~ A 'severe, but necessary remedy,' says Rutte; Willemstad to appeal decision ~
THE HAGUE--The Kingdom Council of Ministers "instructed" Curaçao on Friday to put its 2012 budget in order and to find a solution for the NAf. 55 million deficit by September 1. Curaçao does not agree with the decision and will appeal to the Council of State.
Curaçao must find a solution to "realistically" contain the delay of the basic health insurance and the dividend policy. The country also has to compensate for the losses of previous years in the amount of NAf. 98 million.
The instruction also means that Willemstad must open its books to the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT every month and, via the CFT, inform the Kingdom Council of Ministers of its progress in executing the CFT's advice on a monthly basis, beginning August 24.
This means that the Kingdom Council of Ministers will discuss Curaçao's budget in its first meeting after the recess and in all monthly meetings after that. Curaçao's Minister of Finance George Jamaloodin will have to approve all expenditures.
The Kingdom Council of Ministers went along with the advice of the CFT to give an instruction to Curacao to ensure that the 2012 budget complies with the requirements of the Law on Financial Supervision for Curaçao and St. Maarten.
The instruction orders Willemstad to defer from taking new loans as long as the budget is not balanced. This means that the Schotte cabinet is not allowed to obtain a new loan for St. Elisabeth Hospital Sehos as long as the restructuring of public health care has not gone into effect and a break-even of the hospital's operational cost cannot be guaranteed.
Curaçao Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte told the media after the meeting that an instruction had not been necessary, because measures already were being taken that would be judged by the Advisory Council and the Social Economic Council.
"We are already doing what the CFT is telling us to do, so an instruction is superfluous. However, the Kingdom Council of Ministers considered an instruction a sign of support," said Schotte. He announced that his government would file an appeal with the Council of State based on Article 27 of the Law on Financial Supervision. The appeal will not put off the instruction by the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
At a press conference after Friday's Kingdom Council of Ministers meeting in The Hague, Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the instruction a "severe, but necessary remedy."
Rutte said an unbalanced budget was a "serious matter" that had to be dealt with in the best interest of the people of Curaçao.
Dutch caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Liesbeth Spies added that Curaçao needed healthy finances so it could guarantee basic necessities like proper education and health care for its people.
Both Rutte and Spies said the decision to give Curaçao an instruction had not been taken lightly. The Kingdom Council of Ministers was left no other choice but to take this decision after months of negotiation and effort through the CFT to get Curaçao's budget balanced. "Time after time the CFT determined that there was a shortfall. There are plans, but no hard decisions to balance the budget," said Spies.
Rutte spoke of executing the constitutional agreements of October 10, 2010, "step by step, in an orderly fashion."
"A lot of money then went to the islands so they could start their new constitutional status with a clean slate. No more money will be coming from The Netherlands. The islands will truly have to do this exercise themselves," he said.
Spies mentioned the fact that St. Maarten's amended budget had been approved by the CFT and said St. Maarten would have to speed up its efforts to further improve its financial management and the functioning of its Tax Department. "Our concerns have not entirely vanished, but there was no reason for an instruction for St. Maarten," she said.
Spies did not give a concrete answer to repeated questions by the press about possible measures that would be taken if Curaçao did not comply with the order to realise a balanced budget.
"We assume that Curaçao – which finds autonomy very important and wants to give serious content to its responsibility to its people – will get to work. We hope that the ambitions that Schotte expressed in the meeting will be realised soon," she said. "Curaçao will have to move a bit faster than it has done so far."
Rutte said partners in the Kingdom should never be afraid to have a "robust" discussion. He said that in principle relations were "professional and businesslike." He spoke of the opportunities the Kingdom provided, the gateway position the islands had and the "great joint interests." But "there are also big problems that have to be solved in the interest of the people," he added.
St. Maarten Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams and her Aruban counterpart Mike Eman both called the Curaçao situation regrettable.
"It leaves a bitter taste," said Wescot-Williams.
Eman said it had been a "very hard meeting" for Curaçao. "The instruction is a moment of reflection for Curaçao. We all find it a pity."
Eman had pointed out during the meeting with the Kingdom Council of Ministers that it was important to maintain norms, values and good governance as benchmarks in the Kingdom. "We have to reach those benchmarks together and we all have to stick to them. That is part of assuming a mature attitude in the Kingdom," he said.
He noted that Curaçao and St. Maarten were still in the process of developing as countries and that cooperation and consideration were important.
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