Philipsburg:--- Minister of Economic Affairs, Tourism, and Transportation Romeo Pantophlet told reporters on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing that he will be issuing a number of bus and taxi licenses in the near future to St. Maarteners who are in need of these permits to make a living. Minister Pantophlet said that he intends to issue about 30 bus licenses and 70 taxi licenses. The Minister of transportation explained that there were people who applied for years for these licenses and they were never granted while there were others who wanted to file a request but only recently did so. Minister Pantophlet explained that when these licenses are issued he will place a moratorium on the issuance of bus and taxi licenses. He said the advice is already is on his desk and he will soon sign off on it as long as those requests that are being processed are issued.
Pantophlet said that during the past weeks he made several visits abroad and was busy working with several airlines such as COPA to increase the airlifts to St. Maarten. He explained that so far there is a positive outlook for the increase and definitely there would be need for more buses and taxis to transport people from one place to the next.
Minister Pantophlet said that he is quite sure that with the strides his Ministry is making in tourism St. Maarten will hit the two million mark next year.
The Minister also confirmed that he received a letter on Tuesday from the Dutch St. Maarten Taxi Association (DSTA) who requested a meeting him. The Minister said an article published in one of the daily newspapers stated that he had already received the letter but that was pure maliciousness because on Tuesday a board member of the DSTA presented him with a copy of the letter that they did not send to him through the regular legal system. Minister Pantophlet said that he will meet with the DSTA in the near future.
