On October 6, 2017, the state of emergency that went into effect on September 8, 2017 was terminated.
Consequently, the ministerial regulation entitled, “Regeling prijs vaststelling in verband met uitzonderingstoestand of orkaanseizoen 2017” is no longer in effect.
The purpose of this ministerial regulation was to establish the maximum prices of specific goods i.e. hurricane items, during an exceptional situation like a natural disaster when a state of emergency has been declared.
During the state of emergency, Economic Controllers were out on a daily basis controlling businesses to address reports of price gouging and to ensure compliance of businesses.
Since the state of emergency was discontinued, the Inspectorate of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunications did take note that commodity prices in general have increased on the island.
As there is no longer any legal basis to restrict prices the department has instead started conducting price surveys of commodities sold in various supermarkets across the island and publish these items and their prices for public consumption.
The department hopes that informing customers about their purchase options will allow them to make better choices and ultimately save money.
For this reason, it is highly recommend that the public react and make continued use of the Price Comparison list which will be published every two weeks in the newspaper as well as on the government’s website www.sintmaartengov.org.
For further inquiries, please email the department at id************@si*************.org