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Eyes Wide Shut
As I drove down the Pondfill Road a couple days ago for the first time in a couple weeks my heart sank looking at the amount of pond being filled for the Ring Road. I started to wonder how many other people who gave no thought to it a couple months ago are now thinking that maybe it's not such a great idea after all?
No doubt when the flooding happens, and I think most of us know it will, then it will be blamed on 'freak weather' or some such stupidness. What is clear this morning in the Daily Herald is that much more of the pond is being filled than is necessary for the road.
The biggest laugh these last days was not the comedy show, but the lauding of TO by the PM and others for his 'vision'. LOL, too darn funny. What won't be funny will be the flooding caused by his filling of the Salt Pond for his stupid road. I'll tell you this though, while I'll feel sad for those who suffer from that flooding, I won't have much sympathy. They had a chance to speak up and the only ones that did were the Foundations, the businesses around the pond were silent. I've come to the conclusion that they probably deserve whatever they get.
In this article, William Marlin proudly announces his 500 social homes initiative, which is a good one in essence as low income housing is desperately needed by many residents currently on waiting lists. However, William plans about 200 of those homes on the filled land created for the Ring Road. read more here:
http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/m207/housem207.html
W. Marlin states in that article: "It involves the ring-road project and expanding (so creating more land) in two particular areas for the construction of what he estimates to be 200 homes. Marlin said a developer had already shown interest in the project".
Meanwhile, Theo denies knowing anything about the development of 200 homes (great communication between ExCo members eh?) on the "Ring Road land".
Now, of particular interest is information that school childeren are conveying, which is that this created land has already been given out in long lease to, amongst others, the son of William Marlin. The same son that operates one of the building companies together with the brother of Sarah's son-in-law.
So, it would not surprise me one bit if the "developer that has already shown interest in the project" turns out to have close ties to (the family of) William Marlin.
A "New Beginning" my ass: same shit, different players.
I have commented numerous times on this forum about car limitations per household. One example where such a limitation has been in place is Bermuda. Also an island nation which has had a car limitation policy for years! Why can't the same be done on SXM ? Building more roads is not the solution, it will never be THE solution to relieve the roads of the 1000's of cars now riding on them. Here are some excerpts from Bermuda. Although an impopular restriction, it is one that will have to be made. SXM can't take the load of cars now and also not in the future. Public works can't even maintain the roads we already have, let alone maintain even more roads! The island is totally saturated with cars! A policy on the limitations of cars would have to be done in conjunction with the French side. If they don't want to cooperate then a toll or tax should be implemented on every French car wanting to drive on the Dutch side.
Here are some excerpts:
Private cars and taxis
Cars were not allowed in Bermuda until 1946, however today Bermuda has a large number of private cars, almost one for every two inhabitants; however only residents are allowed to drive cars. This is largely because with close to 300,000 visitors a year allowing car rental in one of the world's most densely populated islands would quickly bring traffic to a standstill, as well as bankrupt the island's taxi industry. Car prices are much higher than in the United States, Canada, and Europe, due to heavy import duties, and residents are also limited to one car per household. The size of cars is also restricted, meaning that many models popular in mainland United States, Canada, and Europe are not available in Bermuda. Only the Governor and Premier are exempt from these restrictions.
There is no car hire; visitors may only rent low-power motor scooters; they may also use the extensive public bus system, or take taxis. The highest speed limit anywhere on the island is 35 km/h (approximately 20 mph), and it is lower in built-up and other congested areas.
http://www.bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=270&ArticleID=33288
http://www.bermuda-online.org/wheels.htm
http://www.gov.bm/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=253&&PageID=477&mode=2&in_hi_userid=2&cached=true
Hopefully some eyes will be opened, the time for limitation of the amount of cars on SXM is now!
Now there is an idea for TO's Road Fund: charge every French car wanting to drive on the Dutch side a toll.
Great idea!
That would help solve a number of problems in one shot by stopping all those cars on the road with fake/stolen French number plates and getting them off the road (less cars) as they are also uninsured (increased safety) and driven by people with no driver's license (illegals?).
