State secretary Van Huffelen visits St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius, Curaçao and Aruba
Alexandra van Huffelen, state secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation, will be visiting St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius, Curaçao and Aruba from the 29th of June to 4th of July. She will call on the three Windward islands of St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius on the 1st of July to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
In addition, she will speak to the minister presidents and various officials from the three islands about, for example, refinancing liquidity loans and how the Country packages are progressing. On Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten, she will be visiting various projects aimed at sustainable economic development on the island states.
St. Maarten
The state secretary will be opening the local office of the World Bank on St. Maarten. The World Bank manages the trust funds that contain funding made available for reconstruction activities following hurricane Irma. The state secretary will also be visiting the GEBE water and electricity plant on St. Maarten, where there is need for investment in sustainable energy. On Saturday, the 1st of July, the state secretary will be attending the cultural activities that are organised to celebrate Emancipation Day. This is a day when St. Maarten remembers the abolition of slavery.
Saba and St. Eustatius
The state secretary will continue her journey to Saba and St. Eustatius on the 1st of July. On both islands, she will give a speech to commemorate the abolition of slavery. Various activities will be organised on the islands as part of Emancipation day.
Curaçao
On the 2nd of July, Curaçao will be celebrating its national holiday (the ‘Day of the flag’) and cultural activities will be organised across the whole island. The state secretary will attend some of these activities at, for example, Banda Bou, which is the western part of the island.
Besides discussions with various ministers, the trip to Curaçao will include visiting the floating wind park. In time, the 'floating’ off-shore wind park will generate sustainable energy that is then converted into green hydrogen.
Aruba
On Aruba, the state secretary will speak to the Aruba Fair Trade Authority about setting up a competition authority for Aruba, which will be charged with supervising competition-related regulations and consumer rights. The state secretary's time on Aruba will also be spent visiting the detention centre, and speaking to e.g. UNHCR and Aruba's minister of justice.