Protests blocking routes to the French side

Breaking news

There is a lot of chatter about this on another site from people who live on the island and the latest update is that negotiations are not going well so they expect it to continue to be blocked. I should say into the evening.

Fine by me, I am more than happy to spend my visit on the Dutch side.

I must have missed what the PLU is / is planning to do??

What is the PLU and why are residents upset?

I don't really understand it, but I guess it's like zoning laws. But there is also some component of people who have owned land for generations now have to pay the government for it. Found this in the Daily Herald

OK, what I got from this is that residents are protesting 2 main items:
An increase in population density in Grand Case & Marigot due to the building height restrictions being relaxed (now buildings cannot be higher than 3 floors).

Zoning changes that would make certain areas (the Lowlands?) as agricultural zones.


Does anyone else have any input?

PLU is the Plan Local Urbanize. It deals with rezoning areas as urban.

From the updates on that story, with the four cruise ships in port today, there may be some cruise ship passengers who miss their ship!!

I'll have to agree with the protesters. However, it's about impossible to fight "big money" interests.

Can you imagine all those tour buses trying to make u turns when they reach the road block. Hope they knew about this before heading out. Going to be a quiet day at Orient Beach and other french side beaches. Bet SSBB and Mullet are packed with all these displaced cruisers.
Lots of chairs and umbrellas set up in Great Bay today.

Is the road blocked from Philipsburg to Orient Beach for the cruisers?

This was in the article from above:
"visitors to the island might suffer because they will be blocked in on the French side and miss their cruise ships, however, she said that at this particular moment they will leave the Oyster Pond border open in order for taxi drivers to take the tourists they have with them back to the French side. Carty did not say how long they will leave the French Quarter border open but she made clear that the issue affecting St. Martin people is on the front burner and unless the elected officials decide to stop the PLU and go back to the drawing board they will not stop the protest action and the blocking of all entrances to leading to the French side of the island."

The only roads blocked are the 3 main roads into Marigot. The road from Philipsburg to Orient Bay and Grand Case are open.

Bob--Those roads were re-opened then, or the story was wrong, they were never closed?

the latest word I heard on Facebook is that
grand case airport, french quarter, oyster pond are blocked. They are asking all taxi drivers, tour bus operators to move through the oyster pond border and take all visitors they have with them back to the dutch side as the protest action and road blocks are now spreading out. the only exit and entrance that will remain open is oyster pond

One of the ships was supposed to leave at 3, according to the port schedule, and is still there, so I guess the ships may be late leaving today..

edit... One ship is leaving now. I can't imagine that there are a lot of people stuck somewhere, if that ship is leaving..

Ursula from I Love My Island Dog lives n French Quarter..she just posted on FB that french Quarter is blocked..no access to oyster Pond any more

Posted an hour ago that Grand Case blocked now too, French Quarter to come by woman Barbara mentions.

If anyone hears of a way to get to the French side or if protests are listed will you please post? We arrived today and are waiting on the Dutch side to be able to drive to orient beach! Thanks!

souali....we just came back from Orient. beach boys were running down the beach advising folks to head out asap. We are staying in Oyster Pond. Took route back to Orlenas and there was a white van blocking the road right at the intersection for turning onto the coastal route. Must just have been put in place around 2:30 as there were not many cars backed up. I've used detours there in past so knew where to duck into to bypass and pick up the coastal road close to the canal bridge.
However, the road was blocked for sure. For how long, don't know as we boogied right out of there.
Myslef, I suspect the timing was designed to catch as many cruiser busses in the gridlock and force ships to either sail without them or stay in port.

Talked to our unit manager who lives just down the row from us. He is a resident and knows the roads. Was in Grand Case, cannot get to Oyster Pond.

Glad you got through. I'm not going anywhere from my house in Oyster Pond.

from all reports, this is going to last quite awhile

I have always thought the French side more visually pleasing because of the lack of high-rises and "clutter". It looks like the country side of France.

