SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - The response from GEBE to its financial disclosure on Wednesday, according to independent Member of Parliament (MP) Christophe Emmanuel, was a predictable lesson in trying to fool the public with a press release filled with nothing. According to Emmanuel, GEBE's approach resembled the tactics used by the St. Maarten government against its citizens over the previous four years: dance, twist, deceive, and slyly conceal any acknowledgment in a press release full of meaningless platitudes. "I beg GEBE to be open and honest, lest the management be exposed as dishonest like the government."
“I am here to tell the management of GEBE that the people are not stupid and that it heads a government owned company, made possible by a mandate given by the people to the government. To tell the people to be careful of politics is dangerously close to thinking you are above being questioned by Members of Parliament, elected by the people to protect their interests. Today or tomorrow, management of GEBE will be held accountable because that is my job, the company is not yours,” stressed MP Emmanuel.
The MP claimed that the people of St. Maarten have had enough of GEBE's attempts to cover up a pig with lipstick. He claimed that while GEBE may be attempting to project an image of a professional corporation, in reality, it has been reduced to a pitiful shadow of its former self, unable to support itself financially or provide the best possible services to the public. “Never have I seen so many distorting of the truth as I have seen coming from this company and this government. And since the company was in the mood to respond to me, I would like to ask that they keep that same energy and respond to the following questions publicly:
“Please be transparent and tell the public how much money, guilders and dollars, GEBE have in the bank? While you are at it I challenge you to deny that the amount at WIB, as of November 15, 2023, is Naf 500,000 guilders in the red and approximately US $200,000 in the red,” MP Emmanuel said.
He continued: “Please tell the public who are your consultants and how much they are being paid. Also let us know what are their specific contributions to enhancing infrastructure, human capital, and operational efficiency? You said that your crisis team is now a change management team. Please be transparent and tell the public what is the total cost of this team? Has the account that was setup for the crisis team and consultants surpassed 2 million guilders yes or no? And what is the amount spent so far? Please tell the public how much you are paying Ms. Daniel daily and why she isn’t back at work? Also tell the public how much you are paying SOL daily. You keep pounding your chest about 90% invoicing restored to customers, please tell the public how many customers does the remaining 10% constitute?”
“GEBE press release acknowledges delays in financial reporting, at least they admitted that. Can they explain the reasons behind these delays and the steps being taken to eliminate the backlog in financial statements?
“Your press release mentions that the allegations of financial mismanagement are based on selective and misleading information. Could you specify which aspects of the allegations are being disputed, and provide evidence to support your claims? Because saying that information is misleading without correcting this information with what you claim to be the facts, is a fool’s errand,” MP Emmanuel said.
The MP stated that GEBE is acting like putting together a deceptive press release will hide what is happening at the company. “Wordplay is cute. The problem in this instance is my questions are very clear and can’t be misconstrued. GEBE simply need to save their PR people time and answer directly. Instead, it prefers to come up with crazy schemes like bulk-billing while their services remain the largest burden on the people of St. Maarten.
“Provide clarity, provide the truth, and be transparent. Leave the cunningness and lies to the Shareholder Representative, that’s what they do. You are there to manage the people’s company. And the people deserve answers which will reflect not only on the government’s performance, but yours as well,” the MP concluded.
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