New Buildings...no new parking - SXM Sint Maarten

Why is parking so difficult to come by on this little rock of ours? I see so many new buildings but no new parking. Heck there isn’t even any OLD parking to speak of. Yes, yes, Philipsburg has had a wonderful makeover. I’m sure all the store employees are happy with their new parking. They are the ONLY ones. Excuse me, but how can I shop at your store if I can’t GET to your store. If I have to park on POND FILL to get to Back Street, do you think I’m going shopping? To the employees…stop being so LAZY! Park yourselves on Pond fill and walk into work, leaving the spaces in front of the shops for SHOPPERS. More customers mean more money. These are bad economic times as it is…help yourselves! Make space for people to actually GET into your store. A very simple concept, but one that is utterly lost on employees AND store owners here. Might I suggest Parking Meters? I’m sure it would be considered by government, since making money is involved. And what about the parking in the center of town? When will that be fixed? Honestly, the entrance is the exit and vice versa? It has been like this for years, causing congestion in the streets and in the lot. And when the lot is FULL the attendant still allows people to drive in. Why? So that they can get pinned in and horns start honking by frustrated people. Lazy Attendant! And it is not just Philipsburg. Simpson Bay is just as ridiculous. I went to one of my favorite locations for happy-hour. This location is right next to the bridge and I enjoy watching the yachts come in, along with my friends. I recently went there on a weekend with a van of SIX people. To my dismay, there was no parking. The lot was filled to capacity, but the bar was empty. Come to find out the lot was filled by cars of people who had gone sailing for the day. I beg your pardon? How can this be? I want to go to this establishment, spend my good money, enjoy myself, but I can’t get in because others had used the lot to store their cars for the day? How could the property owner allow this? And then sit and look at an empty establishment. I don’t know why they even bothered to open. No one could get in. Does this make sense? It’s ridiculous! Parking is a sorely needed commodity on this little rock of ours. You spend hours in traffic only to arrive at your destination with no where to park!