Philipsburg:--- Government financial controller Alex Richardson signed a contract for Naf. 11,850 additional to his regular government salary for the services he rendered to Postal Services St. Maarten (PSS) for the month of December 2011 and half of January 2012.
SMN News obtained a copy of the contract that was signed by the three members of the Supervisory board Hubert Pantophlet, Stuart Johnson, Julien Lake and Alex Richardson. Richardson was supposed to be paid in three installments of Naf. 3,950.00 as agreed upon with the supervisory board of PSS.
The other person that was supposed to sign that contract was the former interim Director Denicio Richardson who did not pay the government controller because he sought legal advice and was informed that the contract signed by the Supervisory Board with Alex Richardson was illegal and it also creates a conflict of interest since he (Alex Richardson) is working for the Government of St. Maarten. Moreover, the Supervisory board is not allowed to interfere or be involved with the day to day operations of the company. They are also not allowed to commit PSS to any third party neither are they allowed to issue directives to the interim director as stipulated in the articles of incorporation of PSS. While all of these so called illegalities were taking place, it is understood that the shareholder representative of the company was well aware and did nothing to stop the supervisory board from hampering or bleeding the company of monies it did not have.
SMN News learnt that since Alex Richardson was not paid up to the time Denicio Richardson resigned from his position as Director of PSS, Richardson has increased his claims to almost Naf. 20,000.00 and has threatened to take PSS to court if he is not paid. What is not clear in the agreement is the type of services the government controller provided to PSS. SMN News also understands that the Supervisory Board did not even seek permission from the Ministry of General Affairs or the Shareholder representative to hire Alex Richardson.
SMN News learnt that Denicio Richardson was given instruction by the supervisory board to pay Alex Richardson the monies but Richardson held his ground and did not make the payment. It is also understood that is one of the arguments the board used when they suspended Richardson for signing a check that is over the amount he is allowed to purchase computers for the company.
According to information provided to SMN News, Alex Richardson submitted several claims to PSS for the monies and he even took the issue to Parliament but to date that has not been dealt with by the Parliament of St. Maarten. SMN News learnt that the Members of Parliament plan to tackle the Prime Minister with the agreement that was signed by the Supervisory Board and Alex Richardson when they meet to discuss the SOAB report.
The report submitted by SOAB on PSS cites that the Supervisory board of PSS went outside of their jurisdiction when they made certain decisions for the government owned company. This report is still to be submitted to the Parliament of St. Maarten. During the central committee meeting of Parliament earlier this week, several MPs asked the Shareholder representative Sarah Wescot Williams to provide them with the SOAB report so they can peruse what the SOAB found when they audited the company.
An advice given to PSS by a law firm on the installation of the Strategic Management Group (SMG) clearly states that having this group with Hensley Plantijn as the chairman and Hubert Pantophlet vice chairman clearly creates another conflict of interest. The law firm that provided the advice to PSS states that the only reason the SMG was set up was to have more political influence in a government owned company.
The law firm also cited the guidelines of the Corporate Governance Code which states that the Stated should act as an informed and active owner and establish a clear and consistent ownership policy, ensuring that governance of the state owned enterprises is carried out in a transparent and accountable manner. The advice further states that accountability, transparency, and administrative integrity are the core values on which the code is based.
The advice further states that SMG has no legal basis to function or work within PSS, this was derived upon book 2 of the articles of incorporation and the law. Even their function with PSS could not be established.
The conclusion of the advice stated that the SMG was tailored to create more political influence on the day to day management of the Government owned company PSS, and to eliminate the use of the Corporate Governance Council. The shareholder representative must consult with the Corporate Governance Council to appoint members of the Supervisory board and Director. Already the CGC in their advice rejected members from the cabinet of Ministers to be part of any board, therefore SMG was created to sidestep the CGC.