~Bijlani, Lint reelected~
PHILIPSBURG--Seasoned businessman Keith Franca has been elected to the board of the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry (COCI) as a representative of large businesses.
Franca, who runs his own consultancy firm and is an executive at the St. Maarten Development Fund Foundation, brings a wealth of experience to the Chamber. He has managed about seven to eight entities in the last 35 years.
Stanley Lint and Sidharth “Cookie” Bijlani were also both reelected to the board during elections held on Friday morning. Lint was elected as a representative of large businesses and Bijlani as a representative of small businesses.
A total of 176 persons turned out to vote in the elections. Of the 46 votes cast for the candidates in the running for large business representatives; Franca obtained 32 votes; Lint and Charlise Philips both tied for 19 votes and Edwin Gumbs received eight votes. As a result of the tie between Lint and Philips, the Elections Committee put both of their names in a bag and Lint’s name was pulled as the successful candidate who will sit on the board.
Of the 130 votes cast for a representative of the small business sector, Bijlani copped 100 votes and Shasa Lake copped 29 votes.
The election was supervised by a committee including members Franklin Brison (chairperson), Cleophas Richardson, Myrna Lynch and Charles Benders.
Brison told The Daily Herald that the turnout to the elections had been “reasonable” and the election was incident free.
Franca told this newspaper that this was his first time contesting the elections. Once on the board, Franca plans to continue “the good work” that the Chamber board has been executing.
Franca said he, along with several other persons such as Glen Carty and Mr. de Castro served the board in an advisory capacity in the past as they had been called in to offer advice in certain matters. “In that respect, I want to contribute with the team that is there for the betterment and benefit of businesses.”
Franca said he enjoyed the manner in which the elections had been conducted as well as the collegiality shared amongst the candidates at the election.
