THE HAGUE - Curaçao is under the spell of a fuss around high salaries for the top of some government companies. The Dutch Member of Parliament Ronald van Raak demands clarification from Undersecretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relations,
The generous income of, among others, the director of the Social Insurance Bank and telecom company UTS have recently leaked out and are circulating on social media. The amounts sometimes rise to more than half a million dollars per year. Far above the Prime Minister's salary.
The government of Curaçao is not happy with the leakage of the "privacy-sensitive information" and has filed a complaint. The Dutch Member of Parliament Van Raak has little understanding for this:
"It is very common that these types of salaries are public."
The parliamentarian states that great indignation has arisen on the island. The Netherlands intervened heavily last month due to the continuing budget problems in the country.
“Curaçao is almost bankrupt and has to cut back a lot. Residents will notice that very much,” says Van Raak. “It is not good that there are people with such salaries. It was of course a secret for good reason.”
Undersecretary Knops must provide the opposition party with text and explanations about salaries and insistence on a bar norm as in the Netherlands. The government of Curaçao indicates that it is thinking about a ceiling whereby top officials may not earn more than the prime minister.