The Public Entity of Saba was recently informed by the Ministry of Kingdom Relations that it would receive a 1.2 million dollars increase in the Free Remittance for the year 2012. The free remittance is money given to the islands in order for them function efficiently and provide an adequate level of services.
The amount that has been approved for Saba is the lower limit of the amount suggested in the Referentie Kader, a report commissioned by BZK to determine what would be the optimal amount of Free Remittance for each of the islands. Government was surprised that it would receive even this amount especially starting in 2012, because of budget cuts in The Netherlands, it was expected that the increase would be significantly less.
The increase that has been received does allow for the government to grow and improve services. An amendment will be presented to the Island Council within short so that the 1.2million dollars can be utilized for various investments during the current year.
Commissioner of Finance, Bruce Zagers, in a statement said "I hope that in the coming months more information will be forthcoming on a political level as to how the Free Remittance can be raised to meet the higher level as suggested in the Referentie Kader. This would allow government to operate on an optimal level."
The Commissioner also expressed disappointment about not receiving the expected indexation in the Free Remittance for 2012 particularly because this was a discussion during the Executive Consultations in March when there was a total amount for the islands discussed