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THE HAGUE/PHILIPSBURG--The Committee for Financial Supervision CFT has urged the Parliament of St. Maarten to make haste with the handling of a number of budgetary documents, including the first amendment of the 2014 budget.
In a letter to St. Maarten's Finance Minister Martin Hassink dated August 26, CFT Chairman Age Bakker pointed out that Parliament for a while now has had various budgetary documents in its possession, but that these were "not given priority for reasons unknown to the CFT."
These documents include the first 2014 budget amendment and the annual accounts 2010/2011 and 2012. The fact that these documents have not been handled have a detrimental effect on endeavours of the Ministry of Finance in meeting certain legal deadlines, stated Bakker.
The non-handling of the first 2014 budget amendment can also have adverse financial consequences for the country. Therefore the CFT called on Parliament to handle these documents as soon as possible so they can be approved.
The CFT also advised the St. Maarten Government to have the General Audit Chamber and/or the Government Accountant Bureau SOAB carry out an audit of the annual accounts and management of the Bureau Telecommunication and Post BTP.
BTP has incurred a financial setback of NAf. 2 million. The CFT called the situation at the BTP "worrisome" because the annual accounts have not been audited by an accountant since 2010. Also, the legal mandatory contributions to the government are in arrears.
