Granting the St. Maarten Timeshare Association (SMTA) three months to study the draft law to establish a timeshare authority (see related story) was the correct thing to do. It’s a bit frustrating, because calls to better regulate the industry and protect its clients came from the field itself following less-than-positive experiences with the so-called Pelican saga and the takeover of the former Caravanserai, currently known as Alegria.
To be sure, there have been problems on and off at several other resorts as well – for example, regarding maintenance, or rather lack thereof, and the fees charged for such. Many timeshare owners had complained bitterly and back then threatened never to return to the island unless something was done.
The latter took more than five years, among other things for translation of the proposed legislation to English. Now it turns out that the body included in the package to oversee the sector is not wanted.
Parliament President Sarah Wescot-Williams acknowledged that well-intended decisions to establish this authority with far-reaching powers to settle any issues rising from the law’s execution had led to a rather heavy-handed draft. Somehow an amendment to the room tax ordinance was added, changing it from NAf. 90 to NAf. 102 per week.
As this matter has been in the pipeline for so long, waiting another 90 days doesn’t seem the worst thing in the world. Most important at this stage is probably to get it right once and for all.
