Curaçao does not have to count on a new support package for the time being, as long as it has not addressed ministerial salaries. That writes outgoing State Secretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relations in a letter to a House of Representatives Committee on Kingdom Relations. The Kingdom Council of Ministers came to that decision three months ago, but in the meantime, according to Knops, the island has taken little action.
One of the requirements set by the Netherlands is that politicians had to hand in 25 percent of their wages and all employees in the (semi) public sector 12.5 percent. According to Knops, the Curaçao parliament has still not regulated the legislation regarding this requirement.
This means that the island does not have to knock on the door for new money. “Since the aforementioned legislation should have been approved for some time, the Kingdom Council of Ministers has decided that Curaçao will only be eligible for liquidity support again once the legislation has been enacted and entered into force,” Knops writes.
Cheating with salary scales
According to Knops, the government of now outgoing Prime Minister Rhuggenaath has placed the salaries of ministers in a higher scale and then implemented the discount. On balance, the ministers are actually making progress.
“Net below the line is neatly settled with the Netherlands, but because of the higher salary scale and thus higher gross salary, ministers and members of parliament could count themselves richer in a very unexpected way,” says correspondent Dick Drayer.
“After all, pensions and redundancy pay are calculated on the basis of the gross salary. Converted, the increase in scale results in an increase in the value of the employment conditions package of almost 10,000 euros per year per minister.”
Reforms
The cabinet and Curaçao have been consulting each other for some time about more financial support. The discussion is mainly about the conditions set by the Netherlands: the cabinet wants to assist the countries, but believes that Curaçao should also take measures itself to make the economy stronger.
In exchange for strict reforms, Curaçao received liquidity support in parts. According to the Financial Supervision Board, the island has had enough in cash in recent months. As a result, it did not have to rely on a new tranche. With a huge financial blow from the corona crisis behind it, it looks like this will be necessary again soon.
Knops said earlier that Curaçao has taken “meaningful steps”, but that it has not yet met all the conditions. According to Knops, decisions have been made about most of the cabinet’s requirements and are also being implemented, but they still have to be laid down in law, such as salary discounts.
New government
The minister also writes that he has entered into talks with outgoing Prime Minister Rhuggenaath. The condition remains in full a discount of 25 percent on the employment conditions of ministers and members of parliament.
“With the new Pisas government taking office, probably this week, it remains to be seen whether that will be met quickly,” Drayer said. “Pisas has no way out: his party does not want to get rid of the Dutch money, but does want to get rid of the associated Dutch involvement. Knops has said from the start that one cannot go without the other.”
Aruba and St Maarten
Aruba and Sint Maarten were imposed the same conditions. Aruba is the only island that has met all the requirements, says Knops. The Ombudsman of Sint Maarten first submitted the demands to the Constitutional Court. Only three weeks after the court’s ruling, parliament can start with the adjustments.
“I have not yet received a message that Sint Maarten no longer applies the discounts on the employment conditions as a result of this case,” said Knops.
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