St. Maarten Private Eye

I am always glad when the airport issue and shambolic management is brought to this platform.

One can only hope that the management improves airside otherwise we are waiting for an accident to happen.

The airport , as far as passengers are concerned, is a terrible experience.

The parking is in the wrong place. No baggage trollys, limited or no porters. God bless the old chap who is regularly there. But he cannot handle more than a person at a time.

Take a look where they tow cars to from the front of the building ! That is really crazy. " Oh lets tow the cars and then park them closer to the aircraft !!!"

On immigration. big yawn. The comments of the immigration Dept on enforcing the law. The average tourist arriving here poses no threat to the immigration of these islands, at all. Getting serious about immigration requires controls on illegal workers, who live in substandard conditions, drive cars with no insurance, licences and statistically will turn to petty or more serious crime to make ends meet.

The tourist who has paid to be here will return home, may well commit a crime on the island, but that is more likely to be associated with over consumption of alchohol

If you had a working immigration department who liased with the police it would have far more effect than the easy touch of "catching out" tourists.

Of course highlighting tourist infringements is politically beneficial but in the long term very damaging.

The police would be more effective if they recruited from off island so that no "favors" were shown.