Concerns expressed by the General Audit Chamber in a follow-up report on administrative appointments submitted to Parliament (see Saturday paper) need to be taken seriously. They looked into the legitimacy and integrity regarding the appointments of directors at 20 entities, including Government-owned companies and public foundations.
Only one of these was made according to the rules and in keeping with principles of transparency. Moreover, required advice of the Corporate Governance Council (CGC) was found for just seven of the 23 directors involved.
The Minister as shareholder representative deviated from the advice in four of these cases, without indication of giving a reason in writing. Those particular appointments also took place after the Chamber’s first report on the issue in October 2016.
Before anyone starts blaming a specific cabinet or party, keep in mind that the investigation covered the period from January 2015 through May 2017, during which several governments were in office. However, it does seem politicians and public administrators, but also certain supervisory board members, still have trouble accepting checks and balances introduced over the years to promote good corporate governance.
The lack of up-to-date annual reports of the entities in question remains a problem as well. For 2015, only two of the 20 were made available to the auditors, a mere 10 per cent.
The message is clear: It’s high time St. Maarten shape up when it comes to this important matter.
