Former Finance Minister challenges spending priorities, demands collection of outstanding revenues and offers to help address CFT concerns before Parliament approves the 2027 budget.
PHILIPSBURG:--- National Alliance Member of Parliament Ardwell Irion delivered a sweeping attack on the government’s 2027 draft budget, accusing ministers of increasing travel spending while households struggle with electricity bills, rising living costs, traffic congestion and inadequate public services.
The former Finance Minister warned that his support would depend on an amendment addressing travel expenditure. He also questioned whether the government could secure financing for its capital projects without first resolving concerns raised by the Committee for Financial Supervision, known as the CFT.
“I believe that this government has totally lost the plot,” Irion said.
But alongside his criticism, Irion offered to work with Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs and other officials during the budget proceedings to strengthen the document, adjust projects and address outstanding financial questions before its approval.
Travel spending becomes a condition for support
Irion argued that the government’s spending priorities failed to reflect the financial pressure facing residents.
He contrasted what he described as repeated increases in travel allocations with constrained resources for vulnerable groups and the Justice Ministry. His central objection was that ministers appeared unwilling to accept the same financial discomfort being experienced throughout the community.
“I'm not going to support the budget if there's not some type of amendment when it comes to travel,” he said.
According to Irion, both he and MP Francisco Lacroes had previously pursued amendments to reduce travel spending during the 2026 budget process.
He acknowledged that external developments, including war, contributed to rising living costs. Nevertheless, he maintained that the government remained responsible for deciding how to allocate the money available to it.
Residents, he said, were being pushed into increasingly difficult circumstances while government spending continued without sufficient adjustment.
Civil servants deserve credit; ministers must answer for policy
Irion expressly separated his criticism of the budget’s priorities from the work of the civil servants who prepared it.
He acknowledged improvements in the quality of the budget and credited Minister Gumbs with continuing that trajectory. He also recognized its timely presentation.
However, he rejected the suggestion that criticism of the budget amounted to criticism of public servants.
“The civil servants are not responsible for the vision and the decisions of the leadership of the government,” he said.
Irion thanked personnel working under staffing constraints, including those handling payments and senior officials carrying multiple responsibilities. He argued that ministers could not continually increase administrative demands without ensuring that departments had sufficient personnel.
He also questioned what had happened to earlier initiatives involving corporate governance training, youth entrepreneurship and financial literacy. He asked whether these programs had been discontinued, reduced or simply omitted from the government’s presentations.
GEBE relief requires an actual funding plan
Electricity costs formed a central part of Irion’s intervention.
He said the ministerial presentations did not provide a convincing, coordinated plan to reduce the burden of GEBE bills. To illustrate the pressure on families, he recounted an encounter involving a minimum-wage household where, he said, a child was seeking work to help meet household expenses.
Irion challenged the government to explain whether lowering electricity bills would require a cash injection and, if so, where that money would come from.
He asked whether the 2027 budget contained a specific plan to subsidize fuel costs, rather than merely suggesting that relief might become possible.
He also challenged the Finance Minister’s explanation of a larger projected surplus. In his assessment, part of the improvement reflected an accounting movement between operating and capital expenditure rather than additional cash available for spending.
If a surplus could support fuel relief in 2027, he asked, why could the government not provide assistance under the existing budget?
His broader argument was that an accounting surplus and money available to pay bills were different matters.
Redirect some generator funding into solar, Irion proposes
Irion renewed his opposition to the government financing the full generator investment he described as approximately 72 million guilders.
He proposed retaining part of the available capital for solar projects and having GEBE finance a portion of its own generators, subject to its ability to do so.
His suggested investments included solar installations on government buildings, schools and parking facilities.
Irion argued that the government should pursue projects capable of producing benefits sooner, rather than relying exclusively on a generator program that, in his assessment, would take years and would not automatically reduce customers’ bills.
He also asked Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina for a written explanation of GEBE’s financial capacity to invest in solar energy.
Following reports of GEBE visiting solar companies, Irion wanted to know whether the utility had the liquidity to execute such investments in 2027. He warned against creating expectations without identifying the funding needed to deliver them.
Collect outstanding revenue before imposing additional charges
Irion urged the government to intensify collection of existing revenues before introducing further burdens on residents.
He focused on casino and lottery-related fees, as well as outstanding long-lease payments.
Recalling his tenure as Finance Minister, he said agreements had been reached requiring gambling operators to pay current obligations and address arrears. He maintained that the possibility of losing their licenses had encouraged payment.
He asked Minister Gumbs how much was collected in 2023, how much remained outstanding and whether enforcement had continued.
Irion also alleged that political relationships with some businesses had weakened the coalition’s willingness to pursue outstanding payments. He claimed that campaign support had come with expectations of reduced scrutiny. Those allegations were not substantiated with documentary evidence in the remarks provided.
His policy demand was that businesses with outstanding obligations should be pursued before the government placed additional pressure on households.
