On Tuesday January 29th at 09.00 a.m. a meeting was held at the Police Head Quarters between representatives from the department of VROMI, TEATT, Sint Maarten Harbor Association, Sint Maarten Tourist Bureau, Dutch Side Taxi, Down Town Taxi Ass., Juliana Airport taxi Ass., Public Prosecutors Office and representatives of the Police Department.
The meeting was held for all stakeholders to jointly come up with solutions to combat the ongoing and growing illegal public transport (Gypsys) situation on the island and mainly at the entrance of the A.C. Wathey Cruise Facilities in the area of Point Blanche when cruise ships are in port. This situation has been ongoing for a number of years and many attempts by authorities have been made to have this problem taken care of.
Community Police Officer Felix Richards gave an extensive Power Point presentation of the present situation. After the presentation all department representative were given the opportunity to share their opinion and concerns.
The meeting was a very informative one whereby all stakeholders representatives involved vowed to bring their ideas forward and to give their fullest cooperation, to jointly come up with solutions on how to best solve this ongoing problem.
In the meanwhile police authorities will continue to tackle the situation the best way they can until other legal measures can be taken against this illegal form of public transportation. The parties is question will meet again within the next two weeks.
