The Aruba government met with the labour unions on Thursday to talk about the country’s financial situation.
ORANJESTAD/THE HAGUE--The governments of Aruba and the Netherlands signed the fourth Execution Agenda on Thursday.
Aruba Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes and Dutch caretaker State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops signed the agreement for the continued execution of the country package during a virtual meeting.
Several assessments have been initiated or were concluded under the fourth Execution Agenda. The stakeholders were consulted in the process. The Execution Agenda also included a review of the work that has been done so far.
According to Wever-Croes, Aruba has demonstrated that despite the intensity of the work and the steps that were taken, the country has managed to largely comply with the conditions set for it to receive the necessary liquidity support from the Dutch government.
“A great thank you goes out to the professionals who have been working day and night to accomplish the set goals. Aruba can be proud of its local team,” said Wever-Croes. Work on the next Execution Agenda will continue in 2022.
The Execution Agenda is a work in progress which is constantly updated in collaboration between Aruba and the Netherlands. “We can say that Aruba is on the right track and that with respect, maturity and dedication, we will recuperate our country together,” said Wever-Croes.
So far, Aruba has not received the fourth tranche of liquidity support. The Aruba government and the labour unions met on Thursday to discuss the consequences of the lack of liquidity and the country’s general financial situation.
Wever-Croes explained what would happen if Aruba did not receive the fourth tranche. “We will have to make cutbacks. We already started to do this on the level of the ministers and the government apparatus,” she said. Government expenditures have been ceased, with the exception of the most urgent ones.
If the liquidity support is not granted by The Hague, the wage subsidy to assist entrepreneurs and the FASE programme to help the unemployed will have to be terminated. Wever-Croes noted that Curaçao and St. Maarten have already stopped their wage subsidy programmes and that the Aruba Committee for Financial Supervision CAFT wants Aruba to do the same.
The Aruba government is evaluating the situation and has not taken a final decision as yet on the wage subsidy and FASE. As part of the evaluation, the government wanted to meet with the unions to hear their opinion.
“That is why we are here. We consider you the leaders in our community and we want to discuss this matter so we can carry the decision together,” Wever-Croes said.
