Today’s report from The Hague about means reserved for St. Maarten’s post-Hurricane Irma reconstruction is encouraging in several aspects. For starters, the stipend for the World Bank to manage the related 470-million-euro Trust Fund was reduced by some 4.5 million euros and is currently said to be three rather than between five and nine per cent.
In addition, a small part of the projects to be financed with the money will be directly executed by the World Bank, for which it charges 17 per cent. Most are being carried out by the Government of St. Maarten, local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and international entities.
State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops was quoted as saying the first tranche of 110 million euros would shortly become available. That must be music to the ears of those working hard on getting things moving, although a lot no doubt remains to be done.
The appointment of a Dutch representative on the Steering Group of the Trust Fund for two years per May 1 indicates the minimum envisaged term to have everything in place. It will realistically take at least that long to get the island’s tourism economy fully back on track too.
That 80 million euros is being kept for direct support from the Netherlands where using the Trust Fund is not possible or desirable leaves room to address special needs. Helping the dominant hospitality industry recover and particularly large resorts reopen quickly should certainly be considered in this regard.
The less-busy-than-usual cruise and yachting seasons are dying down, while the positive impact of insurance payments and early relief aid, including seven million euros for NGO social programmes, will slowly but surely decline. The goal must therefore be to indeed “build back better,” but also soonest.
