Chamber knocks Lt. Governor
over foreign directors policy
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry voiced its concerns again last night about the recently introduced policy on temporary residence for foreign directors of local companies as announced by Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards two months ago.
In a strongly worded statement, the chamber also contended that the new policy was already having “a damaging impact on existing businesses” and would eventually have a similar damaging impact on the socio-economic fabric of the island territory.
It said while it fully understood the policy, it could not support its content and spirit, “as it goes against the economic policy of free enterprise promoted by the government of St. Maarten to date as well as against international laws and treaties and the basic principles of contractual agreements between citizens.”
The chamber was also critical of the Lt. Governor’s rejection of its request for an urgent meeting to discuss the new policy with him. It accused him of subjecting a potential meeting to delaying tactics by requesting that the Chamber should prove with sound statistics the projected financial impact of the policy.
It said it had held two meetings with representatives of the various business communities on the island “to funnel their reactions and concerns” about the new policy and it found the concerns voiced by those representatives to be valid. It also found the negative impact of the policy on the island’s economy to be real.
The Chamber said that given the urgency of the matter, it was of the view that meeting the Lt. Governor’s “challenge” to provide reliable proof of the financial impact of the policy, “would be way too late for the survival of the business sector of St. Maarten” and for the survival of the island territory’s economy.
It has therefore opted to use its right to freedom of speech to inform both the Government and the business sector of the local and international legal and other ramifications of the policy.
In this regard, the chamber addressed four issues:
*The impinging on the legally existing freedom of contractual agreement between civilians;
*The establishing and enforcing of a minimum wage (for directors) whilst the formal authority for this action lies elsewhere and whilst, in accordance with the civil code (the Burgerlijk Wetboek) it is stipulated that there is no employer-employee relationship between a director and the legal entity (N.V.), thereby making it impossible to even speak about a salary obligation towards a director;
*The fact that article 7 of the Netherlands-American friendship treaty applicable to the Netherlands Antilles subjects the admittance of business operations by American citizens to be treated equal to Antillean citizens by the authorised entities; and,
*The fact that under European Law of 2001, the decision (van de Raad) of November 27, 2001, concerning the association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) with the European Community, members states are required to treat “citizens (onderdanen)” and legal businesses (or corporations) no less than how local citizens and legal entities (or corporations) are treated.
Commenting further on the said European law, the chamber contended that although rules and regulations might be applied toward stimulating employment of local citizens, no discriminatory treatment was allowed to be applied to member states.
In this regard, the chamber added, there is no legal basis for the criteria within the new policy for the imposing of a minimum rent to a foreign director.
In its press statement last night the chamber also said it wished to inform the concerned business communities that the Lt. Governor had failed to recognise both the urgency of the requested meeting and the right of the Chamber to even request a meeting of such a nature on behalf of the business sector of St. Maarten.
It said it also regretted the lack of willingness on the part of the Lt. Governor to respect the role of the Chamber to mediate between Government and the business sector in arriving at an amicable resolution.
The Chamber also extended “heartfelt thanks” to the business communities and individual businesses for allowing it, in its role of advisor to Government on behalf of the business sector, “to mediate before going over to legal actions against Government for the discriminatory policy applied against foreign directors and legal entities that have supported the economy of St. Maarten for all the years gone by and [are] a main source of employment for locals.”
