THE HAGUE--Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has postponed his visit to St. Maarten due to the conflict between The Hague and Philipsburg about the preconditions for the Dutch Reconstruction Fund.
“It makes little sense to visit St. Maarten at this stage as long as there is discussion about the preconditions,” said a spokesperson of the Ministry of General Affairs on Tuesday. “The main topic of his visit would have been the reconstruction aid, and as long as there is no agreement there is little reason to go to St. Maarten.”
Initially the intention was for the Prime Minister to visit St. Maarten, but also St. Eustatius and Saba, early November. The trip was still in the planning phase, but it was decided to delay the plans, at least for now. The decision was relayed to the St. Maarten Government on Tuesday.
A new date of Rutte’s visit to the Windward Islands has not been set as yet, but it is not expected to take place on the short term, also because the new earmarked State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops of the Christian Democratic Party CDA would first visit the islands. A date for the visit by Knops hasn’t been set.
St. Maarten Prime Minister William Marlin late last week informed the Dutch Government that his government cannot agree to the preconditions tied to the recovery aid. Those preconditions are the establishing of the Integrity Chamber on the short term and a reinforced border control by the Royal Dutch Marechaussee (military police) and Customs.
According to the Netherlands, the Integrity Chamber is necessary to ensure a proper spending of the reconstruction funds and to avoid that the money ends up in the wrong pockets, as large construction projects are always sensitive to integrity issues.
The beefed up border control by some 30 additional Marechaussee and Customs officers is needed in the opinion of The Hague to prevent that foreigners illegally enter St. Maarten to work as cheap labourers in the reconstruction phase.
Caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk has continuously said that that these preconditions are in the best interest of the people and to ensure that the funds are properly spent so that they benefit from a reconstructed St. Maarten.
Prime Minister Rutte has shown commitment to help the people of St. Maarten from day one after Hurricane Irma devastated the island on September 6. He has said various times that the Netherlands will not abandon St. Maarten. It is for this reason that the Netherlands also embarked on a large-scale emergency aid immediately after the hurricane, and continues to do so until this day.
