PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The Supervisory Board of Directors and the Management Board of NV GEBE took notice of the contents of a letter by a member of the Supervisory Board of NV GEBE addressed to the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten that circulated in social media and was the subject of an online newspaper article.
NV GEBE fully distances itself from what can only be qualified as deliberate incorrect factual representations of a seemingly disgruntled member of the Supervisory Board.
A member who has been held responsible by all other members of the Supervisory Board on repeated occasions, the last time being June 3rd, 2021, for a long record of serious violations and actions against the best interests of NV GEBE. The confidential records of NV GEBE speak volumes and the proper authorities have been and will again be fully briefed.
The general public can rest assured that both the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of NV GEBE have been working tirelessly in the best interest of NV GEBE to address also what appears to be a systematic undermining by a small group of persons, which includes an employee of NV GEBE with a high function. In the process of taking the appropriate disciplinary or other measures against these persons, NV GEBE once again regretfully suffers through publications of false statements and innuendos.
The latest containing incorrect accusations about the functioning of the boards of NV GEBE and a legal advisor of the Supervisory Board of NV GEBE. Whilst the general public only sees what is directly or indirectly leaked by or on behalf of this small group of people, the simple reality is that the Sint Maarten Government, as the sole shareholder of NV GEBE, is in possession of several detailed reports, both from the Management and Supervisory Board of NV GEBE, outlining and substantiating these irregularities by, as stated, a small group of people. Further detailed reporting will be forthcoming to the Sint Maarten Government.
The specific involvement of the Supervisory Board in this respect is premised on the simple fact that one of these persons with a high function in the company reports to the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board of NV GEBE, and the other one is the disgruntled member of the Supervisory Board.
Meanwhile, the Supervisory Board has also sent certain reports, documents and opinions to the Corporate Governance Council and the Integrity Committee. The Corporate Governance Council however received the package with the pertinent information after it rendered its advice on prospective candidates for vacant functions on the Management Board of NV GEBE.
The Corporate Governance Code and certainly the best interest of NV GEBE warrants for the various findings of both the Management Board and the Supervisory Board to be properly considered in the decision-making of the Shareholder of NV GEBE going forward.
NV GEBE hopes that this is done and that all bodies with authority to safeguard Corporate Governance matters will first and foremost be allowed to perform their tasks, without unnecessary victimization and even intimidation. More importantly, that these bodies continue to take the right decisions for NV GEBE, even when they might be – politically – unpopular.
The Management Board and the Supervisory Board of NV GEBE cannot compel the Shareholder of NV GEBE to seriously consider or even at minimum enter into an objective, fact-based dialogue on the merits of the findings and various substantiated recommendations made by the Management and Supervisory Board of NV GEBE. The Management and Supervisory Board of NV GEBE can only continue their best efforts of reporting to the proper authorities, thereby safeguarding privacy and confidentiality of the matters of NV GEBE.
This, in the hope that the internal system of checks and balances within NV GEBE and the Corporate Governance Code will ultimately suffice in resolving cardinal issues of systematic abuse that now appear to go back till 2014. It is either that, or the Shareholder or Public Prosecutor’s Office should consider commissioning a corporate investigation into NV GEBE. Ultimately, the well-being of its stakeholders where under the employees of NV GEBE and the entire Sint Maarten community is at stake. That well-being is not served by one liners and politicking, but by objective fact-based decision making, with the best interest of NV GEBE and its stakeholders at heart. And of course, with proper understanding of and abiding to the Corporate Governance Code and (by) laws.
