Minister Ottley signs bilateral agreement for food assistance program | SOUALIGA NEWSDAY

SINT MAARTEN (POND ISLAND) – Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Omar Ottley hereby informs the public that he has received the final approval from the Netherlands for the food assistance program.

A grant will be provided by the Netherlands to execute the food assistance program for the next two months with the possibility to extend for an additional two months.

This program is an extension of the program which was executed by the Red Cross. In an effort to ensure that the smoothest transition can take place, Government has already enlisted the Sint Maarten Development Fund (SMDF), who was a coordinating partner in the Red Cross program, to coordinate and execute the program.

Now that the approval was given, Government will finalize the agreement with SMDF. In the meantime, SMDF has been requested to commence with the operational preparations to execute the program.