Finance Minister Gumbs Submits it to Parliament: Council of Ministers has approved the amendment to the 2024 budget, and it has already been sent to Parliament, said Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs.
Civil Servants, Subsidized Schools will Receive COLA at Same Time in 2025, Finance Minister Assures
GREAT BAY, St. Maarten — There will be no distinction between civil servants and subsidized schools in terms of payment of Cost of Living Adjustment, (COLA), next year, Minister of Finance, Marinka Gumbs has assured. “The expected indexations will be incorporated into the 2025 budget to ensure all receive their payments concurrently,” she said in a press release.
According to the Minister, in September, the focus was on ensuring that the COLA payments were made to civil servants currently in service.
“For civil servants who were employed earlier in 2024 but have since left service, the corresponding payments will be processed and disbursed during October and November 2024, as this involves a considerable amount of manual work,” Minister Gumbs said.
She further clarified that the subsidized schools will receive the 2% indexation and the 1% COLA payment from December 2023 once the 2024 budget amendment has been approved by Parliament.
“I wish to hereby extend my heartfelt gratitude to the dedicated employees of the Wages and Salaries Department,” Minister Gumbs said, adding: “their steadfast commitment, long hours, and tireless efforts, often extending beyond regular working hours, were pivotal in ensuring that the retroactive COLA payments could be processed and paid out. This task required significant manual effort, and their professionalism is deeply appreciated.”
