Utilities company GEBE N.V. continues to be buffeted from left, right and centre, and makes the headlines generally for the wrong reasons.
The company continues to be St. Maarten consumers' favourite target for serious tongue-lashing and stiff uppercuts because of their ongoing concerns about the high cost of electricity as reflected on their monthly light bills due primarily to the company's application of its notorious "fuel clause."
And frequently – all too frequently during the past year – as soon as tempers are calmed after heated discussions about the fuel clause, they become frayed once again because of sudden and prolonged power outages.
All this takes place while the company continues to be the theatre for what, rightly or wrongly, many construe as a personal battle between the current managing director and his predecessor, who is also the current chairman of the company's Supervisory Board of Directors.
And as though all this were not already too heavy a load for the company owned by the Island Governments of Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten to carry, it has had to contend with the fallout from a court battle between the board and the managing director who successfully, if only temporarily, thwarted the board's efforts at removing him.
But the list goes on. The company, which is still to seriously pursue its mandate to help address the serious sewage problem in St. Maarten, is now girding itself in preparation for the fallout from two additional battles.
In one case, the current managing director is threatening to initiate another court action intended to force the Shareholding Foundation to instruct the Supervisory Board to halt all efforts at recruiting two additional managing directors to help run the company – efforts which his lawyer contends are part of continuing attempts by the board to create a platform to fire his client.
The second battle pits the Island Government of St. Maarten against the Island Governments of Saba and St. Eustatius, with the three about to lock horns over controversial issues related to the ownership of the company whose operations in Saba and Statia were subsidised to the tune of NAf. 12 million during the three-year period 2007 to 2009, ostensibly out of the pockets of the consumers in St. Maarten.
This particular battle has taken on added significance in the context of the imminent dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles that will see Saba and Statia emerging as Dutch public entities.
All these battles that are being either waged or prepared for must be major sources of distraction from the pursuit of the core business of the company whose far-from-achieved vision is "To be the leading utility company in the Caribbean by providing high-quality and reliable electricity, water and waste water management services to the Dutch Windward Islands, in a customer-oriented and cost-effective manner ..."
Unfortunately, while these battles have their origins firmly grounded in the political decision-making processes of the three island territories, there have been no indications to date that the three governments intend to meet and thrash out the issues.
We strongly recommend that there be such a meeting of political minds – sooner rather than later.