THE HAGUE - The Dutch Caribbean islands urgently need money because of the corona crisis. The Netherlands is ready to offer help, but in exchange for reforms.
The Netherlands is prepared to help Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba get out of the corona crisis. But the soft loans that the islands can get are met with harsh conditions. For example, politicians, officials and administrators of government institutions have to hand in part of their salaries.
These demands lead to a new conflict between the Netherlands and the other countries within the kingdom. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs of Sint Maarten calls the proposal of Undersecretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relations an "indecent proposal", a dishonorable proposal. Curaçao Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath says he is "not an errand boy" of the Netherlands.
The crisis has hit mercilessly hard in the Caribbean part of the kingdom. Since mid-March, tourism on Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba has come to a halt. Commercial air traffic is suspended and the cruise boats are not allowed to dock. Much of the population depends on tourism and has no other source of income. Poverty is growing.
A row of solid requirements
The Netherlands helped the islands in early April with some "soft loans". It was short-term help, more money is needed. The countries were supposed to reach an agreement on a new round of emergency aid last Friday. But the proposal that Knops made to the Kingdom Council of Ministers caused bad blood in Sint Maarten and Curaçao.
A confidential document states that Knops is willing to lend the three islands a total of 370 million Antillean guilders. The Netherlands does attach a string of stringent requirements to this. Ministers and MPs must hand in 25 percent of the total package of employment conditions. It means a significant salary cut. Salaries of civil servants are cut by 12.5 percent. A salary ceiling is set for top officials in the (semi-) public sector (government-owned companies), up to a maximum of 130 percent of the salary of the Prime Minister.
In addition, Knops sets requirements for each island. Curaçao must offer "maximum transparency" as soon as possible in the financial screening of government institutions. Sint Maarten should increase the retirement age of civil servants from 62 to 65 on 1 July.
Financial dependence on the Netherlands for a long time
For example, Knops has been using the crisis on the islands to push through desired reforms for some time. In the Netherlands, people have been complaining for years about the generous salaries that politicians in the Caribbean appropriate themselves. On Sint Maarten, the directors have been able to successfully stop the pension increase to date, but now they are in a dire situation. The money from the Netherlands is needed to survive.
Aruba has announced this weekend that it agrees to the conditions for Dutch aid. The other two islands are not there yet, but there is great pressure to vote in favor of the proposal. Curaçao and Sint Maarten are struggling with financial shortages and for the time being the tourism sector is still locked.
The islands must give a definite answer by Wednesday at the latest. It is expected that the Caribbean countries will remain financially dependent from the Netherlands for a long time to come. In July, the Netherlands will talk to Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba about longer-term liquidity support, because the emergency aid of 190 million euros provides relief for only a few weeks.
