SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten - Something is NOT right again with the latest face-off between government and the private sector, now on the St. Maarten Tourism Authority (STA).

The matter of the St. Maarten Tourism Authority (STA) has been one of ongoing concern for the faction of the Democratic Party.

This has been so, because there is no tourism plan currently in place and the lack of such a plan has been always put as due to the incomplete progress to come to a STA.

This process has been ongoing for at least 10 years, some even say 15 years.

From " commissioners' time to consecutive ministers, there have been constant differing visions for this authority, with as result that nothing happened.

Agree with the current proposed organization or not, it did bring the establishment of this badly needed "authority" a step closer to realization.

It was therefore noted with much concern, that not yet one month in office, the Minister of TEATT, Claret Conner's tongue slipped it appeared, and he divulged that he intended to (re)evaluate the STA.

This prompted several questions from the DP faction, verbally and subsequently in writing. Finally, on June 22, I received below answers. One can only but have concluded from these answers that everything is/was well on track.

We must understand that this foundation, which was incorporated on government's initiative was to bridge the period, until the incorporation of the St. Maarten Tourism Authority. Bridging this period included a wide range of responsibilities related to tourism in general and tourism promotion and marketing in particular.

Now I read that the STA Foundation "has been declared obsolete" and that the STA will "be established without the intermediary foundation", a decision seemingly made by the Minister. Are we to assume that the Minister will formally dissolve the foundation? Are we serious?

Not wanting to get into the fracas between the Minister and the Foundation's supervisory board members and the effectiveness or not of another committee, I am extremely troubled by the following:

1. Was the letter of June 22nd, from the minister to Parliament a sham to placate Parliament?
2. But more importantly, if in the minister's opinion according to his letter, the permanent STA will become a reality only by the 4th quarter of 2016, what happens in the meantime with our tourism industry?
3. Who is responsible for what of this all-important industry?
4. And then to read in the governing program of the current coalition that government will "...review...and study the possibility of expanding the objectives and purpose of the STA" (and they have to be referring to the foundation), then I must conclude that the government truly believes that they can fool all of the people, all of the time.

This is unacceptable and we must speak up, because the writing is already on the wall and we are slipping, regardless to what the numbers say.