I realize the island depends on tourism but at what cost? For those who remember how Simpson Bay & Maho looked in the 70's I ask is it better now that it looks like another Las Vegas?

Wow, outofthebox, that is tough. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> What an arrival day!!!!

I was wondering why the beach covered by the Perch camera was empty.

As well as the cruisers I just thought about all the planes bringing people who are staying somewhere on the island. WestJet would have just landed at 4 p.m. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Sad.gif" alt="" />

One person who came in today has already posted on this thread. I feel so sorry for them!

Me too!!

Not to mention the people that are leaving to come home and need to catch their flight.

This is our 12th trip to Orient Beach...makes us realize we have taken access to paradise for granted! We are at Sunset Beach Bar waiting....has anyone heard anything?

Great time to run a water taxi.

Sounds like a great idea! Where can we pick one up? Oyster Pond?

Great venture for soualigacapt to get going.

roads still blocked ..negotiations taking place

I don't understand why the Gendarmes aren't arresting these people and moving them on-they must be breaking some laws. It may have been OK in the middle of the day but when tourists start missing ships or planes and locals can't get home to their children etc-this is nuts.

It just shows how determined they are for their cause. Bigger the pressure the better and quicker the negotiation results.

this is not against the law. nor is it nuts. It's unfortunate..but it is very typical in France for people to take to the streets to stand up for their rights.

I'm wondering what happens at airport with the number of planes that are coming in to leave & pick up people. If planes are waiting for their passengers where will they all fit? Will some land elsewhere & wait for room?
Everyone's nightmare there today. Grand case never did get international designation for their airport I dont think. Too bad, some of jets could land there. Bad situation that's for sure.

Flights will leave on schedule whether confirmed passengers show up or not. As it should be. Not all departing are from the French side. So no need to hold up departures. Good for standbys.

Impossible, the runway is too short! I doubt planes will wait.

Gotta say, we here in the US do not understand this, that it is not even illegal to block roads..

it's interesting that it's apparently ok for the French to stand up for their rights while tromping on the rights and freedoms of their neighbours-seems a bit one sided to me.

you cannot speak for a situation you do not understand. the people on the french side are trampled on every day by abusive colonial laws. It's about time they stand up for their rights even if it means temporary inconvenience for others.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

We are here now. We did the Tiko Tiko cruise today and should have known something was up when we tried to get through Marigot this morning. We are staying in Simpson Bay and got turned around in Marigot. We turned around and went the other direction and still got to Papagayo's in time to catch our boat. However,when we came back in we found aware now trapped on the French side with limited clothes and money. We are eating now at Papagayo and trying to determine what to do next. Some of the people on the trip hired a boat to get them to Oyster Bay and were trying to get a taxi to carry them the rest of the way. Another couple on the trip with us tried to get back and could not. They are back here eating and trying to decide what to do. We may just get a room here at Club O tonight and see if we can wait out the protest.

This situation is just intolerable. Let us know how you make out..

Making people miss their flights and ship departures is far beyond a "temporary inconvenience".

If anything could totally kill the St. Martin / Sint Marteen tourism industry, this is it!

As word of this spreads SXM will go back to the 1960s in terms of visitors and tourism revenue which is the mainstay of the island's economy. (Both sides).

We have enjoyed our 15 vacations on SXM...but we will not be back!

May the blockaders get what they want...poverty and an ego trip...

Sadly...

Bill,

OMG....protesters close the roads for one day, and a day you aren't even on the island....and threatening to never return to the island??? I am sure a protest will not bring the island back to the 1960s...... Do you even know what the protesters are protesting against????

Obviously this protest is over something bigger than most of us tourists understand...and it sure sounds like this has been planned for a long time. It obviously has gotten the attention that it wanted.

Where would we have been as Americans, if our forefathers didn't start to dump that tea in Boston Harbor????

