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Ever wonder about the quality of the air you breathe in St Barth? Gwad’Air, a French association recognized by the Minister of Ecology, has installed a trailer on St Barth to measure the quantity of pollutants in the air. The trailer will remain in front of City Hall in Gustavia for three weeks, after which it will move near the fire station in St Jean. This mobile station takes measurements every ten seconds to record the level of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. The measurements will be repeated during the more humid months of summer when clouds of Sahara dust pass over St Barth. In addition to the trailer, Gwad’Air has also placed 50 tubes on poles along the roads, which will stay in place for 15 days. The information recorded by the tubes will primarily be the levels of nitric oxide gases emitted by cars and boats. Surprisingly, and unfortunately, the North winds of winter bring quite a bit of ozone produced by cars in the United States and Canada to the islands in the Antilles.
On February 1st, France began implementing the first stages of its ban on smoking in public places. This stage bans smoking in public places such as businesses, schools, health facilities, airports, sports stadiums, concert halls, and museums. Beginning January 2008, smoking will also be banned in cafés, restaurants, casinos and discotheques. Smokers who ignore the law will be fined €68, while establishments that don’t enforce the law will be fined €135. Since St Barth is subject to French law, we can expect to see the same enforcement here.
The Adam Falcon Quartet is playing at Bêtes de L’Azailes, a bar and restaurant on the harbor in Gustavia, from February 5 through March 3. The music starts at 9:00 pm. The band features Joe Scott on keyboard, Adrian Harpham on drums, Cary Potts on bass and singer-songwriter Adam Falcon on guitar. Adam was born and raised in New York City and worked as a session and touring musician with musicians such as Phyllis Hyman, Will Downing, Jonathan Butler, Sophie B. Hawkins, Roberta Flack and George Benson, his mentor. For more information, visit their web site at www.adamfalcon.com.
Restrictions on Baggage Handling In the past, St Barth Commuter staff could retrieve its passengers' yellow-ribbon tagged checked luggage when they arrived in St Maarten and transfer it to their plane to St Barth. However, procedures at the new airport now require that all baggage handling must be done by the groundhandling company, Menzies. St Barth Commuter customers will now have to go through immigration, retrieve their luggage and take it to the transit check-in counter. However, passengers flying to St Barth on private charters or shared charters can still go straight through the transit security checkpoint to the Departure Lounge as long as they escorted by an official agent of the chartered plane. These agents are also allowed to collect and transfer their luggage to the chartered plane.
New Immigration Control and Registration System in the Near Future As stated by Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards in the St Maarten Daily Herald, "A pilot project of a computerized immigration registration and border control system will be introduced at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) shortly." The system, called VROSNA, will be used to register all people entering and leaving St Maarten. Each person’s passport or visa will be scanned as well as other identification cards and drivers’ licenses. In addition, passengers will be photographed and, pending legislation, fingerprints will be taken. The system will be linked to police headquarters and is viewed as one of the main tools in border control and the fight against crime. Terminals and scanners will be installed in phases at the 10 immigration booths for arriving passengers and the five booths for departing passengers. Training of the immigration officials was to begin this week. Future plans call for the VROSNA terminals to also be placed at the seaports and at the Simpson Bay bridge. Lt. Governor Richards mentioned that “this new process might cause some minor delays and inconvenience for travelers” and he asked for everyone to be patient. Be sure to allow even more extra time for making your connection to St Barth!
On Some Islands Swimsuits Star; On St. Barts Pleasing Palates Reigns
Island chefs create February/April dining extravaganzas to prove once again (should anyone doubt) St. Barts is Caribbean's culinary capital.
Newport, RI (PRWEB) February 18, 2007 -- St. Barts is the Culinary Capital of the Caribbean, as anyone who has been there knows.
Now an association of this French West Indies island's restaurateurs wants to put its own seal of approval on this nomenclature by hosting Gastronomy Week Caribéenne Feb. 19-26 followed by an April 13 and 14 highly exclusive, back-to-back dining extravaganza.
Wimco, the leading luxury villa rental company for St Barts villas, is enthusiastically supporting these events that will showcase the island's best chefs and their signature dishes.
"St. Barts is increasingly well known for its fine dining. Many of our clients tell us that one of the primary reasons they go to St. Barts, in addition to enjoying the privacy of a villa vacation, is to dine well, even very well, even very well," says Stiles Bennet, Wimco's Director of Marketing.
The Feb. 19-26 event occurs for seven nights in 20 restaurants, and each restaurant will produce an entrée sourced entirely from nearby islands and local waters.
Then on April 13 and 14, St. Barts' most accomplished chefs will collaborate to produce two dining extravaganzas showcasing the high quality and appealing variety of gourmet dishes available in the island's restaurants. A selection of fine wines will be presented to accompany the dinners which will be reviewed by an international panel of eight judges composed of world renowned chefs and food critics from top publications. The restaurant association will sell tickets for approximately $250 each for each evening to help defray expenses. The first dinner will be served at the Guanahani Hotel on April 13 and the second at the Eden Rock Hotel on April 14.
