Dear Editor,
St. Maarten is expected to receive less cruise passengers in 2016, but the country is not the only one; our competitor St. Thomas is facing the same fate. St. Thomas is forecast to receive 1.65 million cruise passengers for the fiscal year 2017, and for 2016 the port authority expects to receive approximately 1.75 million. In 2014, the destination received 2,083 million.
St. Thomas’ port authority says the decline is the result of ships being taken out of service and put in dry dock for repairs; others re-routed to other destinations around the world. The aforementioned also applies for cruise destination St. Maarten, however, representatives from the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) met in May with the permanent parliamentary committee for Tourism and Economic Affairs, and informed Members of Parliament, that the destination needed to do something as it had reached the cross-roads and needed to re-invent itself in order to see further growth over the mid to long-term.
The cruise industry, in the meantime, continues to grow and will reach 315 ships in 2016, and generate approximately US $35.5 billion in revenues world-wide this year, up from $33.2 billion last year.
The North American market will represent approximately 56 per cent of the global industry in terms of where passengers come from; Europe 27 per cent, and the Asia/Pacific region 17 per cent. The latter market is growing while the other two source markets have shown declines. Cruise lines will move their vessels to regions where growth is taking place, and that is one of the reasons several destinations in the Caribbean are seeing a decline in their cruise numbers for 2016 and 2017.
Cruise lines are ordering new cruise vessels, which reached a historic high in value of $42 billion for 59-ocean going vessels, according to Seatrade. These orders are up to 2024. This demonstrates that the cruise industry is continuing to grow in other areas of the world.
Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) last month announced the cruise industry has surpassed 2015 ocean cruise passenger projections and has increased passenger expectations for 2016. This is a sign, according to CLIA, that the industry is stronger than ever.
CLIA says a total of 23.2 million passengers were on ocean cruises globally in 2015, up from a projection of 23 million, and a four-per cent increase over 2014. CLIA has modified 2016 expectations and is now predicting 24.2 million travellers will set sail on ocean cruises around the world.
CLIA adds that much of the industry’s growth can be attributed to emerging regions of the world. In 2015, Asia experienced the most growth year-over-year in ocean cruise passengers with another impressive 24 per cent increase.
“When looking at the travel industry, cruise travel has astonishing long-term growth potential since it represents only two per cent of the total leisure travel market, has the highest satisfaction rates among global travellers and is growing in popularity. In fact, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, in the decade between 2004 and 2014, global cruise vacations have grown faster in popularity than land-based vacations by a 20-per-cent margin,” CLIA says.
The decline in our country’s cruise numbers for 2016 is just a bump along the road of cruise growth. At the same time, it is an opportunity to review and evaluate, enhance our product and introduce new services, tours and products that gives us an edge over the other competitors. It’s all about re-inventing our cruise product to meet the demands of the customers–cruise passengers, by giving them that experience that they don’t find anywhere else.
Roddy Heyliger
Dear Editor,
Because I was born on Sint Maarten, I love my island and have a passion for the people of this country. It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. Well, I was raised by Sint Maarten’s best, namely the Rogers, Mardenboroughs, Cannegieters, Kingsales, Sponspers, Bakers, Halleys, and Carti’s. I am from good people. I was taught good manners and I am ready to serve my people for a change!
Why join the Sint Maarten Christian Party? That was an easy choice for me. Their core values, morals and norms resonated with me and this made it all the more easy for me to postulate myself as a candidate on the SMCP slate. The Sint Maarten Christian Party advocates stability in Parliament and in Government. It’s a party with people who will neither be bought nor sold to destabilize the government. Aren’t we all longing to have a solid and stable government in our country, working for the people of Sint Maarten? I chooseto be part of bringing integrity, honesty, transparency and accountability in Government and that is why I am a candidate on the SMCP list.
Sint Maarten, isn’t it time that your needs are met for a change? Aren’t you tired of feeling the pangs of financial hunger, while others around you are financially obese? Sint Maarten, aren’t you tired of living from pay check to pay check, while others can decide to save their pay checks? Hunger is real in Sint Maarten. Poverty is real in Sint Maarten. Lack is also real inSint Maarten. I see lack everywhere in my Sint Maarten.
