PHILIPSBURG – The Minister of Housing of St. Maarten, Christopher Wever, demands that the World Bank be more in a hurry to repair the houses damaged by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
If the current pace is maintained, it will certainly take five years for everyone to have a safe roof above their heads, says Wever. He wants the procedures to become shorter so that the pace of recovery can be faster.
The St. Maarten ombudsman, Gwendolien Mossel, also recently expressed her concern about the large number of people still living in a damaged house. This mainly concerns roofs that have not been repaired.
The Netherlands has made half a billion euros available for the reconstruction of the island, which was hit hard by the hurricane. That money is spent on projects via the World Bank. But according to many people in Sint-Maarten, those processes are far too slow.
https://www.telegraaf.nl/nieuws/274111658/herstel-huizen-sint-maarten-veel-te-traag