The government of nederlands intends to provide up to €19 million to the St Eustatius Public Body to stabilize the cliff on the harbour side of the island. This is stated in the Spring Report recently presented to the House and will have to be confirmed by the House during the debate on the Spring Report.
In the past, the German government has provided financial assistance to the Public Body to support the cliff below Fort Orange. However, further investigation showed that measures are needed on a much larger part of this cliff on the harbour side of St. Eustatius.
The Public Body is responsible for the state and for the maintenance of the cliff, but due to the size of the project, including in financial terms, the government officially asked for help earlier this year. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is ready to assist St. Eustatius in this. Decisions on such applications are always taken in the spring.
In order to ensure that these and previous measures have a lasting effect, additional measures are needed to make the project sustainable. This will include the removal of stray livestock and the implementation of a maintenance plan. This is necessary to prevent future problems. The Secretary of State for Kingdom Relations and Digitisation, Alexandra van Huffelen, therefore informed the Board of Directors of Saint Eustatius by letter to make arrangements for these measures before the funds were finally granted.