GREAT BAY– There is various misinterpretations that need to be clarified concerning the Corporate Governance Council, its composition and its function.
It must be emphasized that the members of the Council are not appointed for life.
The function of the Corporate Governance Council is to advise the Island Territory of Sint Maarten on issues concerning government owned enterprises in general and corporate governance in particular.
The Council will be composed in such a way that expertise, objectivity, independency and integrity are guaranteed.
The Council is a permanent advisory body for the benefit of St Maarten. It consists of a minimum of three and a maximum of five members. Its members will be appointed for a period of four years based on profiles determined by the Executive Council.
Moreover, the functioning of the Council and its members will be evaluated by external experts three (3) years after the Council has been established. The Council will come into effect when the first three members are appointed.
It is important to emphasize that the Corporate Governance Code, the Island Ordinance Corporate Governance and the Corporate Governance Council were agreed on by a unanimous decision of the Island Council of May 11th 2009.
It is nowadays widely supported that enterprises should conduct business with integrity and transparency. Checks and balances within the corporation and adequate supervision thereon are essential conditions for creating trust.
When applying integrity and transparency in government owned enterprises it is of importance to observe a healthy distance between the enterprises themselves and Government.
It is the intention of Government to professionalize the government owned enterprises in order to make them more beneficial for the community of St Maarten and in keeping with international standards of business operation and practice.
To achieve these goals the Government of St Maarten has developed a Corporate Governance Code (the “Code”) and an Island Ordinance Corporate Governance (the Ordinance”). To supervise the implementation of the Code and the Ordinance in the government owned enterprises Government has established the Corporate Governance Council.
