Businesses criticise proposal
to eliminate director’s licence
~ Say misuse should be tackled through control ~
PHILIPSBURG--A proposal by the Department of Economic Policy and Research (DEPR) to eliminate the need for directors’ licences drew sharp criticism from the large group of businesspersons attending last night’s St Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry general members meeting.
Under the proposal, foreign directors who wish to reside in St. Maarten no longer would need to obtain a director’s licence, but would have to apply for an employment permit under the regulations that currently exist.
The capacity crowd of business representatives questioned the effectiveness of this approach in combating the misuse of directors’ licences by immigrants to obtain employment permits. They also questioned why small businesses would remain on the island if they needed temporary employment permits that could be turned down, putting their businesses and investments in jeopardy.
The proposal, which was discussed with the organisations representing businesses in St. Maarten in January, was among a list of proposed changes to the Business and Director’s Licence Policy outlined to the gathering at the Chamber of Commerce annual general membership meeting Monday night.
Economic Affairs Commissioner Maria Buncamper-Molanus said eliminating the director’s licence would eliminate distinctions that currently exist between Dutch and non-Dutch business directors.
At the moment a person of Dutch nationality is not required to obtain a director’s licence, while foreigners are required to do so, a distinction that had to be eliminated because of changes to the civil code, Buncamper-Molanus stressed to the large group at the Philipsburg Cultural and Community Centre.
Eliminating the director’s licence would also mean that foreign directors would avoid the stringent requirements of Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards’ new policy on residence permits for immigrant directors.
Revising the business licence policy, businesses were told, will also promote efficiency and speed and reduce bureaucracy. Under the draft policy, businesses would also be required to have a resident director.
The draft document also proposed that all businesses be required to obtain business licences. It also suggests an adjustment in the business licence fee to NAf. 2,500 for NVs and BVs and NAf. 850 for sole proprietorships, which were not subjected to fees in the past. New sole proprietorships would be given a 12-month grace period before being required to pay the fee.
The entire proposal is expected to be tabled in the Executive Council next Tuesday.
Although the reasons for the proposal to eliminate the director’s licence were extensively outlined, the large group of small business-owners believed this was not the correct approach to address the issue. Some argued that the misuse and abuse of the director’s licence by some businesses should be addressed through control, while others said the Lt. Governor’s policy should be applied only to new businesses entering the market, not to existing ones.
The large gathering gave a standing ovation when a member of the audience, former notary at law Elco Rosario, said the Lt. Governor’s policy was hurting the vast majority of “honest” businesspersons who applied for directors’ licences for legitimate reasons. Rosario said he thought Richards’ policy was like “killing mosquitoes with machine guns” and that he and many other businesses were willing to sit with the Commissioner to iron out the issue and propose workable solutions.
Buncamper-Molanus, who maintained that she had no authority to change the Lt. Governor’s policy, said she was willing to sit with Rosario on the issue. She also said the Lt. Governor’s policy was geared towards addressing the Immigration situation on the island and noted that the island had laws in place that needed to be adhered to.
One member of the audience said the new policy would affect 1,000-1,500 businesses. In response, Buncamper-Molanus requested the organisations representing businesses to provide the statistics to “prove” that the new policy “is a problem” severely affecting businesses.
Many of the business-owners present spoke about the difficulties they had been encountering in renewing their director’s licences and about how the changes would affect them. One person commented that by the time the problem of the director’s licence was ironed out, many of those in the audience would have been deported. The issue sparked a heated discussion among the business community present and the commissioner maintained that she had a listening ear to their concerns.
At the start of the meeting the chamber honoured Damu Rawtani for his long service and tireless contributions to the board over the past nine years. Rawtani, who is no longer on the board, was said to be one of the longest-serving members of the chamber board.
