Utilities provider GEBE continues to be in the news, as Parliament convenes for an urgent meeting this Thursday on the topic. It was requested by all six opposition members.
Prime Minister Luc Mercelina (General Affairs) has been invited and will no doubt be questioned about asking the entire Supervisory Board to resign, which they since indicated seeing no reason to do. He in turn already warned the members that government as shareholder is prepared to pursue formal legal mechanisms under corporate governance statutes and the company’s articles of incorporation to dismiss them.
At issue is providing relief to the consumer. The prime minister, based on a study by the Regulatory Authority Curaçao (RAC) in cooperation with St. Maarten’s Bureau Telecommunication and Post (BTP), sent a proposal for reducing water and electricity tariffs to the board.
However, the latter indicated that this plan had faulty calculations and could end up costing GEBE up to 21.9 million Caribbean guilders per year. They called it “economically unsound attempt at a grand gesture” that could even endanger fuel payments and without such “the country goes black.”
The board made some suggestions of its own and explained what is already being done to lower bills. Nevertheless, whether what appears to be crisis of confidence between them and the shareholder representative can still be restored at this point seems doubtful at best.
The public will be hearing a lot more regarding this matter because United People’s (UP) party leader Omar Ottley is organising a Town Hall about it on August 26. He also announced pursuing a parliamentary inquiry, which would obviously require majority support in the legislature.
During all these discussions, perhaps one small thing to benefit both landlords and tenants is worth considering. GEBE’s invoicing cycle is mid-monthly, while rents run from the first to the last of the month.
This creates issues when moving in or out and having to split bills especially if these are in the homeowner’s name, as is often the case. If the two could cover a similar period it would certainly help make that process a bit easier.
