Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
It took until the last day of 2014, but Port St. Maarten reaching the two million passengers mark for the year (see Friday paper) can only be called a great achievement. Despite fierce and increasing competition, the island continues to hold its own as a still-growing top cruise destination in the Caribbean.
That takes hard work, and all those responsible who contributed to this positive development over the years ought to be commended. The news comes at time when the Harbour Group of Companies is under some public scrutiny about its financial reporting to the shareholder and perceived conflict of interest issues, but one hardly can deny that it regards a major success story.
So, although efforts to address possible integrity shortcomings are needed and to a certain extent already underway, people should not lose sight of this reality. The recent hosting of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) conference, although costly, was without a doubt important to cement St. Maarten's role as a leading player in the business.
There always will be criticism, justified or not. For example, the question indeed can be asked whether having the harbour build the causeway bridge through its subsidiary Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation (SLAC) was really a necessary investment, also because it produces little to no direct earnings for the government-owned company in return.
However, just as was the case with the beautification of Philipsburg and surroundings using the harbour share-buyback funds, the project did add to the visitor experience in general. It not only became sort of a "new attraction," but helped relieve traffic jams at least somewhat in the area where most Dutch-side resorts and the airport, as well as the main drawbridge accessing the lagoon and local marinas are concentrated.
Sure, this probably benefits particularly stay-over guests rather than cruise tourists, but one has to look at the bigger picture and if plans for more so-called home porting bear fruit, getting the passengers and their luggage from the airport to the ship and back as efficiently as possible could prove a major factor.
A SLAC-commissioned traffic study reported on in the paper of Christmas Eve stated that almost 8,500 motorists per day passed over the causeway during the off-season, less than five per cent fewer than the 8,900 that actually had been predicted for the high season when the structure was completed in 2010.
It's no secret either that UP leader Theodore Heyliger, first as commissioner and then as minister, was the main promoter of the project behind the scenes and convinced the harbour authorities to take it on. Everybody may think of that what they want, but many believe he deserves to have it named after him.
