MARIGOT–President Daniel Gibbs indicated Thursday that installation of a new weather radar in coordination with Dutch-side authorities will be able to start soon following approval by the Selection Committee of the Caribbean INTERREG programme on May 30 and 31, 2017, in which he participated.
This was a project supported by the Aline Hanson administration. It received a subvention from Fonds Européen de Développement Économique et Régional (FEDER) of 1,293,750 euros, representing 75 per cent of the financing. The new radar will replace the old defunct radar. The Collectivité’s 2.3 million-euro regional project will improve weather forecasting and the ability to track climatic phenomenon not only on the territory but on other islands as well.
The Collectivité has added 35,000 euros to the Initiatives St. Martin Guarantee Fund. Previously the Collectivité contributed 9,000 euros to the fund since 2013, but wanted to assure its continuity by increasing its contribution for what it called an “essential” initiative. Since 2015, 60 bank loans were guaranteed up to 80 per cent by this fund, resulting in the creation of 70 small businesses.
School boards of 16 establishments have said they are in favour of a return to a four-day study week which was discussed last month as part of “Rhythm Scolaire.” It was approved by the Executive Council on July 26, 2017, and comes in to effect for the start of the school year in September 2017.
The schedules are as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8:00am to 11:30am and from 1:30pm to 4:00pm with a stronger emphasis on after school activities. School children will benefit from a programme of varied activities around sport, culture, arts and crafts, and reading to improve the problem of illiteracy, and in the evenings tutoring from 4:00pm to 5:00pm.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/68069-installation-of-new-weather-radar-to-improve-forecasting-reliability
View comments
Hide comments