Parliament starts debating the 2018 draft budget in a plenary session today, following its handling by the Central Committee last week. They are doing so under all-but-regular circumstances following the catastrophic passage of record-setting-strength Hurricane Irma on September 6 and its aftermath.
For one thing, the budget is up for approval more than four months into the applicable year. Due to the extraordinary socioeconomic conditions it may also have a deficit, which is normally prohibited under the Financial Supervision Law.
The good news is that the originally projected amount “in the red” of NAf. 257 million has been reduced to NAf. 197 million, at least on paper. That’s still a huge gap with so far only a proposed package of austerity measures worth about NAf. 20 million in savings to help cover the difference.
Although it won’t be the first time a budget has been dealt with under extreme time-pressure due to being late, this is now perhaps more the case than ever. The Dutch Government has set Tuesday, May 8, at midnight as deadline for its passage and non-compliance probably would lead to an undesirable instruction from the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
Especially opposition members are unhappy with this development and believe they are expected to “rubber-stamp” the budget. They have a point also regarding the short period between receiving all the actual documents and having to decide on these.
Nevertheless, considering the difficult situation in which St. Maarten finds itself, whereby the continued support and cooperation of the Netherlands is indispensable, there does not appear to be that much choice. While small adjustments can probably still be made during what is expected to be a marathonic two-day meeting, anything that delays the process at this stage should be discouraged.
Elected representatives ought to keep in mind that changes can and probably will be made through amendments later, so it’s not like once passed the budget is set in stone. Adopting it now and preferably in a unanimous manner would send a welcome message to The Hague that Philipsburg is ready to do whatever it takes to rebuild the country and provide residents with a decent future.