There is a lack of communication between Government and our people. There is a lack of respect, lack of integrity, lack of concern, lack of enforcing rules, lack of compassion, lack of a vision and long-term planning, lack of provision for a vision, lack of strategy and adequate solutions. People of Sint Maarten, we can no longer afford to live in lack and be held back, while led by lack!
Our Constitution is filled with wonderful promises that the people of Sint Maarten, for the most part are unaware of. For example, article 44 states that the Parliament represents the entire population of Sint Maarten. Do you actually feel that you are being adequately represented, if represented at all? Article 67 states that Parliament is authorized to champion the interests of Sint Maarten with the Government of the Kingdom. Have your interests been championed? Which Parliamentarian has made, or taken the time to hear your interests?
According to article 78.2; the Ombudsman shall undertake investigations, if requested to do so or on her own initiative into the conduct of administrative bodies designated by national ordinance. Has your business license taken an unusually long time to process, while others have gotten theirs in a fair amount of time, or in no time at all? Who is keeping your documents on their desks because they don’t like you? Do you feel as if you are being ignored? Do you feel as if the administrative bodies in Sint Maarten are bullying you? Go to the Ombudsman and complain about it! It is your right to ask her to look into your situation and to provide you with answers!!!
Article 22 states that it is a constant concern of Government to keep the country habitable and to protect and improve the natural environment. People of Sint Maarten, we have got to fix the dump situation. It is a health hazard!! If we don’t act now, we will see an increase of bronchitis, asthma, and respiratory tract infections. We are slowly killing our own people. Fixing the dump situation is high on the priority list of the Sint Maarten Christian Party.
One of my concerns is the single mothers in this island. They work so hard for their kids. Some have two jobs, and even do extras just to be able to pay all their bills. At the end of the day they come home tired, kiss their babies and beat themselves over the head for not being there for them. Not being able to help with their homework, not spending quality time with them and feeling as if they have failed. I will be the voice for single mothers and do all in my power to ensure that their needs are properly represented.
People of Sint Maarten, don’t give up! Go out and vote on September 26, and elect a stable and honest government. Let us put the SMCP to represent your interest and to eradicate all the lacks mentioned above. Let us put a voice in Parliament that will serve you for a change! The Sint Maarten Christian Party is your best alternative and together we can turn things around.
“Enough of the abuse, the greed and corruption!” Tell them Mully says: “We don’t live so!” We cannot bring back the “good old days” but we sure can bring in “Better Days!”
Mulrose Rogers-Toulon aka “Mully”
Candidate on the (SMCP) slate
Dear Editor,
Any person who is quick to receive and accept praise should also accept the responsibility for things that go wrong during his or her watch. In a recent report of the US state department, St. Maarten was singled out for being one of the few countries in the region to receive a top rating for its efforts in the fight against human trafficking. The ink was barely dry on the notice, when politicians on the island started to pound their collective chest hogging the commendation for the achievement.
That, however, could be considered a good thing, since we have the so-called European motherland declaring us lawless, corrupt and in bed with the underworld. Strangely enough, government (executive/legislature) had no comment, or refuses to return calls about the ruling of the constitutional court on the proposed integrity chamber law. We had nothing to say about the second chamber’s motion that the Dutch gaming authority be made the supervising body for the gambling sector on the island.
Even after the minister of finance requested with clear reasoning why the draft should have been withdrawn, our misleaders remained silent, or as one writer put it mum. The “president” of parliament in an address to the press stated that the kingdom government is basically the Dutch government. They don’t seek a vote here, we don’t form part of their parliament and as they put it we can’t depend on their taxpayers to get us out of debt.
So maybe the super eight and the genius seven can explain to us, if we balance our own budget without their assistance raise our own revenues why in God’s good name we still have them dictating how we spend our own funds. The “president of parliament “ claims that being put on the UN list of non-self-governing territories is regression clinging to the narrative that we are equal to the Dutch saviours in their kingdom.
The islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and St. Eustatius have all gone to the UN and presented their case of ill-treatment and overreach by the Dutch Government. In celebrating the recently held “Dia di Bandera”, a group of MPs in Curaçao declared their intention to lead their people to independence. For they reasoned that if we don’t get anything but insults and dictatorial imposition from the Dutch, what would we need them for. Our government, I must conclude, didn’t or refuse to hear that.
