PHILIPSBURG--Finance Minister Ardwell Irion said on Wednesday that his ministry has made several improvements in a relatively short period of time, countering statements by the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT that government’s financial management is “severely inadequate.”
CFT was highly critical of the country’s financial management in a letter to Irion on December 1.
“For more than two years no progress has been booked. The CFT again has to conclude that St. Maarten is not succeeding in taking the necessary steps to improve financial management,” it was stated.
Irion characterised the CFT’s assessment as an “inaccurate accusation”.
“We have constantly been making adjustments and working with every fair request made by the Netherlands via the CFT. We have made a plan of approach for the island and financial management issues. … This includes automation, improved checks and balances, process efficiency and improvement,” said Irion.
However, he conceded that this plan can only succeed with additional investment, shifting some responsibility back to the Netherlands.
“Investments have been a regular part in keeping our budgets balanced. By the Netherlands refusing to subscribe to the capital bonds for investments, they are also rejecting the proposed solutions that are planned and the possibility of a balanced budget. …
“With the limited resources at our disposal, we have been making strides to improve our financial management. We are updating our financial management with modern ICT [information and communications technology – Ed.] solutions catered to our specific needs.
“We have implemented a workflow system that is not only competent but transparent, ensuring that the process from procurement to payment of suppliers is secured and includes an audit trail. This is how we are better able to manage timelines and quality.
“We have been fully accountable to the CFT. They have had full disclosure and insight into the income and expenditure. Though legally we are required to provide quarterly reports, we have been providing monthly reports to the supervisory entity,” said Irion.
In its letter, the CFT said there is a vast backlog in annual financial statements. “The CFT has in the meantime received the draft annual reports of 2017, 2018 and 2019, which still need to be audited,” it was stated.
“[The annual reports of] 2017 and 2018 are being audited currently, and will be finalised in early 2021. The annual report 2019 is currently in draft form and will be finalised as soon as audits of 2017 and 2018 are available,” said Irion. “These are some of the reasons I disagree with the statements published this week by the CFT.”