Census takers have been busy visiting every house on the island, except
those used strictly as rental villas, asking all residents to complete two
forms. The first form consists of 25 questions to obtain such information as
the age, birthplace, nationality, place of residence five years earlier, and
career. The second form contains 15 questions about the characteristics of
each home. Residents who live on boats were asked to pass by the office of
the Harbor Master on January 18 and 19, where a temporary census-taking
office was set up. The last census was held in 1999, at which time 6852
people resided on St Barth. For comparison, in 1990 there were 5038
residents and 3059 residents in 1982.
Before the census started, the number of dwellings was counted in order to
determine how many census takers would be needed. In 1999, there were 3465
dwellings on the island; at the end of 2006, there were 4400. An increase of
fewer than 1000 dwellings in seven to eight years doesn't seem like a lot.
However, on an island this small, an average of 125 news dwellings per year
is quite substantial. But, still not enough to satisfy the ever-growing
demand for housing. The shortage of housing has been painfully felt by the
five professional firemen of St Barth who come from France. They met with
Mayor Bruno Magras to discuss this problem. At times, housing cannot be
found and they are forced to stay at the firehouse. When they do find a
place, they often pay more that 50% of their salary for rent, leaving little
for daily needs and not allowing them to visit their families in France or
bring them to St Barth. Another point that was addressed with the Mayor is
the fact that other government employees, such as the Police of the
Frontier, receive lodging subsidized by the municipality.
Auction at François Plantation to Aid Jane Goodall Institute
Created in 1977, the mission of the Jane Goodall Institute is to save large
primates from extinction. The Bonobo monkey is the species closest to
humans: 98.4% of the genetic codes in their DNA are also present in the DNA
of humans. In 1980, their population was estimated to be 100,000; today, it
is a mere 5000. To aid the Jane Goodall Institute, Robert Eden, owner of the
Hotel François Plantation in Colombier, is holding a silent auction of a
limited-edition bronze statue of a Bonobo monkey that was sculpted by
Florence Jacquesson. Painter, sculptor and photographer, Jacquesson has
received numerous awards for her work. All proceeds will be donated to the
Jane Goodall Institute. Bids begin at €20,000,or $25,000. A participation
form is available at the hotel. The auction ends on March 8.
"Those who can't do New Year's like Diddy, DiCaprio and Microsoft mogul Paul Allen do -- on megayachts, of course -- not to worry: this tiny, tony Caribbean island is always crawling with celebrities. Hangouts include Maya's (Public, Gustavia; (011-590-590) 277-573), the casual seaside boite favored by Jimmy Buffet and Martha Stewart; Casa Nikki (Plage de St. Jean; (011-590-590) 276-464), the Barth's branch of Miami's very own Nikki Beach Club where Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova partied last year; and Le Yacht Club (Rue Jeanne d'Arc; (011-590-690) 492-333), where Usher, Mariah Carey, Jay Z and Beyonce have been known to pop bottles of bubbly. If you don't have a private villa, make like Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner and hang your weary heads at the haute Hotel Guanahani & Spa (Grand Cul de Sac; (011-590-590) 529-036)."
A famous yacht with it's new owner was spotted in St. Barts recently:
"Antunes, 44, paid US$13.1 million for the yacht in September and has had her refitted in Newport, Rhode Island. He has reportedly followed Endeavour's every move since childhood and has longed to own her. Endeavour has always been regarded as the J Class yacht to beat but after an initial locking of horns with Velsheda in Antigua several years ago she was forced into retirement when he new owner Dennis Koslowski was jailed for his part in the Tyco fraud scandal. Since then the yacht has been administered by the New York District Attorney's staff who have done what they can to keep her in shape. The picture shows Endeavour with her familiar spinnaker during a rare foray onto the race course in this year St Barths Bucket."
After much speculation about the future of the chairs at the now-closed Le Rivage restaurant in Grand Cul de Sac, they were sold to Andy Hall of The Hideaway in St Jean. Bids were submitted by Le Bistro de Real Madrid and Le Café Chelsea, two restaurants off the island. Le Rivage was much loved both by locals and tourists. However, the property was recently sold and the restaurant closed its doors on January 15. The chairs have found a new home and couldn't look better. Thank you, Andy, for preserving the memories!
In December 2005, the French National Assembly passed a law to prohibit the use of plastic grocery bags by 2010. For months, all of the island grocery stores have been selling green fabric bags for one euro - a true bargain as these bags are handy for almost everything! To date, almost 10,000 of these bags have been sold. Now, the ASB grocery stores have gone one step further to encourage people to make use of these environmentally friendly bags. They no longer offer the standard plastic grocery bags for free - if you don't have your own bags, each plastic bag will cost you 0.10 centimes. That's not expensive, but you'd be surprised at the number of people carrying armfuls of unbagged groceries to their cars!
As of last year, the nonprofit organization SubProtect has provided ashtrays for use on the beaches. They have installed empty soda cans at the entrances to many of the beaches to encourage smokers not to toss their cigarette butts on the beach. Their plan is to install these "Ashtrays on the Beach" at 14 of the island's 22 beaches.