The “Prime minister” in the council of ministers recently stated that we are four countries in the kingdom only when the Dutch get what they want. According to him, nothing will ever be done to accommodate the overseas countries as could be seen from their stance on the ill-advised political reform proposal. The second chamber is again posturing to have another instruction placed on us to establish this utopian integrity chamber, a law created for St. Maarten, only which the Constitutional court ruled robbed people of their day in court and the right against self-incrimination.
This government is clearly aware of the path to put a halt to all these injustices and power plays by the Dutch. But their campaign donors and their many foreign advisors won’t hear of it, so we resigned to settling for the abusive and disrespectful behaviour of the all- knowing second chamber. With all that is playing around us today, it is amazing to hear that our leaders have nothing to say or go into hiding. We are left to conclude that if it is true that “silence is golden, we surely hit the mother lode.
Elton Jones
Dear Editor,
I am reacting to the letter from Steven Johnson, in which he mentioned that the headline he put to his letter was to get attention of Hilary’s supporters. Johnson is a supporter of Donald Trump and writes, "He is a lousy speaker. There is no question that listening to him trying to string enough words together, all in a row, to make a coherent thought into an understandable sentence is often painful for the listener, but that is his own right telling".
I did not read anything there that would benefit Sint Maarten people, other than aspiring politicians. Actually, my reaction is because of the upcoming elections on September 26th and I would not like for anyone to be influenced by the thought that it is alright to put fools in government as representatives of the people. If I follow Johnson well, a candidate can say all kinds of incoherent things, and because he is different, people have to understand what he means, even though it is painful for the listener.
Is Johnson telling me that I have to accept that someone, who wants to represent me in government, could just babble what he wants even though I do not understand what he means? I think Johnson believes we are either clairvoyants or puppets. To add insult to injury, Johnson is telling us that the candidate, whom he supports, is not smart enough, nor does he have the patience to finely (not finally) craft deniable lies at the drop of a hat.
Again, why would I want such a person to represent me? Is Johnson trying to tell people they should vote for dummies, because they mean well. When will we know when that candidate is on the right path or not, since he cannot explain himself? When one could openly declare that it is alright for a potential candidate for the presidency of the United States of America to talk in a way that is often painful for those who are listening (not hearing), that is sad and painful, and definitely not helping our youth.
If Johnson is an aspiring politician or candidate on any political list, I want to be the first to condemn what was written in his letter. It is time enough that we get people who say what they mean, do what they say and do not say what the people want to hear.
Russell A. Simmons
Dear Editor,
I will admit immediately that I have tricked Mr. Hopkins and all the other Hillary supporters into reading this with the headline. You are expecting an attack piece about Mr. Trump but you will be disappointed. The headline is only half of what I would have expected the Trump campaign slogan to actually be, namely, “The Problem with Trump is that he is right about everything.”
And make no mistake, he is right about everything. On every single meaningful issue from immigration reform to trade to the national debt and all in between, his stated positions directly reflect both the truth of the matter and the root of the problems in all respects.
You may not like his manner, you may not like the way he speaks and you may not like his choice of language but in the end he articulates directly the root causes of the very most critical issues that plague the United States today.
He is a lousy public speaker. There’s no question about that. Listening to him trying to string enough words together all in a row to make a coherent thought into an understandable sentence is often painful for the listener, but that in its own right is telling.
This is a candidate who doesn’t run his mouth for a living like all the other politicians. He give orders to the people that work for him and they know what he is talking about and get the job done. And therein lay the very foundation of the unprecedented success of his campaign so far and why he has received more votes than any other primary candidate in history.
Ordinary people –people like you and me who work for a living and actually endure the failed policies of the Obamas and Hillarys– know what he is talking about because they live it every day.
Ask Trump a direct question and you get a simple, direct and straight answer and you know for fact that he means what he says. He isn’t smart enough nor does he have the patience to finely craft deniable lies at the drop of a hat like Hillary or invent convoluted, ridiculous and absurd propositions to satisfy some corner of the demographic. You get small words, short sentences that tell you directly what he believes.
