My first few blogs were written from the point of view of being on the French side of the island. This one goes to the Dutch side and was caused by the article in the Daily Herald regarding the fact that Voyager will now be able to take passengers from PJIA direct to St. Barths, apparently from directly accross from the airport, cutting out the taxi drivers who are accustomed to take them to Oyster Pond, Voyager's normal placeof departure.
Again I ask: is this fair? Why would Voyager need to leave from the Airport? And from government's point of view, did they think when they were giving this permit, because I assume a permit should be required. Did they think of those drivers whose living depends on carrying people around the island? They have delivered hundreds of taxi permits, each one cutting down the profits of the other. Now another unknown amount of lost fares.
Another thing, the owners of Voyager are metropolitan French. What flag does the boat fly? There are offices on both the French and Dutch side, so we assume the company is registered on both sides of the island.
There are many questions surrounding this whole affair, so let us wait and see what will develop further down the line, but I still find it unfair.
No comments:
Post a Comment