Yes, levying a toll or road tax on French vehicles should have been done a very long time ago, at least charge them a congestion fee, numerous cities and metropolitan areas in the world are doing this to relieve the road network of vehicles, congestion, polution etc. Think about it... I have a lot of good ideas, too bad they are not the most popular ones, but the island needs relief! The situation can't continue like this any longer.
Flooding has occurred without a Ring Road being there: we vividly remember hurricanes Luis & Lenny. Most businesses in the immediate surrounding were flooded up to there waists in water.
Most businesses hope to see an improved flow of traffic as it hurts business to be in daily traffic jam on Pondfill and/or Illidge Road. No one knows yet if it will improve the flow of traffic, but most do believe it could be beneficial.
Ofcourse, it would be even better if they could combine the building of the Ring Road with a pubic transportation overhaul as suggested by other bloggers.
Well though it might be true that there was flooding during those hurricanes, you can't really support the idea of the Ring Road if implementing it means the problem worsens. More construction at the cost of pond area just means more flooding. Sure the problem of traffic jams will be temporarily fixed, but as the amount of cars on the island increases, you'll see that our little project wasn't very helpful. More roads isn't the solution, car-control is. And apparently our 'visionary commissioner' either doesn't see this, or doesn't care.
I can't see that this Ring Road is going to help increase business in town, parking is still going to be a nightmare and the new parking spaces Theo claims to be creating (more pond filled unnecessarily) is going to be down towards Office World and old Van Dorp. That's a long way to walk if you plan to go to Front Street or Back Street and walk back with shopping, not a very pleasant one either after it rains. I really don't see how it's going to help much. People who need to go to Office World or Let's Travel are going to go, with or without the RR, I don't see many going just because it's a little easier, maybe.
I'm glad you mentioned the public transport overhaul, I am guessing you are talking about the ideas I proposed a few months ago as alternatives for the Ring Road. My ideas would probably have cost as much as TO's road, roundabouts, beautification and lampposts will end up costing, maybe even a little more. But they would have been far far more beneficial to business AND the public of St. Maarten and would have created almost 500 long term real jobs.
Instead of filling in pond for car parks, the Govt. could have invested in 3 or 4 story car garages as I mentioned. I used the parking lot by the Admin building when I was in town, I sat in my car and waited 25 mins for someone to leave so I could get a space and I must have seen about 20 other cars drive in and drive out in that time. Money and jobs lost.
I could go on and on about this topic, but I am strapped for time. I think that my Monorail idea would have done far far more for business, making it easier and faster for people to get around and also more attractive for tourists to use. Having police foot patrols in town in the day and evenings would also be a better way to increase business, just making P'burg a safe and welcome place to go in the evening and night again would bring as much benefit I think as the RR will.
I've come to realize though that an idea like a Monorail will never fly here, there are just too many people threatened by it, rental cars, buses, taxi drivers for example. Never mind that it would really help everyone get around and ease congestion, but also create a couple hundred jobs long term directly and indirectly. I keep saying Long Term because the work and jobs TO is providing right now will not be there for long and those his RR creates will be minimal.
I have to be honest, I think those who think business is going to improve because of the RR are rather nieve and perhaps have 'hope' as the foundation for that belief. We are going to see, we are going to see if floods in the coming years will be worse and we will see if business improves any significant amount or if it relieves congestion.
I promise I won't take any satisfaction if what I have said about it all is validated, I am pretty confident I will be and it just makes me sad.
Hady
I've come to realize though that an idea like a Monorail will never fly here, there are just too many people threatened by it, rental cars, buses, taxi drivers for example. Never mind that it would really help everyone get around and ease congestion, but also create a couple hundred jobs long term directly and indirectly. I keep saying Long Term because the work and jobs TO is providing right now will not be there for long and those his RR creates will be minimal.
So, tell me, why DOES it work in other places?
Best,
Cassie
I agree with your ideas and concepts but you also need to realize that no politician is going to introduce these as they heed the wrath of groups like the taxi and bus drivers.
I should have been more clear when I stated: business will improve. I meant, doing business with businesses in the Philipsburg area will improve as deliveries to them will most probably go faster than is the case now (daily grid-lock).
Dredging the remaining pond would be a solution against the flooding that WILL occur (with or without a RR).
The current reality of the island is that we have 2 cruise piers and the ships are getting bigger, filled with more people, meaning more tourists on our shores.
