PHILIPSBURG--NV GEBE Temporary Manager Iris Arrindell says GEBE cannot comply with the first two demands outlined in the Association for Consumer Protection Sint Maarten (ACP-SXM) nine-point petition, describing them as “an impossibility” because of the utility company’s financial situation and the large number of outstanding bills owed to the company.
Arrindell made the remarks during her first press conference on Friday, just five days after taking up the new post, when she was asked whether GEBE would meet the two main demands contained in the petition.
Arrindell said GEBE suspended utility disconnections for the past two weeks since ACP SXM began its lobbying efforts, and many customers have not come forward to settle their outstanding balances, placing the company in a precarious financial position. “GEBE took two weeks since this whole thing with the march started as a cooling-off period. We did not disconnect as last week, we did not disconnect this week. Our cash just start to go right down because no one is paying.”
She said only 58.6% of customers are paying their bills and that these payments are currently sustaining the utility company. Arrindell warned that if the trend continues, GEBE could find itself in serious financial difficulty, stressing that customers need to meet their payment obligations.
Responding specifically to ACP SXM’s call to suspend residential utility disconnections and reconnect all disconnected households, Arrindell said the demand could not be fulfilled. “That can't be met. It's an impossibility. I mean, if we see the figures, it's just an impossibility,” she said.
She explained that customers who have been disconnected must follow the existing reconnection process. Arrindell said reconnecting all disconnected customers is not feasible because GEBE's policy requires payment and the issuance of a reconnection order before service can be restored. The temporary manager stressed that GEBE must continue collecting revenue in order to meet its financial commitments and fund future investments.
“GEBE has a certain cash flow that we have, but we don't want to be taking from our cash flow. Our cash flow has to continue to grow. Whatever you make, you cannot spend more than you earn, so we need to collect what we earn. We really need to collect what we earn and not 58.6%. We need to collect nearly 100% because we need to do investments, a lot of things that GEBE has to do,” she said.
Arrindell also indicated that utility disconnections will resume after the current cooling-off period expires if payments are not received. “If we stay just two weeks of cooling-off period and we notice no funds coming in, we cannot do without disconnecting,” she said.
Arrindell said GEBE will increase efforts to notify customers through emails, reminders and dunning notices before resuming utility disconnections.
Addressing ACP SXM’s demand, which calls for the reversal of the fuel clause increase, Arrindell said GEBE is equally unwilling to negotiate on the issue. “They said it is non-negotiable, but it's non-negotiable for us also. We can't,” she said.
She argued that reversing the increase would significantly reduce the utility company's revenue and affect its ability to pay suppliers. “If I have to reverse the nine cents, then that monthly salary is going to drop tremendously, and then how am I going to cover my bills because I have to pay. We have to pay SOL and Seven Seas…, so if we drop that, how are we going to pay that then? We are going to be [done]. Yes, it's impossible,” Arrindell said.
The temporary manager also revealed that GEBE had responded to ACP SXM and requested additional time before providing a formal response to the petition. “We responded to them today [Friday ed.] and just asked them for a little more time, but by next week they will have their response definitely from us.”
Asked what solutions GEBE would propose, she said “They will be the first to know. I can't give that to you now,” she said.
ACP SXM previously stated that the first two points of its nine-point petition are non-negotiable. Those demands are the reversal of what the group describes as the unauthorised, unlawful, retroactively applied fuel clause and the suspension of residential utility disconnections, including the reconnection of all affected households. ACP SXM said the two demands require “immediate action” and gave GEBE seven days to comply.
