PHILIPSBURG--United People’s (UP) party faction leader Grisha Heyliger-Marten has asked Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Ludmila de Weever to investigate allegations that Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Mingo had requested camera footage of the MP as she was departing St. Maarten to determine whom she was speaking to.
“I have been informed by several employees of [PJIA operating company – Ed.] PJIAE that the CEO of PJIAE ordered the security department to provide him with surveillance camera footage of my person having conversations with employees of PJIAE upon my departure from the island on the afternoon of May 18, 2021,” Heyliger-Marten said in her letter.
“According to said employees, the CEO of PJIAE considered my conversations with the staff as illegal meetings and said the employees involved would be fired.”
Heyliger-Marten said in a press release that reports indicate that she was identified as a conspirator in the unrest currently taking place at PJIAE.
In her letter, Heyliger-Marten said that as an MP, she routinely speaks to residents about issues affecting them. She also said that if the allegations of Mingo’s actions are true, it raises concerns over her rights to privacy.
Heyliger-Marten requested that the minister investigate the legitimacy of the employees’ claims and report back to Parliament, post-haste. "Depending on the findings of such an investigation, I would determine whether legal or other actions are necessary," stated Heyliger-Marten.
