~ 2 tourism/economic development plans for St. Maarten government to own and operate ~
Dear Editor,
The tourism industry is a highly profitable industry. However, the main benefactor in St. Maarten is the private sector. The government plays a pivotal role of facilitator, yet it reaps insignificant benefits. The amount that the government eventually collects, and the time it takes for the government to collect taxes are both insufficient and time consuming and prevents the government from properly investing in the needs of the society. Yet, when it comes to maintenance and repairs of any infrastructure of the island, the government must step up and pay.
The government is at the end of the day charged with the wellbeing of the people and the country and must therefore make use of all its resources to meet this end. When seeking ways of providing viable and sustainable income for St. Maarten, the government will do well to consider direct investment in the tourism industry.
The practice of governments owning and operating tourist attractions is not uncommon and is found in various islands in the Caribbean. The government of Aruba owns and operates the Archaeological Museum of Aruba, the Bon Bini Festival, and the Renaissance Island. The government of Barbados owns and operates the Harrison’s Cave, and the government of Curaçao owns and operates the Grot van Hato, and the Sint Christoffel Park.
St. Maarten’s single-pillar industry is, after all, tourism. And St. Maarten tourism is a viable business. Therefore, the government would do well to make direct and sustainable investments in this industry. Based on this, I have two proposals for the government to consider as acquisition for investment purposes.
The first concept that I propose for the government of St. Maarten to acquire, develop, then own and operate as a semi-public company is an eco-tourism tourist attraction in the salt pond. The “Soualiga Fun-Pond” is a suggested name for the project. This project provides government with a unique opportunity to capitalize on the tourism industry as a direct player.
The salt pond was once a natural resource commodity production plant that today has the potential to generate livelihood once again for the island and its people. However, should the government opt to pursue this project, the salt pond will not be used for production of salt as a core business. The idea is to separate a portion of the pond for salt cultivation that will be processed for sale as a souvenir at the attraction and other locations.
An island surrounded with mangroves will be created in the pond on which simulation of salt processing will be performed by life-size robotic figures with movements. Local artists will record voices of the salt workers performing work. Songs of the era will also be recorded and played through sound systems placed around the island. The actual processing of salt will be performed off location as all space is required for attraction purposes.
Other proposed attractions for the pond include rowboat and pedal-boat rides. Beautification of the landfill water edge entails planting of vegetation, which include plants and trees on a small portion of the landfill, and mangroves at the water’s edge. Behind the plants, a wall will be erected to cordon the rest of the landfill from the attraction.
It is also the idea to clean the salt pond by dredging it. This will provide somewhat deeper and cleaner water for the Tilapia fish to prosper in. The intention here is to have food resource for sale, but more importantly, to guarantee a fresh and nutritious food resource for times of calamity. Consideration can be given for introduction of a second sort of fish for variety purpose. The fish can be sold directly to the public, or it can serve as an additional attraction, where visitors pay to fish. Locals are permitted to keep their catch. Visitors must catch and release. However, they may give their catch to a local if they feel generous.
The establishment of this project will create additional income for the food trucks/booths alongside the pond. It is, however, imperative not to grant any licenses for new business in this area until a proper plan and design are made of the proposed project. It is the intention to have all stakeholders involved in the design of the project. For the Soualiga Fun Pond project to be economically viable and sustainable, consideration must be given to four major points – 1. Redesign the landfill; 2. Dredge the pond; 3. Beautify the surroundings; 4. Police presence.
The second proposed project for acquisition by the government entails Simpson Bay Lagoon. St. Maarten has a beautiful lagoon that offers immense possibilities for business ventures in the tourism sector. The government will benefit greatly from capitalizing on this opportunity to place itself in a better position to provide for its people, as well as to be one step closer to financial independence. The government is in a unique position to capitalize on investing in this industry.
Our lagoon offers an enormous opportunity for investment in eco-tourism. The island known as Little Chicken located in the lagoon is designated as a protected area. The island and its surrounding water can be converted into a protected/conservation area, where local flora and fauna, as well as Caribbean Sea life find a haven to flourish in their (simulated) natural habitat, while providing income for the government to invest into its society needs.
The suggested name for the second project is “Soualiga Garden and Sea Aquarium”. The Soualiga Garden and Sea Aquarium concept encompasses a land and submerged sea attraction. The garden section features an Orton (variety of cactus plants) botanical garden that includes locally found animals such as the iguana, mongoose, monkeys, chicken, and hopefully, (indigenous) snakes. Except for the snakes that will be enclosed and serve as an attraction for visitors to hold in their hands for a picture opportunity, the rest of the animals roam free on the island.
A snack bar will offer small-portion edible specialties of the house such as johnny-cake and chicken drumstick. And featured as house specialty beverages are bush teas that are grown on Little Chicken Island.
