With Parliament’s approval of the law raising the civil service retirement age to 65 by 14 votes to 1 (see related story) an important step has been taken to secure the future of General Pension Fund APS and its benefits. This is a global trend due primarily to an ageing population resulting from medical advances that – on average – also make it possible to work longer.
The matter had been in discussion for several years but became urgent when it was made a requirement for the next tranche of liquidity support from the Netherlands, much needed to keep both the private and public sectors afloat. However, the soft loans are not likely to keep coming forever and must eventually be repaid, so it remains crucial to get the local tourism economy back up and running as soon as responsibly possible.
In that sense news coming out of The Hague is quite interesting. Citizens of the Netherlands can go on holiday starting June 15 only in a few European nations and the Dutch Caribbean.
The implications of that should not be underestimated, because if people used to vacationing in certain destinations elsewhere cannot yet go there, they may look for alternatives and the islands will be one of the few available options at least for now. Keep in mind that thousands of Dutchmen visit other countries in the region, including the Dominican Republic and Cuba, every summer.
According to Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Ludmila de Weever, Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) will reopen for regular aviation July 1 at the earliest, starting first with traffic from “COVID-19 free” surrounding islands St. Eustatius and Saba, St. Barths and Anguilla. These are to be followed by the so-called ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao) and then large visitor source markets Europe and North America.
Realistically speaking, commercial flights from the Netherlands probably won’t resume until mid-July, but there is still an opportunity to attract a bit of business from there during the normally already slow season ahead, once reasonable coronavirus precautions to allow for incoming leisure travel are put in place. A quick promotional campaign perhaps in cooperation with local resorts that cater to the Dutch market would not seem that far-fetched.
St. Maarten is thankfully getting financial assistance, be it with heavy conditions, but – as the saying goes – God helps those who help themselves.
