Good corporate government for Land Curacao

November 24, 2008 6:27 AM

The current Governing Body (BC) of Curacao would like to see government bodies function transparent and with integrity in the new autonomous Land Curacao, said commissioner Mike Willem (Finance, PAR) during the seminar ‘Integrity- and Risk analysis in Government-enterprises: from attention to necessity’ that was held in the Koetshuis of the Avila Beach Hotel last week Thursday in cooperation with KPMG.

“In the New Land Curacao, the corporate government must be better than what it is now”, summarized Willem. He says that with the new political start in the near future, it can no longer be ‘business as usual’. “A lot of time and energy was put into the development of a code of ethics and with the introduction, the proceeds of all the investments must be noticeable”, finds Willem. He mentioned a number of basic ideas that according to him must come to the fore in the handling of government services, public enterprises, and public foundations, if corporate governance wants to become a success in the new Land Curacao. These basic ideas include aims and action points like, ‘stagnation means decline’, focus on efficiency’, focus on core activities’, and financial discipline with the correct dividend payment on behalf of the population’, and so on.

During the panel session in the last part of this seminar, a few attendants had little confidence in Curacao ever going beyond just talking about integrity and corporate governance in a small group, without taking actual actions. For example, some people in the room disapproved the fact that Commissioner Willem didn’t stay for the panel session.

Pieter van der Zwet and Henk de Zeeuw of KPMG didn’t share the ‘pessimism’. “There has clearly been progress regarding the awareness of integrity”, was De Zeeuw’s remark. Van der Zwet agreed with that and reminded the persons present that this is a process that more and more people will gradually support.
During their presentations, the two from KPMG used a lot of examples and with the participation of the people present they showed that ethical codes must specifically be formulated per organization, and with that, relevant matters must get the attention to prevent that the code remains a paper tiger. They pointed out which issues must be emphasized.

By discussion points of interest on a regular basis, internal culture is promoted, in which stimulation and control are balanced, and reporting structures work unrestrainedly.
The public as well as the stakeholders of government organizations worldwide want to be convinced of working with integrity before they grant their confidence. Curacao will also not escape ‘this call for integrity’; not now, nor in the future.

(Source: National newspaper Amigoe)

22 November, 2008