I do not personally know the cause of this protest...but if it is to advance and help the people who live there then all the power to them. We all complain that things should change on SXM, maybe this is going to be the beginning of something good. Time will tell.

thank you EdB
appreciate the support. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

If your at Papagayo's you won't need much in the way of clothing. Money is a different problem. Hope it all works out for you. Got a plastic card?

I just heard a temporary agreement has been reached and roads are not blocked any mre

Whether people have legitimate issues is one thing and I have no doubt that the protestors have legitimate concerns. But this situation is anarchy pure and simple. Makes St Martin look like a banana republic. To compare this to the Boston Tea Party is comical. I have reservations for a visit this Saturday and will now cancel.

I see all of our fair weather friends and love their postings
a one day protest and everyone is cancelling? absolutely ridiculous!
<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

Anyone of you Americans heard about the riots and looting in Baltimore or is this something that just happens in St. Martin ??? Hopefully it won't degenerate into what happened there.

The security guard just told us that the road blocks would be coming down in a few minutes. We will try and see what happens. Hoping we get through tonight. We do have plastic cards to get by on if we have to stay.

the riots in Baltimore were violent. as far as I know, there was no violence here. and some resolutions were made which is good. the people on both sides of the island support this protest. sorry for people who were inconvenienced but this was absolutely necessary for the livelihood and protection of local st martiners. without it their land was being taken away from them by implenting ancient colonial laws.

OK, that is great news, if so, and people on both sides of the issue need to understand that this situation has caused damage to the economic health of the island and a long term solution needs to be made. Tourism is the number one income of the island, despite what some politicians may try to spout.

Not sure I understand the posts regarding Baltimore. One doesn't justify the other. By the way what occurred In Baltimore was anarchy where the government completely failed its citizens and I have no plans to visit Baltimore either.

Hope you are able to get back 'home' to where you are staying tonight. Please do post an update when you can.

My point is that a peaceful demonstration in St. Martin has all the foreigners up in arms and saying they will never come back and look at what they have in their own country.

I think there is a huge qualitative difference between a "peaceful demonstration" and a demonstration, however peaceful, that prevents someone from being able to get to their accomodation for several hours, when they have NO idea whether they will be able to get to their hotel or not, and or/causes someone to miss their cruise ship. I sincerely hope that no one missed their ship today because of this incident. For an economy that depends solely on tourism, this is a horrible black mark. For people living on island, a 'temporary inconvenience' for a day is aggravating. For a tourist who saves up for a week long vacation for an entire year, it equates to a reason not to return.

There are already enough reasons for tourists to be wary about going to ST. Martin, from crime concerns to the Euro (not nearly as big a deal recently, agreed), to seaweed, etc. Don't give people more reasons not to come to St. Martin/St. Maarten. It's just not wise.

Just wanted to let everyone know that we did get back to the condo in Simpson Bay after the roadblocks were taken down. The people that hired the boat from Orient to Oyster Bay might have jumped the gun a little early. They paid a $100 per person to get back to the Dutch side. If they had stuck it out a little longer they could have gotten there by road. Traffic was pretty light when we finally got word all was clear and we could go.

Glad to hear you were able to get back to your hotel ok.

Today I have talked to 3 people who were aware of the issues, and to boil it down to basics, they're all concerned that it will result in a reduction of their property values. I know I would be up in arms over this in the states, as would many others, citing the takings clause.

The other concern is that the French side will begin to more resemble the Dutch side. I would be concerned about this as well, even though it is a longer term threat.

Fortunately, we were able to roll with the punch on this, getting back to GCBC around 4 hours later than planned, but productively filling the gap. I'm sure there are lots of cruisers who got stuck after they closed down the Oyster Pond route.

