PHILIPSBURG--The sustainability of projects critical for St. Maarten’s development was the topic of discussion when the Steering Committee of the St. Maarten Recovery, Reconstruction and Resilience Trust Fund met virtually in a high-level meeting recently.
The committee was joined by Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, Minister of Finance Ardwell Irion and Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops. During the meeting parties discussed practical implementation timelines, human capacity and funding.
Participants agreed that the reconstruction of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) is critical to St Maarten and government reiterated its commitment to ensure appropriate conditions for its reconstruction, including that all stakeholders continue to uphold good corporate governance, the Steering Committee said in a press release.
The government of St Maarten reiterated the importance of timeliness in the completion of the tender process under international procedures, followed by the start of works and their execution per projected timelines.
Participants underlined the urgent need to advance with the Emergency Debris Management Project (EDMP) and St Maarten and the World Bank agreed to a roadmap for its implementation. The roadmap sets out key steps and responsibilities to initiate any needed resettlement by the summer of 2021, introduce sector reforms to finance waste management, and professionally reconfigure and clean the landfill.
To realise these aims, government endorsed the resettlement timetable, confirmed its commitment to waste management sector reform, and welcomed critical additional technical assistance from the EDMP and from the Netherlands, as outlined in the roadmap.
“The Steering Committee reaffirmed its full commitment to use Trust Fund resources to the benefit of all St. Maarteners to build a stronger and more resilient St Maarten,” it was stated in a press release.
Nine projects financed from the Trust Fund are completed or under implementation. Details about project progress and achievements to date are available on the Trust Fund dashboard and on the NRPB website.
