St Maarten to receive grant to improve early warning systems

St Maarten is looking to purchase Automatic Weather Station (AWS) equipment, having been selected for a grant that seems to improve its early warning systems significantly.

This is the result of the efforts put in by the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), which has recognized that St Maarten needs to be prepared for hydro-meteorological events such as incessant rain and tropical cyclones, which hold the potential to affect the populace and the infrastructure of the nation drastically.

Through this grant which is valued at US$16,000, St Maarten is looking to add four more Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) which will have a marked effect on the nation’s capabilities in terms of tracking weather patterns of significance and providing accurate information to citizens in a timely fashion.

By doing so, the nation is looking to save lives and infrastructure to the best of its capabilities in the event of a serious weather event.

Silveria Jacobs, the Prime Minister of St Maarten, was quite appreciative of the support that is being offered to her people.

She stated the following, “Sint Maarten is committed to building resilience and preparedness in the face of climate change and extreme weather events. This grant will play a crucial role in achieving our goal of ensuring the safety and well-being of our people.”

The Government of St Maarten has been looking to improve upon its disaster risk management and has said that it is thrilled to be working with the CCRIF to implement the aforementioned project.

Once up and running, this will serve as a great boon to St Maarten, allowing the nation to build upon its capabilities to protect its people and infrastructure from the many hazardous weather systems which are a regular feature of the region, specifically during certain seasons.

The progression of this initiative is also a show of the commitment that regional organisations such as the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) have made to St Maarten and acts as a reminder of the fact that every nation in the region is valued and appreciated by the collective.

This is why organisations in the Caribbean region have shown that they are cognizant of the requirements of individual nations and have the willingness to approach them accordingly to meet their needs.

This allows nations to continue to progress in a more pragmatic manner, tackling issues that affect them rather than going by a “one size fits all” approach.