St. Martin News Network

Philipsburg: --- Island Councilman Petrus Leroy DeWeever is calling on the Heyliger/NA/Laveist government to come clean with regards to the GEBE concession. De Weever said the current coalition is again showing total disregard for the commitments made and the functioning of government owned companies. The councilman was reacting to a report published in one of the daily newspapers regarding the imposition of financial penalties on GEBE. De Weever said the news is of no surprise to him since during the recent presentation of GEBE in the Central Committee he specifically asked:" What penalties will be imposed on GEBE by Pacific Life when concessions are not in place?" The response at that time was "no penalties would be imposed."
The extension of the concession for GEBE should have been in place since January 1, 2010. The Commissioner of Energy Affairs and members of the Supervisory Board of GEBE assured Pacific Life that the concession extension would be in place before March 31, 2010. This deadline was not met due to the irresponsible behavior of the Heyliger/NA/Laveist coalition. The members of government, who should have ensured that this concession extension was in place, would not have acted in this manner if the company was owned by them and the penalty had to be paid from their pockets. Unfortunately, because it is the people's money they have no regard for ensuring, that these penalties not be imposed on the company. Penalties of approximately US $ 100,000.00 -- per month is a significant amount. These funds could have been donated by GEBE and used towards assisting some of the needs of this community, such as the Mental Health Foundation, the St. Maarten Carnival Development Foundation, or the Safe Haven Foundation just to name a few.
This is the 3rd government owned company that is experiencing major issues since the Heyliger/NA/ Laveist coalition took office on June 8, 2009. PJIAE is functioning without a supervisory board of directors since January 1, 2010, the St. Maarten Group of Telecommunications Companies (Telem, Telcell, Telnet & Smitcoms) does not have a complete board of Supervisory Directors in place and no managing director to take the company to the next level. Now it is GEBE. Government granted GEBE a letter of comfort to satisfy the financers before obtaining financing by Pacific Life. An institution such as Pacific Life is governed by strict international financial regulations and must at all time secure its investment towards its shareholders.
Government's letter of comfort assured the financers that the concession would be extended for a period beyond the maturity date of the loans. GEBE's financial commitments towards Pacific Life could very well be jeopardized. "We are nearing the end of April and the penalty fees will continue to rack up, for every month that the concession is not in place." De Weever said.
He said he expects that the longer this situation continues Pacific Life will continue to exert pressure on GEBE to live up to its commitment. At which point a loan call option may be implemented. The blame game will then start between GEBE and Government. This situation cannot go on much longer and he is urging the Governor in his capacity as Chairman of the Executive Council to act, in order to avoid actions being taken which could jeopardize Government and totally disrupt the financial stability of GEBE.
In an invited comment commissioner of energy affairs Theo Heyliger said the electricity ordinance has been approved by the executive council and is now at the office of the governor general of the Netherlands Antilles. Heyliger said when the Governor General approves this ordinance then it will go before the island council for approval prior to having the concession for Pacific Life in place.

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