Philipsburg:--- In reaction to statements made by the Managing Director of GEBE William Brooks, Minister of Economic Affairs Franklin Meyers shed more light on the correspondence his office had with GEBE on the fuel clause. Minister Meyers said he felt compelled to react to what the GEBE managing director said because he is now being called a liar.In the letter sent to GEBE, the Minister of Economic Affairs said the Government of St. Maarten has given GEBE conditional approval to apply the new tariff structure for electricity as per the KEMA report of March 8th 2010. This conditional approval will go into effect as of August 1 2011. As pre conditional GEBE must not pass on its inefficiencies but the actual cost for fuel that was incurred in the new fuel clause. Government is of the opinion that GEBE should absorb its own inefficiencies and it should not be passed on to the consumers of electricity.
Government also informed GEBE that they are busy seeking an independent evaluation on KEMA's and KPMG's report. Government also informed GEBE that before the end of 2011 Government will decide on a new tariff structure for GEBE. Minister Meyers said the last tariff structure is from 1960 which allows GEBE to calculate at 17%. The Minister said they are fully aware that the population has grown and GEBE has been incurring more expenses since the company grew also, but it is not fair for the people to absorb GEBE inefficiencies. The people (consumers) need a relief and they are going to get it said the Minister of Economic Affairs.
Minister Meyers said GEBE makes more monies when the cost of fuel is high simply because they pass on their costs to the consumers. "The high cost of fuel benefits GEBE that is why they are able to make over 10 Million in profits. One should look at the amount of power outages there are from GEBE and they are making monies even when the meters are not running. The loss of water has increased from 2% to 34% during the past three years yet GEBE nets a profit." Minister Meyers said. The Minister made clear that the consumers of electricity and water need relief and they will get it as soon as government gets its own assessment which is being carried out by the Bureau of Telecommunications in Curacao.
Letter sent by Government to GEBE on Fuel Clause.