ExCo to discuss donation
to Sky is the Limit today
PHILIPSBURG--The Executive Council will discuss today TelEm’s donation to The Sky is the Limit Foundation. Only following the outcome of those discussions can the Island Council receive the information Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards has forwarded to the Executive Council, Telecommunications Commissioner Maria Buncamper-Molanus said yesterday.
National Alliance (NA) requested a public meeting of the Island Council on the donation because despite the Lt. Governor having forwarded the information to the Executive Council on May 28, the information was not available to the Island Council when it met on Monday.
In the meeting all members of the NA political faction said they believed the conflict of interest was clear. The party said it had no problem with the way the donation had been used, but the procedures followed had not been transparent and in accord with the rules of good corporate governance.
Buncamper-Molanus is the commissioner politically responsible for TelEm while her husband Claudius Buncamper is a founding member of The Sky is the Limit Foundation as well as a member of TelEm’s executive board of directors.
Buncamper was the one who signed a letter from the foundation in February requesting US $25,000 from TelEm for organising the “From Us to You” calypso show in the Carnival Village. He was also member of the organising committee of that show.
While having the firm belief that there was a clear conflict interest, NA contended that Buncamper-Molanus’ press secretary Michael Granger had tried to mislead the public with a press release in which he said the Commissioner and her spouse had resigned from the board in April 2007.
However, NA leader Island Councilman William Marlin displayed a printout of the commissioner’s Website on which her December 2007 Christmas wishes could still be read and on which it was clearly stated that she was the president of The Sky is the Limit Foundation.
Also, Buncamper-Molanus was called up to the stage as president of the foundation after the “From Us to You” calypso show in April 2008.
Marlin was convinced that only in recent weeks had the board members of the foundation been changed to create the impression that the commissioner was not a board member.
Councilman Rodolphe Samuel read from a copy of the articles of incorporation of The Sky is the Limit Foundation from 2005 stating that the commissioner was the first president of the foundation and her spouse, Claudius Buncamper was the founder.
The commissioner also told the Island Council on Monday that she had not been aware that her husband, as a member of the organising committee of the “From Us to You” show and member of the executive board of directors of TelEm had requested funding from the telecommunications company.
“That kite won’t fly. Not with us,” Marlin said. “It’s bad government.”
Buncamper-Molanus agreed that conflict of interest must be avoided at all times, based on rules of good corporate governance. She was even willing to query her own actions, stating: “One can ask if the procedure was the best.”
However, she denied all suggestions that she as the commissioner responsible for telecommunications had manipulated things. She said the allegations had no substance and no basis. She reiterated that no illegal action had taken place.
She said she believed the opposition was trying to create a false impression, as the only ones who had benefited from the funding were the people of St. Maarten, the booth holders in the Carnival Village and the calypsonians.
