WILLEMSTAD - Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath paints a bleak picture of the situation on the island. The corona crisis is deeply wounding the community, which depends heavily on the tourism sector that has now come to a complete standstill. “Curaçao has 7,500 freelancers and another seven thousand other flex workers. What you feel is increasing fear,” says Rhuggenaath. “They were still paid in March, but April is highly uncertain. There are hardly any buffers in our community. People live from day to day.”
Curaçao, like Aruba and Sint Maarten, is an autonomous country within the kingdom. All three are expected to independent financially, without help from the Netherlands. But now that the tourists stay away, it becomes difficult, if not impossible.
Social life has come to a halt on the islands. Schools and shops are closed. The state of emergency applies on Sint Maarten. The curfew is in effect in Curaçao, during the day only limited car traffic is allowed. Airplanes have been grounded; the cruise ships full of (American) tourists stay away.
Few infections, but even fewer beds
Sint Maarten was the hardest hit. There, six people have died from the virus to date, forty others are ill. Aruba currently has 77 confirmed infections, but there have been no deaths for the time being. One person died on Curaçao; fourteen others have tested positive.
Those numbers are nothing compared to virus developments in the Netherlands (more than two thousand deaths). But the islands cannot afford nonchalance. The health care system is not prepared for a large-scale outbreak. Last weekend, the Dutch Ministry of Defense flew a mobile hospital with 6 intensive care places to Sint Maarten. It is the intention that medical aid flights to Curaçao and Aruba will follow.
Everything is now focused on preventing further spread of the virus, even if that means that the islands are locked for weeks. “All of our vulnerabilities surface in this crisis,” says Rhuggenaath. He refers to the one-sided economy and the relatively large number of poorer people on the island. Curaçao urgently needs reforms, the prime minister acknowledges. “But first there must be emergency help. If people cannot be paid in April, social unrest will arise. We have to get that going.”
Help and assistance in times of emergency
Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba count on the Netherlands to lend a helping hand here. After all, Article 36 of the Statute of the Kingdom states that countries provide "help and assistance" to each other in times of need. In practice, this means that the big brother takes care of the little ones.
The islands have already made the first requests. Sint Maarten asks 130 million euros from "The Hague" to help companies and their employees in the coming months. Curaçao requires almost 400 million euros. Aruba, which relies heavily on tourism from the United States, fears the damage will exceed 600 million euros.
On Wednesday, the Prime Ministers of the three islands will talk to Minister Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) through a video link. The question for help will undoubtedly be discussed, says a spokesman for Knops. "But our priority now is medical care and fighting the virus." The islands hope that the Kingdom Council of Ministers will decide on Thursday how the Caribbean part of the kingdom will be financially helped.
The question that arises is whether the cabinet is prepared to donate money. The other option is a loan, for which the islands themselves are not interested. As far as Dutch MP Ronald van Raak is concerned, it may be a gift and the islands will receive "all the help that is needed". “But I have one important condition. There must be concrete, well-founded plans where the aid will go. If we just send money, we know for sure that it will not end up well.
