POINTE BLANCHE--Computers for the police, bookcases for Philipsburg Jubilee Library, and official vehicles for the Customs Department are among the items sent by the Dutch Government in the latest shipment of relief and rebuilding supplies for Hurricane Irma-ravaged St. Maarten.
Cargo ship Augusta Sun arrived in port from Rotterdam on Sunday with 12 full containers of equipment and supplies for St. Maarten and one container for Saba. The latter included a wood shredder. The ship was off-loaded on Tuesday.
Aircraft and ships such as Augusta Sun have delivered more than 2,250 tonnes of emergency aid to St. Maarten from the Netherlands since September. The food, tarpaulins, vehicles, more than 1,000,000 litres of distributed drinking water and other items received to date represent some 55 million euros in aid. This amount is independent from the 550 million euros recovery aid promised from the Dutch.
The latest shipment has a strong emphasis on the clean-up of garbage and debris after the hurricane. For this, the country has received a garbage compactor, a type of roller that compacts and reduces garbage, an excavator and several trucks.
The cargo also contains laptops and computers for the police, office articles for the parole board, schoolbooks for the Ministry of Education, cars for the Customs Department and books, bookcases, a desk, tables and chairs for Philipsburg Jubilee Library.
Henk de Jong of the Dutch Civil Mission, the local coordinating agency for the relief aid, said, “I’m glad we got the job done. The past months we have been working together with all the Ministries and organisations to get the relief goods here and to the people.”
