WILLEMSTAD – Member of Parliament for the coalition party PNP, Corinne Djaoen-Genaro was very critical of the Caribbean Reform and Development Agency, the so-called COHO. The MP asked very critical questions to the Minister of Finance Javier Silvania.
“Is the minister aware of what is going on among the population, namely that if Coho is accepted without a fight, this is the same or even worse than voting for the previous government?” the MP asked.
The critical attitude towards the consensus Kingdom Act COHO is evident.
The coalition MP asked if the minister is aware that the pride of local professionals is being trampled because, when things go well this year, it is not this government and its local professionals, but the professionals from COHO who will have accomplished the improvement (and will take the credit for doing so)? “What’s the point of governing like this?”
The governments of Curaçao, Aruba, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands agreed a few weeks ago about submitting the proposal for the COHO Kingdom Act to the four Parliaments of the Kingdom for approval. But the tone and content of the questions from the faction of the Curaçao coalition partner PNP does not bode well for the parliamentary debate for the time being. Nevertheless, the Pisas government, with PNP leader Ruthmilda Larmonie-Cecilia as deputy prime minister, will in principle (have to) defend the COHO Kingdom Act.
Larmonie-Cecilia entered the elections last March with the promise that the COHO would be ‘renegotiated’ with the Netherlands. Djaoen-Genaro now asked the Minister of Finance if he is aware that “the majority of the population” is of the opinion that there is no major difference between the COHO as now accepted and the earlier COHO? “What is different about the CHE (the originally proposed Caribbean Reform Entity), the COHO and COHO 2.0?”
In other words: it is not the opposition but the PNP faction itself that is questioning what the MFK/PNP government of Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas and Larmonie-Cecilia has achieved in the negotiations with the Netherlands over the past eight months. Have local professionals been seriously consulted beforehand? is the question, after which the names of Maria Liberia-Peters, Emsley Tromp, Suzy Camelia-Römer, Caryl Monte and Rutsel Martha are mentioned.
Djaoen-Genaro seems to wonder whether a reform body is needed at all, because she points out the increase in tax revenues to the Minister of Finance. Is the minister aware that this government has raised more than 176 million guilders and that it is the local professionals of Curaçao who have realized this amount – and not COHO?
To Silvania, who as guardian of the treasury has announced the tax revenues to the world, she asks if he realizes that no less than 49 million in sales tax (OB) was collected in January, ‘the highest revenue in January ever’ (his own words on Facebook and in a press release).
Is the minister aware that ‘we’ can refinance the debt of 900 million at a lower interest rate with the Netherlands itself, so that COHO does not have to be accepted?
The PNP Member of Parliament refers to the 911 million guilders that Curaçao received in the corona years 2020 and 2021 in liquidity support from the Netherlands in the form of an interest-free loan (zero percent). Normally, Curaçao can borrow at only about 2 percent interest because this is the rate that applies to the Dutch State in connection with the internationally very favorable credit rating of the European part of the Kingdom. Local interest rates are higher.
Djaoen-Genaro also asks how much money the Netherlands will invest in Curaçao. What is the exact amount that the Netherlands will invest in the National Package and what are the conditions that must be met to receive these funds for the implementation of the National Package?
The MP also wants to know whether there is a guarantee that if ‘we’ meet the conditions of the Netherlands, the Netherlands will in turn also comply with ‘us’. For example, an ‘escrow account’ will be opened, into which the Netherlands deposits the funds, to ensure that if Curaçao adheres to the conditions set, these funds will actually become available.
In other words: how can we guarantee a ‘pas de deux’? The latter seems to be a reference to the times of the late former prime minister Miguel Pourier who had made agreements with the Netherlands about the ‘pas de deux’; every step from Curaçao (then the Netherlands Antilles) would be followed by a step from the Dutch side; however, from the perspective of political Willemstad, The Hague did not adhere to this (or additional requirements were set each time).
Who decides whether or not Curaçao has met the requirements; whether or not to qualify for the agreed funds? “COHO cannot be the body that decides on this, because there are two members of the Netherlands on the board who will always vote in favor of the Netherlands,” said the PNP parliamentarian.
Bron; CuracaoChronicle