Chamber of Commerce blasts
new directors’ licences policy
PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and industry last night blasted the government’s new policy pertaining to rules for company directors requesting residence permits.
The new policy announced by Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards on Monday took effect Tuesday with the reported backing of both Minister of Justice David Dick and the St. Maarten Executive Council.
In a press release Tuesday night the chamber said the process that had led to the introduction of the policy had been based on “a unilateral decision” that did not take the chamber’s role as a stakeholder into consideration.
The Chamber also said it needed clarification of certain issues, labelled the requirement to the submit business plans “unacceptable” and suggested that one way to curb the abuse of the system of issuing directors’ licences would be to limit the number of director’s licences to two per business.
“The Cabinet’s overnight decision is premature and in direct conflict with St. Maarten’s promotion as a free market, and yet another example that the economic policy of this Government does not match the immigration policy,” the Chamber said.
It also questioned whether “the relevant internal and external departments were consulted” and said that while the Government-appointed tripartite committee had been meeting twice a week regarding proposals to amend the work permit policy, it seemed strange that “an issue like this, with such far-reaching consequences,” had not been submitted for debate in that committee.
The Chamber said it was “surprised” that the Cabinet of the Lt. Governor had not used the Lt. Governor’s “authority” in the past to address the issue of the directors requesting residence.
“The Lt. Governor’s cabinet is the one ultimately responsible for signing and issuing the directors’ residence permits. Therefore, all they had to do was reject these requests if they suspected that the system was being exploited or misused. The laws that govern this issue are on the books to be enforced. Enforcement is always an issue and is marginalised to put the burden on businesses,” it said.
And, referring to some of the specific aspects of the new policy, the Chamber questioned the required amounts of the monthly/yearly salary (75,000 guilders per year), the value or lease of the home (2,250 guilders per month) and the projected income/turnover of the business (500,000 guilders per year).
“We do not know how the Lt. Governor and his Cabinet arrived at these figures and it needs clarification,” the Chamber stated in its press release.
It noted that while the Island and Central Government tax departments, accounting firms established on the island, local banks and others had been mentioned by the Lt. Governor “as far as expected financial statements” were concerned, the law required every business to be registered at the Chamber of Commerce, but the Lt. Governor had omitted that fact as a criterion.
“This could be an oversight by the Cabinet, but it only illustrates the fact that the Chamber, as the authorised representative of all businesses, should have been consulted.”
The chamber continued: “Submitting a business plan is an unacceptable criterion. The Chamber of Commerce believes in the protection of intellectual property and is not comfortable with businesses having to submit their business plans unless a confidentiality agreement is signed and that a similar business does not open shortly after a business plan is submitted.
“The perception that this has happened, can happen or will happen is enough to reject such a requirement.”
It said that had the Lt. Governor consulted with it on this matter, it would have advised him to either limit the number of director’s licences to two per business, or to reintroduce the arrangement whereby “the director’s licence is not a work permit and cannot serve as a basis for a residence permit.
“That would have been an easier solution to curb the alleged abuse of the director’s licence,” the chamber added.
Meanwhile, according to the Chamber, while it has read the relevant press release as published on the Website of the Lt. Governor, it will be requesting an official copy of the policy, and after receipt and perusal of that copy it will request an audience with the Lt. Governor and his Cabinet “to address these issues as soon as possible.”
Earlier in the day chamber President Hubert Pantophlet had lamented that the Chamber had not been consulted to give an input in the new policy for directors’ licences for non-nationals.
“In fact, the new policy took the Chamber by surprise,” Pantophlet said in an invited comment. “In all fairness I think they should have at least consulted and discussed this matter with the private sector and we would have proposed ideas on how to address it. But we were not involved in any consultations and we would have wanted to be involved.”
