KRALENDIJK- While most residents on Bonaire had already given up hope, the Public Entity Bonaire has made a final push in December of this year to get some of the most urgent road repairs done. Although there is -of course- still a lot of work to be done, the situation on many important arteries has improved considerably.

Not only the citizens were feeling frustrated about the lack of concrete results. Earlier this year, Island Governor Edison Rijna and State Secretary Knops jointly expressed their disappointment with the lack of progress when it comes to road repair. The failed roundabout on Kaya Amsterdam also did little to inspire confidence in the R&O department, responsible for Infrastructure.

Trust

With the restoration of the Kaya Piedro Precioso to Republic, the lost confidence slowly started to return. This was further enhanced by the very rapid improvement made on the Kaya Gobernador Debrot near Harbor Village Marin. In spite of scepticism, the repairs seem to have done the trick.  

Repairs carried out over the past weeks on the Kaya Neerlandia, the Kaya Amsterdam and the road to Seroe Largoe have further increased hopes that the plan and timetable drawn up by the R&D department will turn out to be more realistic, than previously thought possible.

Criticism

Although the executive council formed by MPB and UPB has been criticized like no other, when it comes to the lack of progress with regard to road repairs, it is only fair to now conclude that no other executive council has made approximately as much progress in recent years, as is the case with the current Executive Council, when it comes to road improvement. 

That said, there are still many bottlenecks and many areas that need urgent attention and structural improvement. Substantial efforts will therefore have to be made in the coming years. Calculations that made in the recent past show that in total more than 100 million dollars is now needed to structurally improve the entire road network.