A damning parliamentary speech exposes the revolving door of incompetence that has brought Sint Maarten's utility company—and its people—to their knees.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The parliamentary chamber of Sint Maarten became the stage for a brutal truth-telling session that should make every citizen's blood boil. What emerged was a tale of such spectacular governance failure that it reads like a masterclass in how to destroy essential public services through sheer incompetence and political game-playing.
At the center of this disaster sits NV GEBE, the government-owned utility company that has become a monument to everything wrong with how politicians treat the infrastructure that keeps society functioning. But here's the twist that makes this story particularly nauseating: some of the very people now sitting in parliament demanding answers are the same individuals who helped create this mess in the first place.
The Fox Guarding the Henhouse
The most damning revelation? A former Chief Operating Officer of NV GEBE now sits as a member of parliament, presumably with the audacity to question the very company they once helped run into the ground. Even more galling, a former member of the supervisory board of directors, the body responsible for overseeing the company's strategic direction—has also landed a comfortable parliamentary seat.
This isn't just a conflict of interest; it's a brazen example of how the same people who break public institutions then position themselves as the saviors who will fix them. The revolving door between GEBE's leadership and parliament spins so fast it could generate its own electricity—if only the company they destroyed could distribute it reliably.
Four Years Without a Captain
Perhaps the most shocking admission from the parliamentary session was this: NV GEBE operated for four consecutive years without permanent management. Four years. Let that sink in.
As Member of Parliament Ludmilla de Weever put it with brutal clarity: "No company in the world ever creates a vacuum by getting rid of the three managing directors at the same time." Yet that's exactly what happened here, not once but repeatedly, as political actors played "monopoly with their government-owned companies."
The result? A utility company rudderless and adrift while citizens suffered through load shedding, skyrocketing bills, and infrastructure decay. All because certain people "wanted a specific person there to be a manager" and were willing to paralyze an entire company to get their way.
Missing in Action: Five Years of Financial Statements
If the management vacuum wasn't damning enough, consider this bombshell: the last financial statements available to parliament are from 2019. We're now in 2025.
Think about that for a moment. The people's representatives, the very individuals responsible for overseeing this public company—have been flying blind for half a decade. No financial statements. No transparency. No accountability. Just silence while citizens watch their utility bills devour their savings.
How can any rational discussion about rate relief or company restructuring happen when nobody knows the actual financial state of the organization? It's like performing surgery blindfolded while the patient bleeds out.
The Human Cost of Elite Failure
While former GEBE executives enjoy their parliamentary salaries and benefits, real people are paying the price for their failures. The most heartbreaking example shared in parliament: a 73-year-old woman forced to return to work after organizing her entire life around retirement, simply because she can't afford her GEBE bills. MP De Weever disclosed.
This isn't just a number on a spreadsheet. This is a grandmother who should be spending time with her family, instead scrambling for employment because the utility company her tax dollars support has priced her out of basic electricity service.
How many more elderly citizens are making impossible choices between medication and electricity? Between food and keeping the lights on? The human cost of this governance failure is immeasurable, but the perpetrators seem utterly indifferent to the suffering they've caused.
Communication by Newspaper Advertisement
As if the management chaos and missing financial records weren't enough, GEBE's supervisory board has resorted to communicating with shareholders—the people of Sint Maarten—through newspaper advertisements. De Weever said.
This would be laughable if it weren't so insulting. A board that can't be bothered to provide basic financial reporting or call shareholders' meetings suddenly finds the time and budget for full-page newspaper ads. It's the corporate equivalent of passive-aggressive text messaging, and it demonstrates a stunning lack of professionalism and accountability.
The National Security Threat
De Weever nailed it when she described GEBE as a "national security" issue. When citizens can't rely on basic utilities, when businesses can't operate predictably, when retirees are forced back into the workforce, that's not just an inconvenience. That's a fundamental breakdown of the social contract.
Yet the very people now positioning themselves as champions of reform include those who had their hands on the steering wheel while the company careened toward disaster.
Enough Blame to Go Around—But Some Bear More
While it's true that many actors contributed to this crisis, let's be crystal clear about accountability. The former GEBE insiders now sitting in parliament don't get to hide behind collective responsibility. They were there. They had power. They made decisions—or failed to make them.
Their presence in parliament today isn't evidence of their qualifications to fix the problem; it's proof of how broken the system has become when failure is rewarded with higher office.
The Path Forward Demands Real Accountability
The people of Sint Maarten deserve more than finger-pointing and blame-shifting. They deserve:
- Immediate release of all missing financial statements from 2020-2024
- A complete audit of GEBE's operations and finances
- Permanent, qualified management free from political interference
- Regular shareholders' meetings with transparent reporting
- Rate relief that doesn't come at the expense of long-term sustainability
Most importantly, they deserve representatives who weren't complicit in creating the very problems they now claim to want to solve.
The 73-year-old woman forced back to work deserves better than having her former utility company executives lecturing parliament about accountability. She deserves leaders who will prioritize her needs over their political careers.
The revolving door between GEBE and parliament must stop spinning. The people of Sint Maarten can't afford any more "experts" whose expertise consists primarily of spectacular failure followed by political reinvention.
It's time for real accountability, real transparency, and real leadership. The citizens have suffered enough for the incompetence of those who now claim to represent them.
