Dutch cooperation funds end in 2012

THE HAGUE--Cura�ao and St. Maarten no longer will receive cooperation funds from the Netherlands as of 2013, according to the 2012 budget of the Dutch Government. The 14.7 million euros The Hague will make available for socio-economic and education projects in the two countries in 2012 will be the last.

The Hague will subsidise the youth and education programmes for the last time in 2012, while entities such as the Antillean Co-financing Organisation AMFO and the Antillean Development Fund SONA no longer will receive money for socio-economic projects next year.

"After this, it is up to the new countries to take care of the financing of these tasks," as was stated in the policy note accompanying the 2012 budget of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK.

There are other forms of cooperation on the level of government departments and municipalities. For example, there is the agreement with Amsterdam and the revolving fund to restore monuments in the Dutch Caribbean of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science OCW, according to the policy note.

"The autonomy of Cura�ao and St. Maarten will be strengthened by ending the cooperation funds in 2012," stated Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Piet Hein Donner.

"In 2012 the last financial contribution will be supplied in the area of cooperation programmes, which changes the character of cooperation between the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The cooperation relation will be determined mostly by the presence of the Netherlands in the Caribbean through Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba," Donner said.

The execution of a number of programmes ? for example, as part of the Social Economic Initiative (SEI) ? will end no later than 2014. The last SEI contribution will be made in 2012, but the execution of the already committed project proposals may continue for a few years.

"Cura�ao and St. Maarten increasingly will have to be self-reliant. The democratic process in these countries will be stimulated because the governments of Cura�ao and St. Maarten will carry more responsibility to realise a balanced budget," stated Donner.

The termination of subsidy was to be expected, because that was part of the agreements that were made in connection with the reorganisation of the Antillean debt and the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles.

The Netherlands will continue to assist Cura�ao and St. Maarten in the process of building up vital organisations of the new countries in 2012. This support is based on a law that guarantees the plans of approach for the federal tasks of Cura�ao and St. Maarten. In 2012 the plans of approach will be implemented further and concluded.

Cura�ao and St. Maarten will remain a costly affair for the Netherlands because of the debt reorganisation. The Hague will be paying off this debt, including interest payments, until 2030. It concerns 248 million euros for 2012 and 294 million euros for 2013; thereafter, the amounts gradually decrease.

The item "Guarantee Function" on the budget destined mostly for maintenance of law and order and the promotion of good governance will remain more or less the same in the coming years at around 60 million euros. The Netherlands assists the islands with the cost of their judicial apparatus in various areas such as the Court of Justice, the Prosecutor's Offices and the Coast Guard.

The allocated amount for the cabinets of the Governors of Aruba, Cura�ao and St. Maarten will decrease effective 2012. The cabinet of the St. Maarten Governor received 2.3 million in 2011, but with effect from 2012 this amount will be reduced gradually to 1.6 million euros in 2016.

The Governor's cabinet in Aruba will go down from 2.1 million to 1.8 million euros in 2012 and 2013. The cabinet of Cura�ao's Governor also will have to do with less; by 2015 it will receive 2.6 million euros. Some 2.9 million euros was allotted for that cabinet in 2011.

The Dutch budget does not take into account an increase of the so-called BES Fund, the fund from which the Dutch "public entities" Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba receive their free allowances to finance their tasks. From 2012 to 2015 an amount of 25 million euros has been reserved for this fund. The various Dutch ministries together spend some 110 million euros on behalf of the "public entities."

The expenditures for the item Kingdom Relations in the 2012 budget has been calculated at 428 million euros. This amount will be 278 million euros in 2013 and 278 million euros in 2013.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/20747-dutch-cooperation-funds-end-in-2012-.html

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