WILLEMSTAD--A Committee of Wise Heads, preferably consisting of locals and people from the region, must be installed to look into the allegations of behaviour lacking integrity made against Cura�ao Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte, Finance Minister George Jamaloodin and Economic Development Minister Abdul Nasser El Hakim (all MFK) with a fine-tooth comb.
That is the recommendation of the Investigative Committee Cura�ao consisting of Paul Rosem�ller and Cees Maas to the Kingdom Council of Ministers after speaking to about 40 people on the island during the past five weeks. The duo would prefer it if Cura�ao's own Parliament requests Governor Frits Goedgedrag as national government entity to set up such a committee.
"If that's not the case, the governor as national government entity can still take the initiative with approval of the prime minister. If this approval is not forthcoming, there is no other option than having the governor do it in his capacity as kingdom entity," the committee chaired by Rosem�ller stated.
The latter would not be in keeping with the title of the report "Do It Yourself." The Dutch Government invoking the guarantee function in article 43 of the Kingdom Charter (higher supervision) is considered a last resort.
"The importance of determining the integrity of the highest authorities after a long period of doubt within the community is so great that the Kingdom would almost have to come in the picture if their own authorised institutes of Cura�ao don't or insufficiently function."
Rosem�ller and Maas did not want to say how much time the Kingdom Government should give Cura�ao, or if heads would not roll as an inevitable result of the suggested thorough investigation. "That's not for us to decide."
The two men did indicate that the public accusations back and forth between Central Bank of Cura�ao and St. Maarten (CBCS) president Emsley Tromp and Schotte on May 25, which led to their committee being installed should never have happened. Tromp should have limited himself to filing a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office and not gone on radio.
On the other hand, the prime minister should not have held an extensive press conference where he showed private banking data. "This damages the country and creates the impression among citizens that government at any moment can access every private document.
"To this committee it is unthinkable that should it really demonstrated the integrity of one or more of those involved is in question, they would still enjoy the confidence of Parliament in the case of the Council of Ministers and of the Governments of Cura�ao and St. Maarten in the case of the bank president."
Since Cura�ao's Parliament, regarding the accusations against them, had already called for a probe of the General Audit Chamber in a motion, Rosem�ller and Maas remain optimistic the legislature will agree to ask the governor to establish the Committee of Wise Heads.
"Integrity is more than punishable acts alone," said Rosem�ller about the fact that the Prosecutor's Office had already cleared both Schotte and Tromp.
He also pointed out that when the current Cura�ao cabinet members took office on 10-10-10, their screening had not been completed. "It's unlikely that all ministers would have been appointed if this had been the case"
Other integrity questions that have raised doubts among a few ministers include government's hiring policy, the model statutes for government-owned companies and the escalation in the relations between Tromp and Finance Minister Jamaloodin, to the point there, the latter sent a letter not to set foot in Fort Amsterdam anymore, creating "an extraordinarily undesirable, not to say unacceptable situation."
The committee also recommends thoroughly investigating the accusations against Tromp. "For now it's up to the Audit Chamber to complete its already started investigation."
The result of that exercise should be made public, said the committee members, respecting the privacy of those involved. Based on the documents they saw on the controversial 3-million-guilder loan and Tromp's alleged role, "we can only conclude that many of the public accusations are not based on fact."
"Regarding the bond loan of Aqualectra the committee based on the documents placed at its disposal did not conclude any irregularities as was alleged." In both cases the Audit Chamber should provide clarity.
Officially, the subject had not been included on the agenda, but during the lunch at Hato airport where Dutch Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Piet Hein Donner and Schotte met recently, the report from the Rosenm�ller Committee played a prominent role.
The Second Chamber Committee for Kingdom Relations has already put the discussion of such on the agenda for the consultation with the minister on Tuesday. The members of VVD, PVV and PvdA on the Kingdom Relations Committee had emphatically requested to receive the report.
Tuesday's debate is actually on the Dutch vision for the Kingdom and the right of the Kingdom Council of Ministers to intervene if there is a question of structural violation of the human rights or financial mismanagement on the islands.
Among other things, the Second Chamber wants clarity on whether interference is also possible and if there is a question of corruption or health problems due to the Isla oil refinery. They also want to discuss the conclusions from the Rosenm�ller Committee during that consultation and are even prepared to adjourn the debate if necessary.
"We therefore urged to make the report available to the Second Chamber. If such a report is there it would be logical to include this now," said PvdA-faction member Martijn van Dam.
Cura�ao did not want to produce a member for the Rosem�ller committee because according to Schotte, Cura�ao had already withdrawn the request to set up the committee and because the Supervisory Board of the Central Bank itself could conduct the inquiry. Moreover, he felt the matter was outdated.
Rosenm�ller announced he would practice "complete transparency" in restoring the confidence in the institutes on the island. He had not received the desired cooperation with his inquiry on the island, as several ministers, managers of government institutes and civil servants said they did not wish to meet with the committee.
Based on their knowledge of the situation on Cura�ao, Donner appointed Rosenm�ller, who was a member of the committee which prepared the constitutional reforms in the former Netherlands Antilles and Maas, as financial executive familiar with Cura�ao and with broad knowledge of the financial system, in the committee.
After his visit to the new overseas special public bodies of the Netherlands Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, Donner briefly visited Cura�ao during a stop-over on his way back from Bonaire to The Netherlands.
Rugby union Simon Barker Insects Buenos Aires Liza Minnelli Protest
No comments:
Post a Comment