Carol, relative to your latest response on effect on cruise ship visitors and cruise lines, by default.
Oct 20 2 ships in. Oct 21 no ships in. Oct 22 4 ships in. Oct 23 1 ship in. And on it goes. Obviously the "demonstration" today was targeted to the highest presence of ships in port sine Oct 14. Next 4 ship day is Nov 3. One of the objectives must have been to trap as many cruise ship visitors as possible in the gridlock and inconvenience the cruise lines. Road blockages started around 1 to 2 pm, when the busses/taxi's were well out on the French side. I wonder how many visitors missed their sailing deadline, or how many ships had to stay in port. Why not flex the muscle on a 0 cruise ship day? Had one on 21st and another coming up on 24th.
Voting is the way this should be handled, not a bunch of irresponsible anarchistic behavior, probably by a very small minority of the residents. This type of behavior ultimately causes more problems in the future.

Carol, I don't understand the part about the Euro? Why would the local currency (esp. a major world currency) make people wary of traveling to St Martin?

With regard to the protest, I think we tourists have to remember we are visitors and that crap will happen when you travel. For some, yes, it will stop them from going or returning. For others it becomes part of the adventure. For the people who live on the island, the issue that they are protesting will likely impact them for years.

It sounds to me like this is more an act of civil disobedience. And civil disobedience is a key tool in a democracy.

If it does degenerate into something similar to Baltimore than I hope it is limited to the French side.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. If the protesters In Saint Martin want to compare themselves to the rioters in Baltimore than I feel very sorry for them.

What an amazing comment. People don't travel to the island to be experiencing these major inconveniences and possibly have their vacations ruined. We know what we have in our own country and aren't accepting of this type of behavior in our own place of residence.

I will continue traveling to St Maarten and continue favoring the Dutch side.

We were starting to get highway protests in the US over the summer where members of the Black Lives Matter group would shut a major freeway down in several cities across the nation on the same day. These protests are never sanctioned with permits as they endanger public safety. I find it massively counterproductive as for getting people to listen to your causes but that's just me. The major difference in the US compared to the island is the geographic size allows most to be inconvenienced but also able to find many alternate routes (the people on the highway are screwed however).

If I were behind this type of protest in the US with my pregnant wife that was having a medical emergency I would beep my horn and yell out the window to try to get them to move out of they then accelerate and plow through....I would not feel the least bit bad about any injuries/deaths that will occur as a result and I doubt a jury would blame me as well. I only say this because if theses type of protests continue to happen a situation similar to that is bound to occur and my prediction is that you will never see another protest like that again (tougher penalties for the protesters). Standing up for what you believe in or what you want changed is one thing but possibly endangering the public is entirely different. I realize that different cultures/countries do things entirely different but being different doesn't mean its right. Getting back to your resort 4 hours late is minor inconvenience, missing a plane/ship is a major inconvenience, dying because you are separated from the hospital or the ambulance can't get to you should be a criminal offense. These type of protests have probably never had any deaths attributed to them.....but that's probably more to do with luck rather than design.

A protest is a protest and they are done to make a point. That's the whole idea. I willing to bet not one cruise ship passenger missed the ship. Under the circumstances they wait. Ships are delayed all the time for medical emergencies, mechanical breakdowns (quite often) etc. It happens. Airlines are delayed and cancelled all the time too. It's a pain in the neck but it happens. Many of the people protesting probably have businesses that lost money yesterday. They were willing to sacrifice in order to make a point and get attention for their cause. Luckily it remained peaceful. Neither is fun and easy to deal with. Of course if you do not agree with the cause you get mad by the inconvenience but it is not the end of the world. Everyone is so worried about inconvenience to tourists and it is inconvenient but who remembers when the local population was inconvenienced when 2500 cruise ship people had to be moved from the ship to the airport when the ship was stuck in SXM. The roads were blocked all day on the dutch side. Money was lost and appointments were missed. We took in stride and were happy to help the stranded tourists and we stayed off the roads. We all pitched in to make the tourists feel that St. Martin cared about them. My vacation to France was delayed and inconvenienced by a Air France strike. It made me miss the first few days and cost me 2 extra days in Paris which was expensive but it was what it was. Going on vacation does not mean that you are protected from the normal affairs that happen in life.

