Approval of Ennia-solution does not make everybody happy
By Hilbert Haar
PHILIPSBURG — The parliament of St. Maarten approved the solution for the Ennia group of companies in October but not everybody is happy with the decision. Five parliamentarians voted against the decision, among them PfP-MP Ludmila de Weever.
De Weever stated in a three-part video that she considers the decision hasty. “It was a rushed decision and not a good one.”
In a way the parliament bent to the will of the Netherlands that threatened with higher interest-rates on Covid-loans if it voted against the solution.
De Weever wonders whether that pressure could have something to do with a potential doom scenario whereby the 27,450 pension policy holders lost their pension payments and moved en masse to the Netherlands.
Part of the solution is still the potential sale of Mullet Bay. That’s a private property and it is located on St. Maarten, De Weever pointed out. But if it is sold, 93 percent of the proceeds would go to Curacao and St. Maarten would keep just 7 percent.
De Weever was not the only one to vote against the decision to save Ennia and thereby protect the interest of its pension policy holders. Darryl York and Ardwell Irion (National Alliance) and Francisco Lacroes and Omar Ottley (United People’s party) also voted against.
In June Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs told parliament that the so-called headline agreement was not the best solution for St. Maarten. The government has now presented an addendum to the agreement that will save St. Maarten 37 million guilders, mainly by making it exempt from responsibility for pensioners that are not living in St. Maarten.
Under the headline agreement St. Maarten has now committed to contribute around $1.1 million per year for a period of 30 years. This amount will be withheld from the dividend the Central Bank of Curacao and St. Maarten (CBCS) pays annually. St. Maarten receives every year about $2.2 million in dividend but after the deduction for the Ennia-rescue operation it will receive something like $531,600.
In the background plays the future of Mullet Bay, the asset that is on the books of Ennia and that has, through various appraisals, been heavily overvalued. Sun Resorts is still the formal owner of the property. Its CBCS-appointed management, consisting of former notary Mike Alexander and Geomaly Martes, a former director of the government accountant bureau Soab, managed to get the approval from its shareholders towards the end of October to sell the property.
Mullet Bay measures 67.7 hectare of which 40 hectare is a golf club. The Antilliaans Dagblad reported that the sale of the property must at least bring in $110 million. Alexander and Martes are charged with preparing the tender.
The government of St. Maarten has a matching right: it is entitled to buy Mullet Bay for the price offered by the highest bidder, plus 5 percent. The reported target price seems to be on the low end, since an appraisal initiated by the CBCS in January 2021 set the value of Mullet Bay at $180 million.
So far, it remains unclear what the government would do with Mullet Bay if it decided to purchase it. The first obvious hurdle is to get approval for a loan to clinch the deal from financial supervisor Cft. It is at least questionable whether the government can hang on to the property without any plans for development. That would require opening the door for investors and construction companies. That, in turn, would most likely trigger a fierce reaction from those who would like to preserve Mullet Bay as a national park.
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