It may be the first time in history that a political candidate has tried that approach (barring Ronald Reagan) and it has resonated with Americans in a way that is simply beyond the understanding of the political establishment as it exists now.
When he says, “I’ll build a wall,” absolutely no one believes there is going to be brick and mortar 12 feet high and for 3000 miles across the Mexican border. What they know is that if elected, the open door immigration system will end the next day and rigid and absolute controls will be put in place. The existing immigration laws will actually be enforced and new ones defined to plug the loop holes. People believe him because they know that he is right. And most importantly they know he can’t be bought.
Let’s compare Trump and Hillary in basic and simplistic terms. Trump is a self-made millionaire. He started his own business and grew it into a minor empire. He won some, lost some, took giant risks with his own money and won big and he took giant risks with his own money and lost big.
Hillary married Bill who already had his snout buried in the public trough and, as a lawyer, produced nothing, built nothing and was immediately deeply involved in a billing scandal that would have gotten most lawyers disbarred and put in jail. The records that would have put her in jail were “lost” and only found after political intervention ended her risk of sanction.
Trump continued to prosper. His won /loss rate as far as his businesses went was extremely good and he got rich. Hillary went to the white house with Bill where she ran the white house travel office which was immediately involved in a scandal that would have gotten anyone else put in jail but again, mysteriously, the records disappeared, other people were fired and bought off and Hillary escaped sanction even though it was her department, and her direct orders and instructions that were followed and later shown to be corrupt and illegal.
During their tenure in the white house the Clintons amassed a huge fortune from direct bribes, kickbacks and influence-pedalling, all well documented, and ending with the sex scandal involving Bill in which two famous quotes emerged that tell you everything you need to know about these individuals. The first from Bill, the Rhodes Scholar and draft evader who when caught in a direct lie in testimony under oath said, “well, it depends on what your definition of the word ‘is’ is.”
Really? And after Hillary single handedly destroyed the lives of the women that Bill had sexually assaulted and only after the hard and indisputable evidence was produced of her lies, deceit and involvement in the whole sordid affair was exposed said, “well … I really didn’t know what was going on.”
Starting to sound familiar?
So, the Clintons make a deal with Obama to not fight the primaries and in return she gets to be Secretary of State. Her tenure there is a disaster in all respects, starting with trade deals with China which, during the negotiations Bill gets a direct cash payment from the Chinese. Amazingly enough, shortly thereafter, the trade deal gets done that benefits the Chinese hugely, and ending with the Benghazi attack in which the department she ran refused hundreds of requests for security and during the actual attack refused again to send help resulting in the ambassador being killed.
Instead, she and her staff spent the time during the attack working up a cover story that was a complete lie and was immediately exposed as such. That is Hillary’s priority. Evade responsibility at all costs even if people are dying.
She quit the job at the State Department, finally, after it became crystal clear that the record she was creating would follow her forever and preclude any run for the Presidency. Amazingly, I know, and hard to believe, but the 30,000 emails that document her correspondence during all this have been deleted from her illegal server. Missing records. The Clinton trademark.
So what of these two candidates? Trump, not a politician, not the best businessman that there ever was, but willing to take the simple direct and honest approach to solving the problems of the United States in the best interests of the United States.
And you have Hillary who has never done an honest day’s work in her life, lives on the fruits of corruption and graft and would rather lie when the truth would serve her better. A woman whose entire professional career has been one corruption scandal after another, ending now with the email deal where, note, her entire state department staff had to avail themselves of their 5th amendment rights to avoid testifying about her conduct.
For those of you unaware, the 5th amendment means you can “refuse to testify because what I say may put me in jail myself.” To people like you and me that means that her entire staff is saying “we were directly involved in all of her criminal activity and can’t talk about it without going to jail ourselves.”
When Hillary says she is the most qualified to become President it makes me smile because it simply reinforces everything I know about politicians, that being, if being qualified means an entire career of corruption, incompetence, and having your snout buried in the public trough then yes, Hillary is your candidate for sure. And for those of you in Texas worried about the border, not to worry, Hillary has already made a deal where in exchange for a big cash payment to the Clinton foundation, she will deed Texas over to Mexico by January.
Steven Johnson
