How one local Family fight the struggle to win
Everyone will agree that our local people should be involved in the economic activity on the Island. We have noticed that of late, more and more locals are fading out of business from Front Street to other parts of the business centers across the Island. Over at Mullet Bay the York family were employees at the one time flagship Hotel on the Island Mullet Bay beach Resort until Hurricane Louis destroyed it in 1995 and it was never rebuilt. Two brothers of a well-known St. Maarten family decided to continue the services to beach goers since it appears that Mullet Bay had no plans on coming back any time soon.
Since the beaches are Public the brothers decided to continue providing beach chairs and umbrella service to the many guest and locals frequenting the beach. They started the process to legally establish themselves in business and suffered consistent backlash from the Mullet Bay owners. They were asked to ceased business operations and leave the premises; these were some of challenges they faced while helping themselves to work so they could feed their families. Their temporary structure from which they were conducting business suffered hurricane damages and were vandalized on several occasions, but the family owners of Da Waterhole Beach Bar & Grill never gave up.
After losing a set of beach chairs and umbrellas to a suspicious fire, they decided to fight their struggle to remain in business in court. Having obtained a legal business license to operate ‘Da Waterhole Beach Bar & Grill’ on a public beach they did not succumb to the pressure to leave Mullet Bay Beach but were vindicated in a court hearing that ruled in their favor. After hurricane Irma in 2017 Dave York son of one of the brothers David York, was not afraid to raise the cultural presentation of Da Waterhole and put some life in its design; after much consultations with The Nature Foundation and the Ministry of VROMI who had their concerns about the establishment.
The facility was set up addressing all the requirements of VROMI and the Nature Foundation with a pleasant Food & Beverage outlet, male and female bathrooms, storage lockers and running Water. They have shifted the operation to use biodegradable utensils and employed a permanent janitor for cleaning both restrooms and the beach regularly after use. The sanitary appearance of the outlet is not only admirable but speak of the commitment of this local family to not only win the struggle to survive in business here at home, but to show if given the chance, locals have the ability to establish themselves in business in a way that St. Maarten can be proud of.
