PHILIPSBURG/THE HAGUE – “It is difficult to explain why parliamentarians and ministers n St. Maarten – the smallest country in the Kingdom – receive the highest salaries,” State Secretary Raymond Knops wrote on Tuesday in answers to questions posed by MP Ronald van Raak (Socialist Party).
The State Secretary noted that these salaries fall under the authority of Country St. Maarten and that it is up to St. Maarten to come up with an explanation.
Knops furthermore wrote that he “understands very well the call by the St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association” to lower these salaries by 30 percent. “It is first and foremost up to the Parliament and the government of St. Maarten to react to the call by the SHTA. In my own political contacts I will pay attention to this, regardless of the fact that this is a matter for the country to address.”
Van Raak also asked Knops how often parliamentarians in St. Maarten attend meetings and how this holds up against the attendance in the Second Chamber. Knops referred Van Raak for the data about St. Maarten to the annual reports on the website of the Parliament and for data about the Second Chamber to the Presidium of the Dutch Parliament.
Based on the national ordinance remuneration politicians (landsverordening vergoeding politieke gezagsdragers) the prime minister, received a salary that is 15 percent above the top of the highest scale for civil servants; for the other ministers, the president of parliament and the minister plenipotentiary this is 10 percent and for members of parliament 5 percent.
The last published salary scale for civil servants dates back to 2012. At that time, a top civil servant in the highest echelon of scale 17 earned 18,517 guilders per month. That puts the income for the prime minister at 21,285 guilders, for other ministers, the president of parliament and the minster plenipotentiary at 20,369 guilders and for parliamentarians at 19,442 guilders.
In dollars this is respectively $11,891, $11,379 and $10,861.
Based on the press release the SHTA sent out earlier this month, these numbers are still more or less correct.
In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte receives $16,253 per month, but that includes a vacation allowance and a gratification at the end of the year. State Secretary Raymond Knops makes $15,171 per month and Members of Parliament like Ronald van Raak get $11,263.
The Netherlands has currently 17.02 million inhabitants; St. Maarten – at best, 40,000.
Therefore, the cost of the Dutch prime minister per capita per month is $0.0000954935; Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo is costing the St. Maarten tax payers $0.297275 per month; that is 3,113 times more expensive than Rutte.
Dutch parliamentarians cost based on the same data $0.0000661571 per month, while MPs in Philipsburg cost $0.271525 per month. The difference is even larger than between the prime ministers. Parliamentarians in St. Maarten are 4,103 times more expensive per capita than Dutch parliamentarians.
