Philipsburg:--- The Chairman of the Corporate Governance Council (CGC) submitted their advice to the Government of St. Maarten on January 24th, 2013 regarding the five members that they were asked to issue an advice on who were selected to become members of the Board of the Voluntary Korps (VKS) which is yet to be established.
According to reliable information reaching SMN News, the two names that were submitted by the Government of St. Maarten to be board members are Police Chief Inspector Antonio "Anthony" Rogers and Emilia Thomas. In their advice the Corporate Governance Council rejected Emilia Thomas simply because she is a staff member of the Prime Minister's cabinet and having her on the board of any foundation or organization would not be in the interest of that organization since persons that are part of any Minister's cabinet and on these boards would not have an arm's length position when taking decisions. In the case of Chief Inspector Antonio Rogers, the CGC issued a positive advice for him to become a board member of the VKS Management Team. SMN News published other articles earlier this month where the outgoing Commander Jean Illidge said he recommended Rogers to be his successor because he worked with Rogers in the past and knows his capabilities. When contacted on Friday, Illidge said the recommendation he gave for Rogers was to be the future Commander of the VKS and not a member of the Management Team. Illidge also confirmed to SMN News that he submitted the name of Franklyn Richards to be a member of the board.
According to the rules and articles of incorporation, the CGC can only issue an advice on persons that were recommended by Government. Therefore, they could not issue an advice on the Attorney General of St. Maarten Taco Stein who was recommended by the Attorney General's Office (Dick Piar), Bastian Bolt who was recommended by the Regional Command (Governor's Office), and former Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards who was recommended by the VKS outgoing Commander Jean Illidge.
SMN News also reported that Chief Inspector Antonio Rogers would have been appointed as Commander of the VKS based on the advice given to the Prime Minister, but now that Rogers' name has been submitted as a member of the Management Team and he was approved by the CGC, he cannot be appointed Commander unless he resigns from the board if not there would be a conflict of interest.
Up to this moment it is not yet clear how the Prime Minister will proceed with the appointment of the members of the VKS Foundation which has to be established now that St. Maarten is a country. This Management Team is the one tasked with appointing a commander and if the foundation is not established then they will not be in a legal position to appoint anyone as commander. The current commander Jean Illige is due to leave the VKS on February 28th, 2013 when he goes on pension.
