Many no doubt breathed a sigh of relief over news that St. Maarten will finally get 39 million Netherlands Antillean guilders in liquidity support (see related story) suspended by Dutch caretaker State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops, with after-the-fact backing from the Kingdom Council of Ministers RMR. He announced that sufficient had been done to ensure corporate governance at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) also in the eyes of Royal Schiphol Group (RSG).
His comment about this being urgent because the government in Philipsburg could not pay June salaries without it somewhat contradicts statements made earlier by Finance Minister Ardwell Irion, but the point is that the national treasury was practically empty. The money also serves to grant payroll subsidies currently keeping alive hundreds of local companies that employ thousands of workers and minimum wage allowances for others. Without these, a wave of business closures and mass layoffs leading to widespread abject poverty and a spike in crime can be expected.
Keep in mind, this “fifth tranche” of COVID-19 crisis-related soft loans was for the second quarter of 2021 that is already ending. A decision on the next round of financial assistance to the three Dutch Caribbean countries was to be taken today, Friday, but that probably will not be the case yet for both Curaçao and St. Maarten.
Nevertheless, release of the pending means was most welcome, as is the now-likely continued involvement of RSG in the US $100 million airport terminal reconstruction project, a condition for its financing provided half each by the Dutch-sponsored Trust Fund and the European Investment Bank (EIB). With global tourism recovering strongly, the destination needs a fully-restored main gateway to successfully compete in the marketplace sooner rather than later.
