WILLEMSTAD - The Parliament of Curaçao has only 85,000 guilders remaining from their travel budget for this year. Parliament Chair Charetti America-Francisca (MFK) confirmed this. Initially, a budget of 595,000 guilders was allocated for this year.
The significant depletion of the budget is primarily attributed to two major foreign trips: a visit to the Colombian embassy in Colombia and the annual Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO) in the Netherlands.
Earlier this year, America-Francisca announced that an evaluation of the travel policy would take place. This evaluation has become necessary due to the large expenses incurred by the aforementioned trips. A planned trip to Brazil was canceled due to high costs. According to America-Francisca, the costs for this trip would have been around 10,000 guilders per person, which could not be justified within the current budget.
The travel policy is currently undergoing a thorough evaluation to gain insight into expenditures and to identify potential savings. This evaluation is also in response to criticism from within Parliament about the lack of accountability by some members regarding their travel expenses.
No new foreign trips are expected for the rest of the year, according to America-Francisca. The parliament is also exploring alternatives for international cooperation, such as virtual meetings, to save costs without neglecting international obligations and collaborations.