St. Martin News Network

The roads to the airport are blocked, which means that traffic up and down the west side of the island is blocked. Police are refusing to give any details, but say it could take hours to resolve. Apparently a bomb threat was telephoned to the airport with no information as to where the bomb is located or when it might go off. This is obviously a hoax, and by overreacting, the police are making matters much worse. The airport has been evacuated, and all flights have been canceled. While this is probably prudent, the closing of the roads, which are 100 yards or more from the nearest airport structure, is an overreaction.

I would guess that no flights will be allowed to depart or arrive this evening.

might be an overreaction to you, but it's absurd to think they would allow traffic to pa*s past the airport while investigating a bomb threat. The police are doing the correct thing. A little bit of traffic is a small price to pay for being cautious of a bomb threat

This is a security measure. It won't b taken lightly.

Whatever a instution of someone do something always some sideline schouters geeezzz get real people.

Police do what you have to do.

People dont know if they call in and makes jokes like that they hurt tha island dread.....

@henry m what if theyy took it light or not serious and it turned out to be true..better safe dan sorry padna.

Hi

Yes police are good job , 2 police officers was very rude, near bada bing sign there, i told them my daughter was treavelling to ams in KLM flight atleast they should let me go pick up her, they did not & was ver very rude ?

To Henry M. You sound stupid. A Hoax or not, it should be taken seriously. Good work officers. Get a life Henry M

Do you think the airport will open tomorrow? My sister was on her way to St. Maarten and got rerouted to Puerto Rico!

Henry is a lost person, does not have this island in his best interest. while you point to someone, remember 3 of dem fingers pointing back to you..

Henry M.

look at it like this,
you never know for certain if it is a hoax or not
lets say it is, and someone says its a hoax, and no actions are taken out. and it turns out not to be a hoax... what then


better safe then sorry

My kid lives on the island...is stuck in Simpson Bay and can't get home to Beacon Hill, however I would rather they take this threat seriously and protect the island visitors and residents rather than let traffic go around the airport near danger. But seriously who would send a bomb threat to SXM? What is there to gain??? There is something seriously wrong going on with this island lately with the fires and now this. Stay safe everyone.

WHAT IS NEXT? I wonder if our officials really understand the situation that is going on, on our Island. Have we all lost our minds? Do you really understand what this threat will do to us? Our only livelyhood is tourism. What consequences will this have for us? We need help in every sector and we need it NOW.

This is another eye opener..... Country status???? how prepared are we????
We need God in our midst today. I feel like I am living a dream, this is not happening, this is not SINT MAARTEN/SAINT MARTIN, this is not reality, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ... WAKE ME UP.

all i got to say it is GEBE fault for all of this, the stress from GEBE making people do crazy things. And yes the police are very rude, they could use a seriuos A>K. on a serious note, safety for our visitors and residents are #1 importance. regards, merci

The road to Bliss and Bliss are open!

For all who talk about the police, please stop pointing and talking if you can do better take the stand and become a Police. It's time for us to make a difference for our Island SXM. Let's help each other and remember the police are people just like you and I. We can start by looking out for one another. For the people who has nothing to say positive you should just keep off this sight and go out and be a help for SXM drive or walk around and every time you see something lookig suspicious take a picture and take it to the police station. Then you'll be a valid a*set for SXM. SXM police you are doing a great Job with the few that St. Marten have. Keep up the good work and as you go to serve the people of SXM ask God To guide you and protect you daily.

I WAS OVER BY THE AIRPORT BECAUSE I WAS GOING CLUB AND THEN THERES COP ALL OVER THE PLACE PEOPLE RUNNING POLICE VANS,BOMB SQUAD AND THEN AT BADA BING SIGN THEY BLOCKED THE ROAD AND SINCE I WORKED FOR GOVERNMENT THEY HAD TO LET ME THROUGH ...BUT THEN THEY GOT A LITTLE ATTITUDE AND THEN I F**KED THEM UP AND I YELLED AT THEN TO LET ME THROUGH THEN THEY DID LET ME THROUGH WHILE GOING TO THE AIRPORT.AIRPORT SECURITY WAS LIKE POLICE EVERYWHERE AND THERE WAS THE GOVERNOR

every one did a very good job today at the airport. the police did the right thing hoax or not close of the road. because if they didn't do it and some thing happend we would have been all over them. and if you look at it who ever did this can also be checking to see how prepare they are if they can do the right thing. also they can do it to distract them to rob and commit other crime. and it happend tonight in cay bay i heard don't know if it so. M.I.B you all did a very good job in protecting our people of sxm.

ohoh and not forgeting HENRY H. YOU A PRICK.

The authorities should have the necessary technology in place to track down the one(s) now laughing at their sick "master piece". All phone companies should work together with the relevant authorities to track the person and come down hard on them. I hope the airport has at least caller ID on their numbers.
An island was brought it's knees because of a sick joke.
Am curious to know how much damage was done. Both island image and financially. Make them pay for the rest of their lives so others will never try this again.

The airport management and the local police have to operate in accordance with internationally accepted procedures when responding to this type of incident and thank god they did.
By now , everyone who pa*ses through an airport know the strict security measures that are applied when security threats are received. while it is an inconvenience, our lives are more important.

is it still closed?

