While the Court is still to rule June 26 on a petition by the Prosecutor’s Office for a civil inquiry at Port St. Maarten, management came out with a related press release (see Thursday paper). The government-owned company deviated from its custom not to comment on pending legal procedures to “rectify and clarify” what it called “certain incorrect statements made.”
The people thus learned what measures are being taken to promote integrity at one of the country’s key entities especially regarding cruise tourism. This is significant for public confidence because of suspected irregularities at the harbour allegedly involving (former) top executives, including the separate “Emerald” criminal case.
The prosecution’s current request is based on two years of preliminary investigation during which many questions had been answered and asked-for documents provided. This apparently gave enough reason to want to delve further into the matter.
However, regardless of what happened before, it is good to know that at least an effort is being made to address some of the shortcomings, such as having insufficient Supervisory Board members, a backlog in approved annual accounts and lack of compliance with internal guidelines. The way projects were put out to tender and loans contracted also raised concerns.
Implementation of the whistle-blower and non-retaliation policy suggested by the authorities as well as creating the positions of confidential counsellor and complaint officer certainly seem like steps in the right direction. It could be argued that they come only after the fact, but one needs to begin at some point.
The harbour is not going anywhere and will continue to play a major role in daily life on the island and its economy. While tackling possible wrongdoings and/or maladministration of the past is justified and if guilty those responsible should be held accountable, looking forward and making the necessary improvements towards the future is equally pivotal.
In that sense it’s never too late to start doing things right.
