THE HAGUE--The Dutch government confirmed on Friday that the mandatory negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and the rapid antigen test to enter the Netherlands will not apply to passengers and crews on flights from the Dutch Caribbean to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

  The six islands are on the list of exemptions where a PCR test up to 72 hours prior to departure and a rapid test four hours before departure is not required. “If you come from a low COVID-19 risk country, a safe country, you don’t need a negative test result when you to the Netherlands. You don’t need a negative test result when travelling from one of these islands: Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius,” said a government statement.

Knops (centre) during his September 2019 visit to St. Maarten.

 THE HAGUE--The Kingdom Council of Ministers, on the request of State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops, approved funding for another batch of humanitarian aid for Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten on Friday for an amount of 14.9 million euro.

  “The people can also count on the support of the Dutch government in the coming months,” it was stated in a press release of the Dutch government. Food aid is still badly needed in all three countries with 15 to 20 per cent of the population depending on food parcels.

Silveria Jacobs

PHILIPSBURG--Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs presented the legislative changes to three national ordinances for implementation of the cost-cutting measures per the conditions for receiving the second tranche of liquidity support from the government of the Netherlands, during a closed-door working meeting of the Committee of General Affairs of Parliament on Thursday.

PHILIPSBURG--The Joint Court of Justice on Thursday upheld the convictions of STC Administrative and Management Service NV, Foundation Escrow STC, and their directors Corinne de Tullio-Stamm and Jodi Lynn Garner, who were found guilty by the Court of First Instance in April 2019 of violation of the Ordinance on Unusual Transactions.

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF) unveiled its safety and health plan for Carnival 2021, arguing that it has the most COVID-19 preventative measures than any other local event to date.