St. Maarten Private Eye

DAWN BEACH – The seemingly never-ending struggle between Miss B’s Island Spot and the Coral Beach Club Resort on Dawn Beach enters a new phase. Miss B’s owner Joan Verwoord challenges Duck’s manager Peyton Cromwell to a public debate to set the record straight. Today has offered to hold the debate in its offices. Cromwell has dismissed the idea as “part of a circus”.

The website stmaarteninvestments.com advertises the Coral Beach Club Resort as a gated community with amenities like secluded beach, 24 hour security, 68 reserved parking spaces and an outdoor pool, “directly on beach front property.” The project consists of 21 units, priced between $750,000.00 and $2,1 million. So far, the website coralbeachclub.net claims four villa’s have been sold for a total of roughly $6,5 million. The total market value of the project is $28 million.
The terrace surrounding the pool borders directly on the beach. Access to the beach is only possible via a narrow path between Coral Beach Club and Mr. Busby’s Beach Bar. In front of the club are two small businesses, which operated on Dawn Beach before the expensive seaside villas were built. One vendor offers water sports equipment; the other is Joan Verwoord’s beach bar. It is, like all other beach bars, a small operation, run from an open tent. A grill, a small wooden bar, some benches and a couple of cool boxes pretty much sum up the assets of the business. Verwoord also rents out 50 beach chairs and umbrellas.
There is nothing wrong with Ms. B’s Island Spot; however, the management of Coral Beach Club thinks it is an eyesore that might not sit well with prospective buyers of a $2,1 million beach villa. The company claimed it owns the beach in front of its property and used this as a basis to involve itself with the question which conditions the beach bar would have to meet in order to obtain a new vending license.
Verwoord asserted Coral Beach Club could not possibly own the beach, since all beaches on St. Maarten are public. The government issued a new certificate of measurement to this extent and also issued a new vending license to Verwoord. Duck International, not happy with this turn of events, now takes Government to court to have the license revoked. The case will be heard on June 19.
A couple weeks ago Duck International took out an ad in our newspaper under the header ‘Let’s set the record straight’. Joan Verwoord told Today that the company is ‘bending things’ in this ad to its own advantage. Conditions put forward in a concept-agreement make clear that Duck wants to eradicate the beach bar. It offers Verwoord $50,000 for removing her outfit “and never ever replace it with any other structures”. So far so good. In the ad, Duck claims it offered Verwoord “a rent free booth on the property of the Coral Beach Club Resort”.
“True,” says Joan, “But I can only operate that booth if I obtain a license. The day I do not get a license, for whatever reason, I am on the street with my business.”
The exclusive right to provide beach chairs to guests of the club is also a red herring, she says. “It actually means that I can rent my chairs only to guests of the club and not to others. What about tourists coming to the beach from cruise ships?”
Duck’s claim that it offered a ‘restaurant commercial space of 2,500 m2’ is also not completely straightforward, says Verwoord. In the concept-agreement this offer is tied to the condition “that commercial use as such will be allowed.”
Apart from that, Verwoord says, the price of $200,000 is too high. “I cannot afford that.”
Duck also claims Verwoord falsely accused it of denying public access to the beach. “But they did,” emphasizes Joan. “They put a gate across the footpath between their property and Mr. Busby’s. They had to take it away.”
Verwoord’s toilet’s facilities have been removed from the beach, as they were, according to Duck, not up to scratch. Amanda, a Trinidad-born waitress who has worked for Verwoord since she opened her business, told Today that she now gives customers with urgent sanitary needs a dollar so they can use the bathrooms at neighboring Mr. Busby’s. “We do not want our customers to pay for it, so we put up the money.”
Verwoord is a 35-year old born and bred St. Maartener. “My great-great-grandparents were slaves on the island,” she says. She worked eleven years with different responsibilities for Rouge et Noir Casino on Front Street. Seven years ago she decided to start her own business. Dawn Beach was an idyllic spot where people could park close to the beach. “I made a good living in the first couple of years,” Verwoord says. “I could feed my family easily. But since Duck arrived and built its property, my business has gone down by fifty percent.”
Verwoord fell out with her lawyer Melinda Hoeve. “She wanted me to sign the agreement and she wanted to see money. The court has sentenced Duck to pay my legal expenses, but they keep appealing so they haven’t paid yet. Then Melinda came to me for payment but I told her this is not the way it works.”
Peyton Cromwell, asked for a comment on Verwoord’s challenge to a debate, said “I have been listening to her abuses and twisting things for one-and-a-half year. What we stated in our advertisement is quite clear. I see her challenge as part of the circus.” SMNN and The Today

