Advise to incoming PM Marcelina
An open letter directed to the incoming PM Dr. Luc Marcelina addresses recommendations on how to correct the functioning of Government owned companies.
The letter reads in-part:
Dear incoming PM
As a medical professional you can agree the patient, (Country St. Maarten) is very sick. You have being charged with the responsibility to cure the ailment.
Your government will be presenting a governing accord for the next four years. For this accord to be properly evaluated in time to come, a baseline study will have to be conducted on the state of affairs in all of the Ministries. This baseline study should give a clear picture of all future commitments and existing liabilities entered into by the now defunct coalition Government. This exercise will give a clear indication of where you are starting from. Where needed, some commitments may have to be annulled or renegotiated. Liabilities should also be evaluated to ascertain their properness. Your biggest challenges will lie in the straightening out of all the Government owned companies; although on a ministerial level, they all have different Share Holder representatives, the purpose of these companies have to be revisited.
It is clear from the many questions and allegations surrounding the Airport, Gebe, Telem, and the Harbor, which begs for a professional, transparent, and integral approach that is rooted in the principles of good governance. From this we clearly see that the Integrity Ordinance has failed. The present lines separating the judiciary, the legislative and executive branches of our democracy (as we experience them), are not based on the Social Contract. Ethics, morality, decency and respect have all been abandoned.
The fact that our Corporate Governance Code and all of the articles of incorporation regarding these Government owned companies are more than 15 years old, is no excuse to continue down the same path. Government owned companies are run by the individual Management teams as if those members are owners and not employees. The proper balance in Government owned companies must be restored. The present Supervisory Board of Directors will have to be dissolved and new ones appointed with the right focus.
HOW TO FUND THE AUDITS
The Netherlands made funds available after the passage of hurricane Irma for reconstruction via the World Bank. There is money at the World Bank and using some of those funds to have forensic audits carried out in the Government owned companies, would not be a bad idea. The people deserve to know. I believe this will give Country Sint Maarten internationally, a better standing and more respect.
Years ago, there were many accounting firms doing business in Sint Maarten. There are none left today. Some were bought out, others closed up shop because of shady dealings. That says a lot about our ability as a country to perform checks and balances on our economy and thus taxes owed. The Country has become a free for all. In this regard Government is understaffed, which is expressed through the practice of not hiring civil servants but employing workers via employment agencies, which in turn is under mining the existence of the St. Maarten Pension Fund.
The envisioned forensic audit should be carried out by a company that is not locally connected to avoid conflict of interest. Further to that, the Government owned company to be audited should not be the ones paying for the audit upfront and therefore be able to influence the process and the final results. The individual Government owned company can be billed later.
Those forensic audit reports should also be presented to the Public Prosecutor in the event thatif evidence surfaces of financial mismanagement, self-enrichment, conflict of interest, collusion, or abuse of position, it can be properly determined.
Name known to editor
