospital in critical condition after landing, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing emergency officials.

PARIS--Jacques Volcouve was a little boy when he first heard 'A Hard Day's Night'. Now aged 60 and a self-styled "Beatles historian", he is preparing to auction off a collection of 15,000 items he has amassed on the legendary band over half a century.

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida--U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Friday took a break from preparing to take office to engage in a pastime beloved by presidents since Dwight Eisenhower: playing 18 holes of golf.
  Trump, who made waves around the world this week with comments on nuclear arms and Middle East peace, was joined at a golf course he owns by Tiger Woods, a former world champion who is trying to make a comeback after chronic back problems and surgeries.

WASHINGTON--The FBI is investigating how hackers infiltrated computers at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for several years beginning in 2010 in a breach senior FDIC officials believe was sponsored by China's military, people with knowledge of the matter said.
  The security breach, in which hackers gained access to dozens of computers including the workstation for former FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair, has also been the target of a probe by a congressional committee.
  The FDIC is one of three federal agencies that regulate commercial banks in the United States. It oversees confidential plans for how big banks would handle bankruptcy and has access to records on millions of individual American deposits.
  Last month, the banking regulator allowed congressional staff to view internal communications between senior FDIC officials related to the hacking, two people who took part in the review said. In the exchanges, the officials referred to the attacks as having been carried out by Chinese military-sponsored hackers, they said. The staff was not allowed to keep copies of the exchanges, which did not explain why the FDIC officials believe the Chinese military was behind the breach.
  Reuters was not able to review those records, and could not determine how long the FBI probe has been open, though it was described as still active. A third person with knowledge of the matter confirmed the FBI had opened a probe.
  FDIC spokeswoman Barbara Hagenbaugh declined to comment on the previously unreported FBI investigation, or the hack's suspected sponsorship by the Chinese military, but said the regulator took "immediate steps" to root out the hackers when it became aware of the security breach.
  After FDIC staff discovered the hack in 2010, it persisted into the next year and possibly later, with staff working at least through 2012 to verify the hackers were expunged, according to a 2013 internal probe conducted by the FDIC's inspector general, an internal watchdog.
  The intrusion is part of series of cybersecurity lapses at the FDIC in recent years that continued even after the hack suspected to be linked to Beijing. This year, the FDIC has reported to Congress at least seven cybersecurity incidents it considered to be major which occurred in 2015 or 2016.

MILAN--Italian police shot dead the man believed responsible for this week's Berlin Christmas market truck attack, killing him after he pulled a gun on them during a routine check in the early hours of Friday.

VALLETTA--Hijackers armed with what were probably replica weapons forced an airliner to land in Malta on Friday before freeing all their hostages unharmed and surrendering, having declared loyalty to Libya's late leader Muammar Gaddafi.

ZURICH--Twenty-eight Russian athletes who took part in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi face disciplinary proceedings over possible manipulation of their urine samples, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday.

DOHA--AC Milan lifted the Italian Super Cup after 17-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma's save from Paulo Dybala secured a 4-3 penalty shootout win over Juventus on Friday.

Dear Queenie,

A friend of mine told me she thought my sister’s daughter was being molested by the father of her best friend and I told my sister so she would not let my niece play at that girl’s house any more. Now the person who told me is mad at me for telling my sister what that person said to me in confidence.

Queenie, should I have held my tongue?—Worried aunt

Dear Aunt,

NO! Your niece’s safety was the most important thing to consider and the possibility that she was being abused needed to be checked out. If nothing came of the accusation, all well and good, but if it was true the abuse – and the abuser – had to be stopped sooner rather than later.

Dear Editor,

Unfortunately, the Christmas spirit seems to have departed, for senior citizens, that is. It’s just another day; by afternoon we have already forgotten that it’s ‘still’ Christmas. For all of us, whether young or not so young, it’s a day of overindulgence in the foods we enjoy; turkey, ham, potato-pudding and all kinds of tarts. All sugary dainties we know are not good for us, nevertheless, we devour them without any scruples.

A challenging day for diabetics. Keep an eye on the diabetic in your family; we eat and drink too much of the forbidden stuff and have to increase our daily dosage of insulin.

For children, it’s definitely the most exciting time of the year. Our children start making their lists for Santa at least three weeks before Christmas. My daughter would list a couple of items which included ‘money,’ write down a couple more items, followed by ‘more money.’

I used to tell my children on Christmas Eve: Remember, we don’t have a chimney, so make sure your mother does not lock the front door tonight. If she does, Santa won’t be able to get into the house with your gifts. “Mom, do NOT lock the door!” Before going to bed, they would check the door two or three times to ensure it was unlocked.

Knowing the excitement would keep them up until late, I would tell them, if you hear any sounds in the house during the night, be very, very quiet, pretend to be asleep, it’s Santa putting your gifts under the tree.”

On Christmas morning they would get up earlier than any other morning of the year, wake up their siblings, and not walk, but run toward the Christmas tree. They would let out several big wows on seeing all the colourful gifts under the tree and promptly start reading the name on each gift. The happiness and excitement on their faces were oh so precious.

Merry Christmas hugs and kisses for Mom and Dad had to wait until the excitement had died down somewhat. The following day they would want to visit their uncles and aunties, because Santa usually left gifts under their trees too.

You know that someday you will have to tell them that Mom and Dad are the real Mr. and Mrs. Clause. You worry that when that day comes, they might be disappointed, and even think that Mom and Dad have lied to us all these years. In my case, (it’s always the father’s job to confirm the non-existence of Santa) when that day came, their immediate reaction was: “We know that, Dad!”

New Year’s Eve is a different ballgame altogether when it comes to your teenagers. An acquaintance once told me, “I thought my mother was so stupid for staying up all night worrying and not going to sleep until my sisters and I got home in the wee hours of the morning. But now that I am a mother of teenagers, I know what she went through.”

You allow your teenagers to go out and have fun with their friends, and you give them a no-later-than time to be home, which they always try to extend. “But, Dad, my friends stay out much later than that”

Knowing there are many drunken drivers on the road on the last night of the year, and that there are predators lurking out there, you, as a concerned parent, cannot help but worry.

You breathe a sigh of relief and utter a thank You, Jesus, when you finally hear the front door open and their footsteps are quietly leading to their rooms. Only after this, you sleep like a baby!

To all my readers: Merry CHRISTmas and may the Lord grant you a blessed, safe and prosperous New Year. God bless you all!

Clive Hodge