There can be no “war” between GEBE’s Management and Supervisory Board, says the latter’s Chairman Bienvenido Richardson in today’s paper. St. Maarten Communications Union (SMCU), which represents part of the utilities provider’s employees, had sounded the alarm on constant infighting between the two bodies.
Richardson pointed out that management is responsible for the daily operations, including salary structure, although it must consult the board for any expenditures of more than NAf. 50,000. The lesson in corporate governance is appreciated, but practically any new initiative would exceed that amount.
What’s more, questions raised by SMCU concerning the badly-damaged main office and workplaces for its members were not answered. Not only the personnel and their labour union, but also the Government-owned company’s clients and shareholder representative deserve to know what is happening in that regard.
Another puzzling issue remains the power-purchase agreement for a waste-to-energy plant championed by former Minster of Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Christophe Emmanuel. He complained mid-December that only two of GEBE’s seven Supervisory Board members had signed it, with a third to follow, still short of the required majority.
Emmanuel also stated at the time that electricity to be bought from the waste-to-energy plant would be cheaper than GEBE’s current production cost – 26 cents instead of 43 cents per kilowatt hour. But his successor Minister Miklos Giterson claimed the exact opposite mid-February, saying the suggested purchase rate was even higher than what the company charges its customers.
As is too often the case, the public has been left wondering what to believe. The same goes for the debate between GEBE and Emmanuel on whether transfer of the land with parking lots on the Pondfill in property or long lease to GEBE is necessary to execute its plan of covering them with solar panels.
In both cases, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
