Any sidewalk is indeed better than no sidewalk. I'm the adventurous type, but my wife worries walking in the road, especially with the way some of the locals drive. At times, that keeps us on the beach and away from the businesses across the road. It's worse on the cliffs, sidewalks are needed even more there.
I wonder why they are worried about how it looks? Between shacks built from random bits of wood to all the rundown buildings and abandoned spaces, they're worried about how the sidewalk looks? You would think their only concern would be getting the tourists to come visit them safely.