(Curaçao Chronicle)
My question is, what are InselAir and its shareholders hiding? Why are Korpodeko, the Government, and the Ministry of Transport accomplices in this mystery? First of all, remember that the Government, representing the Curaçao people, owns 21% of InselAir’s shares, and Korpodeko, on behalf of the Government controls that 21%. As a major shareholder, they should have several Directors on the Board of Directors of the airline. But even though the Curaçao people are one of the, or perhaps the most proportionate shareholder in InselAir, they have always been marginalised by the Directors and the other private shareholders, who manage and control the airline at their whim.
Korpodeko has always been an accomplice. We do not know if by instructions of the politicians and ministers, who have paid the favours, and are committed to the private shareholders of InselAir for their great contributions in campaign times to the political parties they represent.
The reality is that InselAir never paid the loans for millions of dollars that Korpodeko granted it and for which the airline guaranteed and passed, on behalf of Korpodeko, representing the Government and the people of Curaçao, 21% of its shares. At the discretion of others in Curaçao, Korpodeko does not fulfil its responsibility as a fiduciary agent on behalf of the people of Curaçao by acting passively and not demanding clear accounts.
They also do not demand representation and supervision, according to its investment, in InselAir’s board of directors. The airline disappoints the Government in managing the funds and the company to its desire and keeping the state, one of the main shareholders, out of any decision.
Secondly, InselAir hides behind the fact that it is a private company, therefore, it does not have to give financial information to anybody. Well, we know that's not completely true. On the one hand, for what I have explained in the paragraphs above, and on the other hand that as an airline that operates a concession of the State for which it must be regulated by the State.
It is the obligation to present to the Ministry of Transportation and the DGAC its audited detailed financial statements, including losses and profits, accounts receivable, accounts payable and cash flow that demonstrate its financial health. This obligation is mandatory and both InselAir and the Government are failing their responsibility, by, one, not to provide it and hiding behind the fact that it is a private company, and the other the Ministry for not demanding it.
Moreover, the Government is obliged to remove the concession from the air carrier if it does not provide the complete financial information, or if this Information shows that the air carrier is in a delicate financial situation, or financial crisis since the State's main duty is to ensure the service to the user, and air safety of the operations of the operator. An airline in a dire financial situation, such as InselAir is a risk to the safety of passengers, as the aircraft are not properly maintained and could cause an accident.
It is my opinion that InselAir is obliged to give all its financial information. Make it public through the Ministry of Transportation and the DGAC, so that the user of its services can appreciate the financial conditions of its operator, and can make their decision when they have to use its services and buy a ticket in the future. The regulator of the concession, the State, can determine if InselAir should and can continue to operate that concession. By not demanding this requirement, the State becomes an accomplice of any possible user fraud, or of any accident that the financial crisis could cause.
The user of the air transport trusts that the Air Transport Regulator is regulating that public service, both financially and operationally. The State is obligated to regulate that public service. By not doing so, it is defrauding the public and protecting the operator under the weak argument that it has to protect the jobs. This is my personal opinion. InselAir does not want to display its accounts, because it simply has a lot to hide.
Venezuela does not owe InselAir. The Bolivares, product of their sales in Venezuela, were already used to buy dollars in the black market. The financial statements are impossible to audit, and to show it to the authorities, as it is their obligation as operator of an air concession, property of the state, would show that their crisis is such that they are bankrupt.
Nelson Ramiz
Aviation expert
