MEP seeks answers on ATA contract and waste project

ORANJESTAD - Tourism, Transport and Labor Minister Wendrick Cicilia has postponed until further notice a public parliamentary meeting that was scheduled to discuss the contract between the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) and a private company for the Permanent Waste Zone in Barcadera. According to MEP, the meeting was postponed without an explanation or a new date.

The MEP faction says it is concerned about the lack of transparency surrounding the project, arguing that Parliament was not consulted before the agreement was announced. The party also noted that Infrastructure Minister Ursell Arends Herdé, who is responsible for waste management, was not present during the project's official launch.

MEP also referred to a recent report by the Aruba Court of Audit, which concluded that more than Afl. 100 million in public funds are operating with insufficient parliamentary oversight. The party has submitted 53 parliamentary questions to the two ministers regarding the contract, its financing, oversight and its relationship with existing agreements involving Serlimar.

According to MEP, those questions will remain unanswered until the parliamentary meeting is rescheduled.