Another dull weekend in St. Maarten. Not!

By Hilbert Haar

The General Audit Chamber investigates the lawful and efficient spending of public funds, or so I read in the chamber’s report about St. Maarten’s 2021 financial statements.

Related article: Government’s financial statements remain unreliable, Audit Chamber says

After reading the report I can only conclude that how the government is spending public funds is not lawful and not efficient either. Sadly, this is not even news, because the government’s lousy bookkeeping and spendthrift has been around since St. Maarten became a country on October 10, 2010 - and probably even longer.

Let us take subsidies as an example. Of the 133 million guilders ($74.3 million) our government spent on subsidies in 2021, there is no proper accountability for 30 million ($16.8 million). The Audit Chamber labels this as an uncertainty, an overly polite way of saying: “We have no clue what the hell you did with that money.”

Nevera dull day in St. Maarten. Or weekend. Everyone woke up this morning to the news that District 721 was on fire. My whatsapp inbox was alit with photos and videos - even drone footage - of the blazing fire. My heart immediately went out to the people living in the apartments next door. Other messages were also filling up my inbox. Some with some interesting claims. Some claims were based on how extreme the fire blazed, indicating hints of possible arson. However, one set of claims that the fire truck arrived an hour late and there was no water to put out the fire, caught my attention. Why can’t we get anything right here on St. Maarten? Questions for the fire chief and for the minister of General Affairs.

One reader reminded us of a previous fire in November 2021: Jungle Cafe next to Lotus in Cole Bay. Are there dots to be connected? I don’t know. But it begs the question, when principals open businesses on the side of Dutch Sint Maarten and request the necessary permits and business licenses, if background checks are executed? Why do only employees have to submit clean police records with certificates of good behavior when applying for jobs? Why doesn’t this requirement apply to (prospective) employers? What about foreigners wanting to start a business? What background checks are done? By whom? Police? Interpol? The secret service? How it is possible that anyone can just come to the island, get business licenses and via these companies have easy and full access to the island’s economic, business and banking infrastructure? Imagine if you as an employee end up working for an employer that has a criminal background, it could reflect on you as well. Worst case scenario you get dragged into all kinds of shady dealings happening in and around the business. Best case scenario, you lose your job when your employer gets arrested. Or if the business gets burned down.

On social media some people drew attention the fact that many people will be out of jobs due to this fire. This reminded me from personal experience that running a business isn’t only about making money, delivering a product or service, or having employees work for the company. Running a business is also about taking out proper and adequate insurances for fire, flooding and other possible damages. Think hurricane, earthquake or some other natural disaster. One type of insurance that would be necessary for the sake of the staff and employees is business continuity or business interruption insurances. The premiums may be restrictive, but how many of us employers think about that aspect of running a business?

Talking about the island’s infrastructure. We suffered a long internet outage last night. Flow reported problems with the international submarine cable. During the day, N.V. GEBE experienced an outage. Now tonight we find out why. And then we all go: GEBE again! Why can’t we do anything right in this country? And the weekend isn’t even over yet. So, what else can still go wrong? Oh yeah, the hijacking of a political party. But that is another story.

Maybe that money was spent well. Or maybe it disappeared in pockets where it does not belong. We simply do not know. As if this is not bad enough, the Audit Chamber also found that there is a lack of internal control procedures across all ministries.

Mind you, the government has had more than ten years time to put its bookkeeping and its spending habits in order. To make sure that it spends public funds lawfully and efficiently. But it did nothing like that. It did nothing at all, so the conclusion must be that the country’s financial statements are unreliable by design. It is something that suits politicians very well.

If you read the Audit Chamber-report careful enough you will discover why this is so convenient. Ministers, or ministries, are spending money that is not part of their budget. It’s a bit like stealing from your mother’s cookie jar, but then on a grand scale. How is that even possible?

The answer to that crucial question is in the hands of our esteemed parliament. Unfortunately, parliamentarians who support the government will never, ever make trouble about this issue, because tomorrow they could be the ones doing the unlawful spending.

This is how taxpayers are held hostage by a political elite that could not care less about the way the government spends its money. Oh, sure, there will be a minority of wellmeaning politicians who will ask critical questions, but as long as the coalition has a majority the government will be able to continue with its spending spree.

In the meantime, poverty on our island presents a serious problem to many families who can do nothing but shake their heads about a government that has no clue about what happened to a small fortune in subsidies. That is only one (and relatively small) example, because the total of these socalled uncertainties is according to the Audit Chamber a whopping 126.9 million guilders ($70.9 million), enough to feed a small army.

Who is going to put a stop to all this? Who is going to take all ministers to task for their irresponsible financial behavior?

I know, asking such questions is a lot easier than answering them. But from a country that is in such financial dire straits, I would have expected at least an attempt at responsible spending and at given the people a proper account of what it does with their money.