On Thursday, January 25, O'Corner opened its doors to welcome to a large number of people eager to try the new restaurant. The restaurant is the creation of Hervé Chovet of the now-closed Le Rivage in Grand Cul de sac. Comments thus far state that it has a "nifty South Beach ambiance," that the menu is fairly priced "by St Barth standards," and that it resembles an Irish pub (and South Beach at the same time?). The restaurant features tapas for starters and main courses that can be ordered in small, medium or large sizes. O'Corner has been long in the making as it occupies the same corner as the previous restaurant BBQ, which was completely demolished.
It's final! Last week the French House of Deputies voted in favor of St Barth becoming an Overseas Collectivity, which means that the island will now be administratively independent of Guadeloupe and will have senatorial representation in the French Parliament. The first change announced is that French citizens who have resided on St Barth for fewer than five years will be subject to French taxation. No doubt it will take some time to implement the new political structure and plans for the future.
There is good news and bad news regarding WinAir, currently the most important carrier between St Barth and St Maarten.
WinAir recently announced an agreement with the U.S. carrier Continental Airlines in which passengers of both airlines will be issued one e-ticket and their luggage will be checked through to St Barth. WinAir also provides e-ticketing agreements with KLM, Delta, US Airways and Air France. The International Air Transportation Association requires that the airline industry be 100% e-ticket compatible by the end of 2007. WinAir will comply with this requirement by the end of April 2007, allowing them to save money on the costs incurred by the conventional paper ticket.
WinAir continues to have financial problems and employee dissatisfaction. The Parliament in St Maarten will meet today or tomorrow to discuss issues of safety, staff turnover and the reason for the recent increase in ticket prices. Because of financial problems, staff turnover has been high in key positions such as pilots, mechanics, passenger handling, maintenance and accounting. Also, luggage is frequently left behind, especially in Saba and St. Eustatius. Because of the shortage of pilots (the airline has 32 of the needed 37), the flight schedule has been modified and some routes have been outsourced. Thus far, flights to and from St Barth have not been affected. Managing Director Edwin Hodge assures everyone that safety is not being compromised, noting that WinAir is constantly being audited by the Antillean Directorate of Civil Aviation and is audited every two years by its code-share partner US Airways. US Airways rates the maintenance procedures and inspections "as good as any major airline." He also states that the higher ticket prices are due to the increased costs associated with the new airport in St Maarten. We can only hope that WinAir can straighten out its financial problems and continue to remain the airline of choice between St Maarten and St Barth. As always, its employees on St Barth continue to be helpful and polite.
St. Maarten/St. Martin's only helicopter service, Heli St. Martin, has been operational since August 2006 and celebrated its official opening in early November 2006, with service seven days a week from the airport in Grand Case. Before offering the service, Heli St. Martin acquired all necessary permits and certifications to comply with the rules and regulations of the relevant international and local authorities. The helicopter, a Eurocopter EC 120-B Colibri, is a newer and quieter model. However, because it is a single turbine helicopter, it can only fly the short distance between St. Maarten/St. Martin, Anguilla and St Barth. The company hopes to purchase a twin turbine helicopter within a year and a half that will be able to fly longer distances. Although this is an expensive alternative to the ferry and the normal flights to St Barth, it is another option. For more details, visit http://www.helistmartin.com/islandtours.php and http://www.airsxm.eu/page.php?page=35.
The Music Festival kicked off its 23rd year on January 23 with the John Ellis Quartet, who was joined by Mathieu Dufour, principal flute for the Chicago Symphony, for the final piece. And, for the first time ever, the Festival hosted a free outdoor concert in Zion Garden in Saline on Saturday, January 27. The concert, performed by NYCO, was promoted as being for the "young". But, on St Barth, when it comes to music, there is no age distinction - everyone is young! NYCO was formed by Ted Atkatz, previously the principal percussionist for the Chicago Symphony. He traded in his drumsticks for a Nord keyboard and a Gibson acoustic guitar, wrote twelve songs and collaborated with three of Chicago's best musicians. Their debut CD was produced by Grammy-award winner Jim Tullio, and two big Chicago radio stations have already begun to play their music. Judging from the crowd's reaction, they were well received. Many thanks to the sponsors of the Music Festival and to NYCO for sharing their rock'n'roll with us! The Festival continues through February 2.
Ever wonder about the quality of the air you breathe in St Barth? Gwad’Air, a French association recognized by the Minister of Ecology, has installed a trailer on St Barth to measure the quantity of pollutants in the air. The trailer will remain in front of City Hall in Gustavia for three weeks, after which it will move near the fire station in St Jean. This mobile station takes measurements every ten seconds to record the level of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. The measurements will be repeated during the more humid months of summer when clouds of Sahara dust pass over St Barth. In addition to the trailer, Gwad’Air has also placed 50 tubes on poles along the roads, which will stay in place for 15 days. The information recorded by the tubes will primarily be the levels of nitric oxide gases emitted by cars and boats. Surprisingly, and unfortunately, the North winds of winter bring quite a bit of ozone produced by cars in the United States and Canada to the islands in the Antilles.
