THE HAGUE - The Netherlands will end subsidizing food aid programs in Curacao, Aruba and Sint Maarten as of October 1. Undersecretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relations wrote this to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament today. According to the undersecretary, the countries were informed about the decision at an early stage.

Since May 2020, The Hague has donated 85.4 million euros to the countries for food aid for residents who have been without income because of the corona crisis. Now that the acute emergency has passed, the responsibility lies again with the autonomous countries from 1 October, says Knops.

According to Knops, the residents of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten have been facing major challenges since COVID-19 and the resulting loss of tourism. As a result of the pandemic, many people ended up in poverty. For this reason, the Netherlands has provided financial resources for food aid. Those hardest hit by the crisis could be helped with their greatest needs.

Local authorities constructively took over the food aid program at the end of the second quarter of this year. Care for the most vulnerable was continued, with the countries themselves becoming responsible for implementation and the Netherlands providing financial resources for the third quarter of 2021.

“With the recovery of tourism, the economy is also picking up again, so I expect the number of people relying on food aid to decrease. This decrease is already visible. At the same time, we are working with the countries to sustainably strengthen the economy, with a focus on social security and a social safety net. I will continue to monitor the development of the needs of the most vulnerable in the countries and hope for a speedy recovery of the economies of Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten,” says the undersecretary in his letter to the Dutch Parliament.