PHILIPSBURG–Negotiations are still ongoing between the World Bank and the Government of St. Maarten about the administration of the recently-set-up Dutch Recovery Trust Fund.

This resulted in Prime Minister (PM) Leona Romeo-Marlin updating Parliament on Wednesday behind closed doors about the finer points of the Bank’s role in post-Hurricane Irma recovery.

The Prime Minister was before the Central Committee of Parliament on Wednesday on the request of the National Alliance faction. That party wanted to know about the World Bank’s role and that of the to-be-established St. Maarten Projects Bureau, as well as a status report on the Easter Weekend cyber-attack on Government’s information system.

The Prime Minister’s request for a closed session was partially granted. Her presentation on the World Bank and the Project Bureau was made behind closed doors. Following that, Members of Parliament (MPs) posted questions a number of areas, including recovery of schools, project monitoring and the way the recovery of the country is measured.

A call was made for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) to be tabled in Parliament post-haste.

Dealing with the cyber-attack, Romeo-Marlin said Government has implemented a number of measures to lessen the threat. The anti-virus software licence was expired at the time of the attack, she told MPs. That has been rectified by renewing the licence. Department heads have ascertained who among their staff require Internet access and only those will have access to the system.

MPs asked her whether the ransom for the release of the information had been paid and, if not, how the information was recovered from the cyber-attackers. MPs also queried the extent to which personal data of residents had been compromised.

The questions posed by MPs are to be answered by the Prime Minister a week from now. The time period allows for information-gathering and research.

Bron: Daily Herald