WILLEMSTAD - The Netherlands must convert the 'corona loans' provided to Curaçao - so far 448 million euros - into a donation. That is what the chairman of the Curaçao Business Association (VBC) Daniel Hodge is arguing for.
“We are together in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We are now in a situation of unprecedentedly high crude oil prices since 1982. Nobody could have foreseen this, not even the Netherlands. Do not give a loan, but actual aid," said the former prime minister.
Hodge calls on the Pisas cabinet to politically convince The Hague that Curaçao should be given the same financial aid as Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. The latter have been special municipalities within the country of the Netherlands since 2010. Curaçao chose, just as Sint Maarten and Aruba had done before, to become an autonomous country and therefore to be responsible for its own financial management.
The Curaçao economy has also been hit hard by the corona pandemic. The Netherlands has assisted with humanitarian aid (in the form of donations) and loans that do not have to be repaid until the end of next year, and on which no interest is charged.