Last week, ARA, Algemene Rekenkamer Aruba, published a report titled: “At a distance, yet up close,” an investigation focusing on the island’s governmental companies, between the years 2018 and 2020.
Six companies enjoyed ARA’s scrutiny, and the results were predictably disappointing, all companies except WEB were at an annual deficit for years, yet no significant changes were ever made to turn them around, and if any changes tried, they were slow, and few.
The companies under inspection were Arubus, Post-Aruba, RDA, our mothballed refinery, Serlimar, and Lotto pa Deporte.
These companies were plagued by lack of transparency, they did not submit their annual reports on time, they conducted themselves inefficiently and sometimes even illegally, and were, bottom line, financially unsustainable.
ARA warned that attention must be paid to the initial set up of the upcoming new AWSS, Aruba Wastewater Sustainable Solutions and the new AQHA, Aruba Quality & Hospitality Authority, to assure parliamentary oversight. These new semi-governmental entities must be founded on sound financial models, ARA explained.
According to ARA, the six companies it inspected, are busy putting out fires, instead of managing public funds responsibly.
ARA made practical suggestions again yet drew the attention of the relevant ministers to numerous reports already written, brimming with useful fixes, chilling on shelves and in drawers.
As residents we experience the imperfections of Arubus, and Post-Aruba, often. We see the large and empty, overly airconditioned, gas-guzzling buses, going through main arteries, while our housekeepers must rely on private transport that services secondary routes, where people live. And the infrequent postal delivering of bills and government forms, that could/should be delivered digitally.
We have been talking about reinventing the post-office, which has lost its reason for being. We no longer write letters, not even vacation postcards or Christmas cards. Amazon rescued the American post-office – who will rescue our post office with its overly airconditioned, high-ceilinged colonial building in the heart of town?
If any money is made at the post-office, it goes to Elmar.
RDA? The dream of reopening the refinery costs us money. We should transition to solar and wind instead of waiting for miracles.
Serlimar? They did not even bill until recently. I started getting bills from Serlimar the year before last, and they promised those who pay a full year in advance, one free month, for which I am still waiting.
Lotto pa Deporte? Who has ever heard of a national lottery that is a money losing proposition? How is that possible? Lotto is supposed to generate significant revenue selling lottery tickets. And this island is awash with Lotto sales outlets. Lotto pa Deporte as its name implies was set up to fund sport development, education, and community projects. The larger part of its revenues was meant to be retained as profit, and reinvested, what happened?
WEB? Of course they make money by charging exuberant water rates and handing dividends to the government at the end of the year. I went to their web site to look at their finances, they were left with 24M income in 2021, and were in the red for 26M in 2022.