The police left hundreds of pa*sengers CLOSER to the airport than the road is, and left them there for hours with no means to get away since the road was blocked. I still say that closing the road was an over-reaction and made the situation much worse for all concerned.

I have always found LIAT to be the most arrogant airline. It doesn't surprise me that they would not take one step to a*sist the pa*sengers who they told were on their own. I lived in St. Maarten for 8 years. They never left on time nor arrived on time, 5 times out of 10 luggage would be rifled through and anything of value stolen. They give all the islands a black eye.

Yes the police did the right thing, but imagine this was the real thing, police actually allowed the people to remain outside the terminal, while closing of the roads from BaddaBing entrance to Cargo Building, and they permitted these people to remain on the outside of the terminal, I find they should have evacuated the vicinity, if this was the real thing and should something have detonated then more would have been hurt. not taking away the good they did, just think ahead a bit more...

and Henry,... you sure too alot of heat.. U still a Prick.

Indeed we are not ready to handle ourselves.

It is not the police responsibility to take care of the pa*sengers. As soon as the airlines were notified of this they or the airport authorities should have had at least 5 persons get all pa*sengers outside and as far away from the building as possible (at least towards the water side) while the others do whatever they had to do. Blocking the roads was good since, could you imagine hundreds of nervous people out on the road having to look out for traffic? They should have gotten all taxi's together and immediately made calls to all large tourbusses who under police supervision should have been given escort to the airport to get people moving. The airlines should have had at least 2 employees outside with the pa*sengers to inform them where they were going. Remember most of these are tourists who don't have a clue where to go. Even the staff of Liat SXM could have used their common sense and at least get those persons out of there, even if it was at their own expense, Government would have given free transport to hotels.

Then, do we have a bomb squad? Police and fire department were there which was good but .... what if a bomb was indeed found. Do we have a bomb expert who would be able to dispose of it properly? All in all, if this was the real thing, many people, at the least, would have been injured. I do however applaud the authorities, police and fire department for trying their best to deal with the situation, it was a rough one.

It clearly shows that with all the security measures we are not prepared for such a situation. Airport security and Airline staff have to definitely receive much more training as what they have right now. This was a test and while I consider whoever did this to be extremely sick, it was a warning of what could really happen. Are we prepared?
After 10.10.10 we won't be able to blame Curacao anymore.

to not ready:
you are so correct we are not ready yet. we have a lot to learn from this do. there are so many things that could have done better there but it is a learning for every one. i have a few observation but i won't post it here. because who ever did this i sure would be checking for the same things so let be carefull of the mistakes we saw and point them out here. because they can be just checking up. to see how things run and how they are. just remember 911. our pointers should be directed via mail or emails to right full person who are in charge and i sure they saw many things that would be change.

it is a standard prosedure for safety I don't mind missing a flight to avoid a treath or a joke

@ please. You are right. I too am sure he/she or they read these comments also. your advise is well taken and appreciated.

yes it is gebe fault for the stress da people have to face every day with thess block out on the island .
it shut be at gebe power pam building the bomd threat . not at the air port building.

My wife and I were about to board our flight when the airport was evacuated. US Airways got us a room at the Sonesta Maho Bay for Friday night. Finally got back home to Boston late Saturday...

IMO, airport security and the airline did a very good job handling a difficult situation. And I hope they can use phone records or something to track down whoever caused all this hardship.

I'd like to say it was a learing experience that St.Maarten should remember and dwell on this experience because Police did somethings right which well done but remember if a bomb exploded on an aircraft or where the avaition fuel is stored it wasn't a good thing that the pa*sengers and airport workers were so colse to the terminal many could have been killed.
Also the residents of the island must remember at you have to many family members working in the places and answer to family,
being that i have coming to St.maarten since the late 1980s and i have never at lease on the Dutch side seen your FIRE DEPT. pratcing any of training or fire drills-most i can remember is that they love to talk and watch the ladies.When you a policeman you can't find one.Your utilites get away with everything and answer to no one,its a shame they have two new generators and they are not online yet,thats a crime-this is the 21st.century,electrial outages should be a thing of the past not the present.
Crime is getting out of hand and your Govt. should do more about it,why does a person have to speak and write DUTCH to be a police officer,crime is crime i didn't know crime is a special language,my suggestion is let the young take the exam in english and who ever pa*ses give them the job as a probationeary officer and stipulate that have 18months to learn tha Dutch or be dismissed but in the mean time St.Maarten needs more police officers and rules to hold them back because of a language barrier
also it seems like english is the most spoken language on the Duth side politions (WAKE UP ) crime is out of hand.
I hope and pray your new GOVT. will have the sense to realize these facts and make people be accountable even if they are someones cousin,brother.sister,uncle of any realitive get the program working before St.Maarten lose your FRIENDLY ISLAND
name.I which St.Maarteners well be bless and GOD speed to Country status.MILLER

(Jenny Johnson) and (Black out everyday) I think you two are the most simple persons I've ever come across in my life. There is a bomb treat and you want to blame GEBE you both have to go.
Have mercy on you both.

Good job to the men in blue and all persons involve in handling this situation damn if you do and damn if you don't.

what a thing is right

they say the bomb treath came with in the airport self
what they should do is trace the call