** Exclusively on SXM Talks, articles by Ralph Cantave **
~Relatives obtain Long Lease During Height of the Pandemic~
Just four months after Egbert Doran assumed the post of Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment, and Infrastructure (VROMI), an individual who has a close familial relationship with the Minister received a 2,150 square meter plot of government long-lease land, recently surfaced documents of the Kadaster’s Office show. According to the official deed, a ministerial decree issued the long lease on July 14, 2020, which was formalized in a deed on November 10, 2020.
The terms allow the individual to use the land for a period of 60 years and grant the individual the right to build a maximum of 3 two-story dwellings on the property. Doran became VROMI Minister on March 28, 2020. Among the appearers and signatures at the notary to finalize the deed was acting Secretary-General of VROMI, Kurt Ruan. Doran appointed Ruan as acting head of Domain Affairs on October 20, 2020.
In addition to the individual mentioned, a sibling of the Minister also received a 2,150 square meter parcel of land in long lease on the same day; July 14, 2020. The lease is also for a period of 60 years and finalized on November 17, 2020.
Legal Bypass Created
In an invited comment the Minister stated that he stands for transparency in the Ministry of VROMI and therefore brought his concerns to the former Secretary-General (SG), Louis Brown. The Minister provided a record of email communication on June 2, 2020, where he stated in relation to the individual, “I see a conflict of interest in this matter on my end. As the application has already been processed by the former Minister, I am hereby requesting your advice on how to proceed in this matter. Also for similar cases in the future.” Brown’s advice to issue the land was positive.
Brown responded by stating the two options possible would be to allow the replacement Minister of VROMI to take the decision or “the matter is placed before the CoM and you refrain from participation in the decision making of the CoM.” Doran responded later that night stating he will explore the first two options. Brown opted not to make a comment. Nevertheless, the Minister stated it was the second time such a conflict came up. According to him, “the first one was a transfer and change of purpose”. He added that internal legal was consulted and they told him to establish a decree when such a situation arises.
That decree was published a ministerial decree on July 3, 2020, less than two weeks before the two relatives obtained government land. Doran further mentioned that a tax lawyer drafted it and “it was vetted by other lawyers.” Doran did not respond to the question on whether the Council of Ministers was informed of the case. However, he added, “the Minister of Finance who’s responsible for the collection of long lease land fees is mandated to act in the event of a conflict of interest.”
The date that the individual requested domain land is yet to be determined; raising questions if the many requests for domain land in the past and recent years without a response, were intently bypassed. Nevertheless, Wever confirmed knowledge of the individual’s application. He added that he had no communication with Doran about the application. During that period Doran served as Justice Minister in the Jacobs I cabinet. A letter sent to the Kadaster by the head of Domain Affairs on March 4, 2020, requested a certificate of admeasurement with a site plan attached to the letter. In that letter, written in Dutch, part of it translates, “You are requested to send the draft drawing of the certificate of measurement by e-mail to the head of the Domain Management Service accordingly, before issuing the final (new) certificate of measurement. You must hand over the definitive certificate of measurement to the head of the Domain Management Service or a person designated by him.”
Discrepancies Persist
In Doran’s decree, he granted the Minister of Finance, Ardwell Irion, permission to sign long-lease parcels in the case of a conflict of interest. That includes a spouse or a partner and relatives by blood or marriage, up to and including the third degree; this would therefore include children and so forth. Article 2 paragraph 2 of the decree states the Minister “may decide to refrain” from issuing land in the conflicts previously mentioned if he has an existent conflict of interest, which according to paragraph 1 of the same article, only he determines.
After fact-checking the process of long lease land, the process revealed that this ministerial decree is misleading. This process was detailed by the Minister during an urgent public meeting in Parliament on September 23, 2021, where the Minister explained 21 steps necessary during the application and finalization of a long lease land request. Therefore the decree creates an impression that the Minister washes his hands from the decision-making process in cases of conflict of interests.
Each case in Domain Affairs is finalized by instruction of the Minister; based on the “mandate” given to the Minister of Finance, Irion would only sign for Doran if he himself finds that there is a conflict of interest. This corresponds with article 2 paragraph 2 of the same ministerial decree. Based on that decision, taken by Doran, Irion would be called in to sign, which he “declared himself willing to do,” according to the ministerial decree.
Previously, the only known case of Irion making use of the decree was, in September 2021, when he signed off on land at Vineyard Heights for a cousin of Doran’s. It is also unclear how many more leases Irion has signed to distance Doran from yet another “conflict of interest.” Irion has not responded to an invited comment. The events bring up the semblance of the leaked audio of former Chairman of Parliament, Rolando Brison who referred to the two Ministers as “the young boys” and speaking of Doran “still going give the …land.”
Review of Land Policy Underway
Following the public exposure of the Vineyard Heights saga in mid-September 2021, Doran started the process of drafting a policy on long lease land with assistance from the Integrity Chamber. The Chamber’s assessment pointed out over a dozen areas for improvement and consideration of the draft policy to avoid biases. As in the case of Vineyard Heights, many persons received land previously given to others and no consideration for former land applicants was made. Gibson & Associates’ advice, which was requested by Doran, advised the Minister to publish the process at Vineyard Heights in the media, but the Minister failed to do so.
The turbid result of Vineyard Heights led to a court case by former land applicants which resulted in the court ordering a standstill of the issuance of the long leases in the area. During the case, the judge said, “the duty of the minister of VROMI to act transparently when making his decisions is essential”. The judge also added the government must provide equal opportunities for land which should not be dependent on the “fortuitous circumstance” of who is the current Minister. The judge chided former VROMI Ministers who gave away land without a policy, a tradition that was not interrupted at the onset of Doran’s tenure.
On February 2, 2022, Doran presented the draft policy to Parliament but no debate on the policy took place after the Minister’s presentation. A majority of the Parliamentarians supported MP Rolando Brison’s proposal to close the public meeting and conduct it in a committee meeting. The following committee meeting on the policy is expected this week.
By Ralph Cantave
- Long Lease 1 (PDF file)
- Long Lease 2 (images below)
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