SXMElections.com

PHILIPSBURG--The Supervisory Board of utility company GEBE N.V. and GEBE Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Managing Director Romelio Maduro squared off in the Court of First Instance on Thursday morning in an injunction concerning his suspension. The case is also aimed at the decision of Country St. Maarten as GEBE's shareholder to extend Maduro's contract by two years.

A delegation of GEBE's Supervisory Board, led by Chairman Rene Richardson and comparison attorney Zylena Bary, Veronica Webster-Jansen and Edwin Gumbs, was present during the hearing of the injunction in which GEBE was represented by attorney Jairo Bloem.

Maduro had lawyers Safira Ibrahim and Nerissa de la Rosa present to speak on his behalf.

GEBE wants to get Maduro's reappointment off the table and wants government to retract its decision. To this end, GEBE also has filed a regular court procedure.

At the end of last month, shareholder representative of GEBE Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs, in his capacity of caretaker minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI, rejected a request of the GEBE board not to extend Maduro's contract.

Initially, GEBE had no objections to Maduro's reappointment, but following reports that Maduro allegedly had abused his position and had harmed the company, it called on the Prime Minister to retract the two-year reappointment.

Non-active duty

GEBE announced in a press statement on the evening of June 11 that Maduro had been "suspended and placed on non-active duty" for a two-month period, as of that day.

Among allegations against Maduro are "unusual transactions" and financial irregularities, "neglect" and the inappropriate use of company credit cards, which had given his employer the impression that Maduro had sought personal gain, said GEBE's lawyer.

For instance, Maduro had closed a US $140,000 deal with company SXM Services Provider for the writing of press releases and the drafting of a technical-investment plan and strategic-business plan, in cooperation with KPMG.

Maduro is no longer legally entitled to represent and take any action on behalf of GEBE since his suspension. He held a double function within the company: He was Managing Director and COO, on a so-called "service agreement," which was not renewed.

However, Maduro had been in the GEBE offices, had signed cheques on behalf of the company and had given orders to workers until June 15, GEBE claimed.

Maduro claims that his reappointment is valid, whereas GEBE's lawyer claims it is not as it is in contravention of the governing accord in which it is stated that the entire Council of Ministers are to become shareholder representatives of Government-owned companies, instead of one individual minister. However, Maduro's reappointment was not based on a Council of Ministers decision but on the decision of the Prime Minister alone, Bloem said.

GEBE claims that Maduro's acts on behalf of the company were void after June 11 and that the decree for Maduro's reappointment is also void, as it goes against the advice of the Supervisory Board and is in contravention of GEBE's articles of incorporation. As such, there no longer exists a contractual relationship between parties and therefore Maduro is also no longer entitled to salaries and remunerations.

Bloem said Maduro's reappointment had been "pushed through" by the shareholder representative, despite the Supervisory Board's objections and pending an operational forensic audit of GEBE. Nevertheless, the shareholder representative decided to reappoint Maduro with an eye on continuity of GEBE operations, without calling for advice of the Corporate Governance Council and without a screening by National Security Service St. Maarten.

Back on track

Maduro's legal defence team rejected GEBE's claims and allegations in their entirety. Pending his suspension, Maduro is prepared to not carry out his duties, but after that he wants to put his career "back on track," he told the court. He has always performed his duties correctly and his reappointment is valid and legal, his lawyers said on his behalf.

The case is rather complicated, which led Judge Mauritsz de Kort to call three members of Government's Department of Legal Affairs and Legislation to the Courthouse for explanation. They informed the court that the shareholder's resolution for Maduro's reappointment was valid under the National Ordinance of 2013, which allows for individual ministers to act as shareholder representatives.

The new ordinance that appoints all members of the Council of Ministers as shareholder representatives has not yet been signed by the Council.

Legal advisor Bas van den Bosch also informed that the shareholder representative had the intention to carry out an operational and forensic audit at GEBE to investigate the allegations "shortly."

The Judge enquired during the hearing whether parties would be willing to sit around the table to reach an amiable solution, but this suggestion was cold-shouldered. GEBE no longer wants to work with Maduro as it no longer has faith in its "headstrong" managing director.

Maduro's defence team said their client was not willing to settle. Ibrahim pointed out that Maduro had, in fact, made a positive impact on GEBE. "Outages are now sporadic, whereas in the past, by contrast, there were frequent power cuts and load-shedding," the lawyer said.

The Judge will give his decision July 9.