THE HAGUE–Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte took a moment during his weekly press conference on Friday to observe the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Irma. He recognised the fact that many people in St. Maarten are still suffering.
“Today, we observed the progress of the reconstruction of St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba one year after the devastating hurricanes that caused great damage on the islands, especially on St. Maarten. Many people are still dealing with the consequences of these storms. I was able to see that for myself when I visited the islands in May,” stated Rutte after the Council of Ministers meeting.
According to the prime minister, the recovery process needs to proceed swiftly, but also prudently and future-proof. “Much work has been carried out, but a whole lot still needs to be done,” he said, noting that State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops had visited St. Maarten and St. Eustatius last week to see how things were doing now.
The Dutch government made 550 million euros available for St. Maarten’s reconstruction which will be managed and distributed through the World Bank, Rutte told reporters. “The funds have been made available under strict conditions, which are very necessary to prevent the money from ending up in the wrong pockets.”
The prime minister alluded to the fact that the robust structure that has been put in place to ensure that the money is well spent has its effect on the speed of the recovery process.
“But I fear that this has partly been the choice of St. Maarten’s politics,” he said, obviously referring to the resistance of the William Marlin Cabinet last year to accept the Dutch preconditions of strengthening border control and establishing the Integrity Chamber.
Rutte praised the current government led by Leona Romeo-Marlin. “Fortunately there is now a government with the capacity to act. That is of utmost importance.” He said the recovery process needed to be “fast, prudent, without corruption.”
He said it was also important to rebuild in a resilient, future-proof manner. “You need to rebuild in such a way that the islands become more resilient so that the next hurricanes – and it is certain that they will come – won’t have the same devastating effect as in 2017.”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/80444-rutte-recognises-anguish-one-year-after-hurricane
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