PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister of St. Maarten Sarah Wescot Williams was asked during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing on Wednesday if there is any policy or if it's customary for government to reimburse civil servants for items they lose when traveling on government business. Wescot Williams said replacing or paying for lost items is not an obligation and there is no specific policy in place for such.
The question was asked to find out whether or not it was routine practice when the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) reimbursed the chairman of the supervisory board for his briefcase that he claimed he lost while traveling to Berlin. Even though the CFO of PJIAE wrote a negative advice for the reimbursement because no proof or evidence were provided to the supervisory board, PJIAE went ahead and paid Clarence Derby almost $8,000.00 for his lost briefcase.