The arrival of the navy ship Karel Doorman (see related story) signals a new chapter in the post-Irma recovery effort. On board are important emergency relief items such as transmitter antennas for mobile phones, police cars and mobile command centres, military vehicles, cooling containers, garbage trucks and water tankers, along with bulldozers and excavators.
But perhaps even more important are construction materials to rebuild and repair vital infrastructure, including schools. A supply of learning materials, chairs and tables as well as thee large pavilion tents for 36 classes will no doubt be welcomed as lessons resume this week.
Also reported in today’s edition is that Princess Juliana International Airport SXM expects to resume commercial flights soon. These will no doubt be mostly regional in the beginning, but it shouldn’t be that long before large jets of major international carriers start landing again.
In the meantime, today’s Parliament meeting featuring Prime Minister William Marlin will hopefully provide more clarity on whether the National Recovery Plan (NRP) can indeed be expected by early October as announced. The constellation of the committee that is to prepare it in any case inspires confidence.
As stated earlier, having all “ducks in a row” is in principle a good idea before officially asking the Netherlands for financial aid that will be highly necessary for the island to overcome this enormous setback. On the other hand, DP fraction member Perry Geerlings had a point when he said in Saturday’s paper that one must “strike while the rod is hot” and not lose valuable momentum and sympathy by delaying such a request for too long.
His argument that one should not be so concerned about the Dutch “taking over” as part of their help in this time of great need is well-taken. Right now it’s not so much about “who” but more about “what.”
