THE HAGUE – Raymond Knops, the state secretary of kingdom relations, guarantees that in the event of another hurricane threatening St. Maarten in the upcoming months, there will be plenty of hiding places where people can safely go.
According to Knops, it will not be possible to repair all roofs on St. Maarten before the Caribbean hurricane season officially starts on June 1st. “I can guarantee that for the people whose roofs have not been repaired yet, we now have the facilities to take good care of these people in case of a hurricane,” says Knops.
Reconstruction
“At this moment, only the roofs of the most vulnerable people have been tackled, such as the elderly and the neediest during the so-called Early Recovery phase,” the secretary of state explains.
On Monday, an agreement will be signed between the Netherlands and the World Bank, which greenlights the reconstruction of St. Maarten, where the major repairs to the infrastructure of the island can then commence. The intention is to make the buildings and houses more hurricane-resistant.