TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Excavation permit for Pearl of China

Daily Herald story I really think this is a bad thing for the island.

Daily Herald website seems to be up and down this morning. Now it's down again..

I noticed article said at start there was a protest but nothing since September. I know TS owners are not citizens of SXM but I's think owners at Belair and island people living across the street from a proposed 360 room complex should begin protesting again.

RonDon.....i respectfully have to disagree with you. Even though timeshares are ''owners''.....they (we) are NOT residents of SXM...just visitors with a few extra perks thrown in. Believe me when i say I don't like the idea of this monstrosity beign built either.....but.....it would be up to the government...and the real RESIDENTS of SXM to voice their opinions. We as Americans don't have the right to tell other governments what they can build and what they can't build. It should be totally up to the people of the island to decide on their future. Those are the people that will still be living there long after we stop ''visiting'' our home away from home. SXM is obviously looking out for their survival...and they know it's tourism that brings in the people...and its the people that make or break the economy. For all of us that have called SXM their second homes....and have visited constantly in the last 10, 15, 20 or more than 25 years, we have seen our paradise taken away, and booming. We may not like it....but the people who make their living off our hard spent dollars surely do for their survival. Bringing in thousands more touritst, visitors, or residents that will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars PER DAY....is what the residents, business owners, restaurant owners, etc all looking at. I do miss the quiet days...but like everything...things change...and not usually for the better.

I agree with you actually that the residents of SXM should be listened to with regard to this project. However, it appears to me that, as with most things, there is money in it for some people, so it matters not what the average citizen thinks.

I would think the Dutch and French governments might be keenly interested in such a large investment from a new player from so far away.

It's not just the immediate impact of construction dollars and tourist dollars but the influence gained in the region.

I will restate my previously posted opinion on this project.
1. Yes, I do own at Belair and do not look forward to the addition of a thousand people (360 hotel rooms but also 450 apartments as well). This area has long been known as a quiet and peaceful section of SXM. That goes away.
2. I would expect those apartment renters or owners will be competing for jobs that SXM citizens may want.
3. The impact of a project this size will likely (imo) mean that traditional visitors to The Belair and Divi will vacation elsewhere if they want peace and quiet so those resorts can't be supporting this addition.
Lastly, do I think the "Pearl" will happen? Yes, since 50% of the backing is coming from the Chinese government, I doubt that anything will stop it but that does not mean it is a good thing.

Carol..true....but if governments listened to the average people.....the USA still would be just 13 colonies!!

Let's all face it......everytime there is a major project on the island the ''visitors'' go into panic mode. It happened when Maho was expanded twenty five years ago....It happened a few years back when in cupecoy they started building the cliffs....and the other large condo building there.....how could the island build such a huge project as Puerto cupecoy...but we know how that went sales wise. The blue mall to date has been a total bust...but that is a different story. More influx of people will obviously force the job market to expand to take care of these people. Unfortunately, so will traffic, wait times...and beautiful beach areas as they become cement cities. Someone surely is moving into all the new homes and condos that are being built. Obviously the hotels on the island have all expanded also for all the influx of new people. What will be the final saturation point??? I guess we don't know that at the present time....but a panic over the China project probably won't be it. Granted....the chines government will probably bring in a lot of their own people...but in actuality, it wont be much different than when Mr. Spaddarro single handedly built Great Bay, then went on to Maho and that entire area, and then went on and built all the condos around there, and is still continuing to build up the ''mountain'' with all the new homes and marina being built overlooking the lagoon, and this was with Italian labor. Every year SXM sees more and more retirees deciding to make the island their home. If and when full medical facilities or updating hit the island, eventually it will be a very desirable location for retirees. I know some people who have made the move, and others who have contemplated it....ourselves included.

Yes, Bill people panic. I met someone who stayed in Maho and hated it and told us SXM was not a true caribbean island to them. That was until we brought them to Grand Case Beach Club. It was what they had hoped to find when on SXM.

The French side has laws to keep high rises out. That's a plus for those of us seeking peace & quiet. Even Club O, on one of the busiest beaches, is small .

As Tom wrote Belair & Divi people will start going elsewhere and perhaps MORE than will come from this project. Jobs will not all go to island people.

Where do you stay in SXM? Obviously not near the Westin Hotel which destroyed Dawn Beach. And not at Divi or Belair.

I said I felt sorry for the locals who own property above Belair. They are island people who will see their properties lose value. and those are the people I said should protest. Visitors like ourselves have no say.

Perhaps because you stay in crowded W, Palm Beach you like that atmosphere?

And explain your comment that if our government listened to people we'd be 13 colonies.

easy explanation.....no one likes expansion or change....human nature to like what one has.. it's like the ''field of dreams''......build it and they will come.

The Chinese project does'nt add up.

The airport has insufficient capacity, so do the roads, power station, sewage treatment, fresh water and so on.

In addition, the would be building on a nature reserve.

This is not expansion, this is megalomania ...

megalomania....yes....it is also SXM...where the govt marches to a beat of a different drummer. as for the nature reserve....hasn't stopped building in the past, and probably won't now either. US laws do not apply. eventuly I am sure they will be forced to finally update and upgrade the infrastructure...but who knows when?

Maybe the Chinese will build their own power plant.