O Psilos
I dunno why this story is posted anonymous with an SMNN-signature at the end.
Just for the record: this story appeared in this mornings edition of Today.
I don't mind finding my work back on Private Eye, on the contrary, but I'd like my newspaper to get credit for it.

Is probably because it is also posted on SMNN website and whomever copied and posted it here put SMNN as the source. I haven't read today's papers yet so I haven't seen your story, but I don't question your word on it.

Certainly it is my policy and that of SXM PE to give credit to where reports and news clippings come from. I have communicated with SMNN via email in the past and have begged them to start posting stories on individual pages so that they can be linked to and archived better. As it is, both AVS and SMNN do not have achives, it seems that they both delete old stories/videos when new ones get posted.

Here's a proposal for you O Psilos, for the Today.

We will put you in touch with someone who can set up a website for the Today paper, probably even hosted by the same people as SXM PE. It will be Drupal based and we can even put you in touch with someone who can help you set up administration and appearance here on the island. It would cost a little, maybe a couple thousand $'s, but you can generate most of this by selling 6-8 advertising spots for the first 2 months.

You could make a launch on your print paper, you set up a delay system where only a few main stories are published on the same day so people will still buy the print paper, other stories could be added the day after. It would ba a very simple system to teach reporter to post stories on it.

One of the reasons we try to record and file so much news here is really because we see it as a public service. It is a reference library not only for ourselves, but also students, civil servants and the general public who have found it very useful, I expect is very useful for journalists like you too. I also think it helps to broaden minds and expand knowledge and understanding in general.

Trust me, I and others here would much rather put a link to a Today website page for a story instead of spending the hours we do scanning and posting news paper clippings. It would help us to keep the discussions on here more topical for one thing.

There are other new websites and forums coming for SXM in the near future, these sites, like SXM PE, will drive the visitors to your site, which enables you to pay for it and its upkeep through advertising. I dare say that if done right you could draw a couple thousand visitors a day.

When SXM PE gets uprgaded in the next couple of weeks, it will be a lot easier for users to submit information and stories, it will be a standard and simple to use system that automatically files it and credits the source. With the system we have now, stories like that above should be posted as a PAGE, by a registered user, then a link to that page put in the comment and also filed in the relevant thread. It's a poor setup that is labor intensive and too complicated and confusing for most people right now.

I will add the Today to the accreditation at the end of the posting. Let me know your thoughts on the above. This thread is getting kind of crowded, perhaps post your response over on the Upgrades Posting on the Front page and we can discuss it there.

Flipper

SMNN Website - Local News

Flipper Nice suggestions but it is made to the wrong horse.. If you can count how many people including a former Lt. Governor worked for Today and they could not get their message across... Good luck to the new reporter

We need to expose the name of this lawyer

Name: Melinda Hoeve.
Occupation: lawyer
Law firm: Duncan-Brandon and associates.
Duncan?? our current Minister of Constitional affairs/Home affairs as he enjoys calling it.
Joan could not afford to pay her lawyer anymore, the lawyer then suggests to Joan to cut a deal with Duck, so that she she can get paid.
Joan prefers not to cut a deal, still owes her lawyer Melinda payment.
However, Is it unlawful for a lawyer to take on a case (SXM Gov.) of which the client was previously a third party is unclear to many.
Legal minds of SXM and Antilles, please speak up.
Joan is fighting both Duck and Government at this point and the cases against each other are becoming multiple.

