PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Reliable sources coming out of Sint Maarten and Curacao have informed our newsroom that the newly appointed CFO of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), Ravi Daryanani, requested a 3 month leave of absence to take care of a family member in Curacao. Sources told our newsroom that Daryanani is at this moment in Curacao working for the Ministry of Finance of Curacao, who also is confronting issues with their budget, and having a lot of pressure from the Netherlands.
Daryanani, former Head of the Finance department of the Ministry of Finance of St. Maarten, was appointed CFO of PJIA in October 2017 by the then NA-USP-DP coalition. The USP appointed Minister of TEATT, as shareholder representatives, appointed the Holding and Operations Board members at the airport. The Chairman of the Holding Board is Marieke van Zadelhoff and Chairman of the Operations Board is Alex Dijkhoffz. Our newsroom understood that the Boards approved the 3 month leave of absence of the CFO at such a crucial time.
Last year, Daryanani also left at a crucial moment when the airport really needed him to handle the entire financial problem they were facing post Irma. As CFO, his role is to ensure the financial well-being of the company. Finding financing for the reconstruction of the Airport is also a key task at the moment. The Airport is in such a financial mess, they were unable to pay staff salaries, overtime and contractors in January and were in default with the bondholders. This was made known at the last minute, which required the shareholder to bail them out with a $ 5 million loan.
The most important question at this present moment is; Are the Boards aware that Mr. Darayani is currently employed in Curacao? And is this allowed in is his contract as CFO?
