St. Maarten Private Eye

My wife and I are Americans who own property here in SXM. We recently went for a morning stroll along the boardwalk in P'burg. We noticed three things.

Firstly, the boardwalk and Front Street are delightful. The improvements that have been made there are possibly the best things SXM has done to upgrade its image and improve its visitors' experiences. Kudos to all involved!

Secondly, in our short stroll, especially at the head of town and at the Hodge Pier, we were accosted repeatedly by timeshare agents and braiders. We understand that people are just trying to make a living, but allowing hawkers to descend on every boatload of cruise ship passengers like a plague of locusts does not do SXM's image much good. Timeshare agents and braiders should be licensed and should be in booths where they would be available to visitors who desire their services. They should not be permitted to "accost" people walking past. Shame on all involved!

Thirdly, and most importantly, several times we saw members of the Soualiga Patrol on their rounds. Excellent, but we could not understand why they were patrolling in groups of two and three. If three members of the patrol are gathered together at the head of town, doesn't that leave the rest of the boardwalk and Front Street unprotected? Wouldn't their presence be even more effective if they patrolled singly? We do not believe the area is so unsafe that even the Patrol needs safety in numbers? Instead, without specific orders to patrol singly, we would guess that they are just patrolling in groups for companionship? Maybe their officers need to encourage them to patrol singly to increase their presence. In addition, a smile and a nod "Hello," to passersby would also do much to project the image of SXM as the "Friendly Island." J Swift