WILLEMSTAD – A proposed national summit on Curaçao’s high cost of living should not become another meeting where participants make speeches, take pictures and go home without results, according to PNP Member of Parliament Ruisandro Cijntje.
Cijntje is proposing that the government organize a National Summit on the Cost of Living and Purchasing Power that concludes with concrete measures, deadlines, clearly assigned responsibilities and a system to publicly monitor whether agreements are actually implemented.
The parliamentarian says the summit should produce three principal results.
First, participants should agree on a short-term package of measures capable of providing immediate relief to households struggling with the cost of basic necessities.
Second, Curaçao should develop a medium-term plan aimed at reducing structural costs while encouraging greater competition and increasing local production.
Third, Cijntje wants a monitoring mechanism that establishes deadlines, identifies who is responsible for implementing each measure and allows the public to evaluate the results.
“The National Summit cannot become another meeting to make speeches, take pictures and then have everyone go home,” Cijntje said.
His proposal comes amid concerns about the pressure that expenses such as groceries, electricity, water, fuel and transportation are placing on household budgets.
Cijntje argues that addressing purchasing power requires examining the entire economic chain rather than concentrating on individual prices.
Among the subjects he wants placed on the table are import costs, transportation, profit margins in the commercial supply chain, competition, consumer protection, wages and household income, utility and fuel prices, the Makutu Básiko and possibilities for strengthening domestic production.
The PNP parliamentarian is calling for broad participation, including the Curaçao government, Parliament, unions and worker representatives, the business and commercial sectors, importers and distributors, supermarkets, public companies, consumer organizations and economic experts.
The objective, he said, should be to determine where costs can realistically be lowered and which policies can provide measurable improvements in household purchasing power.
Cijntje stressed that Parliament's responsibility should go beyond identifying problems and questioning ministers.
“Curaçao must move from questions to proposals, from proposals to agreements, and from agreements to action,” he said.