NA to call Theo to Parliament

~ Wants answers about GEBE ~

PHILIPSBURG--The blackout of information over a number of GEBE-related issues has the concern of the National Alliance (NA) parliamentary group.

The party will be calling Energy Affairs Minister Theo Heyliger to Parliament to answer questions about its concerns. That request will be submitted some time later this month, NA Member of Parliament (MP) Louie Laveist told The Daily Herald on Tuesday.

Among the NA's concerns is the "Transition Power Plants Saba and Statia Division GEBE Shares" agreement signed between Heyliger (St. Maarten), Saba and Statia on October 27, 2011. Laveist said Parliament had not been informed officially to date about this agreement or what it entails.

"It is disrespectful of the minister not to inform Parliament of this agreement, so since he did not have that respect for Parliament, we will call him," said Laveist in a telephone interview.

The agreement, a copy of which this newspaper has seen, calls for the new St. Eustatius Electricity Company N.V. and Saba Electricity Company N.V. to be established. St. Maarten, with its 92 per cent share in GEBE, will buy out Statia's 4.5 per cent for US $9 million and Saba's 3.1 per cent for $6.2 million, with financing coming from GEBE St. Maarten, which is said to be in a financial position to commit the $15.2 million.

According to the agreement, the division of shares is based on an average of the five different scenarios/proposals presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The annual account of the company as of December 31, 2009, will be the basis of the division of the shares and will be verified by a third party.

Laveist said NA also was concerned about the significant amount of water losses, the rate reduction offered to consumers and many other issues that would be raised when the Minister was called to Parliament.

"We are very concerned about his rate reduction that was instituted in December. Consumers are supposed to receive a reduction in their GEBE bills, but I don't know what type of reduction they are talking about, because consumers have not experienced any reduction. In fact, what we have experienced is inflation," Laveist said.

"The continued water leakage also seems to be accelerating and, of course, who is paying for this loss? Naturally, the consumers, and we need to talk about this and the minister needs to come forward and explain what is happening.

"Even Stevie Wonder, if he visited St. Maarten for an hour, would notice that there is something fundamentally wrong with water leakage in St. Maarten. We have nothing to envy Dominica for, because we have more rivers running in the streets of St. Maarten than in Dominica.

"It is a shame that no one in government can see that there needs to be a structural approach with regard to running water. With all this money GEBE is making I don't understand why there is not a structural project in place to address this whole issue," he said.

This newspaper has been unable to obtain any information from GEBE's Shareholding Foundation or GEBE's Supervisory Board regarding the status of the "Transition Power Plants Saba and Statia Division GEBE Shares" agreement.

In an invited comment, Heyliger told this newspaper on Monday that he had sent a letter to the foundation and the board with copies to the governments of Saba and Statia, seeking an update. The foundation and the board "have a job to do" before the transfer will be actualised. He has not received any updates, regular or otherwise, since the signing of the agreement, Heyliger said.

The last confirmed report said Statia's representative on GEBE's Shareholding Foundation Max Pandt was not cooperating fully with the execution of the agreement, claiming that he had not received instructions from the government of Statia.

Statia's Commissioner Clyde van Putten went on record stating that Pandt would receive Statia's instructions and that Statia believed the agreement was a good starting point. There has been no indication as to whether Pandt has received those instructions.

The "Transition Power Plants Saba and Statia Division GEBE Shares" agreement also commits GEBE's Shareholding Foundation to establish the new energy companies in Saba and Statia at its expense and to transfer into these new companies the agreed-on liquid and fixed assets. The shares of the new companies will be owned 100 per cent by the governments of Saba and Statia.

Parties also agreed to a transition period for the new electricity companies of Saba and Statia with GEBE St. Maarten for an initial period of one year. This transition agreement entails:

1) Service level agreements (SLAs) to be worked out for the areas of technical, managerial and other support needed for the production and distribution of electricity in St. Eustatius and Saba to be finalised before January 1, 2012.

2) The execution of all pending projects and investments budgeted for Saba and St. Eustatius by GEBE for the year 2010. A total amount of $1 million, to be divided between the latter two islands, will be made available for the projects investments.

3) Prior to the transfer date of January 1, 2012, the public entities of Saba and St. Eustatius will re-evaluate the operating cost of the branches on the two islands. Parties will not unnecessarily delay or obstruct the transfer of tasks and services.

4) The legal positions of the current GEBE employees in Saba and St. Eustatius will be finalised with that company. Following this, these employees will be transferred to the new companies. The employees will go over to the new companies with the same legal standings, salaries, and other benefits to which they are currently entitled with NV GEBE. Built-up pension rights will be maintained as much as possible and will migrate with employees to their new employers.

5) Parties agreed that no major appointments and/or other crucial decisions would be made effective the signing date up until December 31.

Source: http://www.thedailyherald.com/islands/1-islands-news/23990-na-to-call-theo-to-parliament-.html

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