~ CEO of PJIAE Brian Mingo soon to take up his post on December 1st~
PHILIPSBURG: --- 14 months after the passing of hurricane Irma and Maria that devasted St. Maarten and its infrastructures especially its main port of entry the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE), workers at PJIAE maybe looking at gloom or doom if the current management has to carry out the wishes of Prime Minister Romeo Marlin.
Management and the Supervisory Board of the Government-owned company managed to keep its 280 staff members employed. However, now that the company is cash strapped since they lost over 50% of their business and they are unable to touch the insurance money Government is talking about laying off staff rather than providing the bondholders with a guarantee letter they are requesting so that PJIAE management can have access to the funds to rebuild the much-needed terminal building.
On Wednesday reporters asked Prime Minister Leona Romeo Marlin what she intends to do now that PJAIE is need of a financial injection. Romeo Marlin did not give a straight answer except to say that the Steering Committee is meeting with the World Bank and that all three members are in favor of giving PJIAE a loan. Minister of Labor Emil Lee also said that procedures have to be followed when dealing with the World Bank. What the two members of the Council of Ministers did not say or admit is that it has been 14 months since the passing of hurricane Irma and Maria and its time for them to step to the plate and govern the country rather than traveling the world for mere photo shoots. The World Bank already indicated that PJIAE could only get the requested loan sometime around June 2019.
SMN News learned that PJIAE is busy negotiating with Brian Mingo the selected candidate to fill the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)position. While Mingo is a competent and reliable candidate for the vacant position one has to ask what he can really do if the company does not have money. Mingo is expected to take up his position on December 1st, 2018
It is understood that if money is not found fast enough even the phase one of the projects will be affected and the planned moving in of the Terminal Building could be affected. Operations were planning to move back into the Terminal Building by December 15th but indications are not might be affected if government does not step up and provide the much needed financial injection.
PJIAE is busy negotiating with Piper Jaffray hopefully they would commit to financing PJIAE so that PJIAE Terminal Building can be rebuilt sooner rather than later. SMN News understands that representatives of Piper Jaffray are currently on St. Maarten meeting with PJIAE management to continue negotiations in providing financing to PJIAE.
