Bush Road:--- Max Pandt, the BES islands representative on the Committee for Financial Supervision told reporters on Monday that the chairlady for the CFT already indicated to the Minister of Finance of St. Maarten that they will not accept his objection to having him(Pandt) in the CFT meetings in the future. Just last week, St. Maarten's Minister of Finance asked the chairlady of the CFT to release Pandt from the meetings because according to him Pandt does not have St. Maarten at heart. SMN News broke this story last week which is now making headlines and is being discussed by the Finance Minister on talk-shows.Pandt provided emails that were written by the acting chairlady of the CFT Margo Vliegenhart which stated that Pandt is a representative of the BES on the CFT and an advisor to the CFT. The CFT also uses Pandt's expertise even though he has no voting rights when attending to meetings regarding St. Maarten. Vliegenhart further explained to the Minister that should he continue with his objections then they (CFT) would have to ask the competent authorities to interpret the laws of the CFT.
The email correspondence came after Pandt was asked to leave a meeting held on St. Maarten upon request of St. Maarten's Finance Minister. Pandt also provided a copy of an email he sent to all members of the CFT protesting the Ministers actions. Pandt said that he objected to the Minister's actions because he felt insulted and while the Minister claimed he does not have St. Maarten at heart he did not provide evidence to substantiate his claim. The former tax inspectorate and Lt. Governor said the law of the CFT does not state that he cannot attend the meetings of St. Maarten and Curacao. He further explained that even though he did not participate in St. Maarten's meetings since the island obtained its separate status they still obtained a zero on their budget. "What the Minister should have done is refuse to meet with the CFT if they are worried about their representative who is yet to be appointed."
The Minister of Finance in an email to the members of the CFT said when he took office he was asked if he had any objections to Pandt being in St. Maarten's meetings and he made his position clear. The Minister said Max Pandt is a representative of the BES while St. Maarten is still waiting on the Netherlands to appoint its representative. Vliegenhart in her email said the CFT asked him for his opinion as a matter of courtesy since he was the host of the meetings, but that does not mean he can dictate for the CFT.
Asked if he knew why the Netherlands is not appointing the candidate presented by St. Maarten, Pandt said everybody knows that person that was nominated. St. Maarten proposed to have Michel Soons as their representative of the CFT. However, Soons is a board member of the harbor group of companies. Asked if he Max Pandt is a member of GEBE board, Pandt said he is not a member of GEBE board but a shareholder representative.
