~ Information on ongoing discussions with GEBE SBOD too sensitive for public consumption – PM Jacobs~
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Government of St. Maarten mainly the Council of Ministers and Shareholder representatives has been sending mixed messages to the Supervisory Board of Directors of NV GEBE.
Just last week the Prime Minister told the Parliament of St. Maarten that the shareholder instructed the SBOD to assign an independent temporary manager as well as a crisis management team.
• Assign Temporary & Independent Management (Assign immediately a temporary and independent manager to ensure continuity of NV GEBE.
• Assign Crisis Management Team
• Independent Investigation (Procure and conduct an independent investigation into the past few months.
• Inform shareholders in a timely and frequent on the measures and actions taken.
The above points were taken from the fourth slide of the Prime Minister's presentation to parliament in which the shareholder also instructed the board to conduct an independent investigation into the daily operations of the company over the past months.
Questions are now being asked if the Prime Minister played the parliament and people of St. Maarten by telling the members of parliament what they wanted to hear on Friday last week. Some have said that while the SBOD was given direct instructions to hire an independent Temporary Manager, the recruitment process to hire a management board that started almost 3 years ago, was not suspended by the SBOD or the shareholder of the government-owned company.
Daniel is currently undergoing screening as she holds a contract for the Chief Executive Officer position, should she pass the screening then Daniel will be appointed with immediate effect as the CEO of NV GEBE. Has the shareholder taken into consideration that Daniel could take the shareholder and the SBOD to court if she passes the screening and they fail to appoint her? Is the shareholder putting the horse behind the cart when dealing with its government-owned companies and its directors?
The Prime Minister also announced in parliament last week that Merril Temmer was appointed as a statutory director of the company even though he has been on extended medical leave for months now. The decision has been reflected in the resolution sent to the shareholder on Monday evening.
Likewise, Daniel will be appointed CEO if she passes the screening effective as of the date of the signing off on the screening results.
Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs told reporters on Wednesday at the Council of Minister's press briefing that detailed information on the ongoing discussion with the Supervisory Board of Directors (SBOD) is sensitive and will not be divulged to the public. The Prime Minister said that even answers to certain questions posed by Members of Parliament are sensitive information. The Prime Minister did confirm that two members of the Supervisory Board of Directors have since resigned.
The spokesperson for the shareholder made clear that the Council of Ministers (Shareholder) of NV GEBE remains disappointed in how matters of the company have been handled including communication to the people of St. Maarten.
Asked by SMN News if the shareholder placed the recruitment process on hold or suspended since the instructions given to the SBOD have sent mixed messages to the board.
Jacobs said that while the discussions are supposed to remain confidential, she can see that SMN News has inside information but declined to confirm or deny if the recruitment process was suspended pending the investigation of the company operations over the last months.
If the shareholder has taken into consideration the endless complaints, they received from employees and members of the public on the management of the government-owned company then one has to know why the recruitment process was not suspended and why the members of the SBOD chose to appoint her as the Temporary Manager on Monday evening.
