PHILIPSBURG--GEBE management says the company will revise its personnel related costs for the year 2020 by 12.5 per cent.
GEBE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kenrick Chittick said that in an effort to minimise financial repercussions for employees the company will be taking a look at the total personnel costs prior to reducing its employees’ salaries, vacation allowances and bonuses.
In a notice to staff, Chittick said that the islands of the Dutch Caribbean – St. Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba – have been in negotiations with the Netherlands to secure financing as a result of the effect COVID-19 has placed on the economy of St. Maarten.
He said that the securing of the financing has been tied to “certain criteria” which directly include the Government-owned companies.
Chittick shared that during a meeting with the Council of Ministers on Thursday, May 28, to discuss some of the conditions of the agreement, the representatives of the government-owned companies had been asked to submit a proposal to reduce their personnel costs by 12.5 per cent, using the 2020 approved budget and a six-month time period as the basis.
“In attempting to minimise the financial effect on the employees, the Managing Board looked at the total personnel cost prior to considering the reduction of salaries, vacation allowance or bonus. The reduction in the personnel cost has been applied to other personnel-related costs such as tuition, daily allowance, vacancies, gifts, celebration and the alcohol-free programme, travel and lodging, and miscellaneous and other personnel expenses,” he said.
He also said that, in translation, the budgeted personnel-related cost could no longer be used for the balance of this financial year. “The proposal will be submitted to the Minister of Finance on Wednesday and once the proposal is accepted, the Managing Board would have fulfilled its requirements and the NV GEBE Corporate Budget 2020 will be adjusted to reflect these changes,” he added.
He further provided a synopsis of the process used by the Managing Board for adjustments made.
Based on the synopsis, the company’s the total personnel cost for 2020 is NAf. 35,680,630. A 12.5 per cent reduction of this would amount to NAf. 4,460,078.75. According to the synopsis, a reduction based on six months would amount to NAf. 2,230,039.38.
Employees were advised to contact their management if further information was necessary.
