Marigot:--- Scores of Taxi Drivers from both the French and Dutch side of the island joined their forces together on Friday morning to fight against the implementation of the €150 parking tax that was implemented this year for French taxi drivers. Taxi Drivers from the French side of the island told SMN News that they received a letter last week informing them that they are required to pay €210 before the end of February. The €210 includes the €60 annual registration fee along with the parking tax. The French drivers said they are obliged to renew their registration every year and the Collectivity decided to combine the parking tax with the annual registration fees. "Some of our drivers were forced to pay the €150 if not they could not renew their identification cards." They said the letter was given to them by the taxi dispatcher at the Waterfront Taxi stand.
The taxi drivers dressed in their respective uniforms gathered at the Galisbay Pier as of 7am where they mobilized themselves before making their way through the streets of Marigot to the Waterfront. Members of the Dutch Taxi Drivers Association (DSTA) and their President Otis Hughes embraced their colleagues of the Saint Martin United Taxi Drivers Association (SMUTA) to fight what they describe as unfair taxation. Among them were the President and members of the Airport Taxi Association (ATA) and Genesis Taxi Association. It is the first time in recent history all taxi drivers from the different Associations came together to protest against government. The drivers drove from Galisbay unto the main road of Rue de Hollande (RN7) creating traffic go slow as they sent their message to the elected officials at the Collectivity of St. Martin. Friday's protest can be considered a thorn in the ruling UPP party's flesh now that the party is busy campaigning for the upcoming elections.
The taxi drivers then moved from the Marigot Waterfront to the Collectivity by foot where they stormed in and demanded a meeting with the President of the Collectivity Frantz Gumbs. At the COM, several drivers were seen expressing their frustration with Territorial Councilor Daniel Arnell who is currently in charge of public transportation. Shortly after the gathering at the Collectivity President Gumbs showed up at the Collectivity and agreed to meet with a delegation that is representing the taxi drivers. A total of 16 persons were allowed to enter the meeting with President Frantz Gumbs, and Territorial Councilor Daniel Arnell along with the staff of the public transportation sector Marilyn Hughes and Pierre Brange. Territorial and Executive Councilor Alain Richardson also joined the meeting with the President and the Taxi Drivers
When the meeting ended President Frantz Gumbs told reporters that he has withdrawn the €150 parking tax for now because some error was made with the implementation of the parking tax. "Because there were some errors with the implementation we have decided to put it on the back burner. The law was made for everybody, both Dutch and French and if you cannot implement it for everyone then you cannot implement it for none. That is the decision I took here today." President Gumbs said he is not in a position to waive the cost of the registration fee of €60, therefore he informed the French Drivers that it has to be maintained every year. President Gumbs said that the Governments of the two sides of the island will have to get back around the table at another time to discuss the implementation of the parking tax. "Right now, everybody is busy campaigning for the upcoming elections so we will not discuss this right now. Unfortunately, the meeting with the Government and the Taxi Associations did not take place because of circumstances beyond our control and right now it makes no sense for us to resume talks because maybe in the next two months we will have a new set of people running the country and they may not have the same ideas as this government had."
President Gumbs said that a decision was taken for all taxi drivers to pay the parking tax and what appears to have happened is that the Dutch side taxi drivers were exempted as such the tax cannot be implemented for now.
Last year, taxi drivers on the Dutch side of the island received a letter from the French side Transportation department informing them of the law that was passed by the Collectivity for all taxi drivers to pay a parking tax to park anywhere on the French side. Areas that are included as taxi parking zone are Rue General de Gaulle, Marigot Waterfront, and Orient Bay. That letter sparked a meeting with the Minister of Transportation and Economic Affairs Franklin Meyers and President Gumbs at the Collectivity of St. Martin. It was decided that President Gumbs would meet with all the Taxi Associations and inform them of the new law and the implementation of the new taxes.
More taxes no work --- French Drivers already paying to work.
It should be noted that the French taxi drivers are already paying to work on the Dutch side of the island because there is no work on the French side for them. The SMUTA drivers told SMN News that they are already paying a fee to the DSTA to work at the A.C. Wathey Cruise Facility while they are also paying a fee to work at the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE). "We are not the only ones paying to work at the harbor and the airport; our colleagues on the Dutch side also have to pay to work at both locations. They are paying less than us but they too have to pay, the difference is the Dutch side provides work for all taxi drivers. All taxi drivers that work on the Dutch side are able to get some work. Yes, we pay to work but we get work there. On the other hand, the French side (Collectivity) has implemented a fee for its drivers and they do nothing to create work for taxi drivers," said one SMUTA driver.
"We used to be get the tourist that goes and comes from Anguilla to take to and from the Airport to Marigot but today we no longer get that work. The Collectivity has allowed 20 charter boats to begin operations from Anguilla to PJIAE. Those charter boats use the French waters because they pass under the Sandy Ground Bridge to go the Airport and they are not contributing anything. We want them to tax those charter boats because they took away monies from the taxi drivers, the ten ferry boats that are operating daily from Anguilla to Marigot while the Collectivity no longer get its head tax from the tourists that are passing through St. Martin to Anguilla, so instead of targeting the taxi drivers who have to go elsewhere to get their bread they need to target the charter boats," another SMUTA driver told SMN News. The angry taxi driver said that the because of the charter boats businesses such as restaurants and vendors on the market place are also losing monies. "When the tourists come from Anguilla or the airport they sometimes eat lunch at the market place before continuing their journeys but all of that stopped because of the 20 charter boats that nobody has paid any attention to."
Click here to view more photos of the Taxi Drivers' Protest.
