Weekly N°142

FREE Local News St-Barth in English Published by “Le Journal de Saint-Barth” 05 90 27 65 19 - [email protected] N°142 - March 7, 2008 WWEEKLYEEKLY Freestyle “Bowl” in Saint-Jean ©Rosemond Greaux ■■■■■■■ 580,000 Euros In Tourist Taxes Armed Thief Sentenced In January BRUNO MAGRAS To 18 Months In Prison CRITICIZES SOME he armed thief who held up knives. End of the first act. the cashier at the Oasis The perpetrator reappeared at WHO RENT DIRECTLY T supermarket and was also lunchtime, a motorcycle helmet on TO CLIENTS suspected of three other thefts and his head, at the Oasis supermarket an attempted robbery was brought in Lorient. He confronted the nacted as of January 1, 2008, a before the judge in Basse-Terre on cashier, who was alone at the time, new tourist tax of 5% of all sea- Tuesday afternoon at which time he and menaced her with a knife, ask- Esonal rentals brought in the sum was condemned to a 18 months in ing for the money in the cash regis- of 580,000 for the month of January. prison, with at least two months ter. The cashier, who was in a state This figure is lower than the expecta- behind bars and a suspended sen- of shock, gave it to him: net result tions of the COM, whose president, tence of two years. He was imme- of 1,,470 euros. The perpetrator Bruno Magras, points a finger at those diately incarcerated. This 29 year- was quickly identified and picked who rent certain villas: “The hotels pro- old man—originally from metro- up on Sunday morning but the ceeded to declare and collect the tax, as politan France—was already stolen money was not recovered. did the 28 agencies that rent villas and known to the gendarmes, who Under police surveillance, he apartments,” explains Bruno Magras. arrested him on Sunday morning. admitted to another theft during the But he feels that there are certain villa His chronic state of drug addiction night of February 22 at the Garage owners who rent directly to their clients influenced his behavior. de l’Etoile, where 50 euros and a via the Internet and who think they are He had begun a series of robberies printer were taken. exonerated from declaring their rentals on the night of February 28-29, by This was not the first time an armed and paying the tax. It is those owners throwing a rock through the win- robbery took place in Saint Barth, that Bruno Magras will not excuse or dow of a beauty parlor in the shop- yet this kind of crime remains offer favors: “We are currently doing ping center, La Savane, across from extremely rare. The last incident research to identify these people. the airport. He illegally entered and dates back to December 1995, when They will be taxed appropriately,” stole cash. He then tried unsuccess- two men wearing full-face helmets notes Magras, who was to meet with fully to break into the boutique, held up the small post office in Bernard Cressot, the general treasurer, Danièle B Diffusion, before head- Lorient while it was closed for on Tuesday, March 4, to discuss the ing to the Vaval shopping center in lunch. Brandishing their guns, they procedure to collect the taxes. For the Saint Jean. He used the same tech- menaced the postal employee who president, the desire to collect these nique—a rock through the win- was inside. They took the cash and taxes is not out of the norm: “It is to dow—to get into the toy store, Un fled on a motorcycle. They two men be expected. We need these taxes in dimanche à la mer, once again tak- were later caught by the police in order to meet the budget for the ing the cash, before doing the same metropolitan France, and sentenced COM. It is in the interest of every- at another boutique, Couleurs de to three years in prison although body on the island, since the more we Provence, where he took not only two of three years were a suspended can collect, the less risk there is of money but also several sets of sentence. creating new taxes.” 02 St Barth Weekly n°142 ■■■■■■■ © iMAGINE- Fotolia.com The Changing Climate What are the consequences for the Caribbean? René Fury is the head of Météo a major change in the level of hurri- corresponds to the melting of the gla- France, the French weather service cane activity. One change however is ciers of Greenland, or North America, in Guadeloupe de. Throughout his the intensity of the hurricanes that and the Antarctic. The total volume of career, he has been interested n the take place and the amounts of rain- these continental glaciers—more than climatic changes and greenhouse fall during a fierce storm. 20 million cubic miles—is enormous, effect. For the readers of the Saint At first glance, changes in global cli- and if it were all to melt, the millions Barth Weekly, he examines the mate do not seem to be causing of cubic miles of ice would raise sea question of climate changes in the major consequences on a regional level by 275 feet! Caribbean and in Saint Barth. level. Perhaps an increase of two Yet this will not happen tomorrow: degrees in temperatures would make at the current rate, it would take at “During the 1980s scientists began it a little harder to support the heat in least 500 years before this cata- taking about the changes in the cli- August, September, and October. strophic scenario would take place. mate. At the time, they forecast an Economically, things are different: increase in temperatures by three the global increase in temperatures In Saint Barth? degrees by the year 2100, but certain will in effect multiply the number of models calls for an increase of at zones that have tropical climates, Armed with this information, what least six degrees, if not eight. But we and are competitive in terms of are the possible consequences for didn’t dare believe it… three degrees tourism, at higher latitudes … Saint Barth? If what they predict is would already be an incredible But for the Caribbean and Saint true, one can imagine that by 2050, catastrophe. Barth in particular, the largest danger with an average temperature a few Today, if the entire scientific com- would be an overall increase in sea degrees hotter, that the level of the munity openly recognizes the dan- level, due to global warming. This ocean would increase by approxi- gers of climate change, there are dif- increase is essentially due to two mately one foot as a direct conse- ferent theories, based on various phenomena: thermal expansion of quence. To that, one must add the models of evolution. The differences seawater and widespread melting of increase due to melting snows, are less due to the uncertainty of the land ice (glaciers). A few years ago, approximately one-half inch per year, models, but rather to the scenarios in 2001 to be exact, Météo-France or an additional 1.3 feet. Or by 2050, that man opts to follow. That means participated in a simulation of the sea level might increase in Saint that an increase of three degrees melting of the large polar ice floes. Barth by 2.3 feet. What happens to would result only from a rigorous The model called for complete melt- buildings along the beach, and also to scenario limited greenhouse gas ing by the end of the 21st century. the port? emissions. The six-degree increase However they have found that the In conclusion, one can say that as the would result from a less rigorous acceleration of this melting in 2007 climate continues to change and scenario. was much faster than they anticipat- reveal more surprises, whether one is ed. The consequence is that if this an optimist, pessimist or fatalist, the What are the consequences speed continues, the ice floes will no rise of sea level is certitude, And if for the Caribbean? longer exist as early as 2070! Yet the increase in the water level by even the melting of all this ice would 2050 is five inches or thirty-five inch- In the Caribbean, climate change has not cause an increase in sea level, as es, the changes in the climate will been marked by a change in temper- the mass of this floating ice is have importance consequences that ature that is less than the global already taken into consideration. touch every person and every region average, and not much of a change But the rate at which the floes are in the world. in rainfall; nor has there has not been melting is an excellent indicator that 04 St Barth Weekly n°142 ■■■■■■■ Campaign SightFirst II Let’s Hear It For The Environment: The Lions Club of Saint-Barth, Miles electric cars The Most Generous In The Caribbean and arrive in Saint Barth Central and South America ince the kick-off of the After a first campaign in Sproject in July 2005, the the 1990s, the goal of First- Lions Club of Saint Barth Sight II, which ends this has donated $54,000 to the year during the annual con- International Lion’s Club vention of the service club Foundation for its Sight- in Bangkok, Thailand, was First II campaign. The size to fight against loss of sight of the donation makes the through cataracts, river club the top donor through- blindness, and trachoma, out the entire Caribbean the leading cause of pre- zone, as well as Central and ventable blindness.

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