Berkel says meeting on lab
did not end prematurely
~ Says documents were already provided to Commissioner ~
PHILIPSBURG--State Secretary for Health Joan Smart-Berkel has denied statements that the meeting she had with Health Commissioner Maria Buncamper-Molanus last Friday on the transfer of the Analytic Diagnostic Centre (ADC) ended prematurely because of the unavailability of essential documentation.
In a press release Wednesday, the State Secretary said the Commissioner and her advisors already had possession of all the draft documents prior to the meeting.
She said too that the meeting lasted for two hours. She also said that two points were removed from the agenda – one at her request.
Government Information Service had issued a press release last Sunday indicating that the meeting in question “had to be cut short because of the unavailability of important relevant documents such as the budget 2007, financial statements up to and including 2007 with details of ADC St. Maarten Branch activities, an up-to-date inventory list and the relevant personnel information all to be provided by ADC NV.”
Asked about the conflicting statements during Wednesday’s Executive Council Press Briefing, Buncamper-Molanus said some “minor adjustments” were made to the agenda. She said the State Secretary had promised to provide certain documentation by yesterday, Wednesday, so that the transfer agreement could be inked by February 15. “We are happy to take over the responsibility (of the lab) but a lot has to be done on both sides,” the Commissioner said.
She also said that the management of ADC was present at Friday’s meeting, but opted not to take part in the discussions. However, she said the issue of management is essential. She said talks are currently being held with an “interested party” to take up the helm of the St. Maarten Laboratory Services (SLS) to which the ADC will be transferred.
In the release, Smart-Berkel said the meeting was held to examine the state of affairs of the various draft documents related to the transfer and to set a final transfer date. The State Secretary said one agenda point was removed at her request, because it was a “personal matter” involving an ADC member in Curaçao.
She said the reporting of the meeting in the St. Maarten and Curaçao media that the meeting ended prematurely because of the lack of essential documents was inaccurate. “All the drafts documents were long before in the possession of the Commissioner and her advisors,” the State Secretary said.
Smart-Berkel said several officials accompanied her to the meeting.