Yes, your money spent is important and appreciated but the local people have issues that are just as important to them as is your vacation is to you even though of the over 2 million tourists that come to St. Martin maybe a couple of hundred or less were inconvenienced yesterday. There is always an alternative and a solution.

Many of you complaining on the board are not even here and the chances of something like this happening when you are here is extremely rare. This does not happen every day.

I for one wish I could immediately jump on a plane and join the line to support these people. It appalls me that Americans expect everything & every place to be like America.

Disgusted!!

Very well stated, Captain.

Not saying I agree with the demonstration but I'm not disagreeing with it either. Anytime we step outside our own environment things will happen and as is usually the case, the 'what' that happened isn't nearly as important as is the 'how' we chose to deal with it.

We are all guests on the island and we can either take the good with the bad or stay home. I feel bad for all those inconvenienced but I'm pretty sure the people protesting wouldn't be doing it in the first place if their reasons weren't justified. Who wants to lose their pay for no good reason anyway?

Like it or not, WE are not the most important thing happening on SXM, but like it or not, the government needs to find a better way to deal with the citizenry and I'm betting they know that today..... And if so, then the purpose was served.

But c'mon, people, to compare it to Baltimore? Really?

People blocking roads are breaking the law. A couple of buses and a dozen Gendarmes could have solved the problem in an hour.

We are on island and were Impacted by the civil disobedience that occurred yesterday. Spent a beautiful day on Orient Beach and then about 2:30 then beach boys started alerting the people on the beach that if we needed to get to the Dutch side we should leave before the borders were completely closed. We packed up and started off. We had been tipped off that the route thru Oyster Pond might still be open so we went that way. 3 cars had left at the same time and we all ended up turning around and heading back to Orient. One of the couples did hook up with a local that thought he knew a way around the blockage but no luck. So we spent another 1 1/2 on the nearly empty beach. Took off again at 5pm and eventually ended up at in Orleans parked on the road right up front where we could see the barricade with the radio tuned to a station discussing the situation.

Locals passing by were friendly and helpful. We had our kindle, phones and beer so we were in good shape. we feel safe and were willing to wait it out. Just before the blockade was lifted someone did light a trash container on fire and that was the only disturbing thing that happened. However, the gendarmes were there and turned the dumpster over - unfortunately no one had a fire extinguisher - they ended up bringing in a front loader to put the fire out. Finally some movement started happening, the radio was stating that the demands were met and the protestors were simply waiting for confirmation before opening up the road.

Finally all of the equipment started moving out of the way - we were about the 6th car thru and we made it to Simpson Bay by 8pm.

In no way did we feel that our vacation was ruined. Small inconvenience for us but sounds like big gains for the property owners on the French side.

Huh? You don't understand why people would not travel to St. Martin because of the Euro??? Do you read any of the 1 to 1 threads??

Daily Herald story

With regard to tourist busses, the story says that Theo requested that they be let through, but it doesn't say whether busses were in fact let through or not.

Do you know for a fact that there was no permit for the demonstration. How do you know is was illegal. Do you know the laws in France? What would a couple of buses have done. Plowed through the protesters? And 12 gendarmes against 100's of protesters. Who do you think will win and what will the consequences have been. Unfortunately violence by either side would not have solved anything and I for one am glad that the protest ended peacefully and things got back to normal with no one getting hurt. It is a good example that St. Martin can have a protest without it turning into a riot and looting.

I read the 1 to 1 threads all the time. I still don't understand why the Euro would stop people from visiting. But then, I am Canadian and used to dealing in currencies other than our own so maybe that is why I don't get it.

This gave me some more information about the situation-

http://www.smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-ma...ee-members.html

I have been an unwilling participant (victim) of strikes (AIr France) and protests (cabs)in France and the potential for angst is included with every trip. It is VERY common and accepted and sometimes (mostly) announced before hand. I never thought it would be the same here.

