Cabinet will release another 15 million for emergency relief islands

THE HAGUE (ANP) – The cabinet is making an additional 14.9 million euros available for humanitarian emergency aid to Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. The three islands are still in dire straits due to the corona crisis. The money can be used to provide emergency relief until at least April.

Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten are heavily dependent on tourism, a sector that has been hit hard by the corona crisis. In Curaçao, approximately 15 percent of the population is currently dependent on Dutch food aid. On Aruba and St. Maarten this is 20 percent.

The cabinet assumes that the demand for assistance will remain the same at least until the summer, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations said. In March, the cabinet will decide on further extension of the emergency aid.

The money that is released is a gift and unlike the economic support packages for the islands, there are no economic reforms in return. The Red Cross is currently coordinating humanitarian aid on the islands, but in the coming months that responsibility should shift to the local government, the ministry said.