St. Maarten Private Eye

NEWS STORY from SXM PRIDE foundation

Please find a picture of mushrooming billboards in the Oyster Pond area near the French/Dutch side border.

The Sint Maarten PRIDE foundation is again calling on our Government departments to finalise the island wide outdoor signage and billboard policy. This area of Oyster Pond close to the French and Dutch side border is cluttered with billboards of all sizes
and shapes. Ironicly, all the billboards are on the Dutch part of the border.

We must rid the island of all these wild billboards and come up with a policy that will present guidlines on shape and size and number of signs that can be erected by a company. Also, a moratorium should be set in place for new signage companies, the companies operating now should be evaluated as to number of signs permitted and
locations selected for erection of signs.

PRIDE foundation has noticed that sidewalks in Simpson Bay are being used for billboards and would like these signs and others removed due to hampering pedestrians from walking/jogging and motorists from parking their vehicules. The Sint Maarten PRIDE foundation is also calling on the department of Inspection to investigate if all billboards in the Oyster Pond area have permits, and if not, to have them removed as was recently done successfully with a large Jewelry story billboard that was illegally erected on a shack in the Lower Frontstreet area.

The shack owner and the advertising/marketing department of the Jewelry store both received a fine for the illegal placement of the billboard.

Jadira Veen
SXM PRIDE foundation
President

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