THE HAGUE – The meeting of the Kingdom Council of Ministers on Friday has not yielded much. According to the spokesman for Undersecretary Raymond Knops of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, the conditions of the Netherlands were not on the agenda of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom.
As is known, the Netherlands is prepared to lend money to Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten for acute emergency aid in connection with the corona crisis. The country has set conditions for this, including a Caribbean Reform Entity (CHE). The Caribbean islands are critical of this.
Expectations were high, but now it appears that as long as the countries have not yet resolved themselves if they will accept these conditions, no decision will be taken in the Kingdom Council of Ministers. The spokesperson said that Knops and Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath are in talks. It therefore does not appear that both ministers will be out within a week.
The Netherlands has responded with surprise to the statements of the Aruban Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes. She announced yesterday that she did not agree with the conditions. Wever-Croes is said to have found a party on the capital market that is interested in lending the island money. Even if Aruba borrows money on the capital market, the country will need to get permission from the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom, as this is enshrined in the Statute.
