GREAT BAY--The Association for Consumer Protection St. Maarten, ACP-SXM, is calling on Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunication Grisha Heyliger-Marten to publicly and fully account for the electricity fuel clause increase to XCG 0.49 implemented on July 10, 2026.
ACP-SXM said the increase, by the Minister’s own admission, went into effect without the advance validation required under Ministerial Decree No. 2026/806.
ACP-SXM noted that, following the Minister’s July 21 meeting with the Bureau Telecommunication and Post, BTP confirmed it had not received the supporting information required to validate the latest fuel clause adjustment before the increase took effect. ACP said that, in her own words, the Minister acknowledged that the adjustment had not been reviewed by BTP in advance and described this as a gap that must be addressed. BTP has since given GEBE until July 27, 2026, to substantiate the calculation, although households and businesses across St. Maarten had already been charged the higher rate for several weeks.
The association said it welcomes the activation of BTP as supervisor under the new regulatory framework and acknowledges the Minister’s stated commitment to accountability. However, the organization said acknowledgment of a compliance failure is not the same as a remedy for consumers who have already paid under an unvalidated rate.
"Government cannot ask the public to accept, on faith, that a tariff increase implemented in breach of its own supervisory decree will simply be corrected afterward." ACP-SXM said consumers are entitled to know, now and not after July 27, precisely how the gap occurred, who bears responsibility for it, and what will be done if the underlying calculation does not withstand scrutiny.
The organization said this is not an isolated lapse.
Questions ACP-SXM is putting to Minister Heyliger-Marten
ACP-SXM formally requested that the Minister address the following questions publicly and without delay:
- Why did GEBE proceed with implementation on July 10, 2026, when Ministerial Decree No. 2026/806, in force since May 22, 2026, required advance submission and validation of the calculation before any adjustment took effect?
- What specific portions of the documentation GEBE submitted in response to BTP’s July 13 letter were unclear?
- If BTP determines by or after July 27 that the XCG 0.49 calculation cannot be substantiated, will government order GEBE to reverse the increase and refund consumers for amounts collected under the unvalidated rate, retroactive to July 10?
- What immediate, concrete measures is TEATT taking, beyond the July 27 deadline for paperwork, to ensure no further fuel clause or tariff adjustment is implemented without completed BTP validation, given that this same gap has now occurred under the framework designed to prevent it?
- Will the Minister commit to making BTP’s full findings on the fuel clause methodology, once completed under Phase One, public in their entirety, including any deficiencies identified in GEBE’s submissions?
- What accountability, if any, will be sought from GEBE’s management for implementing a rate increase in apparent breach of the supervisory decree?
- How does the Minister intend to address the cumulative financial impact on consumers, who are simultaneously carrying the burden of the unresolved USD 6.9 million overcharge identified in the 2022-2024 RAC/BTP Tariff Evaluation and this unvalidated increase?
- Will government support the establishment of a lawful national tariff decree, including provisions for social tariffs, on a public and time-bound schedule, rather than leaving Phase Two and Phase Three of BTP’s review open-ended?
- Will the Minister commit to consulting directly with consumer representative organizations, including ACP-SXM, before any future fuel clause or tariff decision is finalized?
"Consumers have carried the cost of unverified tariff decisions for too long. Government’s own admission that the required safeguard was bypassed is precisely the kind of failure BTP’s supervisory role was created to prevent."
ACP-SXM said the public is entitled to know why it happened and what will be done about it.
