Dear Editor,
One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP)condemns the murder of Belgium tourist Wendy Montulet, and offer condolences to the family of the 22-year-old. In this critical time when Caribbean tourism is already under the microscope, the island cannot afford to be tarred with the same brush as countries like the Bahamas, where according to a recent report in the Nassau Guardian “an executive with Carnival Cruise Line reportedly warned a Bahamas tourism official that Carnival is so worried about crime in Nassau, it’s considering issuing crime warnings to the passengers it brings there.”
The OSPP advocates for protection for all people and believes in equality and justice for all, but more must be done to safeguard the islands tourism product beginning with joint task forces from both sides of the island working to solve crimes against tourists, and imposing maximum penalties to offenders as a deterrent against such behaviour. We also support more social programmes and opportunities for those who feel they have been left behind. This is also important as regard to deterring criminal behaviour.
Some Caribbean islands are already under the microscope. In a recent article in the St. Lucia Times, the president of the St. Lucia Venders Association publicly accused the Minister of Tourism of ignoring the island nation’s crime problem. The association’s president noted that crime in St. Lucia has gotten so bad, that cruise lines might consider dropping that popular Caribbean port stop from their itineraries, as Norwegian Cruise Line did in the 2010-2012 season because of reported crimes against passengers.
St. Maarten has to assure it does not go the same route. One of the ways of doing this is by making the penalty for such crimes – which I view as directed against St. Maarten – so steep that possible offenders would not want to risk it.
As a St. Maartener, my first priority is the safety and wellbeing of my island and the people on it. It is a public secret that tourism is the bread and butter of St. Maarten and loss of tourism revenue would affect us all. That makes it the responsibility of all of us to do what we can to protect that much needed revenue. When these types of crimes occur, the offender is not only attacking that victim, but the entire island. I encourage anyone with information about this and other crimes to do your duty by putting St. Maarten first and contacting the authorities.
This crime was committed by one or two persons and somebody in their inner circle must know who they are. St. Maarten is asking you to come forward and tell what you know to the authorities, Dutch or French side.
I congratulate the Gendarmes for their diligent work on this case to date, and to the Dutch St. Maarten police for their timely cooperation with the Gendarme to solve this heinous crime.
Lenny Priest
Leader, One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP)
