Guardrails and other street furniture in St. Maarten regularly get damaged by motorists who fail to report such. Last month, for example, this was the scene (see photo below) left behind near the airport during the night of Saturday to Sunday and the vehicle involved must have been towed away, as one of its front wheel drive axles remained on the ground,
Government often neither promptly makes repairs nor seeks to have the culprit’s insurance providers pay for their damage. Consequently, a lot of these safety railings stay in an abominable state, contributing to the impression of a country in disarray.
Moreover, local roads are full of potholes, several streetlights continue to be out of service, traffic markings have become practically non-existent, and the number of car wrecks adds nothing but trash to the landscape. Frequently bent and broken guardrails can thus be considered “icing on the cake” in making the island look unkempt and not cared for by authorities.
One week later a crew cleaned up the accident debris in this case. However, much taxpayer-funded infrastructure is still in dilapidated condition.
Especially as a popular vacation destination with a one-pillar tourism economy, there exists a clear need to do better.
