SIMPSON BAY:--- Member of Parliament Theodore Heyliger said at the opening ceremony of the Causeway that while he was in government and seeking government owned companies to purchase bonds from the central bank for the development of St. Maarten and the construction of the causeway; the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) was the only government owned company that did not invest its monies locally but kept it in a bank in USA at a lower interest rate.
During that speech, Heyliger took credit for the construction of the causeway which already encountered at least one problem. SMN News has acquired some documents regarding PJIAE and we will be exposing the mismanagement of funds at PJIAE. For example, PJIAE is paying the life and house insurance of its Director Regina Labega. Documents showing the amounts paid for the insurances of PJIAE's Director can be viewed below. American Fidelity International Bermuda Ltd. received $12,711. 85 for the year 2013 while Guardian Group (Fatum) received Naf. 4,900 for the year 2012. It is possible that this is one of the director's benefits based on her contract but she could not be reached for a comment on Sunday.
Click here to view documents regarding insurance payments for PJIAE Director.
PJIAE paid close to $8000 for Supervisory Board Chairman Briefcase which he claims was stolen --- Former Deputy Prime Minister Theodore Heyliger claimed he knew what Clarence Derby had in his Briefcase.
Another questionable payment made by PJIAE was a check for $7,845.08 given to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Clarence Derby who claimed that he lost his briefcase that contained $3000.00 in cash, receipts for his trips, and other valuables and documents. Former Deputy Prime Minister Theodore Heyliger in a letter to the Supervisory Board attested that he knew Derby had $3000 cash in his briefcase which was stolen while on his way to Berlin, Germany in May 2011.
The Financial Controller of PJIAE issued an advice which states that the explanation given to the Supervisory Board is not clear and the briefcase was stolen because of gross negligence on the part of Clarence Derby. Furthermore, Derby did not provide any proof that his briefcase was in fact stolen, no police report, there was also no report from Berlin Airport, and no proof of the items Derby claimed were in his briefcase when it was stolen.
SMN News understands that the person who wrote the advice was demoted (sacked) and PJIAE went ahead and paid out the monies Derby claimed his valuables were worth. All documents submitted to the supervisory board regarding the mysterious briefcase and the check can be viewed below. The question now arises if everyone that lost a handpiece while traveling can get PJIAE to pay for it even though they were careless and did not provide the necessary proof, or was this done because the victim in this case is the chairman of the supervisory board of PJIAE?
Click here to view documents regarding Clarence Derby's claim of stolen briefcase.
Another document SMN News obtained pertains to the donation given to Caribbean Liquors & Tobacco B.V. for the Percy Sledge Show. It should be noted that while the documents and the request for the donation and purchase of tickets were submitted by Caribbean Liquors & Tobacco B.V., the Chairman of the Supervisory Board Clarence Derby was the organizer of the show. PJIAE purchased 150 tickets at $150.00 each for the show. PJIAE claims that the request falls under PJIAE's policy of community/employee incentives. Caribbean Liquors & Tobacco B.V. received $22,500 for the purchase of these tickets.
Click here to view documents regarding the donation for the Percy Sledge Show.
Recently, PJIAE decided to give an explanation as to why they decided to spend a whopping $254,000.00 for the three pelicans used to decorate the round-a-bout. The contract was awarded to Ikemba located on Front Street. There was no bidding for this contract and it was given to someone close to certain politicians. Two other contracts were also given out to the same person that owns Ikemba but under another name 2ndAVE Images. One contract was given for the clearing of dirt and other debris on the airport runway and other areas of PJIAE. The total cost for this contract which was awarded without bidding process is to the tune of $ 22,100.00. While this company is supposed to be dealing with images, it received a large sum for work that could have been done by the young unemployed youths of St. Maarten or a local contractor. Another contract 2ndAVE Images received was for the sum of $12,020.00 to make a storage area, build six cabinets, and other minor carpentry work.
SMN News learnt that the Director of PJIAE Regina Labega is currently conducting an internal investigation to find out who has been leaking documents from PJIAE that end up on Facebook and SOS Radio.
This is the first of a series of articles SMN News will be publishing regarding contracts that are given out by the management of PJIAE. SMN News could not reach the Director of PJIAE Regina Labega to comment on these contracts and why PJIAE has to pay for her life and house insurance.
Click here to view documents regarding PJIAE contracts.
