Today’s report that many yacht captains are returning to St. Maarten even though its marine industry was hard-hit by Hurricane Irma is a pleasant surprise. The general expectation had been that this boating season would be a dismal one, also because of costly delays suffered in the recovery effort.
It must be said: this positive development is taking place in spite of and not thanks to Government’s role. Barges brought in from other islands with large enough equipment to remove the biggest wrecks in Simpson Bay Lagoon soon after the natural disaster were refused based on technicalities and formalities.
A permit system for salvaging operations was applied that marinas and other entities in the yachting sector found difficult to deal with. Some even stated that as a result they would have to close their doors.
What no doubt helped was the Heineken Regatta organisation wasting no time in announcing that the 2018 edition in early March would continue regardless of the devastation both on- and offshore. The confidence this move inspired probably contributed in no small measure to more boats returning.
A lot of work must still be done to bring back to normal the situation in this field accounting for 15 per cent of the tourism economy, but it appears good progress is finally being made.
Errors in the initial response by certain authorities are now pretty much water under the bridge. It’s no use crying over spilled milk, they say, but there are most definitely lessons to be learned.