Transportation to and from the island will be provided by tenders. This requires land availability for the access point in the Airport Road area, which must include ample parking, the ticket booth, and the pier. In order to create the attraction, the island must be expanded to twice its present size and must include a pier for access.
All consideration will be given to guarantee that the material used for landfilling will be environmentally friendly. For example, presently, truckloads of demolished concrete and steel bars are transported from Beacon Hill on the Dutch side to the French side of the island. Science has proven that these materials create perfect setting for development of coral. This debris (another man’s waste) could have been a treasure for this project.
Around the island’s edge, mangroves will be planted for fish nesting and protection purposes. The sea aquarium entails a submerged transparent tunnel that offers view of the Caribbean Sea life from one side of the tunnel, as well as from various parts of the top of the tunnel. The intention is to provide a natural environment for the sea life. This entails a replica rock edge coastline at the end of the tunnel, partially covering the top of the submerged tunnel. Research has been done to guarantee construction of a hurricane-resistant transparent tunnel.
Government should capitalize on the opportunity to invest in this innovative, informative, and exciting, viable project. A project that will provide a new and exciting tourist attraction in the Caribbean that is difficult to copy because of its unique location and natural setting. By investing in these projects, the government is creating new job opportunities and most importantly, the government can now rely on viable, sustainable direct income rather than additional and/or new taxes. Funding for these projects can be requested from the Algemeen Pensioen Fonds St. Maarten, and/or The Kingdom of the Netherlands.
When looking at the scope of these two projects, it seems very expensive. The question is, what big investment is not costly when properly executed? Important is to guarantee return on investment and sustainability. The entrance ticket price structure will need careful calculation and must be reasonable, according to the demand.
What is already well established is that St. Maarten is a destination of choice. However, nearby islands are competing heavily. Anguilla already has a resort that is offering a variety of attractions, and St. Kitts is competing strongly with its cruise tourism. Let us seek productive ways to alleviate citizens of St. Maarten from tax burdens. All it takes is creative thinking, and willingness to work together. And by doing so, we can pay our loans back. Financial freedom, how sweet that sound.
Louis R. Engel
Dear Editor,
I am sure that all you readers on many many occasions have used the expression “That’s impossible” “Dat kan niet” “Esey no ta bon”. All these would be reaction to something considered “not fair” (Papiamento “esey no ta justu”, Dutch “dat is niet eerlijk”). One of the occasions that I have used it was when Peter de Witte was head commissioner here and at a certain moment used what I as a seasoned police officer considered a lame excuse “There were no statistics to go on” I responded to that at that time already, and in one of last week’s papers I got confirmation of my perception that government did not have much concern for what was happening in law enforcement.
I can remember a few now-retired police officers in Curaçao who years ago told me that they went to the police academy in Holland because policial friends of their parents encouraged their parents to send them to Holland to study for inspector of police.
Those are the persons who are trained to manage a police force. Because that is not the case here, for a long while now we do not have professional managers in the St. Maarten police force. The force is being managed by, I must admit, competent, experienced officers, who have to bear the brunt. I tip my hat to them.
Another reason for thinking that this is not fair to the people of Sint Maarten. “The manager of the fund did not have any data from 2010 to 2016.” That too is not fair. When I read how much revenue was not collected because of delinquent governing, I said to myself, “That is criminal.”
I have been reprimanded twice over the years for not entering a summons report on time. The second time I had to work four extra hours without pay. So, who was in charge during that period?
Another lame excuse would be “We’ve never had a steady government during that time” and I would add to that “But heads had to roll and we permitted them to get rid of our own Head Commissioner”. And even though I am not privy to all the details, I am still of the opinion that that was not fair. Because of the vast amount of Justice Ministers during that short period, logic would tell me that certain things would not be in place and that is why at that time I stated that police people do not take to the streets when not satisfied. We, knowing that we are the only body which can arrest anyone, should also know how to deal with adversity. That is what we do. Personal friends might show understanding, but the community which usually puts “I” first, is not ready to accept correction. This will always be a problem as long as people are not ready to tell the whole truth.
Their negative part is almost always omitted. It has not yet registered by the people, after so many years of having police around, that the police is a “peace officer” first. It is imperative to all to calm themselves down in the presence of the police. What does that mean? Simple: when you and your neighbor are fighting it is not with the police you are fighting, So why not calm down and listen to the police? And since we know so much, we should also know that the police did not come to beat up on anybody, the police came there to make peace and try to solve the problem in an amicable way.
Too often quarrels begin because we do not listen to each other or we do not care to try and sort out problems among each other. But the biggest cause of people not liking the police is created by we the people ourselves. We are not ready to accept it when the police do not deal with the person for whom we called the police, to our satisfaction. Yes, we are not content. And then we remember who the police officers were that came to the house, and we develop a hatred for that/those police officer(s) (as we would say) and continue not liking the innocent police officers who just did what is often the best thing to do, given the circumstances.