Long-lease arrears and the Road Fund
Turning to VROMI Minister Patrice Gumbs Jr., Irion questioned why an earlier long-lease collection initiative had, according to him, been stopped.
He estimated that outstanding payments could amount to approximately 20 million guilders and said some commercial obligations dated back several years. He requested an official accounting from the government.
Irion argued that stronger collection could help finance road improvements and reduce the pressure on the Finance Ministry to identify money elsewhere.
He also questioned whether the Road Fund would be executable if the associated capital financing did not materialize.
The issue, he said, was whether the promised road program had dependable funding behind it.
Irion further asked whether VROMI had coordinated with Justice to identify land for storing confiscated vehicles and scooters. He questioned the use of government long-lease land by entities advertising property for rent and requested accountability over its allocation and use.
On proposed tipping fees at the landfill, he acknowledged that waste services would eventually require payment. However, he argued that introducing another charge was difficult to justify while existing revenue sources remained insufficiently pursued.
CFT concerns must be addressed before approval
Irion warned that Parliament should not approve a budget full of capital projects without resolving questions about their preparation and financing.
Referring to CFT correspondence, he said concerns included the reliability and explanation of budget figures, expenditure substantiation, government liquidity and the readiness of capital projects.
He argued that ministers should provide drawings, construction estimates, realistic schedules and clear execution plans before projects were included for financing.
Irion questioned the wisdom of taking on additional borrowing when projects were delayed. He cited interest expenditure that he said stood at approximately 5.5 million and could increase further in 2027, asking the government to explain the cost of financing projects that were not being executed.
He offered to support amendments removing insufficiently prepared projects or adding the information needed to strengthen their justification.
“What can we do to address the concerns of CFT?” he asked.
Irion warned that unresolved issues could jeopardize financing and potentially lead to a formal instruction. These were his warnings about possible outcomes; his intervention did not establish that the 2027 budget had already been rejected or that an instruction had been issued.
Wescot-Williams challenges political labeling
An interruption came after Irion referred to a CFT board appointment in political terms.
MP Sarah Wescot-Williams said she agreed with several of his substantive points but objected to labeling individuals appointed in a professional capacity.
She urged MPs to respect the professionalism of board members regardless of their political affiliations.
Following the interruption, Irion returned to his concerns about financing and repeated his offer to assist the Finance Minister in addressing them.
He also questioned the proposed purchase of the TeleM building, asking where the acquisition appeared in the capital budget and what would happen if the required financing was unavailable.
He requested clarity on whether the CFT had provided positive advice on financing the revised 2027 capital program.
Healthcare payments and SZV sustainability
Irion asked the Finance and VSA ministers for a year-by-year breakdown of government payments to SZV, including percentage increases from 2022 through the proposed 2027 budget.
He referred to reports of unpaid physiotherapists and other healthcare providers and asked whether government payment delays were contributing to those difficulties.
He also questioned the status of an earlier agreement concerning approximately 95 million guilders in government obligations to SZV. According to Irion, the previous administration had agreed on the amount, but the current government had reopened the process.
He warned about the longer-term sustainability of social health insurance financing and asked VSA Minister Claret Connor for an update on General Health Insurance legislation, any proposed changes and its anticipated parliamentary timetable.
His warning about possible funding problems by 2029 was presented as a concern he attributed to financial reports, rather than a confirmed date on which SZV would cease operating.
Schools, procurement and basic services
Irion questioned ECYS Minister Melissa Gumbs about the proposed Educational Care Center, including staff status, the official staffing structure, funding arrangements and its relationship with the Student Support Services Division.
He also sought answers about a social worker vacancy, the availability of psychologists and the impact of staffing gaps on services.
Supporting concerns previously raised by MP Darryl York, Irion questioned obstacles facing MPs who wanted to assist public schools.
He said reports of parents purchasing toilet paper and schools selling pizza to finance basic necessities showed that essential needs were not being met.
He requested an update on education personnel placement and asked why earlier work had not resulted in implementation.
Separately, he challenged the procurement arrangements for work in Sucker Garden and asked whether the entity involved had begun construction before obtaining a building permit. These were questions and allegations raised during his intervention, not established findings of procurement or permitting violations.
He also requested an update on landfill-related litigation and outstanding payments, as well as the building and civil works permits for the prison project.
An offer to help, coupled with a demand for accountability
Irion closed by questioning why ministers were not making greater use of legislative proposals prepared by MP Sjamira Roseburg.
He argued that the government should examine work already available instead of repeatedly presenting legislative capacity as an obstacle.
Throughout his intervention, he described the administration’s central weaknesses as a lack of unity, decision-making and execution.
His challenge to Minister Gumbs was to hold her colleagues accountable for supplying information, collecting revenue and preparing projects that could actually be delivered.
Despite his criticism, he repeated his willingness to assist.
For Irion, the test of the 2027 budget was whether it could produce practical improvements in electricity costs, roads, schools, healthcare and public safety—and whether ministers were prepared to adjust their own spending to make those improvements possible.
