~Government picks Wendy Wathey~
PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Tourism Franklin Meyers on Wednesday confirmed The Daily Herald's reports that he has changed the structure of the pending St. Maarten Tourism Authority (STA) to reflect a broader scope of the private sector.
He also announced that government has chosen Wendy Wathey as the seventh person for the Supervisory Board of the (STA) representing the real estate sector.
Meyers disclosed that the other six members of the STA will be Tamara Leonard of the Chamber of Commerce, Kalifa Hickinson of the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), Mark Mingo of the Harbour Group of Companies, Emil Lee of the St. Maarten Hospitality & Trade Association (SHTA), Jim Rosen of the St. Maarten Timeshare Association (SMTA) and Lorraine Talmi of the St. Maarten Marine Trade Association (SMMTA).
Meyer's initial intention was to establish an STA with three members of the private sector and three who government would appoint. After some issues with the nominating and voting procedures, Meyers proposed that all six members hail from the private sector and government would appoint the seventh.
Wathey has an extensive background in real estate and is the Managing Director of her own company, Hermes St. Maarten Interiors, Real Estate Management N.V. She has also been the Sales & Customer Relations Manager at BlueMarine Residences, the Sales and Customer Service Manager at AquaMarina and a Sales Associate at N. C. Wathey Agencies.
In commenting on the letter which Mingo dispatched to him on Monday, Meyers said "in his enthusiasm" Mingo was premature to ask about the involvement of the Corporate Governance Council (CGC) in the process of selecting members for the Supervisory Board of the STA.
Meyers said he has always maintained that the STA will be established in accordance with the law and all that it prescribes. He said had Mingo been part of earlier meetings to discuss the STA, to which he had been invited, he would have received the information. "It's one thing to make statements," Meyers said, "but you have to also be part of the process," he added.
It should also be noted that the Supervisory Board of the STA will not simultaneously be its managing board.
