CURACAO'S DEBT SURPASSES $1.4 BILLION USD DOLLARS.
CURACAO CATCHING FIRE?
CURACAO CATCHING FIRE?
Read Time: 3 Mins.
By JJosephaNews
By JJosephaNews
Twitter/@JJosephaNews
Willemstad, Curacao. According to Curacao's Minister of Finance; Kenneth Gijsbertha (political party MAN), Curacao has a debt of 2.4 billion guilders (equivalent to USD $1,400,904,960 Dollars, at an exchange of: 1:0.58 - Guilders (ANG.):US Dollars (USD).
Kenneth Gijsbertha announced Curacao's debt to be the equivalence of $1.4 Billion US Dollars during parliamentary 2020 Budget discussion.
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| Exchange Rate of 1 ANG. to US Dollars |
Kenneth Gijsbertha said; "the debt was "more than forty percent (40%) of what we all earn each year."
According to sources; apparently, most of the debt is due to (A) Healthcare and (B) Education, together amounting to forty-one percent (41%). (C) The Department of Justice and Security consumes around 14 percent (14%) of the budget.
According to the Director of SVB; Mr. Phillip Martis, SVB spends on average about thirty-six thousand guilders (36K ANG.) per patient; that is being sent to other countries for medical treatment.
He commented; "I'm convinced that with the new hospital; Curacao Medical Center (CMC), that the expenditures would drastically decrease, so much so; up to fifty percent (50%)".
The highest frequent countries; where SVB patients goes to are:
- 1) Costa Rica
- 2) Colombia
- 3) The Netherlands
According to sources this results in an annual expense of over twenty-one million US Dollars ($21M USD) accommodating about 1 out of every 159 person in the population as a patient is able to be sent internationally for medical treatment.
FAIRNESS IN HEALTHCARE TREATMENT
However; the issue now becomes whom decides who are able to be seen by international specialists outside of Curacao?
Yes SVB makes the deciding decision according to their guidelines and regulations, but in the face of corruption do the rules really apply to everyone and who gets preferential treatment?
One type of patient care that needs to go to another country are pregnant mothers that require intensive care for them and the premature baby.
This apparently won't be necessary because CMC can now offer patient care to both mothers and their premature babies.
According to Curacao's Minister of Finance; Kenneth Gijsbertha, when dealing with the CMC construction (which cost about $362 Million US Dollars), the expenses for the hospital rooms would make the tariff to stay in them more expensive. In the same breath to keep the tariffs the same; as in the old hospital; Sint-Elisabeth Hospital (SEHOS), he must come up with adjustments together with his colleague, the Curacao Minister of Health; Suzy Camelia-Romer (political party PIN).
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