Cruise passengers are one thing and it will be interesting to see if they actually held ships for 10-20 that didn't make it.

Airlines are another issue....it would sour me permanently if I left the French side to catch an afternoon flight home and ended up missing that flight and having to find another place to stay. Selfish? Of course...but word WILL get out. A traveling friend of mine who has never benn to SXM sent me this:



.I never though mob rule would be called a good thing by anyone...but, wrong again

JUDGING WITHOUT KNOWING THE FACTS...Some of the online comments I read from tourists condemning the protest action made me heartsick. Their attitudes were ignorant with no understanding of the situation at all. All I kept hearing is these people should realize how much they are damaging tourism.Unfortunately what some tourists want is a fairy tale island where real problems do not occur. The remarks yesterday from some of them showed their true colours and it was not pretty.

These tourist complaints are disheartening. Protests call attention to problems actual residents and property owners have. It's not about you and your inconvenience, complaining tourists.

Everyone affected or potentially affected has the right to express their opinion (a.k.a "complain"). The protesters do not own the complaining rights ...'

Read the "Did I get taken" thread, for goodness sake?? A lot of people would prefer not to have to worry about whether they are getting a good exchange rate, what to tip on the French side, etc., etc., etc.

I think they meant the exchange rate as a global thing rather than how certain establishments effect that rate.

So $1.11 Euro won't affect my decision but staying or eating somewhere that charges $1.36 might.

Not the tool (Euro) but the process (consumer actual cost).

I agree though it would not keep me from the Island but WOULD keep me from some establishments...totally different

Right, that's what I meant by saying it's less of an issue now. You said it much better than I did.

I totally agree with what you say... regardless of the prevailing rate of exchange. The consumer should know the prevailing rate and act accordingly when making their shopping choices (including the decision to travel to that country - much like many Canadians who are not traveling to the US at the moment).

But the fact that a country prices in their own currency should not deter a person from traveling to that destination.

Barbara - I would be inclined to support your view of any of this kind of thing because you are there and your general common sense. Let's not get too carried away, however. Of course there are laws that could be enforced against blocking a road. The gendarmerie would of course remove a blockade of a highly traveled road put up by a some group or gang with some individual grievance. What happened yesterday was a substantial political protest and it was handled politically by all concerned, including the Prefet. The protesters were part of a politically sophisticated and well organized group who were not thought (with good reason) to present any threat of violence or any threat of blocking emergency vehicles (although they were willingly taking the risk that some kind of tragedy might occur). I personally doubt that yesterday will have an adverse effect on tourism, but if it becomes a common mode of political expression on both sides, it will have an adverse effect on tourism - on a macro level, probably more of a threat to Dutch side than French.

Water pressure low today, can't wash my hair let's go out to the N7 and block traffic. Too much seaweed on the beach, lets go out to the N7 and block traffic. Wifi way to slow today let's go out to the N7 and block traffic. Let's raise the minimum wage to 40 bucks an hour by blocking traffic on the N7.
Any form of civil disobedience that delays or prevents emergency vehicles from responding to emergencies is illegal in all civilized countries.

Looks like this topic has now descended into silliness. The matter is not as trivial as you seem to believe.

A Herald article is making things clearer as well. They were allowing emergency vehicles through.

https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/52985-collectivite-bows-to-pressure-restarts-plu-process

I'm sure this thread will get shut down soon. This is a very ridiculous comment (I'm not calling you ridiculous, I don't know you. But your comment is). I actually took the time to read up and talk to people to see what the protest was all about, because my first reaction was "well, this is NOT a good idea." But once I got the facts, I fully support what they did.

They let emergency vehicles and police thru
They never threatened violence (far as I could see, that was just a rumor)
Their cause was just.

