Today’s report that the Pinel Island ferry captains’ strike is over pending a written agreement is most welcome, not in the last place for them and their families. But it’s also good news for the businesses located there and actually the entire destination.
After all, it regards an important attraction of the local tourism product that should not be underestimated in terms of its added value.
The whole affair again raises the question why things must so often come to a head for problems to be resolved. Perhaps if the existing operators had been consulted at an earlier stage, the near-week-long standoff affecting both residents and guests going into the holiday season could have been avoided.
While few made use of them due to the short notice, the offer of free trips on Sunday in any case shows some goodwill, but the loss of visitors and especially their possible disappointment obviously can’t be compensated. Hopefully similar potential conflicts can be diffused by talking to each other more in the future.
For this same reason it would not be wise to ignore the current land ownership debate on the French side (see related story). If indeed “the present legal and fiscal systems on land, property ownership and rental income are destroying and preventing current and future generations from living their St. Martin dream” as stated, that certainly seems like a complaint worth looking into.
