THE HAGUE--Three Dutch ministries have drafted a law proposal to allocate additional funds in their 2018 budget to cover the associated cost of St. Maarten’s reconstruction after Hurricane Irma and strengthening border control.
The largest budget increase takes place at the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK. In total, 114.7 million euros will be added to the 2018 budget: 112 million euros to be deposited in the St. Maarten Reconstruction Trust Fund, managed by the World Bank, and 2.7 million euros for the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM to strengthen border control.
The border control reinforcement is a cooperative effort between KPSM, the Dutch Royal Marechaussee KMar, the Dutch Customs and the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard. The contribution to KPSM is arranged through the Kingdom Relations budget. In 2019, that contribution is slated to be 5.282 million euros.
The Ministry of Defence is increasing its 2018 budget by 3.37 million euros to boost the capacity and presence of the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard in the waters surrounding St. Maarten. The patrol vessels, the cutters and the helicopter will be deployed more often, and mobile coastal radar equipment will be purchased.
The largest amount, two million euros, is budgeted for the purchase of mobile radar equipment for St. Maarten. Unlike Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire, the Windward Islands do not have coastal radar capacity. The mobile radar apparatus will provide authorities with a better view of St. Maarten’s sea borders. More information about the radar equipment was not available from the Defence spokesperson on Wednesday.
A Coast Guard helicopter will be stationed in St. Maarten temporarily, which will make patrolling the air space more effective. The helicopter’s flying hours will be increased by 100 within the existing contract to rent the Coast Guard helicopter. Defence is also reserving funds to cover the additional cost of having the helicopter crew in the Windward Islands, as well as the cost of the landing rights and the parking fees.
The Coast Guard cutters will be at sea more often: the number of days will increase from 120 to 150 per year, which will boost intervention capacity. Three full-time employees will be hired to enhance the exchange of information which will be shared with the other law enforcement agencies on the island.
The Ministries of Defence and BZK noted in the explanatory note that accompanied the proposed budget change, which was sent to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament earlier this week for handling, that increased supervision of St. Maarten’s border was necessary because the island’s border was “extra vulnerable” during the reconstruction period.
“For this reason, the countries considered it necessary to substantially strengthen the border control. The threats to the wellbeing of the people, especially via the borders, consist of [migration – Ed.] crime, the influx of illegal labour migrants and an uncontrolled flow of money and goods. The Governments of St. Maarten and the Netherlands have determined that St. Maarten needs assistance to tackle these threats,” it was stated in the document that Defence Minister Ank Bijleveld-Schouten sent to the Second Chamber.
The Dutch Government has made border control strengthening a political precondition for reconstruction aid. The explanatory note in the law proposal to increase the Kingdom Relations budget also contained a paragraph about that Dutch contribution to the reconstruction and the finances for the Trust Fund which will be managed by the World Bank.
The first tranche involves a deposit in the Trust Fund of 112 million euros. The subsequent deposits depend on the decisions of the three-member Steering Group with representatives of the World Bank, the St. Maarten Government and the Dutch Government.
It was stated in the budgetary explanation Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Kajsa Ollongren sent to Parliament that the Steering Group would, in principle, meet four times a year to monitor the progress, and to endorse the programming and budget. Deposits to the Trust Fund will take place based on a request by the World Bank.
The agreement with the World Bank was signed in Washington DC on Monday. The World Bank will have two assignments: support the St. Maarten Government in drafting the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) and setting up and managing the Trust Fund.
The Ministry of Finance will also be submitting an incidental additional budget law proposal, just as the Ministries of Defence and of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations did, to cover the extra cost associated with supplying Customs personnel from the Netherlands to help St. Maarten beef up border control.
Although that law proposal had not been published up to Wednesday evening and the amounts therein are unknown at this stage, State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops told The Daily Herald earlier this week that the Dutch Customs Department would be providing assistance with six persons in the next half-year.
The Second Chamber decided on Wednesday to put the law proposal to amend the Kingdom Relations budget on the agenda for plenary handling. The law proposals of Defence and Finance are expected to be handled in the near future as well.
