Further study pensions

January 06, 2009 6:30 AM

Lt. Governor Lisa Dindial has suspended the announcement of the new pension scheme for Island Council members.  It is legally laid down that the Lt. Governor must promulgate a law no later than two weeks after the approval by the Island Council, so it becomes effective.

The governor is in the meantime studying the several propositions that a council majority had passed in December.  Right before the end of the year, the governor had asked the Governing Body (BC) to send him all the documentation on the pension scheme.  According to Lt. Governor Dindial, the new scheme cannot take effect before the governor approves it.
There are a number of factors that play a part with the decision of not promulgate the pension scheme, said Dindial in an elucidation.  Last year’s August advice of the Advisory Council (RvA) on the pension scheme was considered.  The former pension proposition was also suspended and RvA brushed it off the table after having inspected it.  According to the Alt. Governor, some of last year’s propositions re similar to those of this year, even though it doesn’t indicate that the propositions are similar according to her.

“First you may say that the propositions were put through too fast.  The propositions were indeed existing ones, but the consideration in the Central Committee and then in a public meeting went real fast.  Second, there might be a possibility of conflict of interest, because as member of the Island Council, you are fixing your own pension.  It must be noted that contrary to the Island Councils of the other islands, that of Curacao must arrange their own pension”, said the lt. governor.
She also mentions the fact that the advice of Finance on the proposition is from 2005.  There are also questions whether the financial means needed for this are allocated on the budget.  Dindial does make a remark though that it is always possible to move funds from one item to the other within the budget.  She finally points out that the advice of the advisory committee on the pension scheme is not included in the final decision.

The lt. governor informed the island Council of her intentions in a letter dated December 31.  Her argumentation in the letter is that such proposition approved by a council majority (only Norbert George (DP) voted against, red.), ‘might be in violation with the general interest of the Neth.Antilles or the Kingdom’. 

(Source: National newspaper Amigoe)

2 January, 2009