PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs said on Wednesday that the discussions on the 8 new conditions that the Kingdom wants to impose on St. Maarten for the removal of the 12.5% cuts that were imposed in 2020.
Jacobs said that during the visit of the State Secretary Alexandria van Huffelen last week meetings were held with the State Secretary, the unions, and other stakeholders, and the Council of Ministers where the conditions were again discussed. She said the discussions continue since there has not been an agreed resolution on the proposed condition. While the country’s Prime Minister referred to the conditions, she did not say what all of the conditions are.
On Tuesday, Curacao’s Prime Minister released the 8 conditions which are as follows:
(1) The National Ordinance for the Standardization of Top Incomes Curacao must have entered into force;
(2) There must be money in the budget to be able to finance the abolition of the 12.5 percent reduction. The costs cannot be paid from the liquidity support provided by the Netherlands. The Financial Supervision Board (Cft) must be requested to carry out an evaluation;
(3) The focus on abolishing the 12.5 percent cut should be on those on low incomes;
(4) If there is sufficient room in the budget to eliminate the 12.5 percent regulation and there are no other unexpected developments, Article 25 of the Kingdom Act on financial supervision (Rft) can no longer be invoked. This article is about damage caused by extraordinary events as a result of which the Kingdom Council of Ministers can agree to a deviation from the budget norm;
(5) Rapid implementation of the B.5 measure in the National Package, which aims to reduce the government's total wage bill;
(6) The 25 percent discount on the salary of ministers and members of parliament will be maintained;
(7) After the abolition of the 12.5 percent rule, the salaries of civil servants may not exceed the salaries of ministers or Members of Parliament, cut by 25 percent, and finally the abolition of the 12.5 percent discount can only take place after a decision on this by the Kingdom Council of Ministers, which has been informed by the Cft that Curaçao meets all the above conditions.
Jacobs said the three countries have not agreed to these conditions and they are supposed to meet to further discuss the conditions that have been proposed. The Prime Minister also explained that the state secretary is also in agreement with the overseas countries that the 12.5% cuts should be lifted but she also indicated that there is also a political agenda that she has to adhere to.
