The Trust Fund Steering Committee.
THE HAGUE--The go-ahead to start the reconstruction of St. Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport was given in Washington DC on Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK in The Hague announced.
An amount of US $72 million for the airport reconstruction has been made available from the Dutch Trust Fund for the reconstruction of St. Maarten.
The Trust Fund, for which the Netherlands made half a billion euros available after the September 2017 Hurricane Irma, is managed by the World Bank. The European Investment Bank (EIB) contributed with a low-interest loan of US $50 million.
Approval of the renovation of the badly-damaged airport has taken quite some time. The project has been an issue of discussion between the Netherlands and St. Maarten, with the Dutch government setting a few preconditions.
The BZK press release stated that the financing plan for the airport reconstruction was ready in November 2018. Since that time, it has been under discussion between The Hague and the St. Maarten Parliament.
After the signing of the financing agreements late 2019, a number of improvements were implemented on the level of corporate governance at the airport. “These sustainable improvements (‘Building Back Better’) ensure that the Dutch funds for the reconstruction of the airport terminal end up in the right place.”
Preparations for the airport terminal reconstruction started parallel to the process of financing. As a result, the first clearing work can start around the airport very soon. Following the tendering, the actual reconstruction works will start in the third quarter of this year and will take an estimated 18-22 months.
