~ Theo issues a gag order ~
SABA--The Executive Council of Saba is not deviating from its position that St. Maarten alone, and by extension Commissioner Theo Heyliger, cannot decide on the future of GEBE, and Saba (with Statia) is prepared to go to court if the way the company is being dealt with is not changed.
On the same day St. Maarten Energy Commissioner Theo Heyliger had scheduled a meeting with both the Supervisory and the Shareholding Foundation Boards of GEBE to discuss the controversial planned hiring of two additional managing directors to serve alongside sitting managing director William Brooks, the Executive Council of Saba, which recently ordered a boycott of the meeting by its representatives on both boards, reiterated its opposition to the process in a joint press conference between the council and representatives of the Dutch Regional Service Centre on Tuesday at the Saba Government Administration Building in The Bottom.
"We informed the Dutch government that any future talks with GEBE should also be held in consultation with the Island Territories of Saba and St. Eustatius," said Saba's Commissioner of Economic Affairs Chris Johnson. "We have received agreement (with St. Eustatius) about this and we are planning how to continue with this sensitive subject.
"The government of Saba has taken its stance and we also informed the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs about that stance. We intend to follow that through," Johnson said. "Our feeling is that GEBE is a company owned by the three Windward Islands and the future of that company has to be decided between the governments and government talks."
In the meantime, The Daily Herald has learned that Commissioner Heyliger, after his meeting on Tuesday, gave specific orders for all parties involved not to make any statements publicly. The Commissioner himself has been unavailable for comment about the meeting. However, the representatives of Statia were present at the meeting. The attorney for William Brooks was also unavailable for comment yesterday.
The supervisory board adopted a recommendation from the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers last month to hire two additional managing directors. That move prompted the leaders of Saba and St. Eustatius to draft a letter, later that month, making it clear that those governments that are joint shareholders in GEBE with St. Maarten want to distance themselves from the move.
The Executive Council also reaffirmed its support for Brooks, who announced on Tuesday his intention to seek a legal injunction to stop the additional hirings.
Saban leaders did not contend the assertion that power production on the smaller islands operated at a net loss to the company. However, they did point out that GEBE's losses with regard to water production on St. Maarten – reportedly in the tens of millions owed to the company by the St. Maarten government – is a much greater liability for GEBE and a de facto subsidy. They also believed the unilateral attempt to reconcile these issues was at the heart of the current controversy.
"You can talk about Saba takes a loss, but we don't have losses reported in the tens of millions," Commissioner Johnson said. "That is a real loss for the company. So if you are going to talk one issue, you are going to have to talk all issues pertaining to the company. That is the way we feel, and we don't like the way it's going right now, with a commissioner going purely through the media and using these political tactics. If we have to end up resolving these issues in court, we'll do that. In the meantime, we'd like those things brought down to a government-to-government level."
Despite the contentiousness of the current situation, Johnson did express some optimism that the three governments could eventually come together on a plan regarding GEBE's future. The RSC representative at the press conference Ed van Haveren also indicated that Dutch officials would like to see the islands resolve the matter between themselves.
"I still think it's possible," Commissioner Johnson said. "The reality is that GEBE is a company of 50 years. I see the benefits of continuing with a company like GEBE. That allows Saba and Statia to belong to a larger institution and that has benefits to Saba and Statia across the board. So, I think we can work it out. It should be possible."
