Implementation report country packages Aruba, Curaçao and St. March – 2021/Q2
Yes, a few days ago, I had the privilege of reading about the Landspakketen, or National Packages, or the reforms, some say suggested, some claim imposed, by the Dutch, last year.
It’s good to keep talking about the reforms with the hope they will materialize.
In general, the document states, there are differences in dynamics per country, and that is why realistic planning is necessary.
In the past six months, the autonomous countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, started with the implementation of their National Packages, agreed with the Dutch, namely the famous changes supposed to help us become sustainable and more prosperous.
The concrete agreements made between the respective countries and the Netherlands in the context of the National Packages have been explained, and broken down to tasks, in so-called Implementation Agendas.
These agreements also developed timetables, spelling out which results are expected and when, and what activities are required, in order to tick the task off the list.
These Implementation Agendas are amazing documents, spelling out exactly what must be done.
But, the dynamics within the countries, the report continues, in regards to the implementation of the agendas, differ considerably.
The islands have a different sense of time.
Aruba, the report claims, closely follows the Implementation Agenda and takes the necessary steps; the targeted results planned for the second quarter of 2021 have almost been achieved.
Pat on the back for Aruba, we laid the groundwork for change.
The Implementation Agenda of the National Package on Curaçao presents a mixed picture. Many files have been delayed. This is partly, due to a lack of clarity about the positions of the newly elected government with regard to these files and, more generally, the COHO Consensus Kingdom Act.
OK, so Curacao, not 100% on board with increased Dutch supervision, the new government is slippery.
For Sint Maarten, liquidity support from the Netherlands has been suspended for some time due to serious concerns about corporate governance at the airport, against which the government of Sint Maarten, as a shareholder, did not take necessary measures.
Our neighbor from the northern Caribbean is in trouble.
Its handling of the airport’s post-hurricane reconstruction project, is riddled with questionable financial decisions, thus, they were cut off. No more money for them.
In the meantime, active work, I want you to remember this term, it means actual work, has continued on the implementation of the National Package, although not all deadlines have been met in the second quarter of 2021.
Someone is dragging her/his feet, in Sint Maarten.
Although different in nature, the above developments make it difficult to predict how the coming six months will unfold.
For Curaçao and Sint Maarten, this will depend on the outcome of the talks being held at the administrative level. It is expected that Aruba will continue on its chosen compliant path.
The report concludes that agreements from the first Implementation Agendas were ambitious and had a heavy impact on both the governments of the countries and the Dutch organizations, supervising them.
According to the report the Dutch are beginning to understand that some reforms will take more time, because planning is easier than execution and progress will be slower than anticipated.
Bottom line: A conflict between planning, and active work, is expected. We are famous for over-promising and under-delivering
In most cases, things go on in good mutual cooperation at official level between the countries and the relevant Dutch ministries and the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
But, it appears that the estimate made in advance of the time required for this was really too ambitious, the deadline will be adjusted in the next Implementation Agenda. A realistic planning and more explicit prioritization when determining the next Implementation Agendas is necessary for a sustainable process.
On the upside: All three countries continuously work hard to control and combat the consequences of COVID-19, in collaboration with the Dutch. And work was also done on the transition of the food aid programs in the three countries from the Red Cross and the Dutch Kingdom to the island governments. For Aruba, a protocol is being drawn up between Aruba and the Netherlands to formalize the agreements. Aruba took the program over, as of July 1.
This report for the second quarter of 2021 (1 April 2021 – 30 June 2021) was drawn up on 25 June, I just recently saw it, but it is still relevant, we must continue talking about the reforms, and expecting them.
