St. Maarten Private Eye

Two kinds of….

It occurs to me after reading the views of Wild Willy and Ettiene “Touchi” Meyers in the press on Tuesday that there are two kinds of people. There are two kinds of Foreigners, there are two kinds of St. Maarteners, let me explain.

First of all, with the Foreigners. The first group can be characterized as people who have settled here, become part of the community. These people settled here for many reasons but mostly it was because they loved the island, the life and the people. They pay their taxes, they invest the money they make and their lives into the island, their home. These are the people who want to protect what little nature, culture or history is left to the island and are now calling for a debate on what they call out of control development.

The second group of foreigners are those that don’t live here, those that buy the land, build whatever they want and milk the money out to their other businesses and private accounts around the world. These people don’t care about the environment of the island and they certainly have very little interest in the historical or cultural preservation or the people that do live here, locals and foreigners alike. This is clearly demonstrated in Cupecoy, an important site that has now been bulldozed and lost forever. Most of the homes there will be owned by people that don’t live here, they just collect the rent.

There are also two kinds of St. Maarteners. There are those that despair at what is happening to their island, they remember being able to swim in the lagoon, driving from Cole Bay to Philipsburg in under10 minutes or being able to safely pick up a hitchhiker. This group of people feel helpless, government is secretive, intimidation is rampant and generally people are afraid to have too strong an opinion on anything, especially if a popular politician is behind it. They sigh and shrug their shoulders, “what can I do?”

The other kind of St. Maartener’s are those that chase the dollar and power above everything else, even their country and island home. Roy Marlin stated last week that “Progress in all forms is necessary”. That’s just a little bit open isn’t it? Like spreading your legs and saying I’m yours, show me the money! These people don’t care what St. Maarten will be like in 10 or 20 or even 50 years time, they care only about now, about getting on the money/power tree and climbing up. Haize wants more workers and he knows most of them at the new hotel will be foreign, time will tell if he has struck a deal to be the union at Dawn Beach. Etienne wants more land to scrape and dig for his equipment and company. He can’t have machines sitting gathering rust he says, government must provide work for them. No matter that maybe he might have too many machines, the island is so big after all, what’s he going to do when it’s all been scraped and concreted?

Both support this project and they have selfish reasons, the saddest part is that they are St. Maarteners who support the wholesale whoring of their island.

To the first group of foreigners I have this to say: Reach out to the first group of St. Maarteners, show them they are not alone. Talk about the issues with them, debate and discuss and encourage them to talk to others and speak up.

To the first group of St. Maartener’s I want to say: You are not alone. Not every foreigner is here to screw the island, those that make this their home are your friends. If it appears mainly foreigners are opposing the development at Dawn Beach then it’s only because most St. Maarteners have their eyes closed to whats going on. Please open them.

DBPrincess