THE HAGUE - The rising costs of and shortages in healthcare in Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten are eating up budgets for education and social security, among other things. Today, State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Van Huffelen warns the Dutch Parliament in a letter in which she explains the decision-making in the latest Council of Ministers of the Kingdom (RMR). The minister does not leave room for misunderstandings. The countries are “ordered” to put their affairs in order quickly.
The government of Sint Maarten also knows where the new State Secretary stands. Before 1 May, the Jacobs cabinet must have amended the national ordinance to tackle exorbitant salaries in the public sector. The current version is not in line with an earlier decision of the RMR and therefore appears to be not very effective in practice.
Tomorrow there will be a debate by the Parliamentary Committee for Kingdom Relations with Van Huffelen, who is still in quarantine because of a positive test.