GREAT BAY--Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication Grisha Heyliger-Marten has confirmed that utility company GEBE has fully cooperated with the Bureau Telecommunications and Post, BTP, and met all deadlines established as part of the independent review of its billing practices and fuel-clause calculations.
During the final week of July, GEBE submitted more than 400 financial, operational and technical documents requested by BTP in its capacity as Concession Supervisor. The records include fuel invoices, electricity-generation data, efficiency reports, financial information and other supporting documents needed to verify how electricity costs are calculated and passed on to consumers.
“This is an important milestone because it means the process has now moved beyond speculation and into verification,” Heyliger-Marten said.
BTP formally issued GEBE with a comprehensive request for information on July 13. The request sought the operational, pricing and financial records required to independently assess the utility company’s billing practices and fuel-clause calculations.
Financial analysts, engineers and legal experts are now examining the source documents, verifying individual costs and comparing GEBE’s records with relevant fuel-market information and applicable regulations.
“Facts before conclusions. Evidence before opinions. Accountability before assumptions,” the Minister said.
Heyliger-Marten acknowledged the pressure that high electricity bills and changes in the fuel clause continue to place on households and businesses throughout St. Maarten. She said government understands why the public is demanding clear answers and greater transparency from the country’s utility company.
“When this Government assumed office, we made a commitment to establish a utility-regulation system that is lawful, transparent, professionally supervised and capable of serving this country long after any individual government has left office,” she said.
The Minister explained that the regulatory framework envisioned in law had never been fully activated and that the current government inherited a significant gap in utility supervision.
Rather than introduce another temporary arrangement that could later prove ineffective or legally vulnerable, government chose to develop a permanent system based on legislation, independent oversight and evidence-based decision-making.
Heyliger-Marten outlined three next steps in the review process.
BTP is preparing its preliminary technical findings for presentation to the Council of Ministers during August. Following that review, the regulator is expected to begin issuing structured public reports explaining its verified findings, providing greater clarity on the fuel clause and identifying areas where accountability and operational efficiency can be strengthened.
The Minister noted that any legally protected or confidential information will continue to be handled in accordance with the applicable requirements.
The information collected through the review will also assist government in finalizing the National Decree containing General Measures, the LBham. The decree is intended to establish a permanent regulatory framework covering utility oversight, fuel-clause calculations and social-rate mechanisms designed to protect senior citizens and vulnerable households.
Heyliger-Marten stressed that she would not prejudge the findings of the independent technical review or promise a particular result before the evidence had been fully examined.
“The people of St. Maarten deserve facts, not speculation,” she said.
The Minister added that should the review uncover errors, inefficiencies or practices requiring correction, those findings will guide the lawful action taken by government.
“What I can promise is this: if this review identifies errors, inefficiencies or practices requiring correction, those findings will guide the lawful actions this Government will take,” Heyliger-Marten said.
She described the review as part of a wider effort to rebuild public trust through professional regulation, transparency and accountability.
“The work now taking place represents more than a review of electricity bills. It represents another step toward restoring public confidence in our institutions,” she concluded.
