Dear Editor,
The Cooperative Platform has taken note of the letter in which the State Secretary acknowledges violation of law with regard to the awarding of government contracts on St. Eustatius. This admission which was deemed an oversight by the State Secretary on the part of Commissioner Steeger, undermines the integrity of the process of the intervention. The Cooperative Platform recognizes this issue as a direct consequence of the suspension of law regulating checks and balances.
During the last summer visit of the delegation of the Second Chamber, the platform presented the Chamber with a document where it pointed out the danger and potential pitfalls of the current structure which excludes the check and balances commonly found in a democratic setting designed to safeguard its integrity. The absence of an entity with a supervisory view (Island Council, College for Financial Supervision CFT, Kingdom Representative, etc.) created a situation where potential conflicts of interest, as a minimum, and violations of law in the worst-case scenario can take place. The State Secretary stated that as a result of these violations which were discovered there would be a review of policy with regards to civil servants with secondary activities.
The platform would like to advise the state secretary to consider a solution to reinstate and strengthen the institutions of checks and balances to ensure that the issues recently coming to light are not repeated. Enforcing check and balances together with the improvement of transparency will restore the integrity of the current process and ensure the public that the representatives in charge of government affairs are acting in accordance with prevailing laws and the integrity expected in line with the principles of good governance.
The platform hopes that the Second Chamber takes the current revelation seriously and in recognition of the point addressed by the platform regarding the void in check and balances would take the steps needed in order to provide more transparency with regard to action already taken, such as a demand for publication of decision list of the executive council as the platform has requested from the beginning.
Cooperative Platform St. Eustatius
