PPA faction leader Eduard Pieters questions how the Government is handling the deterioration of school infrastructure in Aruba. According to Pieters, the situation facing some schools today did not appear suddenly, but is the consequence of years of backlog, lack of control, and, most importantly, a lack of structural planning.
Urgent major renovation
Pieters acknowledges that various schools have an urgent need for renovation and major maintenance. However, when school boards and the Government let the problem accumulate for many years, it eventually reaches a point where repair becomes larger, more costly, and harder to execute. “If you plan your things well, you don’t have to wait until a school is in poor condition to start looking for solutions.”
Preparation and professional knowledge
One of the points Pieters questions is the preparation of projects and the calculations used by the Government before going into a public tender. According to Pieters, if the Government wants to renovate a school, it must first look for professionals who know infrastructure and construction, determine exactly what needs to be done, and prepare a realistic cost calculation. This prevents the Government from putting a sum in the budget that later does not match market reality.
Pieters refers to what the Minister of Education mentioned as a problem: the situation where a bidding process (aanbesteding) can end with offers that are considerably higher than the sum calculated by the Government. Result: the project cannot continue as planned and the school that needs renovation keeps waiting.
For Pieters, this is not just a financial problem, but a problem of governance and vision.
“Investigate first, budget later”
Pieters proposes a different way of working: the Government must make a complete inventory of the condition of the schools, determine priorities, and then connect the needs to a multi-year financial plan. “You must know what the realities are in the schools.”
According to the faction leader, it makes no sense for the Government to react every year to the most urgent problem without addressing the structural cause. A school does not fall into ruin in a day. Deterioro is a process that can be identified and anticipated if there is inspection, preventive maintenance, and structural planning. But Pieters goes a step further.
Review of regular expenses
According to Pieters, Aruba must also review the way the Government finances schools for their regular expenses. The amount granted must reflect current reality: inflation, cost of living, maintenance, and the actual expenses schools face. Pieters pointed out that it is necessary to conduct serious research to determine whether current amounts are truly sufficient.
Do not simply assume that “the money is enough.” The question must be: what is the money enough for, and what is it not enough for?
A fund for major maintenance
One of the concrete solutions Pieters puts on the table is the creation of a dedicated fund for “major maintenance” (groot onderhoud) of school infrastructure under an Aruba Property Fund that would take care of, among other things, managing, renovating, and maintaining Government buildings and eventually schools whose expenses are covered by the Government.
The main goal is for schools not to reach an emergency situation every time before the Government releases funds to fix roofs, electrical systems, bathrooms, structures, or other essential parts of the building. For Pieters, the discussion cannot end with the question of how many millions the Government is willing to spend. The most important political question is whether Aruba will finally change from a system of reaction to one of planning.
Because every time the Government miscalculates, delays a tender, or fails to reserve funds on time, it is not just a project that falls behind. It is the teachers and students who pay the price for the lack of planning and vision.