THE HAGUE--The Dutch Caribbean countries are not making optimal use of the Dutch government’s offer of policy-related technical assistance.
Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten do take advantage of the offer at the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK, but at a relatively low frequency.
Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Kajsa Ollongren stated this earlier this week in response to written questions of the Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations regarding the BZK Ministry’s 2017 accountability documents.
According to the minister, “in practice” it appears “difficult” for the countries to formulate concrete, broadly supported requests for support whereby also the local ownership and securing of results are accomplished.
“These are parts of a request for support that I value, because a possible investment needs to achieve a maximum effect and disinvestments have to be prevented,” Ollongren stated in response to a question from Parliament regarding the extent to which the countries were making use of the possibility to request technical support.
She provided a few examples of where the policy-related technical assistance had been delivered and/or facilitated. In St. Maarten, the policy framework of the local government is being strengthened with the assistance of the World Bank and the international chapter of the Association of Dutch Municipalities VNG.
In Aruba, cooperation with the municipality The Hague has been facilitated to arrive at a sustainable plan in the area of mobility. In Curaçao, the input of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been acquired, where the BZK Ministry has contributed to strengthen the organisational development and executive power of the local government.
In her reply, Ollongren also responded to questions about the effectiveness of the current financial supervision of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. According to her, the 2015 evaluation of the Kingdom Law on Financial Supervision showed that progress had been achieved in Curaçao and St. Maarten, but that at the same time there were great challenges in the areas of financial management and realising a structural balanced budget.
The development of Curaçao’s and St. Maarten’s national debts displayed a manageable outlook, aside from the special situation in which St. Maarten has been finding itself since Hurricane Irma devastated the island in September last year.
Ollongren explained that financial supervision on the budget norms of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten and on the size of Curaçao’s and St. Maarten’s national debts is the final piece, with good financial management being the basis.
“That is where there is much room for improvement; the countries have to build a tradition of good financial management. That requires constant attention. The countries have their own responsibility in this. Support in the form of technical assistance can be useful, but only if there is sufficient ownership from the side of the countries,” she stated.
In Aruba, the financial situation and especially the national debt is worrisome, she noted. Aruba did not make the financial supervision budget norm in 2017 and it is unlikely that the country will be making the norm in 2018. Aruba’s national debt is not subject to financial supervision. Talks are ongoing with the Aruba government to prolong the financial supervision and to set a new standard framework.
“Bonaire and St. Eustatius are having trouble finding qualified personnel for the long term, and for the islands it is difficult to shape and implement good financial management, especially when a government is so frequently changed or [in the case – Ed.] of a government that has neglected its tasks,” Ollongren stated.
In the case of St. Eustatius, the BZK Ministry is assisting by making qualified personnel available so the financial management can be brought up to par. The Committee for Financial Supervision CFT has also concluded that there is still a lot to do in Bonaire and St. Eustatius to accomplish good financial management.
“That demands, aside from qualified personnel, also a government that has good financial management as a high priority,” stated Ollongren, who gave Saba as an example where financially things were in order.
The BZK Ministry’s 2017 annual Kingdom Relations account and other documents that relate to the closing of the budget year of 2017 will be on the agenda of a legislative meeting of the Second Chamber with State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops on June 21.
World Bank Vice-president (VP) for Latin America and the Caribbean Jorge Familiar will meet with the Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations about St. Maarten’s reconstruction and the Trust Fund on that same day. The technical briefing by the VP will take place behind closed doors.
St. Maarten is definitely not Familiar’s first or only project. A Mexican by birth, Familiar supervises more than 25 billion euros in projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. The World Bank will manage the St. Maarten Trust Fund in which the Dutch government will deposit 470 million euros. A first deposit of 11 million euros has already been made.
