Former Governor Jaime Saleh of the Netherlands Antilles will be one of the speakers at a symposium of the BeNeLux University Centre (BUC) on September 22
The theme of the meeting in the council chamber of the municipality of The Hague is “a sustainable society and living culture within the Kingdom.”Other speakers include former prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende and national ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen. Ministers Plenipotentiary Juan Thijsen, Carlson Manuel and René Violenus will take part in a round table discussion.
Saleh, who is affiliated with the BUC as councilor, speaks about “the political relations within the Kingdom and the importance of the Benelux for the Caribbean.” His impressive record (as Judge, president of the court and Governor of the former Netherlands Antilles) took an ugly turn when it became known that as commissioner of Ennia he had received compensation of 2.9 million guilders per year for 2 to 3 meetings.
During that period, owner Ansary withdrew about a billion guilders from the insurance business. This summer it became clear that the fund from which the pension of around 30,000 pensioners on Curaçao and Sint Maarten has to be paid is quickly running out. State Secretary of Kingdom relations Alexandra van Huffelen has offered the governments in Willemstad and Philipsburg – despite a negative opinion from the Financial Supervision board – to ‘borrow’ 600 million euros to close the gap. On Friday, the House of Representatives Committee on Kingdom relations will debate this issue.