Govt now has a claim of NAf. 43 million
PHILIPSBURG--The NAf. 13 million in revenue sharing that could not be found in the government administration some three months ago were withheld by the Central Government to cover St. Maarten's premium for the co-insurance for family members for people with Social Insurance Bank SVB coverage, Finance Commissioner Xavier Blackman said on Thursday.
Blackman's announcement of the missing millions had caused uproar especially from opposition Democratic Party (DP) as Blackman had said the former administration should have done its homework properly.
In a subsequent Island Council meeting, former Finance Commissioner Roy Marlin (DP) had pointed out the amount had most probably been withheld by the Central Government for the same reason.
Blackman again pressed on Thursday the letter querying the NAf. 13 million that was sent to Finance Minister Ersilia de Lannooy was merely an enquiry to get clarity on the situation, because there was no formalised agreement on the payment/deductions for the co-insurance premiums.
In her response, De Lannooy had said instead of St. Maarten being owed NAf. 13 million from its share of the three per cent Turnover Tax (ToT), it was in fact in arrears with the Central Government for some NAf. 60 million.
In 2006, the island had gone to court over the co-insurance claims. Based on research and consultation with legal counsel this amount was tagged to the Central Government booking claims for the co-insurance and loans taken on St. Maarten's behalf to pay off those amounts, Blackman said.
However, those amounts can be "taken out" of the equation, because part of it should be added to the debts of the Netherlands Antilles and another part added to the division of assets and liabilities, he said.
The Central Government should have ceased the withholding and add them either into debt matrix and division of assets and liabilities as of 2007. The Central Government confirmed this agreement in a letter of January 23, 2009.
"Basically the federal [Central] government would take a loan [for the co-insurance amounts], formalise that loan and then that loan would be dealt within the division of assets," Blackman explained.
This means government now has a claim of close to NAf. 43 million "net cash claim" on the Central Government, instead of having a claim of NAf. 13 million based on the loans and deductions, Blackman said.
The proposal for this will be sent by the island government to the Central Government soon and that amount will be settled in the division of assets and liabilities of the Netherlands Antilles.
