The show of unity at the Bellevue checkpoint against the French-side border measures was impressive and effective. There had been some concern that the protest might get out of hand, but it remained a peaceful demonstration.
Organisers were wise not to try to cross by motorcade as originally announced and thus avoided a confrontational situation with the gendarmes. Instead, what appeared to be thousands of people came on foot from both directions at the same time and would have been impossible to control. The vastly outnumbered officers not only stayed calm but exercised good judgement by taking down the tent and removing barriers from the road, realising these had been rendered pointless.
Officially lifting the coronavirus-related border restrictions as of today is also the right response. Although the Préfecture had been strongly advised by regional health authority ARS to extend them until October 1, if such a significant part of the population on either side of the island feels so strongly about restoring the historic ties with freedom of movement and goods, any responsible government must take that into account.
And, let’s face it, things are currently already hard enough in a socioeconomic sense without the internal closures. That’s why it was encouraging to read (see related story) about a virtual information session for taxi drivers organised by the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) on the Enterprise Support Project (ESP) for micro-, small- and medium-size businesses.
They are obviously among the hardest hit groups with the tourism industry practically at a standstill for six months now. While some may receive income support from government for sole proprietors and laid-off workers, the amounts are nowhere near earnings with usual visitor numbers.
Being able to qualify for a combination of loans and grants up to US $150,000 could prove a huge help especially as future financing from the Netherlands for St. Maarten’s payroll and income support is unsure. In addition, despite all efforts, tourism will probably take quite a while to fully rebound, making it crucial to ride out the next few months.
As stated before, should less use be made of this opportunity than possible with means provided from the Trust Fund managed by the World Bank it may be worthwhile to consider expanding the criteria, for example, regarding the maximum monthly turnover, so that a bit bigger employers can apply too and hopefully save more jobs.
