St. Maarten Private Eye

I think it's highly unlikely that the developer will continue this project, which means the island will once again be stuck with an incredibly ugly hillside scar. Also, with that uncanny time bomb in America ticking away... you know, CDS... tourism with destination St-Maarten will decrease speedily. So, based on the above what's left? Concrete, concrete and a lot more concrete. Yay! The island is officially uglified.
LaBega may say whatever she wants to say, but outstanding service won't do the trick if there's simply no money left in the average American's wallet. (which will happen! just you wait and see)

And with Barbaron, it's just too late. A good idea would be to build good housing facilities up there, so that shacks can be removed and people may live under decent circumstances. Who's with me?

Angelina

Rudy Nuess, owner of the land on the Cay Hill was warned that Carchidi would leave him holding the bag.
The hill is being nicely developed with some nice homes and Nuess could have followed that pattern.
But no, he refused to listen and now we have a situation by which he cannot fix the landscape anymore, not even to put in nice homes as the others that are being built.
The Barbaron high rise and other bullshit that Carchidi sold as his newest crap was way too much for SXM, it was just too large for that location.
Carchidi and other developers such as the Cape Bay developers (Indigo Beach) under estimate the power of the internet.
American, European and other prospective buyers can now search online to see what others think of their developments.
But, we are now stuck with this hill that is ugly and has severe soil runoff issues every time there is rain and storms.
So what do we do? the environmental bond is a good idea, but unlikely to be passed by this government for sure.
Most of these large developers do much harm to the environment on purpose as they need more land to maximize their profits and greed.

What about that house, just above the enormous gap...I might be wrong here, but with a heavy shower, stormy weather and heavy winds, won't it be exposed to real danger? I mean the soil is disappearing slowly with the water that's flowing to the lowest point and so it's in my view just a matter of time before we find some parts of the house a couple of metres below. I know it's not a very nice thought, but I don't see how there could be no dangerous situation now or within a few years' time.

Profits, blind profits, how long still?

Angelina

Angelina , I hope that you are wrong since we are the owners of the new house above that mess. We have put our life savings into that house , and trusted the government to do their duty. Sure. I hope that they don't think that it can be left the way that it is right now. The deveoper should have had to build some sort of retaining wall at least a year ago when they cut into the mountain sooooooo badly.We only live there part time with a booarder otherwise, so we obviously have no power of any kind. We have learned only after the whole fiasco of building there that virtually nobody does. Wish us luck , we'll have to start checking on the erosion especially after Omar.
Nancy

Nancy, is that what they said they would do, build a retaining wall to protect your house from possible damage? If so, maybe it's in the contract? I sincerely hope it is.
Seriously, I can't believe this government! They should have stepped in from the start and demanded such things as retaining walls. It's outrageous. This island desperately needs supervision, just like the todlers playing in kindergarten.

Angelina