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Political Turmoil Hinders Working Relationship with French and Dutch---Mingo Email Considered to be Rude and lacks tact.

gibbsandellis08092010Marigot: --- The constant bickering between elected officials among the majority of councillors in the Union Pour les Progres is hindering development and threatens joint cooperation between the two sides of the island. Ever since Daniel Gibbs now first vice president has been elected in 2007 he has shown very little interest in working with the Dutch side. Gibbs during his first year closed off the New York Tourist Office which was rented by the two sides, claiming that the French side did not have its budget in place, he also accused the Dutch side of overcharging the French side when the bills endured were to be divided equally.

Gibbs refused on a number of occasions to even communicate with the Dutch side in the English or Dutch language as he expresses his lack of interest in the joint working relationship. Apart from that Gibbs has been involved in a number of disputes with the senator and party leader Louis Constant Fleming, over the past months. Gibbs requested an audit be done at Semsamar the moment Fleming was elected President of Semsamar. While the bickering and political turmoil continues between elected officials on the French side several elected officials are at lost with an email that was sent to the French and Dutch liaison officer Marcel Gumbs by the Mark Mingo CEO of St Maarten Ports Services. Mingo dispatched an email to Gumbs on August 5th informing him that he was rather upset about the news that the French Port (Galisbay Port) was negotiating with the port of Montreal to take over the Galisbay Port. Mingo further claimed that should this happen then the Dutch Cargo Port was going to be under threat. According to Mingo's email he said a meeting arranged by Gumbs which was held on the French side with the President of the Collectivity Frantz Gumbs and the Senator Louis Constant Fleming who assured them that the two were still in charge of the join working relations. Mingo said as of August 5th the Dutch side Harbour was not going to entertain cooperation with the French side until corrective measures were taken. He said the Cargo facilities invested close to 100 million USD and they were not going to put that kind of money at risk.

Below is the content of the email from Mark Mingo to Marcel Gumbs.

Mr Gumbs (Marcel)
I am very upset about the news I received today that the french port is negotiating with port of montreal to take over their port.

We had a meeting with the collectivitee which you preperared President Gumbs and Senator Fleming were present in that meeting and they said that they were in charge for us to work together.

To let you know as of today we will no longer entertain coorporation untill corrective measures are taken.

The Cargo facilities have invested close to 100 million USD and we sure not going to put that at risk.

Kindly inform the collectivitee and respect our position

Mark Mingo
Ceo

The liaison officer who is no longer the official representative since his contract was not renewed by government informed Mingo by mail that shortly after receiving Mingo's email that he had spoken to the President of the Collectivity who told him that he knows nothing about Montreal taking over the French side port and that the first Vice President Daniel Gibbs was in Canada and it appears he has a group of Canadians advising him on just about everything. Marcel Gumbs told Mingo that the President Gumbs wants him to know that the Port of Galisbay still belongs to the Collectivity of St. Martin and whatever agreements he had with the former commissioner of harbour affairs Theo Heyliger and the staff of the Cargo facility still stands. Marcel Gumbs also assured Mingo that he carbon copied his email to the senator while he offered to convened another meeting to clear the air.

Mr. Mingo,
I just spoke to President Mr. Frantz Gumbs, he said he knows nothing about the port of Montreal taking over the port at Marigot. V.P. Daniel Gibbs is presently in Canada, it appears he has a Canadian group advising him on just about everything. Le President said to tell you the port belongs to the Collectivity and what he said in the meeting with you and Commish still stands. I have cc'd Le President and Senator Fleming on this email.
I propose to convene a meeting in order to clear the air.
Regards
Marcel

Somehow a copy of Marcel Gumbs's email and the email sent to Mingo reached the first vice president Daniel Gibbs who is in charge of the Economic Development on the French side of the island. Gibbs then sent an email to President Gumbs on September 7 asking a number of questions regarding the secret meeting that was held between the Cargo facilities and the President and Senator. In Gibbs's email he reminded the president that they promised the population to be transparent during their campaigns in 2007. He also reminded the president that he is the one responsible for the economic development and most importantly he is the president of the board of directors for the port and airport affairs. Gibbs said he works relentlessly to develop the French side especially when it comes to investments on St. Martin and that it has been weeks now he has been hearing rumours that indicated that he had a Canadian group advising him as if he does not have anyone that is capable in his cabinet to advise him. The first vice president then admitted that he has a close friend of his family and someone who is familiar to St. Martin advising him on a voluntary basis this person he said has dual citizenship which is French and Canadian. Gibbs also asked about the secret meeting held between the two sides which were confirmed in the email that was sent by Marcel Gumbs. He also quoted parts of the email to show that a meeting did take place and he was not privy to what the discussions were. He informed the president that as an elected official he has the right to have information on the decisions taken during the meeting. Below is the content of the email sent to President Gumbs.

Chers collègues de la majorité du Conseil territorial,
Je ne cesse de réclamer le maximum de transparence dans nos prises de décisions sur la gestion de la Collectivité. C'était notre premier engagement de campagne en 2007.
J'ai l'honneur d'exercer les fonctions de Premier vice-président responsable du Développement économique, je suis également président du Conseil d'administration du Port et de l'aéroport. Je travaille sans relâche au développement des investissements sur Saint-Martin.
Il y a maintenant des semaines que, comme vous, j'entends des rumeurs à propos « d'un groupe canadien qui me conseillerait en tout ». Comme si je n'avais personne dans mon équipe capable de me conseiller. Il est vrai qu'un ami de la famille, familier de notre île, me donne aussi des conseils, d'une façon bénévole, je vous l'ai présenté, et il se trouve qu'il a la double citoyenneté française et canadienne.
En revanche, j'apprends, et je veux vous en informer, qu'il y a eu entente secrète entre le Président et le Port de Phillipsburg, je cite un mail du Président que la grande majorité d'entre nous n'a pas eu l'honneur de recevoir : « The President said to tell you the Port belongs to the Collectivity and what he said in the meeting with you and Commish still stands». Je vous transmets en copie ce mail et un autre qui confirme cette information.
Manifestement, ces écrits démontrent que le Président et le Sénateur ont pris des engagements envers la partie hollandaise de ne pas la concurrencer dans son développement portuaire : «The Cargo facilities have invested close to 100 million USD and we sure not going to put that at risk».
Nous sommes en droit, en tant qu'élus, de savoir :
1. Quelles sont les ententes prises entre le Président, le Sénateur et la partie hollandaise quant aux activités portuaires?
2. Cette prise de position explique-t-elle les blocages que nous connaissons dans le développement de la partie française?
3. Comment le Président peut-il affirmer qu'un groupe canadien me conseille sur tout ?
4. Comment le sénateur peut-il participer à ces tractations contraires à nos intérêts?
Je termine en soulignant à quel point il y a une réelle contradiction entre nos positions publiques et cette entente, une fois de plus faite sans nous, qui démontre le problème de gouvernance de notre Collectivité que je dénonce depuis des mois.
Nous devrons, tôt ou tard, en rendre compte à la population.
Je compte sur vous pour réagir à ce mail.
Daniel GIBBS
Vice-Président de la Collectivité de SAINT-MARTIN

According to information reaching SMN News Daniel Gibbs only received the email correspondence on Tuesday September 7 and he distributed copies to several territorial counselors who met on Wednesday to further discuss the emails and its contents. SMN News further learnt that the elected officials on the majority of Union pour les Progres wrote a letter to the President demanding explanation and they give him an ultimatum which is to step down as president of the COM at the next territorial council meeting which is scheduled for the end of September.
Efforts to reach Gibbs on Wednesday to comment on the ongoing issues proved futile.

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