Kralendijk:--- During its visit to Bonaire on June 19th, the Board of financial supervision Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (Cft) expressed its concerns to the Executive Council and the Island Council. The Cft notes that on too many levels Bonaire does not comply with the standards of the Public Finance Act Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (Wet FinBES). "More management power is needed to achieve visible results", Cft chairman Raymond Gradus states.
During its visit the Board met with the Lieutenant Governor, the Executive Council and the Island Council. A working visit was made to the Water and Energy Company Bonaire (WEB), during which the new tariff structure and the need to invest in the electricity production were discussed.
The Board spoke extensively with the Executive Council on the management power that is necessary to make improvements in the area of the budget and accountability cycle, and financial management. The Cft notices that the progress in the necessary improvement of the financial management is too limited, despite a number of plans that were made. Various plans with recommendations have been completed in 2017, but these still need to be implemented. The Cft has advised to strengthen the government organization. For quite some time now, the Board has been requesting attention for the need to fill in the various key functions within the organization and it has spoken intensely about this issue with the Executive Council.
During the visit of the Cft, the accountability for the years 2017 and 2018 was also discussed. The Board has expressed its disappointment that the quarterly reports have not been submitted in time. Also the concern has been expressed that, as was the case in the previous year, the Island Council will not adopt the financial statements in time, which is no later than July 15th. The Cft has called on Bonaire to exert its maximum effort in order to draw up the financial statements 2017 as soon as possible and to subsequently adopt these.
The developments at a number of government companies are cause for concern. The Board has requested attention for this topic, in order to prevent these developments from having a negative impact on Bonaire's budget. The commitment of the Executive Council to have operational audits carried out on the government companies has been delayed. The timely submission of the financial statements of the government entities and the application of the code of good governance are also essential in order to keep track of the full staffing of among others the supervisory boards, and to be able to prepare an adequate risk assessment.
Last Cft visit of Board member Sybilla Dekker
As of July 1st, the second term of Sybilla Dekker as member of Cft BES upon proposition of the Netherlands, will come to an end. She has always been very involved in the government and economic developments of Bonaire. "I look back on a special collaboration with the Executive Council and the Island Council of Bonaire", Sybilla Dekker states. As of July 1st, 2018 the Cft BES will consist of chairman Raymond Gradus, the member upon proposition of the BES Herbert Domacassé and the member upon proposition of the Netherlands Henk Kamp.
