TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin French side protest today

We’re on a sailboat in Marigot and it was pretty quiet on Saturday. We were able to drive to Philipsburg, Simpson bay, the airport, and had dinner at Tropicana. There was still some debris in the road but no blockades anywhere we went. Also passed under the Sandy Ground bridge via dinghy a couple of times with no problem. However the Sandy Ground bridge road is still blocked and was the only place we saw protesters milling about. I don’t know that status in Grand Case or Orient. There is very little traffic and most businesses in Marigot were closed. Hopefully the quiet yesterday is a good sign.

Please don’t take the above as anything other than my experience on Saturday and use your own judgement on whether to venture out if you on island.

Good post Lucky. That certainly explains to me when I asked a cop can I get to Terres Basses through Sandy Ground he had no idea where this was....Unfortunately I started to notice a certain tension in June and this is what starts riots which ultimately leads to violence. The Government needs to take action now but I’m not sure how they would go about it. Someone posted to get in the Military but that would cause utter chaos to the tourism industry. The fact that the US Embassy has issued a warning for people traveling to the French side is cautiously a good thing in one respect but not something that leads to solving anything. It’s for the French authorities to resolve and quickly. I am not sure how I would feel being told that my land was now worthless and I would never receive a permit to rebuild plus knowing that there could be some nasty bromates in the water and nothing is being done albeit the latter is minor to the main issue but ongoing.
This could and should be a matter of urgency to deflect which could become very serious very quickly by first telling the people that they will be looking into the viability of allocating funds for those in flood impacted areas due to ongoing hurricane situations by allocating funds for them to build in a safer zone. However, they will not condone violence, burning of vehicles, barricades, blocking the roads and disruption of any kind that affects their main asset, tourism, which ultimately helps all concerned.

On a personal level and having travelled extensively in the Caribbean, I don’t think I have ever seen another Island and I do combine both French and Dutch sides together which in itself is totally unique as you know, that has so much natural beauty plus huge harbor areas for boats and mega yachts of all kinds, so much untapped potential that both Governments couldn’t get together and inject huge amounts of money and resources with a five year plan to make this destination the place for people from all over to travel to.

Wishful thinking as not sure it will happen in my lifetime as like so many other places money allocated, tends to disappear.

Denis, were you at Tropicana on Saturday evening for Dinner and sitting outside? If so we were there as well. There was a party of 4 sitting next to us and a party of two on the other side plus about 4 people inside......small world.

French Tourist Office is attempting to put a positive spin on a very bad situation. I don't envy their task. We have all seen this kind of mentality where destruction is easier and more dramatic than having the opposing factions use a peaceful approach to resolution. We will be on Sint Maarten in a couple weeks and I appreciate that we stay on the Dutch side but the negative impact of these criminal acts will have long lasting effects on both businesses and tourism on both sides of the island.

They have been trying for quite some time with the "peaceful approach" to be heard, to no avail. Sadly, there is an element (on BOTH side of the island and everywhere in the world) who will take advantage of any event to riot, steal and destroy. The animosity between local St Martiners and metropolitans has been around for decades. It the same on Dutch side.

To the poster who said there are no local French police, you are mistaken. Police Municipale can always be seen on the roads.

12 years you two have lived on SXM.... I will never live there! This might be the last straw for me!

My mistake and thank you for correcting. I have never noticed anything other than the Gendarmes. If there are local police, they should be taking the lead in dealing with protestors. I saw lots of heavily armed Gendarmes in riot gear standing around in Marigot on Friday, and a few in Grand Case, but no other police.

They do what they are ordered to do. They may be securing schools, banks. You would never see that.

We all make our choices. Back to the old chocolate and vanilla analogy .

Those protesters on Sandy Ground bridge should be waving signs about their plight not throwing things down on boats.

I'll say it once more for clarity. The protesters are NOT doing those things. Punk opportunists are.

Interesting straw man you got there. Of course they follow orders. The government should be directing them to take the lead in dealing with the protestors who are obviously already irritated by the presence of metropolitans.

I have felt racial tension rising this year... paying bills or dealing with service people.
Civil unrest can take an ugly turn and it is not just SXM but the USA as well.

Hi Bran,

Yes, we were the 4 noisy people outside. Tropicana is my favorite restaurant on the island. You must have been the person that recommended the soufflé?

I’m sympathetic with the protesters but also feel bad for the shop and restaurant owners trying to make a comeback after the hurricanes. Multiple days with very customers is a business killer.

Thank you for the updates.

We are currently sailing our boat to St. Martin and had planned on leaving it in Simpson Bay for 8 weeks, either at IWW docks or hauling out at Bobbys Mega Yard.

We were planning on spending NYE in St. Martin as well. This issue has us rethinking our plans. Very sad for the island as it’s our favorite in the Caribbean.

