As the minister responsible for the Landspakket, she should know this matter better than anyone.
According to Parliamentarian Xiomara Maduro, Aruba unfortunately has a minister who speaks hastily without verifying whether what she says is accurate. During the public meeting on the HOFA Kingdom Act, Minister Gerlien flourished the General Audit Chamber’s June 2024 report “Op afstand, maar toch dichtbij”, which addresses the financial condition of Aruba’s state-owned companies. She claimed that none of the ministers in the Wever-Croes Cabinet had paid attention to the report, except her colleague Geoffrey Wever.
Since 2022, this issue has received attention
What Minister Gerlien apparently does not know is that, as part of the Landspakket in 2022, former Minister of Finance Maduro commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct an assessment of the financial situation of six state-owned companies. She also had CARTAC, the IMF’s technical partner in the Caribbean, investigate the potential fiscal risks these companies pose to the national budget. That report was completed at the end of 2023.
When the Audit Chamber published its report in 2024, former Minister Maduro informed them that she shared the same concerns — which is precisely why focused attention has been given to this matter since 2022.
The work being carried out now stems from those same efforts
This same trajectory produced the policy on state-owned enterprises and dividends that Minister Gerlien herself agreed to in the Council of Ministers, and which Minister Geoffrey Wever is now proudly presenting in the media.
Choosing to attack instead of seeking accurate information
Information about the work carried out during the Wever-Croes Cabinet on this topic has been publicly available across Aruban media. Yet Minister Gerlien chose to attack political opponents without checking the facts.
And ironically, she is the very minister responsible for the Landspakket.
What a sad performance.
Press release: MEP