THE HAGUE - Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten need tens, if not hundreds of millions of extra funds because of the corona crisis to keep the island afloat. According to the Dutch cabinet, they can count on help, but not on a donation.
"We will not abandon the autonomous countries," emphasizes Minister Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) after the Kingdom Council of Ministers on Friday. "But that is different from saying: we will pay all your bills for the coming months, because of course that is not possible."
The islands have no reserves to absorb the economic blows of the corona crisis. Tens of thousands of people have become unemployed and become dependent on the government. For example, Aruba asks the Netherlands for a donation of 400 million euros.
"It is about Dutch tax money"
Knops had a video conversation with the prime ministers on the islands on Thursday. He cited how European countries that are "in the same situation" and "have very high debts" are now asking countries like the Netherlands for help.
"We certainly want to help them," says Knops about the position of the Dutch cabinet. “Especially in an acute emergency. But that is not unconditional. That is also not possible, because it concerns Dutch tax money.”
“Here in the Netherlands, we have also asked people to make sacrifices with regard to taxes and cutbacks to make the right choices. So that was also the message I shared yesterday with the prime ministers of the three countries.”
Knops told the press on Friday that the three islands are autonomous countries within the Kingdom. "Autonomous also in the sense of responsible for own government finances."
The government on the islands has been in a bad financial position for years, because more money is spent structurally than it receives. In the past year, the islands were forced to make significant cuts from The Hague.
On Friday, the Kingdom Council of Ministers decided to abandon those strict budgetary rules for the time being.
Can the islands pay back?
The islands will try to get a cheap loan through the Netherlands. The question is whether they will be able to repay hundreds of millions if the Netherlands does not (partially) make a donation.
"We will now assess requests for help," says Knops. "Does it work, does it not work? Is the request reasonable or not?"
“It is very important to look at how this money can ultimately come back for a very large part. Because that is also the way we do it ourselves. We must now also draw on our own financial position. Our own debt that we have is now also growing.”
For the time being a Kingdom Council of Ministers every week
The minister expects the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten to meet weekly in The Hague to discuss the situation on the islands and to make decisions.
"The aid goes much further than money," says Knops. "It is also about knowledge in the field of health, which is about care and the provision of assistance - for which it has been requested - in the field of Defense."
