~ I have been a little pushy with the Cruise lines to get the homeporting going~ De Weever.~
PHILIPSBURG:— Interim Minister of TEATT Ludmilla de Weever urged residents to get vaccinated and to also use all precautionary measures in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus since the country is expected to start homeporting for cruise lines as of June 5th, 2021.
The Minister said that St. Maarten stands to make at least USD 52M within a 14-week period, thus it is imperative that everyone gets vaccinated while practicing all precautionary measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus.
The Minister of Economic Affairs said that St. Maarten will be seeing as many as 2000 passengers that will be staying over on the island on a weekly basis along with the 1000 crew members. These visitors she said will be patronizing the island’s restaurants, hotels, and other businesses.
De Weever urged those persons that are hesitant to take the vaccines to consult with their general practitioner to get as much information as possible regarding the COVID-19 vaccines.
Asked about negotiations with the cruise lines on homeporting, De Weever said that she was a bit pushy in trying to get a dialogue with the cruise lines on homeporting. “While there are excellent relations with all the cruise lines, she felt the pushiness was needed to get the island back on track. I would normally ask if these cruise lines if they wanted to homeport even in a fun way that would benefit St. Maarten financially. |” De Weever said the cruise industry was hit the hardest since the beginning of the pandemic, some of which as still at a standstill.
The Minister said that there had to be some rebuilding of relationships since the pandemic which was done on the part of St. Maarten which has created a level playing field on both sides.
As for the rise in coronavirus, the Minister said that St. Maarten has come a long way, even though there is a spike of coronavirus cases on either side of the island.
Vaccinated persons can travel.
The Minister of TEATT and VSA said that St. Maarten will soon update its travel list and they would also allow persons that are fully vaccinated to enter St. Maarten, persons that have taken the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson and Johnson vaccines will be allowed to enter St. Maarten.
BEACH CLEANUP.
De Weever also called on business owners operating on Great Bay beach to begin cleaning up the beaches since it is not legal for them to have unwanted structures and other materials on the beach. She said that a final warning letter was sent to these business owners while the beach clean-up will begin next Wednesday to prepare for the homeporting which begins on June 5th.
