WILLEMSTAD, ORANJESTAD - Curaçao Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath is optimistic about the agreement that his government is about to close with the Netherlands. But the Aruban Prime Minister. Mrs. Evelyn Wever-Croes indicated that Aruba thought it had a similar agreement a month ago, "until the Netherlands unexpectedly and unilaterally changed the conditions".
Optimism predominates at both coalition partners. The entity that will be installed, the OHO will have less power. In addition, the goal will not only be cutbacks, but also invest in development. According to Wever-Croes, the agreement is very similar to what her negotiating team had achieved a month ago.
Everything changed when the Netherlands altered the conditions on September 4 without consultation and forced us to find another way. The Netherlands decided not to give us funding for July and August. After that I asked them to review their position for a week, but they refused,” said the Aruban prime minister.
She said that the Netherlands changed its mind when Aruba looked for funding elsewhere.
“Then they indicated that they were wrong and asked us to submit an application through CAft. We had already done that on September 5. In the meantime, CAft has agreed with us. We desperately needed that money and the Netherlands should not have refused us. However, we could not wait any longer and borrowed 173 million florins on the local money market. Now we are again waiting for a decision from the Netherlands.”
