THE HAGUE - 14.7 million euros, that's how much the Caribbean Agency for Reform and Development (COHO) will cost in 2021. Undersecretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relations reported this in response to the question from the Dutch Lower House’s Committee on Kingdom Relations about the total costs of COHO's organization.
Knops says that a total of 14.7 million is available for the implementation of COHO's activities in 2021. As long as COHO has not yet been formally established, the funds will be provided through the regular budget of the Ministry of Kingdom Relations. For personnel costs of employees who are employed, the resources are allocated to the budget of the Ministry of the Interior. The costs of employees who are hired are allocated to Article 6 of the budget of Kingdom Relations. A total of 3.7 million euros has been allocated for personnel costs. “The other budgets are available for COHO programs, research and the like.
On the fact that the COHO law has still not been presented to parliaments, the undersecretary writes: “A consensus national law proposal has been drawn up for the establishment of the COHO. During the Kingdom Council of Ministers of September 3, the countries agreed to the bill after intensive negotiations and discussions. A memorandum of amendment was subsequently drawn up for the budget supervision component and advice was requested from the Council of State. This advice was received at the end of September, after which discussions were held with the countries about the advice issued. The hope is that this process can be concluded shortly so that the proposal can be sent to the parliaments of the countries concerned.”