We do appreciate continued updates from those who are there. In the meantime, I believe it’s prudent for us to have a plan b in place.

Same thing I quoted previously. It's a no brainer. These rowdy punks are loviing it. Gives them something to do and puts them in control.

d-fish, You may want to consider mooring your boat in Anguilla or St. Bart's. Antigua is not far way either. If things get worse in St Martin you may have to.

Yes that was us. Soufflé just superb and the fish soup starter was sensational. You noisy buggers😎 also our favorite place. Owner especially made Beef Wellington with Fois Gras sauce. So glad you had a good time but how sad for them and many others. Be Kool opposite had 3 diners. Going there on Monday for lunch unless serious trouble and back to Tropicana the next and last day for us. Stay safe.

i’ve seen the protestors in person twice now - once in French Quarter on Thursday and once in Grand Case on Friday. The barricades were being organized and enforced by adult men, not punk kids. The entire protest is highly organized with coordinated roadblocks at key places around the French side. Punk kids will take advantage of a chaotic situation by looting, destroying and such, but IMO the people leading the protests are responsible for all of that now.

Just made it from Orient through Grand Case over to the Dutch side. Lots of gendarmes. I think it opened up around 6 AM today.

Good to hear you are safe, but can you clarify what “it opened up” means? Regardless, have a good flight back.

The cars and debris in the roads were essential cleared. A few spots of garbage here and there but easily passable. I found the Facebook page SXM Traffic to be very helpful. Most everything is in French but FB does a decent job translating.

Not a facebook member but from my limited French capabilities it appears that all roads are passable apart from at Sandy Ground that is still blocked. anyone else care to confirm?

Here’s a Facebook message from a friend who lives in Grand Case:

After 5 days of the protest that has cripple much of French Saint Martin the roads are finally opened 🎉
What were residents protesting: The PPRN law. It is designed for people with property on the shoreline to evenually give up their rights of ownership. (in simple terms) so we have seen blockade throughout the french side.
Many Businesses were closed. There has been reports of injuries and looting (sadly)in some area. However no vehicles in grandcase has been set on fire. As of today, The residents of this little town has done very well the way they managed this blockade. Apparently some agreement has been made. I do not know the details but traffic is finally flowing. 🙏

sxmfantoo--glad to hear that you will be able to make your flight. Hopefully maybe the situation has now stabilized.

Thanks for your note, pony.

I am far away from SXM spending the holidays in Vermont. I turned on my laptop and searched events in Vermont. The first thing that came up was a protest scheduled December 17, 2019. What! National Protest Day! 12/17/19. I am in the Green Mountains and Tuesday there is a protest scheduled in town that has three police officers. I am not making this up!

Oh goodness,,,I cannot believe it....what is going to happen. Makes me fearful to even come to island in January! I obviously do not understand what the issues are, but can an honest government not step in??
Will keep an eye on this for sure,,,and if we come will be staying on the Dutch side for sure!!

I see this story in the Daily Herald today. Does anyone have an update, as to whether there has been a response from the French national government?

Daily Herald story

We were able to get a boat from Anse Marcel yesterday, along with 4 other couples - the boat was full to its maximum capacity of ten. Actually, it was a quite pleasant ride of about 35 minutes, and it did pass under the Sandy Ground bridge. Before we left we checked & the road into Grand Case was totally blocked but we saw no protestors. The boat took us to Hotel Mercure, where a van had been arranged to take us to the airport - 50$ for the boat, 10$ for the van. We had to leave the car in Anse Marcel, and we just got an email from Sax saying that the car has been picked up. so apparently the road has been cleared. Hopefully, the government can address the protestors very legitimate concerns.

Biturbo--glad you were able to get out to come home. And thankful that the car was OK. If it had been damaged, I am afraid they might have held you responsible for it.

I can understand a reasonable extra charge for picking up the car, since the original agreement was to return it to Simpson Bay. But, I'm going to call my cc company just in case they try to gouge us. We took plenty of pictures of the car when we left it.

Hopefully it will be a reasonable charge.

We picked two of cars today and was okay. And no charge .

If you think your rental company might try to gouge you, you may be dealing with the wrong company.

I see the schools will be open tomorrow. That's progress.

Lesley--Glad to hear you're doing OK so far..

Thanks Dear and it was scary . I even changed a couple place from the Orient on Saturday to our friend home one bedroom private room in Beacon Hill next to El Zafiro. They are first timers and I didn't want them to be in danger.

Doesn’t happen a lot but every now and then I wish TTOL had a “Like” button and posts like this are the reason why. But having known you for years now, it doesn’t surprise me at all that you did this.

So whats the guess for those on island for 2 weeks? Will folks be able to cross over/back to orient safely?

Have a feeling it might be over and some compromise might be reached. Hope so anyway.