Today marks the fifth anniversary of monster Hurricane Irma’s catastrophic passage, followed closely by rain-soaking Maria. One is hesitant to use the term “lustrum” because that might suggest something to celebrate, which it’s obviously not.
Nevertheless, this remains a good occasion to take stock and look back at how the island did after arguably its worst natural disaster on record. Looking at comparable situations elsewhere in the region, the conclusion seems to be relatively well.
Early relief aid and liquidity support provided by the Netherlands as well as the Trust Fund for reconstruction projects it sponsored made a huge difference on the Dutch side, while France provided crucial assistance to the French side.
Some don’t stop to realise, for example, that approximately 1,200 mostly hospitality workers left (partially) jobless in St. Maarten for months due to Irma’s toll were retrained and/or given upgrading courses with stipend and transport allowance. There has been criticism about the number of damaged homes repaired, but in addition to the National Recovery Programme Bureau (NRPB), the Red Cross, St. Maarten Development Fund (SMDF), White Yellow Cross Care Foundation (WYCCF), church groups and others did their part.
It’s also important to mention that private insurance claims were generally honoured, although perhaps not always to the extent desired by clients. A rebuilding boom thus kept the country going and tourism had been all but completely restored with many severely impacted resorts fully open again by early 2020.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit with similarly devastating socioeconomic consequences, once more affecting the local population’s livelihood. That’s another story, but – here too – help from The Hague and Paris proved indispensable.
It’s consequently not hard to understand why so many people on either side of the open border would rather refrain from giving up their respective Dutch or French passports any time soon.
