MP demands contract details, deliverables and an explanation for reduced support to vulnerable residents in the draft 2027 budget
PHILIPSBURG:--- MP Veronica Jansen-Webster challenged the government during Monday evening’s Central Committee debate to explain why consultant spending in the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA) remains high while allocations for community and family support appear to be falling.
Jansen-Webster told Parliament that, in the budget figures she reviewed, a VSA staff bureau allocation for consultants rose from a little over Cg. 1 million in 2025 actual spending to more than Cg. 10 million in the 2026 budget, before falling to approximately Cg. 5.9 million in the draft 2027 budget. She asked whether the projects funded in 2026 have been completed or are expected to be completed in the final three months of the year.
For 2027, she wants a breakdown of each consultancy project, its expected deliverables, and whether any work is connected to projects funded through the country reform program.
The MP contrasted those amounts with what she described as a nearly 50% reduction in the allocation for Community Development, Family and Humanitarian Affairs. She said she had also raised a decrease during the 2026 debate and asked which programs for vulnerable families, seniors and communities would now be reduced or discontinued.
“Where are the projects for the people?” she asked, pointing to what she saw as a pattern of reduced social-support allocations alongside substantial contract spending. She also requested details on new consultants listed in the budget under the description “other,” including when each contract was signed, its term, whether payment depends on deliverables and whether any consultant receives a retainer. She questioned a near doubling in the allocation for a legal adviser.
The figures and comparisons were presented by Jansen-Webster during her intervention. The transcript does not contain the minister’s explanation of what each budget line covers or whether some costs have moved between programs.
A budget already competing with unfinished projects
Jansen-Webster began by thanking the government and Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs for submitting the 2027 draft budget early. She asked every minister to identify projects announced in the governor’s address that may be delayed or may not start during the 2026–2027 parliamentary year. Some announced projects were difficult for her to match to budget allocations, she said, while work approved in the 2026 budget must still be carried out.
She calculated that personnel costs of approximately Cg. 288 million represent about 43% of the Cg. 662 million in total expenditure figures she cited. With additional civil servants still needed, she asked how government intends to staff departments efficiently and manage future personnel costs. Her comparison to a 20% benchmark from a utility company was offered as a concern; it is not an established benchmark for government staffing.
On tax fairness, Jansen-Webster asked what the 2027 budget does to reach people and businesses that may not be meeting their obligations. She questioned whether Finance is working with labor authorities and SZV to detect underreporting of employees and whether any short-term rental operators have come forward following a public notice about declaring taxable rental income.
Airport concession fee and supermarket prices
Jansen-Webster revisited a question from the 2026 debate about the airport’s concession-fee exemption, linking it to repayment of an airport loan. If that loan ends in 2027, she asked whether the airport will begin paying a concession fee to the government, when payments would start, and how much revenue they could generate.
She asked what new work the Department of Statistics will undertake with its increased allocation and whether it can study urgent issues such as youth crime and marijuana use to inform policy. She also proposed bringing back published supermarket price comparisons and asked what authorities are doing about products displayed without prices.
Prison permit, education subsidies and roads
Jansen-Webster asked whether the planned new prison has received its building permit. She also requested the status of the Asikuda project, including what work is expected in the remainder of 2026 and when implementation will begin.
At the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, she identified an apparent subsidy decrease of approximately Cg. 1.9 million and asked which schools, foundations, cultural groups, youth programs or sports projects would be affected, if any.
Her VROMI questions covered an apparent reduction of more than Cg. 800,000 in landfill expenditure, a security allocation she said had fallen to zero, and increased provisions for road and waterway maintenance. She asked whether another funding source explains the landfill reduction and whether security costs have been transferred elsewhere.
Jansen-Webster closed by asking which roads named in earlier budgets will receive work during the final three months of 2026 and which are scheduled for 2027. She said the resurfacing and road markings she sees on the French side have made the condition of roads on the Dutch side more noticeable.
The meeting was adjourned until 11:00 a.m. Tuesday.