St. George's Mayor Kenneth Bascome has called the Veendam a "disappointment" predicting that the ship would have little to no effect on the town's economy.

While the ship was scheduled to visit the east end 24 times, it has diverted to Hamilton four out of its five visits to the Island.

Mr. Bascome said: "I had predicted the ship would miss about six trips. I was trying not to be too negative. At this point, I figure we'll probably miss more than we get. I don't think it will actually be a benefit to the community."

Last year, it was announced that the ship would be the only regular visitor to St. George's, but plans had to change when it was discovered the ship was too large to safely pass through Town Cut.

It was then announced that the Veendam would lay anchor at Murray's Anchorage and passengers would be ferried to and from the town and while the Mayor said he was disappointed by the announcement, he hoped the town would make the best of the situation.

However, the ship has been repeatedly diverted to Hamilton due to medical emergencies and harsh weather, a trend Mr. Bascome fears will continue.

"Now that we're in hurricane season, it's going to be even harder to get the Veendam here," he said. 'The winds this time of year are going to make it difficult for them to stay out there."

He said the Corporation of St. George's was still looking towards straightening or dredging the Town Cut to allow larger ships to visit the town.

"Let's hope the simulations and the research show that we can widen the cut, and that we get the public behind the idea," he said. "Once that is done, we can go to tender and hopefully get cruise ships back in the harbour."

Last week, the Corporation met with people in the community about how they could attract businesses and customers to St. George's.

"We talked a bit about the family fun day we held in March," said Mr. Bascome. "It was very well received in the community, but we need to work to get more people from outside the community to come out.

"We also talked about the idea of a farmers market, and other activities like fashion shows. These are things we believe will help."

He also said that the Corporation was putting a lot of effort into keeping the town clean and attractive.

Last week, a St. George's resident complained publicly about a build-up of garbage in the area and took a series of pictures to prove his point, but Mr. Bascome said most of the problem areas identified in the photos were outside the town's boundaries and on private property.

"A few pictures I recognised taken on the old Club Med site," he said. "That's private property. There's nothing I can do about that.

"Of the abandoned vehicles, at least one of the bikes has been removed, but many of the photos were on private property and outside the St. George's town limits."

While the resident also complained that the town's business were struggling to survive, Mr. Bascome remained confident that the worst has already passed. "Things are on the upswing," he said. "I believe that things are coming along."