WILLEMSTAD – Discussions surrounding the 2027 budget of the Curaçao Parliament have once again sparked questions about outdated terminology and budget items still appearing in official government documents.
According to evening newspaper Amigoe, one of the issues raised involved a budget line labeled “telephone and fax costs,” for which 320,000 guilders has been allocated, despite the fact that Parliament no longer uses fax machines.
The matter was brought forward by Juniël Carolina of the Movementu Futuro Kòrsou (MFK).
In response, Parliament President Fergino Brownbill stated that the wording is part of a standard budget classification system used by the Ministry of Finance.
Brownbill emphasized that Parliament does not own a fax machine and noted that similar questions had already been raised in 2024.
Another point of discussion involved a budget item referring to “APNA pension contributions.”
Suzy Camelia-Römer of MAN-PIN pointed out that pension fund APNA ceased to exist in 2010 and was replaced by APC.
Brownbill indicated he is willing to discuss updating the terminology used in budget documents with the Ministry of Finance.
The 2027 Parliament budget has meanwhile been approved by the Central Committee and will now be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for inclusion in Curaçao’s draft national budget.
The debate highlights ongoing criticism regarding administrative modernization and the continued use of outdated government terminology within official financial documents.