Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
Two worrisome letters to the editor have appeared already in the New Year about the continued crisis at Caravanserai, where timeshare buyers lost their acquired rights due to the public auctioning of the complex. They were informed by the new owner Alegria Real Estate BV late 2014 that it did not recognise agreements with companies related to the former operator, but instead offered the disadvantaged guests a week's stay in the resort for the same amount normally owed in annual fees if they signed up for such within a short period of time.
However, this also meant these weeks no longer could be sold or exchanged for other destinations and/or properties, while some already had paid their dues to the ex-proprietor and now needed to come up with the money once again. Moreover, the arrangement would be valid for only a few years while Caravanserai undergoes a restructuring process, after which the owners promised to switch the people concerned to other local resorts.
Despite the early intervention of – then still – Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister Ted Richardson as well as the St. Maarten Timeshare Association (SMTA), no satisfactory solution was found. The victims then went to court, but lost.
The latest news reported in Friday's paper was that SMTA is assisting the persons involved, with some of its members offering alternative accommodations to those who did not accept Alegria's contract. That is at least something, but surely can't make up for the negative consequences and publicity St. Maarten is suffering due to this highly undesirable development.
"Formateur" of the new government and UP leader Theo Heyliger in his party's New Year's resolution (see same January 2 edition) stated that an approved budget needs to be in place within the first 60 days of 2015 and he also would like to see the Council of Ministers in Philipsburg be expanded from the current five to the usual seven members during the coming two months. Perhaps he ought to add – once and for all – enacting legislation that will adequately protect visitors who invested on the island in good faith, should similar situations occur in the future.
