PHILIPSBURG--Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Maurice Lake urged Minister Angel Meyers on Sunday, to hold a general meeting to update workers of utilities company GEBE about the developments at the company.
Lake said in a press release that workers and the public should have up-to-date information. He said too that the utilities company has to restructure its public relations and communication team to ensure that “everyone is informed properly and in real time.
“Communication within an organisation is key. If management of the employees is not informed about matters that involved them, then things start to live a life of their own. I am looking forward to the GEBE shareholder representative Minister Angel Meyers calling a general assembly meeting with GEBE management and staff to update them on matters related to the company. This meeting should take place this week, the sooner the better,” Lake said.
“This general assembly is very important in order to lay rumours to rest and provide facts and information. It is good to bring clarity to GEBE and the people of St. Maarten.
“GEBE has the best local professionals and engineers on the island. It’s high time now we get our act together and start putting the right persons in the right positions to lead GEBE. There were too many changes in the top management positions and favouritism over the years, which just demotivated the employees. It’s time to do it right and start holding management responsible and accountable for the company’s performance,” Lake said.
He said the issues at the company are not just about the leaking of information, but also “constant chaos and fighting and standoff with the previous and current shareholder government.”
The board, the MP added, needs to stop micro-managing the company and start holding top managers and department heads accountable for not executing projects in the general interest of the people. “GEBE should never have 30 million in already approved projects on the budget that are carried over year after year, but never executed.
“Gebe should have a five-year written investment plan and a better training and development plan for their employees. We need to bring back stability into the company by putting the right people in the right positions to take St. Maarten to the next level. I think with a new appointed team of local professionals and managers; they can take the company to the next level to better serve St. Maarten.”
He said to that government “is following the right procedures and following the right process to screen the proposed names through the Corporate Governance Council and the National Security Service of St. Maarten. This is a process that could take four to six weeks. In the meantime, the current Board, based on the articles of corporation, has appointed an interim managing director from within its ranks, Mr. Zagers.”
Zagers can make day-to-day decisions within the company and execute existing projects on behalf of the company. “The stories out there that GEBE doesn't have a manager who can make decisions are not true.”
He added that the Waste to Energy Project, Solar, and Alternative Energy are not politicians’ pet projects, but are projects for St. Maarten which GEBE approved in a National Energy Policy. “We have board members and managers who feel the company belongs to them and we have to get away from that myth. We have to be clear about the people’s business.”
He was also critical that the Waste to Energy (reducing the landfill dump), Alternative Energy, Solar, and Clean Energy projects which have not yet started. “We all complaining about the dump that makes people sick, but still not doing anything about it. It's time to take action.” He said there is need for the shareholder to have a performance agreement for boards of government-owned companies, which would allow for a more effective, efficient and productive supervision and management of these companies.
