“The government now sees the islands of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba BES essentially as normal Dutch municipalities,” Deputy Secretary Gerber van Nijendaal explains to NU.nl on behalf of the Public Administration Board (ROB). “But the average Dutch municipality does not have additional tasks, such as maintaining an international airport.”
Since the funds required for such additional tasks do not fall within the fixed budget of the BES Islands, private municipalities must always submit separate applications for this. The result is sticky and long procedures. As a result, the implementation of additional BES tasks may be delayed, van Nijendaal says.
The way things are now, it is “unnecessarily stressful” for the BES Islands, according to a letter from ROB to outgoing Foreign Minister Alexandra van Heuvelen (Kingdom Relations). Moreover, according to the advisory body, it “prevents island governments from pursuing a balanced fiscal policy.” This is why, according to the ROB, the financing of the BES islands must be reformed.
The three municipalities in the Netherlands Caribbean region should receive a more stable budget regarding the advisory body. Van Nijendaal stresses that it is only a matter of ending the administrative burden and not increasing the budget. “Bottom line, there's no extra money.”
