SMN News also learnt that the Minister of Transportation Romeo Pantophlet will be issuing about 50 new bus permits.
Several taxi drivers who spoke to SMN News on the condition of anonymity said that there is not sufficient work for them and already they are struggling to survive during the slow season. One taxi driver said he heard that one of the big cruise lines will be pulling out of St. Maarten because they are not able to get the Rainforest Adventure project going. "This cruise line was planning to sell tours of the Rainforest on the ship to attract more travelers but now that project is stuck in the pipeline and the cruise line is now planning to leave St. Maarten."
Last week during the Council of Ministers press briefing, the Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams told reporters that she met with the representatives of Rainforest Adventures and the foreign investors basically wanted to know if the Government of St. Maarten would continue working with them now that the Government has intentions of purchasing the Emilio Wilson Estate where the Rainforest Adventures was to be constructed. Prime Minister Wescot Williams said at the moment Government has to look at the legal options they would face and a decision was not taken since Government has not purchased the property as yet. She said Rainforest Adventures has a building permit and government would have to look at the legalities surrounding the matter. It should be noted that the building permit issued to Rainforest Adventures was granted by the former Minister of Housing, Environment, and Spatial Planning Theodore Heyliger. This permit was issued against the advice of the environmental foundations since there was no Monument Council in place. According to the Minister of Education, that council is now being worked on.
