StMaartenNews.com brings you a special report on how the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) has become a ‘political football’ with the fundamental question: Who is really Brian Mingo’s boss?
PHILIPSBURG — The Princes Juliana International Airport has once again become the proverbial “political football” and there is only one politician who is milking the game for all that it’s worth: the lone independent MP Christophe Emmanuel. His demands for the dismissal of airport director Brian Mingo are a prime example of political interference at a government-owned company.
On Monday, Emmanuel said during a Central Committee meeting that Mingo is “a disease and a poison” to the growth of the airport. Apparently not satisfied with the reporting about his statements, the MP sent a letter to the editors of local media in which he once more urges the holding company (PJIAH) to dismiss Mingo and to get rid of the board of the exploitation company (PJIAE) as well.
But who has the authority to dismiss Mingo? Is it the holding company? Is it the exploitation company?
It is clear that the airport director was not hired by the holding. He was hired by PJIAE. This entity issued a press release on January 7, 2019 to announce his appointment. Alex Dijkhoffz, the chairman of PJIAE’s supervisory board stated in that press release: “Mingo is the right candidate. His vision on how the airport needs to be transformed is exactly what PJIA needs.”
On February 17, 2019, just five weeks after he started working at the airport, Mingo stated on the company’s website that the airport urgently needs a $15 million bridge loan. “Work can then begin on reconstruction plans and reconstruction can begin by July 2019.”
Furthermore, Mingo stated: “If all goes as planned and urgent action is taken now we will be celebrating the reopening of our reconstructed airport terminal by July 2021.”
In June 2019 Gay Nagle Meyers, a staff writer for Travel Weekly quoted Mingo as follows: “All repairs will be completed by 2021 and US pre-clearance will be operational by 2022. It is vital for our tourism product.”
Unfortunately, things did not progress as planned. Why? In part due to political interference. In February 2019 the opposition in parliament fiercely opposed plans to fund the airport-reconstruction with loans from the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. MP Frans Richardson then leader of the United St. Maarten party (USp) called it “the worst agreement this country has ever signed.”
In December 2019 the government had changed and the USp was no longer in the opposition. That’s when the government signed the loan agreements with the World Bank and the European Investment Bank. The conditions for these loans had not changed since February; only the government had changed. This represents a delay of eleven months that can hardly be attributed to airport director Mingo.
In the summer of 2019 the opposition threw another spanner in the works by asking for a postponement of the handling of the 2019 budget. This postponement was requested b MPs Emmanuel, Rolando Brison and Jurendy Doran.
Mingo reacted to this situation with a statement on the airport’s website. “Postponement of the 2019 budget is a devastating blow to the reconstruction plans. Unless the budget is approved, critical funding cannot move ahead.”
In the same statement Mingo noted that “commercial funding is not an option because the airport is still paying off a $140 million debt service from 2012.”
In early December of last year, the airport’s holding company sent Mingo a letter demanding his resignation per January 4, 2021. The reasons? Lack of progress with the reconstruction project, a strained relationship with the staff, an increase in expected reconstruction costs from $107 million to $119 million (as reported by Mingo in a presentation to the Council of Ministers on November 12, 2020) and “disinterest” in taking steps towards US pre-clearance.
In this context it is good to remember what former Minister of Finance Perry Geerlings had to say about pre-clearance during a press briefing of the Council of Ministers on September 11, 2019: “Pre-clearance has its place in the development of the airport. It comes with a heavy price tag. When you look at the airport’s financial predicament you will only fit in pre-clearance when it is financially responsible.”
“This government never said that pre-clearance is not a priority,” Geerlings continued. “But these things take time; you are talking about establishing a treaty here and we have to talk about tax-exemptions for the 80+ US-employees that are going to work there. You have to plan this in a responsible way so that it does not backfire on the country and its people.”
Since then there has been no public indication that the treaty Geerlings referred to as been established. This is obviously the competency of the government and not that of the airport or its director.
Mingo has so far ignored the marching orders from the holding company. Last Monday he gave a presentation about the situation at the airport in a central committee meeting of parliament, thus sending a clear message that he is not going anywhere. Mingo indicated already on December 29, 2020 in a media statement that he has no plans to resign. “I am not interested in stepping down, no matter the amount of money. I am committed to successfully completing the rebuilding of the airport of the future.”
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