During the month of June, the Parliament of Aruba debated the Investment Fund law; an initiative by Minister Geoffrey Wever, which will allocate an initial sum of 43 million florins of public money for various investments.
MP Croes pointed out that, prior to the debate, Parliament received the report “Buiten beeld, buiten controle” (Out of sight, out of control) on May 7, 2026, from the General Audit Chamber of Aruba (ARA), alerting about the risks of these funds. He emphasized that the ARA gave a special presentation in Parliament to insist on the need to demand structural changes and adjustments before approval. The sole objective of this is to guarantee the necessary democratic and financial control to avoid repeating past mistakes.
Lessons from the past: FDN, Bo Aruba and the importance of financial control The ARA’s warning is based on painful past experiences, where public funds were diverted from their original goal:
Fondo di Desaroyo Nobo (FDN – 1999): Founded under the AVP government with the goal of focusing on the development and revitalization of San Nicolas. However, this fund resulted in a major criminal case of fraud and corruption, where politicians, friendly contractors, and civil servants were criminally convicted for the diversion of public funds. Among the main sentences, former Finance Minister Tico Croes received a penalty of 10 months in prison and 240 hours of community service.
Bo Aruba Report (2018): An investigation by the ARA into AVP projects between 2010-2017, which cost the country an astronomical sum of 1,600 million florins. The report revealed serious deficiencies and many projects that simply were never completed. This same lack of control is what eventually led to former Minister Benny Sevinger being convicted and imprisoned in KIA.
These examples show why the ARA’s alerts must be taken seriously to avoid repeating past errors.
Recommendations for transparency and control To prevent a fund from remaining “out of sight” and “out of control,” the ARA provided primary recommendations aimed at transparency, legal compliance, and administrative control:
Establish a coherent management framework: Develop clear criteria to institute, organize, supervise, and evaluate these funds. This framework must be formally approved and discussed with Parliament.
Strengthen management and definition of responsibility: It must be explicitly determined who is responsible for the management, execution, supervision, and accountability of each fund.
Guarantee legal compliance: Ensure that the fund strictly conforms to the country’s accounting laws.
The MEP faction could not support the law without the changes Since neither the Government nor Minister Geoffrey Wever incorporated these critical recommendations into the final concept of the Investment Fund Law, the MEP faction could not cast its vote of support for the law as it stood.
“Unfortunately, AVP and Futuro parliamentarians ‘bulldozed’ and approved this law without considering the necessary changes to guarantee control. Any day they decide to introduce these reforms so that there can be better control over the people’s money, they can count on our support,” concluded MP Endy Croes.
