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Editorial
These two photographs above tell a story that every St. Maartener should reflect on.
In May 2023, I photographed the statue of the late Dr. Claude Wathey standing in front of what was once the Government Administration Building in the heart of Philipsburg.
The irony was impossible to ignore.
Behind the man who helped transform St. Maarten into the tourism and economic success story we know today stood an abandoned government building, left to decay for years. In front of it stood a statue erected in his honor, itself weathered, neglected and visibly in need of restoration.
Eventually, the Government Administration Building was demolished. The Claude Wathey statue was removed and reportedly placed into storage, its whereabouts known only to a few. Whether it will ever be restored to its rightful place remains uncertain.
That image has stayed with me.
Claude Wathey was known as a builder. Under his leadership, roads were constructed, tourism flourished, hotels rose, businesses opened, and thousands of St. Maarteners found opportunities that previous generations could scarcely imagine. Whether one agreed with his politics or not, few would dispute that he helped build modern St. Maarten.
Yet these photographs expose one of our greatest national weaknesses.
We are good at building.
We are not nearly as good at maintaining.
The abandoned Government Administration Building became a monument to deferred maintenance. The deteriorating statue of one of our most influential leaders became another.
Unfortunately, this pattern extends far beyond these two landmarks.
We build roads, but often fail to maintain them.
We construct public buildings, then allow them to deteriorate.
We launch projects with enthusiasm, but too often neglect the long term care needed to preserve them.
Maintenance is rarely celebrated. There are no ribbon cuttings for repainting a public building, repairing a monument, or resurfacing a road before it fails. Yet maintenance is what protects investments, preserves history and saves taxpayers millions in the long run.
A society that only builds eventually finds itself rebuilding what it failed to maintain.
As we celebrate the centennial of Claude Wathey’s birth and reflect on the legacy he left behind, perhaps the greatest tribute we can pay him is not another ceremony or another speech.
It is adopting a new national mindset.
Build. Maintain. Preserve.
That is how nations protect their investments.
That is how communities honor their history.
That is how prosperity becomes lasting rather than temporary.
The former Government Administration Building is gone.
Hopefully, the Claude Wathey statue will one day return, restored to the place of honor it deserves.
When it does, let it stand not only as a tribute to the man who helped build modern St. Maarten, but also as a reminder that the work of nation building does not end when the ribbon is cut.
The true measure of development is not what we build, but what we choose to preserve for the generations that follow.
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Related article: Claude Wathey at 100: History, Results, and the Measure of Leadership
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