When do you protect someone? Another thing that we do not want the police to do is what they swore to do. When we do not appreciate that the police are protecting a criminal. we get mad at the police. I have even been accused of protecting a suspect because he was my brother, but that is what we do. We always protect everyone. We are not the judge, we protect and serve. I asked the lady at that time, “If he was your brother, what would you want me to do?” After pausing for a while she said to me, “Okay go ’head an’ do yo’ job then.”
Another reason for the heading “that’s not fair”. I like what our Minister of Justice is doing.so far. Please, people, give the Minister cooperation. Our people in government should know that people with integrity are not afraid of snoopers.
Russell A. Simmons
You could never believe it.
I could never believe it
An Adonis of perfection
Well groomed.
Loving
Composed
Handsome
Compassionate
Helpful
Courteous.
I could never believe that
I could never believe that
That exterior façade embodied “a monster out of control”
Especially, at night.
Even, even, he could not understand –
Violently abusing his “belle” whom, he passionately loved.
Oh,
The nightly agony
Behind those closed doors, as the lion prowled around
And pounced on his helpless prey
Screams and dreams amiss, remorse and hopes abreact
That was, his nightly rendezvous.
Today, today, today,
That quiet mouse, that image of perfection,
Well groomed, handsome, compassionate,
Helpful, loving, courteous, composed,
Sits behind his desk – smiling
Sits behind his desk – smiling
Smiling, smiling, smiling.
Lena A. Gumbs
Dear Editor,
I was very pleased to read that the Minister of Justice is busy getting our traffic infrastructure back on track. I am not the Commissioner of police, and I am also aware that I am not the authority to decide what the police should do. On the other hand, I believe in “know better do better” and I was also taught that if you are going to criticize something, make sure you also have a positive solution to the problem.
Sign boards for bus stops should be placed in the correct way. Especially on Nisbeth Road, they were placed for placing sake. Even if the buses were willing to stop in the correct way at the bus stop, they can’t because even though there is space and enough for correct stopping of the buses, where the signs are placed is hazardous. The only reasonably laid-out bus stop is the one opposite Carl and Son’s, and that one is being used as a parking lot and not like the no-stopping law states. The bus drivers stop any and everywhere.
They try as much as possible not to pull off the road in order to avoid other buses getting in front of them. I can speak to this because this is what the Control Unit used to control. Those controlling the buses should be able to see inside the bus from the outside, and at night the buses should have a light illuminating the cabin. Contrary to this law, the majority of the buses are heavily tinted. What about social distancing?
And nobody does anything about it. Should we be surprised when we have to read about the active cases of COVID? Tripling fines could be necessary, but is not the deterrent. The goal is to stop the illegal behaviour, so the deterrent would have to be consistent police presence and the members of the Control Unit, who in the past were very active controlling public transportation and parking violations.
Because the road infrastructure can change as well as the increase in the number of motor vehicles, laws to accommodate these situations can be added or amended.
Russell A. Simmons
~ Save the date, December 9th Lecture ~
Dear Editor,
The United Nations Secretary General released the 2021 Sixteen days of activism ‘Concept Note For Engagement’, November 25th to December 10th. This note calls for the engagement of civic society and governments to continue its commitment to end gender-based violence. According to data collected thus far, Covid -19 pandemic continues to negatively affect societies across the globe, especially as it pertains to the increase in violence against women and children, including violence in digital context. Covid-19 world pandemic worsened the already volatile conditions within many households. Thus, the call by the UN Secretary General to step up actions that include increase in awareness campaigns and prevention strategies.
The U.N International theme for this year: Orange the World. End violence against Women Now! is extended from previous years. The colour orange signifies a brighter future ahead in our fight to end violence against women and girls. Civic Society and governments must continue to do their share globally and locally as individuals, as well as collectively in preventing further erosion of progress made over the past decade in our fight to prevent and eradicate violence against women and children. Parenting and none-conflict resolutions are included in the preventative strategies encouraged by the UN message.
Children are vulnerable. They are our future, therefore worthy of our love and deserve to be protected at all times from all forms of abuse in order to grow and emerge as healthy, productive citizens of our communities.
In observation of this year’s International Day for the awareness and elimination of violence against women and children, Peridot Foundation is pleased to partner with and announce our next event with key-note speaker Pamela Gordon Carty, founder of ‘Simply Masters Foundation’. Her address will focus on our Children, worthy to Love and Protect.
Save the date for this presentation to be held on Thursday, December 9th upcoming, at John Larmonie Center in Philipsburg.
A detailed programme of this informative event will soon follow.
Gracita Arrindell
Peridot Foundation
