~ Ministers say verification needed ~
PHILIPSBURG--The government of St. Maarten allegedly owes utility company GEBE N.V. approximately NAf. 12 million in utility bills some of which date back to 2008, a well-informed source has told The Daily Herald.
However according to one minister, should one do the math, one is likely to find that the reverse is true and that GEBE in fact owes the government.
According to this newspaper's source, the electricity and water company has been trying to get government to settle its growing debt with the company via letters to the Ministry of Finance, but it has been rebuffed.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said that while various ministers had been deriding GEBE about financial losses, including those incurred prior to the start of the tenure of the current management, government was not living up to its obligations to settle what it owed and GEBE cannot cut off its services to government.
In an invited comment, Minister of Finance Hiro Shigemoto confirmed having received at least one letter from GEBE, when he stated: "The Finance Department is busy with the answering of the letter to Mr. Brooks [Managing Director of GEBE-Ed.]."
The minister continued: "Naturally we would have to check our accounts payable against GEBE's accounts receivable from government before I can make any statements regarding the outstanding [amount-Ed.], other than [that-Ed.] there seems to be a big discrepancy between the two administrations. As mentioned previously on several occasions, we are busy cleaning up a lot of 'older' payment issues, which need addressing. At the moment I have no other statement than: We are looking into the matter and will be discussing the matter internally with GEBE and not via the media."
Minister responsible for GEBE Theo Heyliger said that, when it comes to who owes what between government and GEBE, information should be given in the right context. He said he believed the amount was closer to NAf. 6 million and that GEBE still owed profit tax from 2008 and 50 per cent of the concession fee of 2011, which is payable by the quarter.
"So when you do the math, it might be that GEBE owes government," Heyliger said, adding that everything had to be verified and would be discussed with GEBE management.
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