While FMSA is turning to the spot market to purchase gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel—a method that usually results in higher prices—MEP parliamentarians today filed an official complaint with the Public Prosecutor regarding what they describe as a scandal in Aruba’s fuel supply management.
Parliamentarian Endy Croes expressed serious concern about the current situation, stating that the way FMSA is operating is not in the best interest of the country. According to Croes, without a long-term contract, FMSA is forced to buy fuel on the spot market, meaning Aruba pays daily prices that fluctuate and are normally higher than under a structured contract.
“Every purchase FMSA makes today will have a direct impact on the cost of living of our people,” Croes said, adding that consumers will ultimately pay the price for a system that, according to him, has been mismanaged.
Croes also criticized the lack of transparency from the Ministry of Justice and Economic Affairs, led by Minister Arthur Dowers. According to Croes, for more than a month he has submitted over 31 formal questions, and on December 19 he added five more, without receiving a single response. Over the past month he also repeatedly questioned Parliament about the position of Trafigura, the company that, according to Croes, won the official bidding process but was sidelined when the process was disrupted. Minister Dowers did not answer any of these questions, neither in writing nor verbally in Parliament.
The MEP faction also requested a meeting with the President of Parliament, Marlon Sneek, together with FMSA’s expert commission, the Raad van Advies (RDA), and the relevant ministries, in order to clarify the process. However, Croes stated that the President of Parliament did not facilitate this meeting and, in his assessment, is not exercising his role as an independent head of the legislature.
Because of this lack of cooperation and transparency, the MEP faction compiled an extensive dossier containing all correspondence, documents, and relevant annexes, and today submitted it officially to the Public Prosecutor as a formal complaint. A copy of the dossier will also be delivered to the Governor and to the National Audit Office (VNO) to keep them informed.
The MEP is requesting that the Public Prosecutor initiate an “orienting investigation” to determine whether irregularities were committed in the tendering and fuel supply process.
According to Croes, the situation at FMSA and the Raad van Advies is part of a broader scandal that has not only occurred but continues to develop, and in the end it is the people of Aruba who will bear the economic and institutional cost of this mismanagement.