KRALENDIJK – A so-called indemnity decision was necessary on Tuesday evening in the Island Council to save the approved auditor’s statement for the Public Entity of Bonaire (OLB), issued by Astrium Government Accountants.

An indemnity decision, also known as an indemnification decision, is a legal decision to protect a person or entity from liability or compensation. It can be taken by an organization, such as an Executive Council, to shield itself or its members from potential legal consequences of certain actions or decisions.

The declaration was necessary after Astrium concluded that there were several instances of budget irregularities. Of particular concern was that the Executive Council spent nearly 7 million more than budgeted on a severance plan for older employees of the Public Entity of Bonaire (OLB).

Party lines

The parties once again aligned along party lines when it came to approving or rejecting the indemnity declaration requested by the Executive Council. All three members of the Partido Demokrátiko (PDB) voted against the indemnity declaration. The opposition party members expressed their concerns about normalizing deficiencies in the budgeting and spending process through indemnification for the Executive Council.

The council members from the governing parties MPB and UPB saw no issue with granting indemnity to the Executive Council and voted in favor.

Financial statements

After the heated verbal exchanges from the opposition regarding the imperfections in the process and the requested indemnity for the Executive Council, the approval of the financial statements became a mere formality.

Once again, the members of the governing coalition voted in favor, while the three members of the PDB voted against approving the financial statements as presented.