While the country is going through a tense financial situation and the public remains constantly concerned about government spending, the Minister of Education, Sport, Youth, and Innovation, Gerlien Croes, decided to open the purse strings for a close political friend. In a ministerial decree dated July 21, 2026, the government formalized a golden contract for psychologist and former MP Misha Raymond—who remains an active politician—an act that screams waste of public funds.
An astronomical salary at the public’s expense
The contract, awarded directly without any form of private tender (onderhandse aanbesteding) to POPA Psychologie- en Onderwijspraktijk Aruba—represented by its director and political friend Misha Raymond—costs the people of Aruba the scandalous sum of Afl. 13,423 per month (including BBO, B-AZV, and B-AVP). As if that were not enough, any extra hours worked will be compensated at an exorbitant rate of Afl. 155 per hour.
Who pays for all this money? The taxpayers themselves, who continue paying high taxes while the minister’s political friends line their pockets in government offices under the pretext of “strategic support.”
The political hypocrisy of Minister Gerlien Croes
It is mind-boggling to see that the very same Minister Gerlien Croes who heavily criticized any form of wasteful spending in the past, speaking proudly about integrity and government expenditure, is now doing the exact same thing—or worse. Now that she holds power, she bypasses procurement laws (using Article 16 of the Procurement Ordinance / Aanbestedingsverordening) to hand out a tailor-made job behind closed doors without giving any other professional a chance. How is it possible for an official to exploit “mutual trust” to award a multi-thousand-florin monthly contract to a former political colleague like Misha Raymond while ordinary citizens outside struggle to survive?
Does she truly care about Aruba?
The question the entire community must ask itself today is: Does Minister Gerlien Croes truly have the country of Aruba at heart?
When you see tax dollars handed over to political friends for work that could often be handled by existing civil servants, the answer is crystal clear. This is not government of the people and for the people; this is political cronyism at its peak. The public deserves clarification and a direct answer from the minister: why did such a luxury role have to be created for the former RAIZ parliamentary faction leader while government spending is supposed to be under control?
