On Thursday, October 8th 2009, Commissioner of Finance Bruce Zagers announced news concerning the payment of the retroactive salary for the civil servants of Saba. Zagers said that he received the notification from the CFT (Financial Supervision Committee) and that State Secretary Ms. Ank Bijleveld had signed the agreement releasing the funds for the years 2003 until 2005. Zagers also said that with special permission from the CFT the payment of the portion for 2008 can also be made available to the civil servants shortly.
On Wednesday, October 7th Zagers requested an extraordinary Central Committee meeting to discuss the new developments, with special emphasis to the issue of payment for 2008. The Executive Council will send a letter to the CFT requesting approval of this payment before the actual budget amendment would be made. Zagers told GIS, "Before such a move was made, I needed to first discuss it with my colleagues in the Central Committee".
In 2001 the Executive Council of Saba made a decision to start the process of giving periodic increases to the civil servants. During that time, the Council faced major liquidity problems and were unable to implement said decision. Last year, this old decision was brought to the attention of this Executive Council. Zagers stated that he immediately started the process by obtaining the necessary legal advice and the actual calculations, which proved by be complex and time consuming.
In November last year it was decided that the disbursement of the retroactive payments would be made in early December. Payroll was made and the budget amendments were prepared. The budget amendment was sent to the CFT for approval but based on advice from BZK these payments were to be included into the debt relief for the Netherlands Antilles. Consequently, the amendment was not approved meaning the payment was put on hold. Being that the payroll had already been calculated this meant that the gross amounts appeared on the civil servant payslips. Because of this setback much undue stress and unrest came over the civil servant apparatus.
"During the past nine months a lot of work has been dedicated to resolving this issue. There were numerous procedures that needed to be addressed and put in order to get as far as we are today", stated Zagers.
An independent accountant, Ernst and Young, was hired to verify the calculations and also evaluate the legality of the process. During their verifications an oversight made during the initial calculation was discovered. Originally the gross amount for the retroactive salaries was over Naf 700,000. Once these calculations were revised the new gross amount was over 1.2 million guilders. This means that most civil servants will receive a higher payment than what was originally expected.
Payment for the years 2006-2007 are still pending, but should become available before the end of the year. Approval for the payment has already been made but the disbursement of the funds is awaiting budget amendments in Holland. The total gross amount which will remain outstanding is Naf. 570,000.
"I fully understand the frustration that the civil servant apparatus with the delay in these payments. However, the proper procedures needed to be followed before approval could be given to the Executive Council. I’d like to remind the community that we are under financial supervision and because of this, things do not exactly go as quickly as we’ve grown accustom to. The delivery of this payment is not affiliated with any type of political strategy as rumours have suggested in regards to the upcoming Central Election", stated Commissioner Zagers.
On Wednesday Zagers received a positive update from the CFT and immediately requested the Central Committee meeting to discuss the new development. On Thursday, Zagers got a "green light" from the CFT and immediately communicated this decision to the Finance Department so that they can start preparing new payroll calculations.
"I fully acknowledge that there are many instigators trying to turn the civil servant apparatus against this Administration because this payment was delayed. However, the fact remains that this has been a major priority for the Executive Council since last year when the 2001 Decision was brought to our attention. The rights of civil servants have always been a priority for this Administration."
In the previous two years, all outstanding cost of living adjustments were paid including the recent ones. Vacation allowance is now being paid on-time and most importantly a decision made in 2001 was resurrected and put on a high-priority to be solved. Although the back payment was delayed, all civil servants were placed in their correct scales as of January 1st 2009 and without any kind of job-performance evaluations.
"The persons whom have tried tirelessly to instil a lack of faith in this administration amongst the civil servants have failed to understand the process and what the Executive Council has been able to accomplish for the civil servants for the past two years", stated Zagers
In closing, Zagers went on to say that civil servants can expect payment to be made before the end of October. The total gross amount which will be paid for the years 2003-2005 & 2008 is NAF. 706,140. The remainder for 2006 and 2007 will hopefully be forthcoming before the end of the year. Commissioner Zagers stated, "On behalf of the Executive Council, we would like to graciously thank all parties involved, namely, the Finance Department, Personnel Department, CFT, Ernst & Young, and the Dutch Government."