The eagerly awaited National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) is said to now be fully ready (see related story). This is, of course, crucial to access the 470-million-euro Dutch Recovery Trust Fund managed by the World Bank.
With the attached Steering Committee having just held its first meeting, the hope is that particularly the areas identified as urgent to aid in the rebuilding process can be tackled sooner rather than later. That would be significant also in socio-economic terms, because the post-Irma stream of work in the construction and related fields mostly with insurance monies and some emergency relief from the Netherlands will slowly but surely dry up.
The months ahead promise to be very tough, with a majority of large resorts still (partially) closed and the cruise ship calls that rebounded strongly to see their usual hurricane season dip. Creating new business activity with the Trust Fund projects and other investments can certainly make a positive difference.
Moreover, Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) told Parliament it too is looking towards the World Bank for a loan to shore up the government-owned company’s finances and enable reconstruction of the terminal pending its insurance dispute. UD-fraction leader and “formateur” Theo Heyliger suggested that route might take a bit too long and it’s true that the Dutch Government kept back some 44 million euros for direct assistance.
Whatever the option chosen, a financial injection for the airport seems like a no-brainer at this point considering its crucial role in restoring the island’s dominant stayover tourism industry and hub function to their former glory. If even half the growth in PJIA management’s plans presented on Thursday that include US preclearance were achieved, it would be money well spent.
