Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister Stuart Johnson looks on as Head of the Economic Inspection Department in Curaçao Ronny Cornelius explains some of his department’s activities.
PHILIPSBURG–Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister Stuart Johnson returned last week from a fact-finding mission at the Economic Inspection Department in Curaçao. Johnson said “Curaçao’s Economic Inspection Department is structured similarly to the department in St. Maarten and does not have a department solely dedicated to calibration.”
Johnson said on Monday that while Curaçao is a larger island, it has less departmental staff than St. Maarten, and both islands utilise their teams to perform multiple functions. This information was provided during a meeting with Head of the Economic Inspection Department in Curaçao Ronny Cornelius, who also outlined that there is no dedicated Calibration Department within Curaçao’s Ministry.
Head of the TEATT’s Inspectorate Lucien Wilson accompanied Johnson on the working visit. Wilson said he “fully agrees with Curaçao’s modus operandi, as it is a much more efficient way of operating a department rather than specialisation, considering the scale of both of our operations and the size of our islands.” He said Curaçao is divided into geographic zones, as is the case in St. Maarten.
The visit was necessary to learn some of the best practices that Curaçao uses pertaining to calibration, according to Johnson. He said, for example, that the Economic Inspection Department in Curaçao follows a similar work plan to that of the Economic Inspection Department in St. Maarten, whereby its staff is multifunctional.
The Economic Inspection Department has six permanent employees in St. Maarten, while in Curaçao there are only five.
As is the case in St. Maarten, the staff in Curaçao is tasked with calibration, but is also responsible for controlling business permits and price control. The staff also works based on an established annual work programme prepared by the department, as is the case in St. Maarten.
During the visit, the two Department Heads were also able to discuss some of the challenges faced with calibration and shared some ideas on a way forward.
“Price control and calibration is essential to protecting the legitimacy of economic activity in St. Maarten. It is especially critical for us to continue to routinely control and upgrade our skills as a department and Ministry so that we can better secure our community from unfair practices or unreasonably escalated prices,” said Johnson.
He added that the two ministries have agreed to make their visits more frequent and to build a closer working relationship to create more efficient Economic Inspection Departments.
“Our goal is not just to police businesses, but to provide proper guidance and the services of calibration to ensure that even businesses themselves are not unknowingly giving more for less. Calibration protects both businesses and consumers, and we intend to ensure that the controls remain as effectively enforced as has been done by my Ministry,” said Johnson.
Johnson said he intends to invite Members of Parliament (MPs) from both sides of the aisle to take a tour of businesses on the island with the staff of the Economic Inspection Department. During the tour, which will be conducted on Wednesday, MPs will have a first-hand look at the work involved in ensuring businesses are operating within the parameters of the law and that all machines used to dispense goods and services are accurately calibrated.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/89177-curacao-s-economic-inspection-department-like-st-maarten-s
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