From left: State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation Alexandra van Huffelen, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations BZK Hanke Bruins Slot, deputy Government Commissioner Claudia Toet and Government Commissioner Alida Francis at the Potpourri of Statia Culture on September 7th, 2022.
THE HAGUE--Five years after the Dutch intervention, the St. Eustatius Executive Council and Island Council will get back its budget right after the Island Council elections in March next year.
Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen announced her decision on Friday which she took based on findings of Ernst & Young (EY), and talks with National Government Commissioner Alida Francis, St. Eustatius Government Commissioners Glenn Schmidt and Derrick Simmons, and members of the Island Council.
Statia’s budget right was annulled with the dissolving of the Island Council and Executive Council by the Dutch government in February 2018 due to “gross neglect.” When the budget right is restored after the March elections, the Executive Council and Island Council will again be able to draft, adopt and implement its own budget. The restoring of the budget right is part of the process of returning to democracy.
In a press release on Friday, Van Huffelen explained that on her request, EY assessed the progress of the financial management of the public entity St. Eustatius. EY stated in its end report that St. Eustatius has made great strides in this area in the past few years. Large backlogs in drafting and adopting annual reports were eliminated and the process to come to a budget and intermediate reports was improved.
At the same time, there are still many improvement steps are needed. Administrative processes and the internal financial management for matters that have a big financial impact, such as salaries, social allowances, payments, purchasing and tendering, still need to be implemented.
Immediately after the March 15 elections, the state secretary will talk with the new commissioners and Island Council members. With the transfer of the budget right not only come rights, but also responsibilities and obligations for the new Executive Council and Island Council. Agreements will be made with the new Executive Council, in consultation with the Island Council.
“The improvement steps are necessary for a well-functioning public entity. This is beneficial for the island and for its residents. The implementation of the improvement steps will require a lot from the public entity,” said Van Huffelen.
The state secretary said she found it important that the Executive Council and Island Council continue to work on these steps, an endeavour she would support. “But to accomplish this, the newly-elected commissioners and Island Council members will have to commit to the improvement steps that need to be taken.”
In February 2018, the Dutch government intervened in the St. Eustatius government, based on the Law restoring facilities St. Eustatius. One of the major reasons for the intervention was that the financial administration and the financial decision-taking did not (sufficiently) comply with the legal requirements. Since the intervention, St. Eustatius has been working hard to implement solid financial management.
