St. Maarten Private Eye

I think you need to take some Valium because you surely overact when someone says something you do not like. I never said they pay all of their taxes but I think most pay some & they do pay for licensing & they do pay association fees & they do pay the powers that be at the airport & the cruise port to operate there. Gypsies pay nothing at all to anyone & their vehicles half the time are falling apart & unsafe. I am thinking of the island as a whole & not just the Taxi drivers because without the tourists then Mrs. Haitian won't have any money to buy groceries at Afoo so she won't need a taxi metered or not.

I think that the ideas you have for metered minicabs with radios, etc is really good but they have to be legal. Gypsy cabs are a real nightmare in NY & anywhere else they operate because they are not regulated & therefore the person getting in is not protected at all. The gypsys do not just operate for the locals because they really want the tourists & their money but they take the locals because it is easier & safer. Check out Simpson Bay any night especially in season & try to walk from one restaurant to another. I guarantee you that at least every fourth car will slow down & ask you if you need a taxi & yet not one of those vehicles will have taxi plates. This starts by 7 pm or so which means I guess that the locals are left standing in front of the supermarkets or wherever if they want a taxi in the night. How about in the center of town during the day or on pond fill during the day? I get asked if I need a taxi by gypsys so often in those areas that I find it hard to believe that they are really serving the local population well.

Getreal4real