The following article appears in the Monday 5/1 edition of SXM Weekly News. Unfortunately, its last
paragraph was unintentionally omitted during the editing process. That paragraph is in the version that
appears below:
Government Gives Timeshare Sector 90 Days to React to "Timeshare Authority";
How To Help Derail The Timeshare Authority, An Expensive Bureaucracy You'd Pay For

In recent weeks, we reported multiple times that timeshare owners in St. Maarten may be in for a rude awakening when they return to the island since the government wants to establish a Timeshare Authority — an expensive new bureaucracy — to oversee and administer its new timeshare owner consumer protection legislation. Both of these pieces of legislation are being considered by Parliament now.

Although we believe that the timeshare consumer protection legislation is a good first step toward what timeshare owners expect in the way of protection legislation from the Dutch Side government, we reported that the Timeshare Authority, in our opinion, is a vast overreach which will be expensive and unnecessary. We know that there are alternatives to it which can be equally effective at a far, far lower cost.

According to one estimate we've seen, the Timeshare Authority could cost timeshare owners a projected $200 per timeshare week owned added to timeshare owners' Annual Maintenance Fees. We've seen full details of the proposal and we regard it as a ponderous behemoth where something far more streamlined would solve any issues much more quickly and, as we noted, at a tiny portion of the cost of the Authority.

The Dutch Side Parliament and top Dutch Side government leaders are reviewing the proposal and are giving the timeshare industry 90 days to offer feedback on the proposed Timeshare Authority legislation. We are delighted to note that there seems to be a groundswell of opposition to the Authority. We join that chorus of opposition: annual maintenance fees are high enough as it is, and the vast majority of resorts today are doing their jobs and doing them well. There can be a mechanism to solve disputes and ensure compliance with new laws that is far simpler, far cheaper, and far more effective than this ponderous, expensive proposed bureaucracy.

If you are timeshare owner, it is in your interests to write to both local newspapers now in opposition to this plan. The government must realize once again that timeshare owners — tens of thousands of them — are the single strongest pillar of the island economy and they are the people who have always supported the island regardless of what else is going on. They need to be treated with respect and care, not burdened with another big weekly expense which -- added to high airfares and the high cost of SXM in general -- could wind up costing the island's economy serious, irreparable harm.
To send a letter to the editor to the Daily Herald: SXM - Daily Herald Letters Page editorial@thedailyherald.com . To write to the Today newspaper: Hilbert Haar todaymanagersxm25@gmail.com .