TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Orient "carbets" infrastructure complete

...or so says the Daily Herald, anyway.

Daily Herald story

I could be wrong, often am, but I don't see that the carbets will be open this high season, except the one next to the end closest to where Club O was.

This is that building, photo taken on October 5, 2019. Interesting that the picture in the DH is old, because the building is not painted in the DH picture



Of the other units, they have only even started any construction on I believe 4 of them. Here are some pictures of the area. I believe two of the four under construction are Chez Leandra and Orange Fever.









Oh and if you take a look at the picture of the bathroom in one of the shots, there is a big hole in the side of the roof. And there was garbage piled in the bathroom. Something could have changed since we took those pictures, but somehow, I don't think that the bathrooms are quite ready to go...

A long way off.

It will be appreciated... More places to dine and toilets! I hope there are no containers although the permits allow 20 foot containers to be placed instead of building a structure. I guess we will wait and see.

I've seen some containers decorated better than some beach structures are.

Agreed, having more places to eat on Orient is a good thing, and having toilets is a good thing. It should NOT have taken the Collectivite' two YEARS to get done what they have done so far, and, as I said before, the infrastructure was certainly NOT complete, as of October 5, and I somehow doubt it is now, despite the headline. If anyone is on island now, would LOVE to see a picture of the restroom building to see if that hole is still there in the roof.

I hope the toilets are not just a hole in the floor... LOL

There were some nice ones before Irma.

I have said it before....I will say it again. It is a total disgrace what the collective has done to the fine people who operate and work at the shops on Orient Beach. Four short years ago...these people were forced away from their recently fixed up restaurants and shops, when they brains of the French side decided to rip them all down, put them out of business for a year, while they rebuild the shacks to better codes. Well....less than a year after they reopened....ALL the owners of the shops were forced into higher rents for their new locations....and most spent an additional fortune customizing their restaurants to their tastes. We all laughed when we saw the plans, knowing that the way they were being built wasn't going to withstand a good storm. Unfortunately, less than a year of being open, that b/tch Irma decided to visit, and like the three little pigs, huffed and puffed, and blew it all down. Now TWO YEARS LATER, these poor people still do not have their businesses back....are trying to survive without working for years, and being held hostage by the French government. This is a traversty!!! I do hope, that finally things get back to a normal there, and that all these displaced workers and owners, can start seeing a paycheck once again. The one building that still isn't open yet, was ''framed" in March, when we were there. A small concrete building should not take over NINE months to build...even on island time. I pray for all the people that have depended on Orient Beach for their livelihoods.

Ed--totally agree. The French side government has scr*wed those people, nine ways to Sunday.

Very true Ed / Carol, Natalie Pley, owner of Aloha related a similar sequence of events to us a few days before Irma hit. She had a photo album of the experience over the years. We met back up with her working at Rainbow last December still working hard. Great people.

I have visited these businesses many times and got to know some of these very nice people. This is tragic and I can’t imagine the frustration to get back up and running. Typical government incompetence with no sense of urgency.

Could you ever imagine that type of "governing" here in the USA? It's a darn shame that the people in place to run a government aren't qualified enough to run a candy store. It's criminal how those in charge are devastating the country.