256 million in subsidies unlawfully paid

WILLEMSTAD - In 2019, everything was wrong again in the annual accounts of Curaçao. For example, expenditure and receipts were not in order, and subsidy policy, among other things, did not always go well. The Court of Audit has therefore rejected the 2019 annual accounts.

This is evident from the report of the General Audit Chamber Curaçao that came out this week. According to the Court of Audit, the obligations and the income and expenditure of the government in 2019 did not correspond to the agreements made in the National budget.

The budget was exceeded by 178 million guilders. That is 100 million less than the year before, but still considerable. The biggest culprit this year was again the Ministry of Health, Environment and Nature (GMN). More than half of the exceedance was caused by GMN.

The Court was also critical of the subsidy policy. Curaçao appears to have paid out subsidies of more than 256 million guilders to nine foundations that were not legitimate. And it mainly concerns the Ministry of Education. This ministry provided no less than 204 million guilders in illegal subsidies.

The ball is now in the hands of parliament. They must ask the cabinet for text and explanation and ensure that the cabinet tackles the problems as quickly as possible.




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