THE HAGUE–Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops sent the St. Maarten National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Tuesday. He also provided answers to some written questions on the recovery process.
Sending the NRRP to the Dutch Parliament is in keeping with Knops’ pledge to keep the Members of Parliament (MPs) informed of the developments regarding St. Maarten’s recovery after Hurricane Irma and the associated Trust Fund for which the Dutch government has reserved 55 million euros.
The Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations visited St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba in July and submitted a list of 46 questions on their return to the Netherlands. The majority of the questions regarded the Caribbean Netherlands, but there were also a number about St. Maarten.
The MPs wanted to know whether it was correct that the White and Yellow Cross Care Foundation (WYCCF) in St. Maarten was repairing about 55 homes for an amount of some 600,000 euros. Knops confirmed that he had given WYCCF a financial contribution of 725,000 euros for repairs to at least 45 homes of its clients.
He said WYCCF had indicated to him that it would be able to repair a total of 50 homes with these funds. Among WYCCF’s clients are chronically ill, elderly and mentally and/or physically challenged persons who are not capable of repairing their home on their own.
The MPs asked about the repairing/rebuilding of schools in St. Maarten as part of the recovery programme largely funded by the Dutch government. Knops explained that the NRRP was the basis for the recovery.
“This plan is the map for the recovery and has been compiled by St. Maarten with the assistance of the World Bank. The plan gives priority to the reconstruction of the districts, including the repairing and rebuilding of damaged schools.”
There is too little attention for psycho-social help for children after the hurricane, concluded the MPs during their visit to St. Maarten. Therefore, they asked Knops whether he was willing to provide support.
Knops explained that a United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF project focused on psycho-social help for children had been financed from the Trust Fund in the early recovery phase earlier this year. Organising help for residents with trauma and stress due to the hurricanes is part of the NRRP.
State Secretary of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sports Paul Blokhuis visited the Windward Islands late June. In St. Maarten, he spoke with the local association of psychologists APAP, during which the organisation asked his ministry for additional support for psycho-social support. The ministry is looking at this request and will inform the Dutch Parliament accordingly.
The MPs further asked whether an ecological dimension would be added to the recovery mission now that the consequences of global warming, including more extreme hurricanes, have become obvious in the Dutch Caribbean.
Knops clarified that resilience, building back better to withstand future hurricanes up to category 5 and other natural disasters was a major component in St. Maarten’s recovery programme, and that this was also one of the goals that were set when the Dutch government decided to make financial and non-financial support available for the island.
Building back in a (more) sustainable manner is part of the recovery. “Every project is subjected to an environmental and social assessment to determine whether it meets the requirements of the World Bank,” stated Knops.
In his letter, he announced that as part of St. Maarten’s recovery, an information session for the Dutch private sector would be held in The Hague on September 28. This event will be organised together with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency RVO and NL In Business to provide information to companies about the mode of operation and the World Bank procurement guidelines, so the Dutch private sector has the opportunity to contribute to St. Maarten’s recovery.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/80100-knops-sends-st-maarten-s-nrrp-to-dutch-parliament
View comments
Hide comments