Open letter to SXM KARAKTER , MYKONOS and other entertainment hot spots on our island: SHAPE UP, OR SHUT DOWN!
Dear editors, thank you for some space,
Day & Night life in destinations where tourism is the largest contributor to GDP, is only a PART of what makes up a nice place for tourists to visit. However in a Pandemic, while you are allowed to be open for business, you must be able to control your crowd, or risk getting shut down and after repeated offenses, even losing your license to operate.
St. Maarten’s economy has since decades not been as fragile as it is today and as per April 5, 2021, our population is far from reaching “herd-immunity through vaccination”. If you and/or your patrons insist on being irresponsible in your public behavior, you should appreciate that those of us presently without a job, or on reduced workweeks, or losing money everyday we open up our businesses, are losing our patience with your recklessness and your “we-don’t-give-a-damn” attitude ….
Guidelines are to be followed. By failing to do so, you and your patrons are sending a message to the rest of the community that not only you couldn’t care less about us, you also do not respect the rule of law. And just in case you haven’t noticed: PERSONS 40 YEARS AND YOUNGER ARE DYING OF COVID19.
And then GOVERNMENT: it takes two to tango. If you issue rules and guidelines, but fail to enforce them, you are encouraging citizens and businesses to ignore authority! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW SOME TEETH?????
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!
Michael J. Ferrier
April 5, 2021
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”