Dear Editor,
So now that the educated local professional has been fired (unceremoniously, I might add), who will get the job to run things at PJIAE [Princess Juliana operating company – Ed.]?
What will be the requirements for the new CEO?
Must it be a man? Can it be a woman?
Must he/she be a “born-here”?
Must he/she have a specific skin color?
Must he/she come from a specific cultural background Must he/she have experience in (re-)building international airports?
Must he/she have experience in professionally running an international airport?
Must he/she be able to think for him/herself?
Must he/she be able to on a high level deal with financiers, bondholders, bankers, lawyers and government?
Must he/she be capable of and prepared to kiss butts?
When asked to jump, must he/she have the frame of mind not to ask “why”, but “how high”?
Answers to these questions may give the island population a better insight in what could be the next chapter in the saga of getting the airport fully restored, up and running sooner than later. After all, it is the most important piece of infrastructure for St. Maarten, is it not?
A final question, the answer of which should be smoked out and laid bare, is: Who is pulling whose strings at our once award-winning International Airport, still in shambles 3 years and 7 months after Hurricane Irma?
Michael J. Ferrier
