The "Fort Amsterdam is under siege!" Story

The remains of Fort Amsterdam

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an online account about Fort Amsterdam which is a historical military installation on the island of Sint Maarten.  What is disturbing to me is that the account is posted on the Divi Little Bay Resort webpage.  There is a bitter battle ongoing at present between the Divi Resort and the citizens of Sint Maarten regarding who has ownership and the rights to this centuries old fort.  The Divi talks about being able to have one of their bellmen drive you to one of the most historic sites on the island and while surrounded by tiki torches, be wined and dined with an elegant 3-course Dutch meal as your waiter, dressed as a pirate, tells you about the history of Fort Amsterdam.  The story goes like this: Fort Amsterdam was constructed in 1631 by the Dutch who were the first European settlers on the island.  The fort was built on the peninsula between Great Bay and Little Bay.  In 1633 the Spanish invaded the island.  The Dutch on the island at the time consisted of 95 men, 2 women, 20 Negro men and 10 Negro women.  Needless to say the Spanish captured the island and remained there until 1648.  During that time they expanded the fort.  In 1644 the Dutch made an attempt to recapture the island.  It was during this battle that Peter Stuyvesant failed as well as lost a leg.  The reason for trying to recapture the island was the valuable salt ponds that were located in the area near the fort.  The island eventually changed hands many times between Holland, England and France.  In 1987, Jan Baart, an archaeologist from the city of Amsterdam, excavated the area around the fort and unearthed the skeleton of a Spanish officer who had died in 1644 at Fort Amsterdam.  The fort has not been a military  installation since the 19th century, but had been used as a signaling and communications station until the 1950s.  After that time the fort was neglected which has led to it's dismal state today.  A few walls of the original Fort Amsterdam still remain, but the majority of the fort has fallen.  On January 29, 1995 five of the original cannons and their carriages were removed from the area.  One cannon had the King George coat of arms engraved into it.  All were in a bad state of repair.  The Governor of the Netherlands Antilles and his Brigade General F.E. van Kappen of the Roiyal Netherlands Marine Corp, on a visit to the island, saw the cannons and offered to restore them for the island.  The cannons were transported to the harbor and loaded onto a Dutch Navy Supply Ship and taken to the Curacao navy Base for restoration.  After almost two hundred years on location at Fort Amsterdam, the cannons will be restored and finally transported back to their original place at the bulwark of Fort Amsterdam.  The Government of Sint Maarten, as well as the Heritage Foundation, has been trying to preserve the cultural heritage of Sint Maarten for years.  Now for the part that the Divi has been playing in all of this.  In order to get to the fort, islanders and tourists must travel an access road which the Divi seems to have included in their property rights.  Was this road part of the original deed of transfer to the Divi?  The Divi claims it belongs to them.  The Divi has taken it upon themselves to erect a chain-link fence and banned entrance to the fort.  A sign that says "No Unauthorized Admittance-Hazardous Area - Dangerous Cliffs, May obtain written permission from Divi Little Bay Beach Resort," was placed on the road as a safeguard for the safety of visitors, says the Divi.  Jadira Veen, President of St. Maarten Pride Foundation said it proves that they are playing hardball in trying to get what they want and are dead set on holding Fort Amsterdam hostage.  The Divi wants to build more units on the area where Fort Amsterdam is located.  Fort Amsterdam is the sole zoned heritage site on the Dutch side of the island and it appears that Divi Hotel is keen on making the islanders suffer because they would never be able to build hotel rooms and other facilities on this historically valuable location.  The Miami Daily Herald, in an editorial, said the Divi should be allowed to build because they may have the rights to the land.  The people of the island want to preserve the sole location for the future.  The saga will certainly continue, but for now Carol and I will not be able visit the historical Fort Amsterdam unless we agree to eat a meal and be serenaded by a Pirate.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The Divi Resort with the red rooftops in the center rear with Fort Amsterdam above it.

The chain-link fence and sign erected by the Divi Resort.