It appears the temporary financial supervision introduced when the former Netherlands Antilles was dismantled per 10-10-10 won’t end any time soon. The evaluation committee in question advised State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops (see Thursday paper) to keep it at least another three years.
This should surprise nobody. While the devastating impact of Hurricane Irma has a lot to do with St. Maarten’s recent and current budgetary struggles, serious problems existed before that.
The 2015 budget failed to meet norms in the Financial Supervision Law. After an instruction from the Kingdom Council of Ministers the 2016 budget initially complied, but its execution did not and the situation further deteriorated.
Things looked to be going well for 2017 until the island was hit by its worst natural disaster on record in September. As a result, the country’s budgets of both that year and of 2018 were logically permitted to have deficits, covered with the help of liquidity support in the form of soft loans provided by the Dutch government and by redirecting unused capital investment funds.
Indications are that such an arrangement will understandably be needed again for 2019. And if all that to some doesn’t seem enough reason for continuing the supervision, they need merely read last Wednesday’s story on the General Audit Chamber’s findings regarding government’s financial statements for 2016.
It mentioned “unlawful spending of public money” and the presentation of information that is “not sound” and with “minimal substantiation.” There is also a lack of accountability to Parliament, while the ministries are “not in control of public funds as far as public tendering is concerned.”
Enough said.
