Cft expects less introduction problems in Curacao

August 25, 2008 7:19 AM

The Board of financial supervision (College financieel toezicht - Cft) anticipates that when the Order in Council for the Kingdom (AMvRB) temporary financial supervision takes effect at the end of this year perhaps, there will be less introduction problems for Curacao and St. Maarten than it is the case for the BES-islands.

“We are already looking informally at these new entities”, said Cft-chair Hans Weitenberg yesterday afternoon. Curacao and St. Maarten presented themselves last week and the Cft got the impression that the new countries ‘are throwing themselves very seriously into the 2009 budget norms’. In an interview with the Amigoe, Weitenberg said that he thinks that ‘those two islands have more experience and professionalism in the Civil Service’. “They follow a stricter regimen. I expect fewer problems.”

The Island Councils and Parliament approved the concept of the AMvRB temporary financial supervision in June. The AMvRB is currently with the State Council for advice. We hope that the financial supervision can go into effect by the end of this year, but it all depends on what the advice is going to be. Curacao and St. Maarten will nominate representatives in the Cft once the AMvRB is in effect. In anticipation of that, four new civil servants start working in the secretariat in September. As part of the debt restructuring, CFT is also going to start giving advice on the 2009 budget for Curacao and St. Maarten.

The Cft is currently in Curacao, where it had discussion of progress with representatives of the BES-islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba) and also informal discussions with representatives of Curacao and St. Maarten. Everybody was invited to come to Curacao for the meetings and could this way share experience with Curacao, St. Maarten, and the Central Government.

The authorities of the Cft in Curacao and St. Maarten will be more restricted than for the BES-islands, where draft-budgets can be completed with approved or not approved comments and if worst comes to worst, the minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations can settle for a budget drawn up by the Cft.

The authority of the Cft in Curacao, St. Maarten, and the Central Government will be restricted to giving advice and recommendations for the draft-budget and the settled budget. If the Cft is of the opinion that the standards in the AMvRB are not considered, it will communicate this to the Governing Body and the Island Council. If nothing changes, the Cft will communicate this to the Council of Ministers for the Kingdom that will take actions. 
 
Cft-chair Hans Weitenberg has officially launched the website of the College, http://www.cft.an/ yesterday. The purpose of the website is to offer transparency, which apart from independency and professionalism, is a key value of the Cft. All the information that is public will be put on the site. The documents are in Dutch and where possible in English and Papiamento.

(Source: Board of financial supervision / College financieel toezicht)

August 22, 2008