Dear Editor,
Member of Parliament Maurice Lake missed a big part of the story in his press release, which I will explain.
Within a 10-year span NV GEBE had seven director changes (2006- 2016). Three of the changes were temporal/interim directors with limited decision-making powers. For the past months GEBE has been functioning with a temporary director with no power. There are vacancies for Financial Director, Technical Director and Managing Director for the longest awhile. The truth of the matter is the Supervisory Board can only nominate candidates for the positions, but it is only the Government can appoint persons as directors. There candidates for those position on Government’s desk pending a decision since last year.
Government, in the meantime, has decided to send home the board of NV GEBE, which can only make a bad situation even worse. A company that is the cornerstone of the St. Maarten economy will have, in the height of the tourist season, no supervisory board and no stable director at the helm.
In addition to all of this confusion in the company, GEBE has to buy a new engine this year to keep pace with the demand for electricity on the island. Even though Government approved the purchase it cannot happen without a permanent director and a supervisory board in place. All of this confusion is an accident waiting to happen. Government has created a frustrating situation which can have explosive consequences.
You mentioned about nine projects in your press release that need to be executed. How are all those projects that you mentioned going to be executed with no director in place or one with limited authority? The workers’ needs on all levels are neglected as a result of no one being in charge. Are you aware that our CLA’s expired since last year?
At the moment NV GEBE is on automatic pilot with no one in charge of it. Management blames the Supervisory Board, and the Supervisory Board blames Government, which results in Government blaming the management. This goes round and round; the question is when is all this going end?
Mr. Lake is a supporter and coalition partner in this government with the responsibility for Ministry of Public Works which included GEBE; this put him in a position to do something about this mess. If he wants NV GEBE to start investing back into the community and executing projects he has to take decisions. H has to start by appointing a Financial Director and a Technical Director. Those are the two most crucial positions needing to be filled urgently. If people in the Ministry are not cooperating, just give them a vote of non-confidence.
Mr. Lake should not issue another press release complaining about lack of action on the part of NV GEBE. He is in charge and has the responsibility to do something about it. All the chaos in GEBE was brought about by Government’s inaction. If he wants a sense of tranquillity in NV GEBE he has to take some action. His next press release to the public should be to let us know when NV GEBE director(s) are going to be appointed. Then and only then can we talk about projects that need to be executed. I am looking forward to an early response from you on this urgent matter MP Maurice Lake
Antonio Brown