Apart from a mono-rail (or other form of public trans), there is a need for additional and improved road network (linking up the so-called links). This should never impede on our national heritage / monuments though, which should be protected at all costs. However some of that heritage is a toxic mess called the great salt pond (thanks to the great visionaries that thought putting a dump in the middle of Philipsburg was the way to go).
I am against filling in more than is absolutely necessary for the creation of a new road, but also realize that there is simply no way back. The greedy boys in power (put their by the greedy electorate) has chosen mass tourism as the bread and butter. This is a result of that concept and we have little choice but deal with it on a daily basis.
we chose quantity tourism instead of quality, fast food restaurants, dropping of quality products in frontsteet, the need of bulk foreigners to cater for the bulk tourism, no rules, no tax control, influx of foreign investors to benefit of all of this, greedy business men that want to get rich on the backs of the citizens, and want to own everything, and raising prices of food etc. No planning. Enviroment distruction. No unity of the locals to fight these forces, no politicians with testicles to do what is good for the locals.
Corrupt politicians and civil servants. Corrupt private citizens and foreigners that pay the civil servants and politicians to get even more, and it goes on and on.
Add this all up and what do you get, increase of crime, collapsed health care, immigration problems, education issues, traffic congestion, power problems, etc etc.
Now the question, did we lose the war, can we change things? we need a total plan ! Not only the enviroment, as this is only one aspect that suffered due to the above.
All that's been said is true, but I just can't help but wonder why we don't work on car-control. Though development is needed, solving underlying or older problems wouldn't hurt us.
Car control seems difficult because of, again, the complex dynamics of SXM.
Take for instance my household: I have a car and a job that mandates driving, my mother, a senior citizen, has one to do her errands on her own schedule and my brother's family has a third that they use for their various activities.
It's technically two families with various needs in one: I can't give up my car and I wouldn't let my mother give up hers. Now, consider things like apartments where there already aren't even enough parking spaces for tenants and families that want more than one car.
Public transportation (which is not actually public - owned by you or me) is a mess.
Bus drivers are unreliable and routinely endanger their passengers and hinder traffic to earn a little extra.
Not to play devil's advocate, but who could blame them?
There are too many of them on the road.
Simple truth is we let too many things get too far out of hand on this little island.
I agree with you to a certain extent but, don't you find 3 cars in your household just a bit too many? Ever heard of car-pooling? Once the amount of cars is tackled and limited next hurdle to take would be centralizing the bus owners, have them work shifts and follow schedules and specific routes. If no agreement made, government centralizes the bus system by making a real public transport system. The former private bus drivers have 2 options, 1. become an employed bus driver or 2. become a taxi driver. However this last option will also be submitted to a limit. This system works in Bermuda and I don't hear people there complain, actually they agree with the system. Secondly, Bermuda has senior citizens and they get around quite fine, no complaints! Special buses are used for the elderly, mornings schoolbuses carry children to school and pick them back whereby not overloading the main public system for daily commuters. St. Maarten has never had a proper public transport system, we chose the easy road and left the private sector fill this in. Result: chaos! Buses don't ride according to a schedule, are not reliable, often changes their routes without notice, no proper bus stops etc. etc. etc.
Moral of this is stop looking for faults, start looking at yourself and asking yourself what can you do to change the situation. Obviously having 3, 4 and sometimes 5 cars per household is not solving the situation. Sharing the island with another nation which has an economic problem that most of it's inhabitants work on the Dutch side but don't contribute not 1 single cent to the road costs, has got to stop! The amount of French cars on the Dutch side that are literally clogging our roads is insane! It's about time that they too contribute in the form of a toll, permit or whatever you may call it. Furthermore the distances in SXM are not that far either, especially in and around town, but people refuse to walk, why? Laziness!!!!! Some people actually take their car to go just down the road and back, incredible! And don't talk about the sun hot etc. lame excuses!
It really is too bad there is absolutely no political will for anything green. Nada.
Which is exceptional because St Maarten needs a revolution when it comes to sustainable solutions.
And if anyone is still driving one of those big SUVs from the US, please consider the planet and choose a greener vehicle.
It's pretty much murder (indirectly though, but still) of the coming generations. Grandchildren? They will hate us for being so irresponsible. And rightly so!