Friday, was the last RMR meeting for the year, the Dutch Council of Ministers is officially on vacay from now on. One of their last decisions was not to award Curacao, Aruba and St Martin, any additional funds, because the islands did not uphold their side of the bargain.
Don’t count on the Dutch for liquidity support, was the loud and clear message from den Haag.
Up until the day before Aruba was hoping to receive 80 million from the Dutch for the first quarter of 2022, and it seemed as if 42 million will be granted, but then the wind turned.
According to the Dutch, parliament had two days to discuss the Eagle LNG deal and a number of sessions to talk about the budget yet it did not find time to pass the law, at the heart of the Landspakket reforms, the COHO.
In other words, Aruba did not ratify the amended consensus act for the establishment of the Caribbean Body for Reform and Development, abbreviated to COHO.
Aruba said it would, it promised, and assured, but then it didn’t.
So, no money for you, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, from the financially prudent, Netherlands.
In a situation where we are repeatedly standing with our hand stretched out, for help, if we don’t comply, if we didn’t even pass the agreed upon law, why do we expect further funding?
Secretary Knops was adamant, you did not fulfil your end of the deal, you dragged your heels, we have been talking for 18 months, and nada, so no more interest free corona loans, for you.
This exercise of being sensitive to the needs of the Dutch Caribbean has cost the Dutch more than 3 billion guilders. Consequences?
MinPres must come back empty-handed to the 13 Labor Unions, threatening to shut Aruba down over the 12.6% salary reductions. They want their salary intact, “Nos salario, nos kier henter.”
The Dutch did not even consider waving the reduction on government salaries. They conditioned lowering costs, by way of cutting civil servants and semi civil servants salaries, a condition for eligibility for liquidity support since mid-2020.
The Labor Unions had allowed us a taste last week with a few work stoppages, propelling Knobs to say: “I understand the measure hurts, but this is what we have agreed.”
Aruba has for the last 35 years experienced a Failure to Launch, and it is understandable, this is a small island nation, with limited capabilities, and whoever sold us on the pipe-dream of so-called autonomy, did not know his ass from his elbow — had zero economic understanding, and thus turned the island into a nation of beggars, always asking for a handout.
The pandemic lay our utter mismanagement bare. We have burnt all our gains, never invested or saved anything. Everyone can sail with the wind, but sailing against the wind takes skill and wisdom
