MP Gumbs To Send Urgent Questions to MercelinaNational Address Raises More Concerns Than Comfort

PHILIPSBURG – Party for Progress Member of Parliament Melissa Gumbs shared on Sunday that she would be submitting a set of urgent questions to Prime Minister Dr. Luc Mercelina on Monday, with the hope that Mercelina’s office would respond to them within 48 hours.
“My questions are related to the national address regarding an update on the energy crisis that he provided on Saturday, August 10th,” Gumbs says, “although ‘update’ is a strong word when we apply it to that video. The key takeaway is that we have schools re-opening on Monday and students and teachers will possibly be without power for most of their day, as the container generators will not be operational until end of the week.”
Gumbs notes in her letter that at first, the Prime Minister communicated that the container generators would be operational on August 13th. That this has now shifted to the end of the week concerns Gumbs and to PFP.
“Several of my questions to the Prime Minister are related to his consultation within his council of ministers,” Gumbs explains. “I have asked when he last consulted with the Minister of TEATT and the Minister of VROMI on this matter. While the ultimate responsibility sits with the Council of Ministers as the shareholder and the Prime Minister communicates on behalf of COM, these two ministries have a large role to play in the country’s energy sector. However, I do not get the impression that their input has been requested or included in the updates being provided. This must change immediately; no ministry should operate as a stand-alone lighthouse and that includes General Affairs.”
Gumbs continues her questions by asking if the Prime Minister had consulted with the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports to discuss the possibility of postponing the start of schools. She cites the reality that no district has been safe and that even before the summer vacation, schools were reporting frequent load-shedding outages.
“For four years, public schools were treated like the outside child,” Gumbs says. “You have many that have windows that cannot open, due to damage they received in Hurricane Irma and just general wear and tear. I’ve been in one of these classrooms and as an adult, I could not focus enough in the heat to continue my conversation with the teacher. I cannot imagine being six years old and told to learn words in those conditions. So, it’s my hope that the Prime Minister and the Minister of ECYS have discussed either postponing the start date or adjusting school hours.”
Gumbs included questions to Mercelina that ask for more clarity on his mention of installing temporary managers within the week to continue guiding the situation at GEBE. She states that from the beginning of the current stage of this crisis, PFP’s position has been that there needed to be a shift in management at GEBE. She notes that loadshedding began in November 2023 and that the previous government maintained the current manager, Mr. Washington, even though they were aware that the situation with the engines was deteriorating and perhaps required a different skill set than he possessed. When the crisis escalated, Gumbs notes, with the June 2nd power plant fire, PFP assumed that a new crisis team would have been implemented.
“We made suggestions that included consulting with CARILEC, which GEBE is a member of, to identify persons with experience in such a crisis and bring them here to advise,” Gumbs reports. “What is happening at GEBE is not unique to St. Maarten; what is unique is the lack of decisive action by several governments, by several Prime Ministers, when it comes to our country’s energy needs. While It’s great to see that PFP’s early suggestion is now being considered and implemented, there’s clarity needed on how this moves forward, and we do not have the time we did on June 2nd. I’ve asked the Prime Minister whether he has consulted with the Corporate Governance Council to prepare to provide an urgent advice on proposed temporary managers. Additionally, I have asked that Parliament is provided with the job profile being used to source and solicit these persons, in terms of criteria, competencies and experience.”

Gumbs ended off her questions by asking for a response from the office of the Prime Minister within 48 hours of receipt.

“I’ve talked before about the importance of crisis communication tactics during situations like this,” Gumbs says. “That counts for GEBE and for the Government. These are not fair-weather times, and what is communicated has sounded more like concepts rather than fully fleshed out plans. That is what prompted me to ask these questions. So, I urge the Prime Minister to respond to these questions with haste and provide clarity to not just myself, but to Parliament and the people.”