The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams commented over the weekend regarding questions circulating in the community and the media regarding schools cancellations ordered last week prior to tropical storm Isaac. Many in the community questioned whether or not schools should have been cancelled on Wednesday and reopened on Thursday.
The Prime Minister commented that decisions which are made with regards to cancellations of schools or closing of businesses or done so by her office upon consultation with the Met Office in Curacao and the Office of Disaster Management on St. Maarten. "These decisions which are made are not done randomly; they are done after extensive consultations with both the Meteorological Office in Curacao and the Office of Disaster Management here on St. Maarten. Understandably some decisions may cause some inconveniences, but in the end it is more important to be prepared and to be safe than to be unprepared and to be sorry," commented the Prime Minister.
The PM concluded that her Cabinet would continue to take decisions as they pertain to hurricane preparedness to ensure that St. Maarten’s People and institutions, including schools that also function as hurricane shelters, are safe. "When there is a storm threatening the Prime Minister is in continuous consultation with both the Meteorological Office in Curacao and the Office of Disaster management on St. Maarten and decisions are taken based on the input of all departments involved."