Emmanuel: Hiring more foreigners at PJIA over locals will not happen | SOUALIGA NEWSDAY

SINT MAARTEN (PHILIPSBURG) - On Sunday, independent Member of Parliament (MP) Christophe Emmanuel declared that he would not permit the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) to keep mismanaging the airport by erecting his own "kingdom of servants" while marginalizing and demeaning hard-working St. Maarteners.

The airport CEO, Brian Mingo, was referred to by the MP as the weakest link at the center of one of the worst mismanagement scandals in St. Maarten's history, and "including the staff in this mess will not be permitted to happen."

In order to hire individuals from outside the company who have been selected as the appropriate "yes-people" at PJIA, MP Emmanuel said that Mingo has been busy creating management roles at PJIA on the whim. 

"These are roles that didn't exist, are unnecessary, and will raise consultancy costs for a cash-strapped airport. I don't understand why the government of St. Maarten permits the airport's CEO to inflate the costs there, which keep rising despite having no results to show for it. He has botched the entire project, yet he still has free reign to do what he pleases, according to MP Emmanuel.

The recent posting of a job opening for a position that Mingo created, "Corporate Communications Manager," has particularly irritated the MP because Audrey St. Luce-Jack, who works for PJIA and is one of the most seasoned media professionals on St. Maarten, has done an exceptional job at the airport in terms of communications,” according to the MP.

“Even more upsetting, is we are learning that the person targeted for this created corporate position, is a non-St. Maartener previously employed at another government owned company (TelEm),” MP Emmanuel said. “It will not happen. We already can’t get a local counterpart for the CFO position at the airport. Every time we ask, we get a different excuse. Now you want to create a position for a foreigner? Over someone whose experience is unassailable and make her second fiddle to a foreigner?”

“If reports are true, this person was working on St. Maarten at TelEm after her work documents and such was legally signed for by TelEm. So let her stay there. It will not happen. And I’m calling out all airport employees to not stand for this kind of treatment anymore. When will you stand for your own?” MP Emmanuel said.

He also disclosed that Mingo has already contracted a consulting media firm out of Holland “Tulipa Media” who works along with the experienced, local communication specialist at PJIA.

“Why? So you hire yet another consultant to go with those that have cost us more than 10 USD million already in the airport project. Now in addition to a foreign consultant, you create a position to place a yet another foreign person. Same goes for the Commercial Director position. You have a local interim Commercial Director, but put out a vacancy for a new director without the interim knowing apparently. Then we get to the Director of HR, yet another created position for a “yes-person”, who was hired without a vacancy ad being placed and who is now busy creating the positions in which you want to place other yes-people. One mess at PJIA,” MP Emmanuel said.  

The MP concluded by stating that if one was to compare the communication effort by all government owned companies, “Ms. Jack does the best job. The communication problem that the airport has is that it has a CEO that lies and manipulates and misleads even Parliament. The communication problem is based of the character of the individual and that is something neither Ms. Jack nor any consultant in the world can repair. But she does her job and does it impeccably well. This nonsense of keeping our people down because they may not conform to your versions of the truth must stop,” the MP concluded.