That is why we need a complete overhaul of this island council and obviously also this Execuive Council. If the proper rules and regulations were in place and executed Joan would not have the problems she has today. The law on the onbudsman is still on the shelves in the government building awaiting the replacement of this government for a new government in order to get things done. It is also a shame that we have other legal minds out there which could have helped Joan pro-bono but again it is all about money. No money no love. It seems that morals and values dont exist in this country. It is indeed time for a change and I hope on Friday the change will come. I also agree that there should be some code of ethics for lawyers. ONe recommendation to improve this site is to add groups in order to bring the people together in a chat format in order to exchange ideas how to help Joan and others like Joan with her problems.
Hen Ling

Hen Ling Soon:

There is a code of ethics for lawyers. It is called the code of conduct or rules of conduct. Most lawyers abide by it. There is also an active supervisory council and they can impose punishment if a lawyer is found to be in violation of the rules. This council can also disbar a lawyer. There are hearings several times a year although frequency is depending on the number of complaints filed. The dean of the Bar Association can get you the address.

This council consists of an impartial professional judge and two experienced lawyers. Like in any decent country, it is a judge that decides on sanctions against people and not the average garagiste. Before a judge hands down a sentence he listens to both sides of a story. It is the right to be heard; a component of the fair trial principle. A website is not a trial. We can not expect Hoeve to defend her decision on this website as she is not at liberty to share privileged information about her professional relation with Joan. That is a rule from the rules of conduct you claim not to exist: the client attorney privilege. You didn't know?

Annother legal principle is the presumption of innocence. It is applied in disciplinary trials and it also applies to Hoeve. You being an ex-police officer should know. Hoeve is presumed innocent until found to be in violation of the rules. Not the other way around. I think it is unfair if not libelous to mention her name in a context of lacking morals and values. She is not known as such. Libel may be "punishable" in a civil suit. Pro Bono advice for you. Use it to your advantage.

There are lawyers who do pro bono cases. Morals and values certainly exist but can't pay bills. Joan is a business woman. She sells food and drinks to the tourist. It is not that she gives it away for free. It must be a profitable business or else she would not have fought so hard to keep her license and stay where she is. While she is in court fighting her fights her business is open and makes money. Why exactly should she have free legal service? Besides. Pro bono publico litterally means for the public good. The issue with Joan is not about the question in general if beaches are public. They are presumed to be. It is in the law. The issue is different. It is about the continuance of her business against the will of a neighbor who claims she is on their land. While some may think it is more than that -the local card being played and all- I fail to see more in it. It is a typical dispute between two neighbors and the stage happens to be a beach.

Having said all that, I happen to be one of the many that think Joan is right and should keep her business where it is as it is. I disagree however that her lawyer has some moral obligation to fight Joan's personal fight free of charge. After all, it is about business and not charity. Do you fix her cars for free?

Thanks for the feedback. Dont you think that fixing a car or being a lawyer or doctor is quite different? I am not dealing with the issue of being right or wrong but these sectors requires some trust and confidence between the two parties. What about if a lawyer pass confidential information of his customer to the lawyer from the other party for compensation.? The highest bidder. I do understand that we are living in a society where money talks and BS walk. I nevertheless hope that one day morals and values will also be part of this society. I just heard that in Curacao a particular political party bought voting cards from voters in order for them not to vote. How far can and will we go.
Have a blessed day. Also I do not have anything personal with Melinda but the issue is important. I apologize for asking the name of the lawyer as I should have addressed the issues based on a profession and not the name of the person as I do not know all the details.
Hen LIng

A day at the beach and coincidentally bumping into friends is always nice. Easter would have been good though. Maybe Sunday will be a nice sunny day, maybe see a few more friends on a Sunday than a work day, what do you think?

LH

My kids are off from April 23rd, so I suppose the 29th on a Sunday would be a nice day. A nice swim and a bit of Frisbee anyone?