The fifty-million-euro cut from the bud­get for sustainable development in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom is final.

Last week, there was a lack of support in the Dutch Sec­ond Chamber of Parliament for a motion by Democrats66 and GroenLinks-PvdA to still use the money for projects in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. There will also be no investigation into the consequences of cuts in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, it was decided during the parlia­mentary debate on the budget for Kingdom Relations. The previous Dutch government reserved 130 million euros for sustainable development, climate and food pro­duction projects in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. However, the current cabinet decided to invest only 80 million euros: 24 million euros in food production, 16 mil­lion for roads on Bonaire and 40 million for the port on Saba.

Member of Parliament (MP) Mpanzu Bamenga (D66) suggested that the 50 million should still be used for proj­ects in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Together with MP Raoul White (Groenlinks-PvdA), he submitted a mo­tion, but it did not receive sufficient support from other MPs. Earlier, State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Zsolt Szabó had also given a negative opinion on the motion. This is because the government has to make cuts and therefore choices, he said during the debate.

White also tabled a motion for an investigation into the impact of all cuts on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. Because cuts are spread across different ministries, it is unclear what this means concretely for the three islands. This motion also did not receive support from Szabó and parliament. All ministries deal with the cuts themselves and account for them in their respective annual reports, the state secretary explained.

The Daily Herald.