The at-arm’s-length fallacy

There is a false belief that because government should remain at arm’s length from government-owned companies, the management and the supervisory board members are untouchable. Wrong!

If management and/or the SBODs are not acting in the interest of the company nor following instructions properly and timely given according to corporate governance procedures, then the shareholder (in the case of government-owned companies, the government) has all rights to request the dismissal and/or removal of the management and/or the SBODs. The problem in our country is that we do not follow proper procedures in anything we do. It is like the principle of proper procedures is what is being held at arm’s length.

Anyway, what has happened this week, we have seen happen many times before. It is like déjà vu all over again. Read the Letter to the Editor for a bit of St. Maarten’s corporate port history. The only question is, who will go to jail this time around. Only a full forensic audit can determine that. Until then, let’s stick to the agreements made on paper and bring those to full fruition first. Rebuilding the airport terminal building is our country’s number one priority at this point in time.