GREAT BAY – For quite some time the Police Department has received numerous complaints from persons in the community and mainly from residents living on the A. Th. Illidge road in the section between the “Cottage Round About” and the entrance of Arch Road, also known as “The Strip”. The police have intervened in many of these complaints and taken measures closing these establishments down. This area where several popular night clubs, bars, other after hour’s businesses, supermarkets etcetera are located is also a residential area. The complaints the police department still regularly receives are concerning issues such as loud music,…
Author: The Publisher
Dear Editor, Since 10-10-10 our “Country” has been plagued with all kinds of lawlessness. We have witnessed a spate of choke and rob, constant hold ups, break-ins, carjacking and the insane gun violence. We have heard time and time again of the plans of approach and the many options government is contemplating to address the scourge plaguing society. A gentleman once told me that the greatest threat to our economy and livelihood is not the risk of pricing ourselves out of the market but the sense of insecurity. People have a need to feel safe and when they don’t they…
Is St. Maarten on the right track or on the wrong track with the Pearl of China project? As we wrote earlier, we do not have sufficient information for a fact-based opinion. What we do have is a study by economist Arjen Alberts about tourism driven island-economies. We published stories about this study in January and February of this year. (Read one article here…) In a nutshell, Alberts’ argument goes like this; “We have focused too much on producing five roses and selling them for a dollar each, while we should focus on producing one rose and sell it for…
The St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association SHTA has sent a number of questions about the Pearl of China project to the Council of Ministers. Below is the unabridged text. Dear Honorable Council of Ministers, The St, Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association – SHTA, the largest private sector representative, has been closely following the media reports about the upcoming development of the Pearl of China/Caribbean. While the SHTA realizes that there could be a need for foreign Direct Investments and job creation, but lacking proper statistics there is no way to be sure. At this point we feel that we…
It is amazing how many people have opinions about the Pearl of China project while they have hardly any information to base it on. Today we present another array of these opinions, together with a more fact-based analysis from Leon Stubbs. We are of course not only in the peak of the hurricane season, we’re also in the peak of the elections season – with fifteen seats in parliament and seven power seats in the Council of Ministers up for grabs. That people lose track of reality under those circumstances is understandable, but it makes it difficult to understand all…
When political parties publish plans in their manifestos that they will impose a 10% property tax, they need to realize that a lot of people on St. Maarten are what is termed property-rich, but cash-flow poor. Even many apartment owners in St. Maarten seem to suffer from this description: property-rich but cash-poor. There may be many reasons for this. Poor financial planning, lack of any kind of budgeting or business planning, inadequate maintenance plans or lack of reservations for both expected and unexpected repairs are many of the factors that render a property owner property-rich, yet unable to generate any…
When it comes to money, trust is an important factor. As in all things we must trust in God. That is why it is printed on the dollar bill. Then we must trust in the money itself. Trust that when we get paid that the money will retain its value and purchasing power to allow us to buy the goods and services we need. Finally, we must trust in our fellow man. Trust that he will pay the money that is owed to us. Trust that the banks will keep our money safe. Trust the insurances companies will pay out…
GREAT BAY – Beijing businessman Trey Cui is the driving force behind the Pearl of china project in Little Bay, Cengiz Kucuk, founder of the Caribbean-China People Foundation says. Cui wants to establish a global center with showrooms and a convention center, private business offices and units to be used by high end Chinese corporations. The objective is to present their products and services to Caribbean islands and the Central and South American market. “This way they will get better purchase orders from their clients,” Kucuk said. “Instead of all potential buyers going to china for business conventions and fairs,…
“We found a year-round economic activity” GREAT BAY – Prime Minister William Marlin has reacted with dismay to the reaction “certain persons covering the event” posted on Facebook last Thursday while the presentation of finance Minister Richard Gibson at the university about the investment in a 326-room hotel and 450 apartments was underway. “The Chinese are coming ….. bad for the people …. gloom and doom,” is how Marlin characterized these reactions, calling them “unfortunate” while all this is taking place in election time. “All this is making people think that a bad thing is happening,” he said at yesterday’s…
The Pearl of China project in Little Bay has sent rumor mills in overdrive. It also has people concerned about the impact of this project on our infrastructure and of course on the environment. At this moment there is not enough information for a solid judgment. It is as simple as that. There is a preparatory resolution for the development of the area and there is the announcement that there will be a 326-room hotel and 450 apartments. Who is going to build this? Will foreign workers be brought in? Will local contractors get a piece of the action? Will…
