From left: Dutch State Secretary Raymond Knops, Aruba Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at Rutte’s office in The Hague on Monday.
THE HAGUE–Aruba Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes is in the Netherlands for talks with the Dutch government about the Venezuela crisis. She will meet with the First and Second Chambers of the Dutch Parliament today, Tuesday, to discuss the progress Aruba is making in the area of integrity.
The Aruba government is working on establishing the different pillars to improve integrity of government. Wever-Croes will elaborate on the different steps that have been taken and which are in the planning, it was stated in a press release of the Aruba government over the weekend.
Currently, the foundation is being laid for the Integrity Bureau, the Integrity Chamber, the Corporate Governance Code, the Office of the Ombudsman, the law that regulates the financing of political parties, the integrity screening law for ministers and members of parliament and the arrangement where people can report alleged corruptive practices.
The Integrity Bureau will be opening its doors mid-2019. This bureau aims to make the public and private sectors aware of the importance of integrity through training sessions and lectures, while at the same time serving as a reporting centre for integrity violations. The independent position of the Integrity Bureau will be secured in a law. The process to recruit a director and staff has started.
The process to start up the Integrity Chamber will commence in the second half of 2019, and this entity should be operational by 2020. The Integrity Chamber will be in charge of checking the Aruba government’s major decisions, especially where it concerns the tendering of projects.
The Aruba Integrity Chamber will consist of a committee with members from both the public and private sectors. The committee will receive administrative support from a government department. The Aruba Integrity Chamber will work together and share expertise with the Integrity Chambers of Curaçao and St. Maarten.
The Corporate Governance Code is a body that will be charged with supervision of the government-owned companies. It provides solicited and unsolicited advice to the Aruba government about the recruiting, nominations and retiring of members of the supervisory board. The task of the Corporate Governance Code will be anchored in a law. The organisation will be stablished in 2020.
The Office of the Ombudsman, called the Defender of People in Aruba, will open its doors early 2020. Aruba is the only country within the Kingdom that does not have an Ombudsman. The Ombudsman handles complaints of citizens against the government. Recruitment of an ombudsman and staff will take place in the coming months.
The law to regulate the financing of political parties is in the making and should be approved by the Aruba Parliament in the second half of 2019. The screening law for members of parliament and the ministers will also be handled in the second half of this year.
The reporting regulation which guarantees that government workers can report alleged acts of corruption without fear of retribution, being laid off or prosecuted, should be ready when the Integrity Bureau initiates its work later this year.
“We are not there yet, but we are on the right track. Between this year and next year, the majority of these projects should be realised. This government is adamant to establish integrity, transparency and good governance. I will explain this to the Dutch Parliament so they can see that this government is serious about integrity,” stated Wever-Croes prior to her departure for the Netherlands.
Shortly after her arrival in the Netherlands on Monday, Wever-Croes visited Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops was also present at this encounter between the two prime ministers. The meeting focused on the crisis in Venezuela, the financial, economic and social impact on Aruba, the (illegal) immigration and the closing of the border between the island and the South American country.
“I described the situation in which we find ourselves and the challenges that we are confronting. I told them that the international community needs to step up to the plate, because it is not fair that the islands have to deal with this situation on their own,” stated Wever-Croes. “For me it is important that the Dutch government understands that we are dealing with the effects of a crisis that we did not cause, but which has serious consequences for Aruba. It was a good meeting.”
The meetings in The Hague are a follow-up to the talks that Wever-Croes and her Curaçao colleague Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath had in Washington DC last week.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/87852-wever-croes-visit-to-the-hague-to-focus-on-integrity-venezuela
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