Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
~ Information is too sensitive for public debate. ~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs told parliament on Friday that many of their questions could not be answered on the floor of parliament since the information is too sensitive. Jacobs said that based on the information the shareholder received it showed that the management of NV GEBE hired two companies after the March 16th, 2022, ransomware attack. She said Aurora InfoTech was not hired to recover the lost data, but the company hired a company from Australia to recover its data. Jacobs said that the data that was recovered is not usable up to this day.Members of Parliament asked what amount of money was paid to Aurora InfoTech, the Prime Minister said that the company has a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in place and as such that information cannot be shared with third parties including parliament. The Prime Minister also did not disclose how much was paid to the Australian-based company and if the amount paid to the two companies exceeds the two million dollars demand by the Black Byte hackers.The Prime Minister did not provide answer all the questions posed in the first round of the meeting. Jacobs did not make any mention of the outcome of the screening of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) however she said that the shareholder approved the appointment of the COO who has been appointed as of August 22nd, 2002, while the screening of the CEO is still ongoing.Jacobs said that a crisis management team has to be appointed, she was asked by MP Wescot Williams if the crisis management team was given specific assignments from the SBOD or shareholders.MP Ludmilla de Weever asked the Prime Minister who exactly is appointing the crisis management team. She asked if the persons are being appointed by the shareholder or the SBOD. De Weever asked about the qualifications these persons have and HOPE that the decisions are business-like.Jacobs assured parliament that crisis management will be a complete external and independent body. She made clear, that the team will consist of IT specialists and persons with financial backgrounds.