I wouldn't support this type of action for any old grievance, but for this? Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Now, if I were on vacation, would I be upset? Yes. But I would get over it. Because I have empathy, and I don't just see the local populace of a place I visit as nice people to look at or nice people who are there to simply serve me. What's happening right now is BS and if you think that things wouldn't get worse on the island if this PLU went thru, I have a nice bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

What's that saying? When life hands you lemons make lemonade.

Some posters here did just that and seem to have had a great time ---Orient Beach and made it back to their lodging by 8pm. And they now have something other than the weather to talk about.

The point I was trying to make is where do you draw the line on civil disobedience that disrupts the lives of residents and businesses. I'm sure there are many residents/groups on Saint Martin that have concerns and would like to have their voices heard. What if they decide that blocking the N7 in Marigot and Orleans is the way to get the government's attention.
Who decides which cause is legitimate enough to bring the island to a standstill.

I'm glad they were letting emergency vehicles through....my point would be what if it was just normal resident of the island was in a car with an infant bleeding profusely/having a severe allergic reaction/etc that needed urgent medical attention and didn't have a cell phone.....would they be able to get through without a major delay in order for urgent life saving treatment?

I'm not at all against protests but a method that could put residents at risk seems ill advised. I personally don't think that one has to necessarily live in a certain place in order to criticize this practice. By the logic of some in this thread you wouldn't be able to criticize another country for any domestic practice such as severe human right violations because you don't live there and don't understand.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Nobody was put at risk. and before, any of us criticizes any one else in another country, we need to have our facts straight. There was a lot of criticism expressed by people who had no idea..and still don't.... what was going on.

So you would be able to easily get through the traffic and protesters/blockade if there was a personal medical emergency and without being slowed down when compared to a normal day?

yes

As a non- resident, I will "vote" with my dollars and not contribute to the economy of the French side of the island. I am doing my own protest without setting up barricades in the street.

If I'm not delayed more than a few seconds in this scenario then you are winning me over. This means that the US version of this protest that we have seen over the summer is in not nearly as sophisticated because if you are on the highway that gets shutdown and have a life threatening medical emergency...you're pretty much as good as dead.

BTW, this is a statement from young professional St Martiner who just happens to work in the tourism industry..Every st martin person I know stands proud today. and we on the Dutch side support them.

"Today I stand proud as a St. Martiner to see how my people stood tall for their rights and the rights of our children. I have tears in my eyes my heart is full. St. Martin stand up. This right here shows us that we are the government and if the people we've put, our trust in to run our country fail to do so then as a collective unit we must stand together.
PROUD"

Any of you visitors to the island who cannot understand and accept this, well, then I give up.

I'm sure you will not be missed on the French side and hopefully this demonstration will keep French St. Martin from going the way of Dutch Sint Maarten with just about every inch of land developed and covered with cement and with 25 story buildings.

There are many different ways to protest and the protest that took place yesterday went a long way in alienating the very people who contribute such a great amount to the French side economy. Why not impede the movement of your elected officials? Why not have sit-ins in your government offices? You had 1000's of people on the island yesterday from those cruise ships, don't you think that many of them now have a negative perspective about the island and will share that opinion often with others?

I have now read the PLU and I can see good and bad in it.

St Martin threatened a year ago to close the border and require visas because of the econimic disparity with St Maarten and other alleged transgressions.

Every year, I hear from the residents that tourism is down and how the economy is hurting. Every year, I see businesses that I have frequented in previous visits having closed down because of fewer visitors and less dollars being spent. And, something like the protests happen which further adds to the problem.

Constructive protests could have happened, that would not have impacted residents and visitors alike, if more care had been given to others.


I have heard the mention of the Baltimore protests/ riots brought up numerous times. I live in Maryland. Do you think that the residents of my state have any sympathy for the rioters or their behavior? NO, they did more to harm their argument than help it.

This thread is so long and convoluted, with so many replies, it is almost impossible to follow. I will close this one and start another one.