Marigot--- President of the Collectivity Frantz Gumbs was quizzed on many issues which is plaguing the community of St. Martin on the Air Supply Radio show yesterday.Gumbs said many people today are only thinking about the crime situation since only recently three young people was killed violently. He said his thoughts are with these families as they mourn their loss. He said these events are not only the concerns of the immediate relatives but it is that of the entire island as well as the neighboring islands.
Gumbs said the victims the "Fleming" family are people he grew up among and they are friends of his family so he took the loss personally and not as the President of the Collectivity. The president said while he is being criticized for not speaking at Tuesday's night march which was organized by relatives and close friends of the victims, he is not someone that looks for political mileage in people's sadness. "Maybe I acted wrong or made a mistake when I chose not to speak there, but I was there, I marched with them, those are my people, while I did not participate in yesterday's march. Gumbs said that despite where the families come from the pain is the same and he is in solidarity are with these families.
Asked what the Collectivity is doing to eradicate or erase the crime situation. Gumbs responded by asking how would the Collectivity or the State could have prevented the two recent killings is something he would like to know? Furthermore the president said that young people who are over 20 or 22 years old can no longer be corrected. He said these young people simple chose the wrong path in life and that gives him an indication that something was not properly done or were not at all done during this early stages of these youths lives. "One cannot change the mindset of an 18-year old, you have to build a person's personality from a tender age.
Therefore, the situation today is from what has taken place in the early development of these youths. While I am not saying this as an excuse I am saying that one has to look at the facts of life." The president also admitted that there is no miraculous solution for the crime situation. He said that the way the system is organized now the Collectivity is only responsible for the prevention of youth delinquency while the State has the responsibility of repression. While both is needed there has to be some kind of coordinated effort to manage crime overall. The president said while National Police would be ideal for St. Martin the judicial structure does not allow it. He said even though the island status has changed it would take sometime for them to actually get National police here which is specifically for urban areas. Another hindrance that faces the island is there is no children judge presently installed on St. Martin to deal with youth criminality. "When the gendarmes arrest these misbehaved youths and they appear before the prosecutor they are sent home and taken the courts two months after. Gumbs said the youths know that the judicial system in place is not giving the type of punishment for the crimes committed and as such they are taking advantage of the system.
Gumbs said that they have decided to install some surveillance systems in busy areas but this he says takes time, since they have to budget the monies as well as making sure the necessary infrastructural work is done for the installation of this system. The surveillance system would help to dissuade criminals from committing crimes because they would know that it would be caught on tape, this would also greatly help investigators since they would have valuable material to work with.
He said an emergency council meeting will be held today where they are going validate the monies for these projects. Gumbs said the Collectivity have also been allocating monies to the different sports association who have been organizing events to engage the youths but that is not enough to deal with what is taking place among youths.
Asked what is his personal feeling on the crime situation today; he said it saddens him because St. Martin had a bad reputation overseas. "When I was teaching and teachers would tell me when they tell others they are coming to St. Martin to teach the response was you are going to hell. Today those same teachers are witnessing what is happening today and I feel we are a victim of bad reputation." Gumbs said this would recreate a negative image where no one should visit.
This would also negatively affect the tourism industry during a time when there is world economic crisis. He said St. Martin has young population and the origins of the population are from immigrants parents who were born on island. "These youths do not consider themselves as Belonger of their parent's country and are not yet considered to be from here (St. Martin) this leaves the youths with nothing, not even a country of origin. "Therefore when you have nothing you have nothing to loose, something that everyone has to find a solution for."
As for the economy which is in a critical stage the president said the only thing they could do is give fiscal relief, but bear in mind if the criminality situation is not solved the fiscal measures will not work . He said just other day they reduced the tax de sejour from 5% to 4% and now they are looking to do the same for car rentals. "Right now the burden on the businesses right now is the social charges they have to pay something the Collectivity cannot regulate. However, they are busy negotiating with these departments to see what can be done.
Taxi Drivers Hindrances
The host Augustin Lake, a taxi driver by profession said the taxi drivers on French side are suffering tremendously since there is no work for them on the French side. Lake said that boats are leaving from Anguilla with passengers and are passing under the bridge on St. Martin and going across to the Dutch side to drop off passengers, which is taking away work from the local taxi drivers.
He asked the President if these boats are paying any types of fees to use St. Martin's waters and most of all if there any type of controls done with regards to the boats that are using gasoline engines to transport passengers.
President Gumbs said he has his concerns but he really did not think about the taxi drivers. He said he already asked the Vice President who has the port services portfolios to look into the matter. However, he said this is an international mater which has to be handled on that level. Air Supply wanted to know why the government is taking this long to address this matter. Gumbs however, said he was not aware of the matter but asked that the files with the concerns of the taxi drivers to be brought forward so he can have the matter dealt with including the harassment which is taking place at Orient Bay.
Lake said that French taxi drivers are called to pay to work on the Dutch side. He said that taxis on the French side cannot freely park on the Dutch side and he wants to know why the Dutch taxi drivers are not charged to park on the French side. Gumbs said that he does not think French taxi drivers are being discriminated against on the Dutch side since every taxi driver whether Dutch of French has to pay to work at the Princess Juliana International Airport and at the port. The president has appealed to the people to try and apply the treaty of Concordia since he felt it would be necessary for the two sides to work closer.
Tourist Office Saga...
Asked about the ongoing saga at the tourist office Gumbs admitted a motion of non confidence was voted against the director Yann Claeysen since the there has been a lack of trust and lack of confidence between the director and president of EPIC board. Gumbs said one thing that has to be clear is that the President of the Tourist Board (EPIC) and the director cannot agree and they have to be separated. "Right now the legal procedures are being followed to separate these two people. Right now the procedure is not yet over.
Gumbs said the Tourist has key role to play and there has been a breakdown in working relationships with their main partners which is the Dutch counter part and New York< Europe, and locally which are the hoteliers.
The objective right now is to regain the confidence of these partners which has to be pursued.
"We need to give back these markets some confidence that St. Martin remains a good destination which they should visit." Gumbs concluded.
