Dear Editor,
It is very sad to hear that after some plus years a company like St. Maarten Cable TV is no longer in existence due to very poor management. The people of St. Maarten were interrupted of their Cable/Internet services after the passing of Hurricane Irma, and up until this present day about 75 per cent of us do not know if services would be given back or we would be refunded for our money that was already given to the company for services.
Besides WTN, another Cable TV company, there are no more providers. It leaves us the customers to think what next can we do to get some sort of entertainment in our homes. We have the elderly that only focus on some local talk shows like The Oral Gibbs Show and The Beverly Hyman Show just to name a few. It is a shame to see that a company like St. Maarten Cable TV closed their doors and put their well-experienced employees out of work – some I guess that were employed for years with the company, following some of the radio programmes about the closing down of Cable TV, and the now new partial ownership apparently is TelEm.
One tends to wonder why are these workers not working? Listening to the fight that the union is having in trying to get these workers back to work, it sounds like some monopoly games are being played with the livelihood of these workers. Knowing that TelEm Group is a partially government-owned company, I guess it is somewhat political. As a partially government-owned company these workers should have been already integrated into the TelEm Group.
What baffles me is hearing the union on a radio programme mentioning that out of the 28 Cable TV workers 10 signed for the layoff plan to be paid out to them and the 18 Cable TV workers did not sign for the layoff plan. On that same radio programme the union mentioned that the Financial Controller Mr. Trevor DaCosta also signed for the layoff plan. That tells me with the little bit of knowledge that I have, he is no longer an employee of CableTV/TelEm Group. TelEm Group is the new owner now.
But as was mentioned on the radio programme by the union, Mr. Trevor DaCosta seemingly was appointed as Managing Director for a company that supposedly is dormant (St. Maarten Cable TV). I guess he was appointed by the CEO Mr. Kendall Dupersoy. (Very interesting). This same Financial Controller that is seemingly Managing Director of the dormant St. Maarten Cable TV/TelEm Group was financial controller for a company that used to bear the name East Caribbean Cellular, whereby the Managing Director was Beulah Jonis, and because the company was poorly managed, that company fell into bankruptcy putting all those workers into unemployment.
With all due respect one is supposed to respect the laws of the land, but listening to the radio programme this Financial Controller/Managing Director has no respect for the laws of the land. On the radio programme the union mentioned that the Labour Department denied Cable TV/TelEm Group dismissal for the 18 workers. But this Mr. Trevor DaCosta sent emails to the 18 employees from his personal e-mail address threatening them that they would be dragged to court to be dismissed by or from a company that is supposed to be dormant, if I do understand correctly. Total disrespect for the laws of the land.
Quite seemingly whatever Mr. Trevor DaCosta touches goes belly up. First it was East Caribbean Cellular. Now St. Maarten Cable TV. Watch out TelEm Group – he is coming for you all! Don’t walk – run.
If the people can remember, the present CEO Mr. Kendall Dupersoy did run on a political slate for an election a few years back. If he did obtain a seat to get elected to govern would we the people of this land be in the same predicament like the St. Maarten Cable TV workers, taking food out of their families’ mouth? (Food for thought).
Name withheld at author's request.
