THE HAGUE - Various Dutch political parties have responded with astonishment to the decision of Undersecretary Raymond Knops not to pay extra corona support to Sint Maarten for the time being. The outgoing undersecretary withholds the aid because the mismanagement of the island's airport has still not been resolved. The ChristenUnie and the PvdA, among others, wonder whether this is legitimate. Don Ceder of the ChristenUnie emphasizes that the Council of Ministers had already approved the aid package. Also, putting the administration in order at the airport was not a condition for the corona support. Ceder believes that the Dutch government should therefore adhere to the agreements and lend the money to St. Maarten.
D66 Member of Parliament Jorien Wuite also thinks that “the goal posts are being shifted” in the agreements with Sint Maarten. Attje Kuiken of the Pvda calls the communication of the undersecretary about this “not good”. Yesterday Knops met for the first time with the new Kingdom Relations Committee.
Knops called the image of the shifting goalposts “absolutely incorrect. There is no lack of goals, there is a lack of results.” Moreover, according to him, it is not true that the support is completely stopped, but only paused. Knops cannot yet say what the island must do to be eligible for the support. The cabinet will talk about this during a meeting of the Kingdom Council of Ministers on Friday. The ministers plenipotentiary of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are also involved in these consultations.