Philipsburg:--- Motorist, pedestrians and residents of St. Maarten have begun to express their disgust at the amount of potholes on the public roads. Several motorists told SMN News that the potholes are causing severe traffic jams during the early morning hours when the school buses are on the road. Pedestrians and students who stands alongside the public roadway said on numerous occasions they are forced to go home because drivers would drive in these potholes and spill dirty water on them. Besides that, the potholes is an image St. Maarten does not want because it's a tourist destination. "I have seen tourist stop their vehicle to take pictures of the potholes and the running water on our streets and I know they are frustrated at what they are seeing and the traffic jams these potholes cause" one taxi driver told SMN News.
In an invited comment Minister of Public Works Theo Heyliger said that the road work must be put on a bid. He said at this time the sector ROB is working on making an inventory prior to sending the bid out. Heyliger said the constant rainfall is not helping the situation because the repair work cannot be conducted in rainy season.
In the meantime, Benjamin Ortega in an interview with SMN News said that government has contracted Windward Roads, MNO and Clean St Maarten to begin temporary road work in certain areas to alleviate the traffic. Ortega said the temporary repairs will begin as early as Monday. Asked when the Dutch Quarter main road and Arch road would receive attention Ortega said bidding will soon commence and those areas will be repaired when the bidding is complete. Ortega said temporary repair work will be done on Bush road and Zagersgut since these areas are considered to be hindering traffic during peak hours. The temporary work Ortega said has a price tag of Naf. 50,000.00.
Asked what will be done to eliminate of running water on Dutch Quarter main road Ortega said this will not be done immediately. However, he attributed the running water on the road to unclean drains. Ortega said some of the drains are overflowing causing the water to end up on the roadway. As for the settling of water on the Belvedere roundabout Ortega said that will not be taken care of right now but this will be addressed in the Belvedere upgrading project.
