Dear Editor,
Three months after the devastation of Hurricane Irma, St. Maarten has experienced an economic blow that will take some time to recover from. Never before has the importance of tourism been evident. It does not matter what type of business you may be in; retail, hospitality, banking, schools and even government/independent government entities has experienced the economic setback post Irma. One thing it clearly shows is that as a community and country, we did not have a plan.
On December 25, 2017, everyone was excited that two cruise ships were going to be in port and businesses like myself were ready to receive them with open arms. This possibility was thanks to our Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Telecommunication and Transportation (TEATT), Honorable Melissa Arrindell-Doncher passed a national decree “landsbesluit”, that business may open on Christmas.
Although the business community in Philipsburg was elated beyond words, we also observed that once again we failed to prepare. Many businesses owners, visitors, as well as concerned citizens noticed a major blunder. This involved the untimely and lack of garbage collection in our area. It was unfortunate to see that the garbage was not collected the night before. It was not until noon that a garbage truck was seen collecting the trash. Although I can understand that this may have required a little bit extra coordination due to it being an official holiday and not having the full manpower to do this, it certainly should have been our priority to at the very least welcome our visitors to a clean environment.
If we, as St. Maarten, want to rebuild and continue to offer our best tourism product, then we need to be on top of our game at all times. Those visiting our island for the short period saw all the trash, not collected, on one of our famous streets, while shopping, walking, and/or even just sightseeing the progress of our island post Hurricane Irma. This reflects badly on our end, and it might raise the red flag, that we are not as “ready for business” as we have been advertising via the different media platforms. This was their First Impression that they will walk away with as they visit our main street. This is what we, as St. Maarteners saw while walking down Front Street.
As we end 2017 and begin a new year I would hope that we as the business community, economic representatives, Government, COCI, Sint Maarten Tourist Bureau, STA, Harbor, Airport, SHTA, all Business Representatives (retail, restaurants, hotel, tours, cleaning services, etc.), and all stakeholders work together to help rebuild our beautiful island, St. Maarten, to build our economy to a thriving one for all. Let this be our priority as we receive the next set of visitors to our beautiful 37 square miles.
Nikhil Kukreja
Chamber Small Business Representative/Entrepreneur
