SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY) - In a press statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Member of Parliament (MP) Grisha Heyliger-Marten said that she has sent an urgent letter to Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication, the Hon. Arthur L. Lambriex with her concerns about the ongoing issues at Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA).
“It is an established fact that since the tenure of the current CEO (Ed Chief Executive Officer) of PJIAE started, our national airport and gateway has been experiencing a number of serious and persistent problems”, Heyliger-Marten stated.
She cited, amongst other things, delays, and cost overruns in the reconstruction of the terminal building, frequent changes of CFO’s (Ed Chief Financial Officer), conflicts between staff and the CEO resulting in personnel unrest, protests, and dissatisfied employees, some of which have resigned due the highly toxic working environment.
But most importantly, Heyliger-Marten pointed to a number of questionable terminations of long-standing employees and allegations of personal victimization by the CEO.
“From all these problems at the airport and other information that has regularly reached me since the current CEO took up his post, it is clear that he has created and fosters a very toxic working environment. From what I have gathered, PJIAE’s CEO demoralizes, victimizes, and terminates employees who don’t see everything his way and dare to speak their opinion for the benefit of the company. This is of course unacceptable and needs to end”, according to Heyliger-Marten.
“Employees form the backbone and are the biggest asset of any organization. They should be treated with care and respect and feel safe in their working environment. The CEO of PJIA should understand that leadership is not about being in charge, which seems to be his sole motto. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.”
In her letter to the Minister, Heyliger-Marten asks him thirteen questions on a number of topics. These include information on the number of dismissals and resignations of employees since the start of the current CEO’s tenure, the status of the service agreement with the current CEO and if it will be extended or not, alleged conflicts of interests of a member of the Supervisory Board of the airport holding (PJIAH), and the recruitment process of the CFO’s and recently appointed Chief Operations Officer (COO).
“I look forward to Parliament receiving answers to these and other questions as soon as possible, and for the Minister to urgently look into this matter. Parliament cannot allow one person to jeopardize the livelihoods of tens of employees by victimizing them.
If nothing is done urgently, this so-called “hands-off approach” which Government applies when its convenient, will ultimately lead to the collapse of one the people of St. Martin’s two main assets, our national airport”, Heyliger-Marten concluded.
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