About | CoA Official

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The Court of Audit St. Eustatius

At the Court of Audit St. Eustatius, our team is dedicated to uphold transparency, accountability, and integrity in public financial management for effective governance.

We work together to uphold the highest standards of auditing and public oversight. Each team member brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to their role, contributing to our mission of providing impartial audits to support the public interest of St. Eustatius.

Chair - President

Lay Hing de Kort-Yee

Lay Hing de Kort- Jong, MSc. (October 5, 2022) is the chairperson of the Court of Audit. She is a full-time strategic consultant for her own consultancy firm Cornerstone Economics. She graduated from the University of Aruba in Commercial Economics (BSc.) and from Webster University in Finance (MS). Before her appointment as chair of the Court of Audit St. Eustatius, she functioned as a member of the Court of Audit Aruba from Nov 2017 - Feb 2021.

Member

Keith de Jong

Keith de Jong LL.M. (June 11th, 1985) is the Secretary-General of the General Audit Chamber of St. Maarten. He graduated from the Law University of Maastricht in 2009, where he majored in civil law specializing in contract law. In 2015 he obtained a degree in legislative law. Mr. de Jong holds a degree in mediation and successfully completed a post-HBO course on organizational management in 2021.

Member

Gerald Berkel

Gerald Berkel (Bsc Computer Engineering) is a Managing Partner in Gem Enterprises. Returning to his native Island of St.Eustatius after graduating from the Florida institute of Technology he worked in the Telecommunications Industry and was active in various social organizations and foundations. After serving as acting lt.governnor for 8 years he was appointed Island Governor on October 10 2010. He also severed as chairman of the Central Dialogue St.Eustatius 2019-2021.

Mission
We aim to contribute with audits within the scope of the law that serves to protect St. Eustatius' public resources, promote transparency, improve efficiency and best use of public money, for the benefit of the people of St. Eustatius.

Vision
A trustworthy, respected, professional and independent audit institution that promotes accountability, transparency, efficiency and integrity, challenging the continuous improvement of the Public Entity of St. Eustatius to act accordingly for the benefit of the people of St. Eustatius.

The Court of Audit St. Eustatius (Further referred as the Court of Audit) is an institution stipulated by Island Ordinance 2020; Eilandsverordening Rekenkamer openbaar lichaam Sint Eustatius. In its capacity, we act as the independent guardian of the financial interest of St. Eustatius as a special municipality of the Netherlands. This being carried out by contributing with performance and compliance audits on the allocation and use of public finances.

The Court of Audit’s general budget is adopted annually by the Island Council. Our annual report, combined with our other reports, provides the basis for reporting our budgetary responsibilities.

The Court of Audit consists of three members, including the chairperson.