Member of Parliament Endy Croes has raised concerns regarding the expenses of the FFD (Foundation for Sports Development) and the management of sports park maintenance in Aruba. According to the MP, the current situation of the foundation requires an urgent investigation due to how the resources are being administered.
History of the protocol and transfer of employees According to MP Croes, in 2011, the AVP Government signed a protocol with Lotto to transfer all Lotto maintenance employees to the FFD. At that time, CBN (an entity that took over the Lotto contract) demanded that 23.5% of the contract be used to move the employees to the FFD.
Maintenance expenses vs. subsidies MP Croes detailed that:
• In 2012, the Government requested a 4 million florin subsidy for the FFD to cover salaries and projects.
• Currently, the Government provides an average of 3 million florins per year in subsidies to the FFD for the maintenance of 9 sports parks.
• Of this subsidy, 70% goes to employee salaries and 5% to maintenance costs (fixed costs).
• This leaves a remainder of approximately 450,000 florins per year for the maintenance of the 9 parks.
Criticism of expenses MP Croes compared this figure to the travel expenses of the concerned Minister, who spent 500,000 florins on travel alone. He considers this unrealistic and unfair, as the amount available for the maintenance of 9 parks is very low, while travel expenses are very high.
MP Croes urges Parliament to conduct clear and transparent investigations into the FFD reports, and hopes this can happen very soon so that the situation can be studied and debated. He emphasizes that to solve the problem, the Government needs a more concrete and responsible policy and vision.