~Meeting to be held on St. Maarten on December 18th~
PHILIPSBURG:— Prime Minister of St. Maarten Silveria Jacobs announced on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers press briefing that she received confirmation from the Dutch Government on Wednesday informing her that the Kingdom partners have accepted the declaration made by the majority of parliament on Monday, giving the Prime Minister the permission to go ahead and sign the agreement along with accepting the law to establish the COHO on St. Maarten.
Jacobs said the Kingdom partners will be in St. Maarten for the meeting scheduled for December 18th where all four Kingdom partners, namely the Netherlands, Curacao, Aruba, and St. Maarten will officially sign the agreement before they can obtain further liquidity support.
After the signing St. Maarten will receive the Naf 60M as liquidity support as early as January 2021 as well as determining how the island functions over the next 6-years. Jacobs said that clarity was given on the COHO legislation which she said has been revised. She said changes were made in the memorandum of explanations after discussions with Curacao and Aruba finalized. She said it is the amended version St. Maarten is expected to agree to in order to receive liquidity support for the 3rd tranche. Jacobs explained that the COHO will be there just to assist the Ministries to execute and depending on the progress St. Maarten will receive further liquidity support even support for projects that will be in the form of loans and grants. The Prime Minister made clear that the authority of the COHO will be limited and based solely on the agreements made as structural reforms together with the Netherlands. Jacobs said the COHO cannot supersede the powers of the Government and St. Maarten will take the lead, and they will be responsible for the execution of the reforms.
