Dear Editor,
St. Eustatius, how odd is it to see the UPC/Elvin Henriquez asking all these questions now. My question would be why weren’t these questions asked during the governing period of the UPC from July 2013-March 2015, when the portfolio of Finance was in their hands?
If these pertinent questions were asked at the time we most likely would have been a lot further in our financial improvement of the administration than now is the case. Because of the lack of financial insight and lack of communication with the Department of Finance and lack of basic financial knowledge of the entire apparatus, the UPC commissioner was given six for nines continuously without even realizing it. No questions were asked and decisions were taken without realizing the dire consequences this would have on the apparatus.
One good example is the decision to acquire a very expensive system AFAS that lacked transparency, lacked input from those who would be using it, lacked relevant training of staff. This was one example of “if the system isn't broken why fix it”. The government was using Centric at the time without many bottlenecks. Saba and Bonaire are still using Centric and getting the job done. Government has been paying through their nose for a system that was hardly used, paying over US $90,000 per year for 300 users, when at a given moment only two persons were using it. Noises have been spent carelessly to all these consultants and providers without a second thought. Why weren't questions asked then?
All the points in the financial statements that caused Statia to receive a “disclaimer of opinion” from the accountant on a yearly basis, what was done to address these points and to see to it that the financial management of Statia was brought up to par? Did you ask those questions then? The public would like to know.
The public would also like to know what exactly was the cause of higher supervision being placed on the island. By now they should have a pretty good idea, but I believe that the UPC should be the one answering questions and not asking the questions at this point in time.
To wipe your mouth and jump on the bandwagon now, to beat up on the governing coalition on the way they are handling the mess left behind by you is a new low in my opinion. If I was part of the UPC, I would offer help to get the job done, but then again you were there and did nothing.
This government will continue to bring the information to the public, to let the public know what has happened to bring Statia to where it is, and what is being done to help get us out of this situation. We are making headway in cleaning our administration and we promise to keep the public abreast of our progress. I, therefore, advise the general public including UPC to stay tuned. We make sure our vessels are filled before we sound them.
Commissioner of Finance Astrid McKenzie-Tatem
