It seems concerns about the pace of St. Maarten’s reconstruction are not limited to the local population. The Dutch General Audit Chamber is now planning to investigate this issue (see related story).
Of course, much depends on the availability of 550 million euros reserved by the Netherlands for the country’s recovery following last year’s hurricanes. The bulk of that amount is being provided via a Trust Fund managed by the Wold Bank, which must co-approve any release of these monies.
An initial tranche of 112 million euros was transferred to the fund in April and the green light was given in July to use the first 55 million. The Audit Chamber wonders whether information on the World Bank’s progress reports promised to the Second Chamber of Parliament will be enough to measure whether goals and objectives are being achieved.
It also questions to what extent pre-conditions including strengthening border control and an Integrity Chamber have been met. The latter is apparently still pending, so it would be wise to finalise this matter and prevent unnecessary problems down the road.
Furthermore, the money is only to go towards projects for which there are no other realistic financing options. It must also be spent correctly.
The active involvement of this Dutch high council of state could prove beneficial in the sense of keeping pressure on the government in The Hague to help ensure an expeditious rebuilding process. This would allow St. Maarten to restore its vital tourism economy soonest, before the social situation on the ground gets even worse.
Time is indeed of the essence.
