THE HAGUE – Two regional emergency support hubs, one serving the Windward Islands and another serving the Leeward Islands including Curaçao, are being proposed as part of a broader effort to strengthen disaster response across the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
The proposal is one of the central recommendations in a new study by research agency Crisisplan examining emergency capabilities on Curaçao, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.
Instead of requiring every island to purchase and maintain all the specialized equipment needed for a major disaster, the report advocates greater sharing of resources and expertise across the region.
Crisisplan recommends establishing one support point for the Windward Islands and another for the Leeward Islands. The facilities could store specialized emergency equipment such as mobile cooling capacity, emergency generators and equipment for responding to oil spills. The Dutch government and the six islands recognize the potential value of the proposal.
The precise contents and locations have not yet been finalized. The Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security will work with the islands on a concrete proposal, taking into account existing supplies and arrangements for drinking water, food, medical products and fuel. The government says the regional stockpiles should supplement rather than duplicate resources already available locally or obtainable rapidly through supply contracts.
A second major recommendation involves expanding the Caribbean Civil Protection Mechanism, or CCPM, which began operating in 2025 as a crisis-management partnership serving the six islands.
The mechanism already manages a regional exercise calendar and a pool of crisis experts who can be deployed where necessary. Crisisplan wants its role expanded to include joint planning capacity, a larger reserve pool of crisis professionals, a common training and exercise program and logistical capacity for emergency assistance.
Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten currently contribute personnel to the mechanism.
The Dutch Ministries of Interior and Kingdom Relations and Justice and Security have committed approximately €600,000 over the next three years to further develop the CCPM. The ministries aim to reach administrative agreements with the Caribbean countries and public entities next year about its expanded role.
The approach reflects one of the central conclusions emerging from the assessment: the six islands cannot realistically maintain every specialized disaster-response capability individually.
The study also recommends greater regional cooperation for major emergencies at sea. Around Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire, Search and Rescue operations are coordinated by the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard. Crisisplan recommends strengthening collective SAR capacity so that authorities are better equipped to respond to incidents involving large numbers of people.
Dutch authorities will also examine closer cooperation with shipping companies and maritime service providers. Agreements could establish in advance which private vessels and equipment would be available during an emergency, how deployment would be coordinated and how companies would be compensated.
The broader strategy represents a shift toward treating disaster preparedness in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom as a shared regional challenge rather than six separate island problems.
The Dutch government says the strong interdependence between the islands means closer cooperation is necessary and has committed to continuing investments in resilience and crisis management.