Meeting about cooperation after hurricane Irma
On the occasion of the visit of the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stef Blok, to Sint Maarten, the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, Leona Romeo Marlin, hosted a meeting with the Prefect of Saint Martin, Anne Laubies, and the director of the Cabinet of the President of the Collectivite of Saint Martin, Mr Hervé Dorvil, on 3 April 2018 in the Government Building of Sint Maarten. They discussed cooperation on the island after hurricane Irma.
The participants in the meeting are pleased with the recent positive turn the cooperation is taking after renewed commitment to finalize without further delay the three cross border projects co-financed by the European Union. They are grateful to the EU also for its commitment to provide technical assistance with a view to overcoming some outstanding bottlenecks. Also possible future cooperation projects were touched upon, such as in waste management.
The participants look forward to increasing their cooperation in the security and other areas in quadripartite format, now foreseen for May/June. They believe there is scope for more joint efforts in the areas of police, customs, justice and other government agencies in order to prevent and combat crime and illegal immigration, and in order to be more effective in the aftermath of natural disasters. To that end, already existing good cross border working relationships will be enhanced. In some areas, existing agreements require improved implementation or adjustments.
In the same spirit of a good cross border working relationship, and in the respect for the law, both sides will act in a predictable and transparent manner in border areas through a.o. joint police patrols, environmental action, joint cross-border projects.