Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ministers in The Hague are always quick to jump on any indication of possible corruption and other irregularities in the islands, as was the case again after this week’s searches at the house of Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS) President-Director Emsley Tromp and the trust company where he is said to be a client (see related stories). There is in itself nothing amiss with doing so, as it involves one kingdom where basic rights, including the administration of justice, are to be safeguarded at that level.
However, some might wonder whether these politicians show as much fervour when it comes to presumed transgressions closer to home in the Netherlands. Maybe they do, but don’t get the same publicity because it’s not considered as “juicy” as when it regards the tropical Caribbean countries seen as exotic but often depicted as pirates’ nests in a grossly exaggerated and generalising manner.
A check of the Dutch news in this newspaper over the past month alone produced the following headlines: “Care home director suspected of fraud” (July 5), “Drugs, phones, child porn at psychiatric criminal centres” (July 8), “Former police chief being investigated” (July 13), “Financial irregularities at Eindhoven Airbase” (July 14), “Officer tipped off thieves about marijuana plantations” (July 15), “ING linked to fraud” (July 22), “Former PVV politician disciplined by police” (July 23), “Cop earned 118,000 euros selling police information to criminals” (July 27) and “Police arrested and suspended over ‘leak’ in murder inquiry” (August 8).
To be sure, two wrongs don’t make a right, so the intention here is certainly not to trivialise recent suspected local integrity violations. Still, the elected representatives and public administrators in The Hague could perhaps dedicate a bit more time and attention to similar issues that directly concern their own constituents.
