THE HAGUE--Dutch Government announced on Friday that it has started the reorganisation of the backlog in payments of the Island Territory of St. Eustatius to the general Antillean pension fund APNA.
The amount of the money is NAf. 6,686,652.15, almost 2.3 million euros, and involves the backlog up to and including 2005. The backlog in payments of 2006 and 2007 will also be paid as soon as the Council for Financial Supervision CFT renders a positive advice. The amount for 2006 and 2007 is NAf. 1,384,667 (55,280 euros).
The debts of the Island Territory of Curaçao will also be paid of the Country the Netherlands Antilles, it was announced in a press release issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK on Friday.
The reorganisation of Curaçao's debts was agreed upon in the most recent Political Steering Group (PSG) meeting on December 9, 2009.
In the near future, an amount of more than NAf. 43 million (some 15.5 million euros) will be paid to Curaçao so the debts of Study Financing Foundation Curaçao SSC, the garbage collection and waste processing company Selikor, the drug rehabilitation foundation FMA, the educational centre Feffik, the road fund Stichting Wegenfonds Curaçao and the bus company Autobusbedrijf Curaçao could be paid.
The Netherlands is reorganising the debts so the new entities, Countries Curaçao and St. Maarten, and the BES islands - Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba - as part of the Dutch Constellation, could start with a clean sheet when the Country the Netherlands Antilles is dismantled October 10, 2010.
As agreed upon in the Final Declaration of November 2006, there are conditions attached to the debt reorganisation, such as financial supervision and good governance codes. State Secretary of Kingdom Relations, Ank Bijleveld-Schouten, has ceased payments to Bonaire "because it is unclear whether the island wants to stick to the earlier agreements," it was stated in the press release.
Bijleveld-Schouten starts a five-day visit to Aruba and Curaçao this Monday. On Monday, she will first visit Aruba where she will meet Governor Fredis Refunjol, several members of the cabinet, Chairman of Parliament Andy Lee and the faction leaders of the political parties. On Tuesday, she meets with Aruba's Council of Ministers and will visit the Police Force.
On Wednesday, Bijleveld-Schouten will be in Curaçao. The main agenda point during that visit will be the progress of constitutional reform in the Kingdom. On Thursday, there will be a political consultation with the Country the Netherlands Antilles, Curaçao and St. Maarten.
On the agenda of the PSG will be the cooperation of the police forces of the new countries and the corps for the BES islands, as well as the joint facility to combat organised and international crime. Bijleveld-Schouten will return to the Netherlands on Friday.