In view of the erroneous information given to and spread by the media, upon advice, it is considered more appropriate at this time to focus on the facts in this Q&A memorandum.
In this respect, the following basic questions, which are the root of the accusations, will be addressed.
1. What was the arrangement at the beginning of the detachering regarding housing?
The costs of a rental home will be reimbursed to S4 by the Island Government to the maximum of Naf. 3.600,–.
2. Why did the S4 Board rent the apartment and why did you not take it in your name?
The real estate agent insisted that it had to be rented by the organization I was working for, despite my efforts to get it on my name. At the time, most tenants in the apartment were expats who had the same contract. The former treasurer sent an email, dated October 21, 2005 to the other board members, in which he agreed that S4 should rent the apartment for me and mentioned that the difference between the rent and the allotted housing allowance will be discussed by the Board with the Island Government.
3. What did you pay on housing costs during your detachering?
The rent was paid directly to the housing agency by S4. I did not pay any rent. Neither S4 Board nor the Government of St. Maarten ever made any agreement with me about any contribution to the rental costs.
Kindly note that since last year I had made every effort to move out of the apartment, but needed to submit an employer’s statement to the real estate agent. Despite numerous requests for this document which was mandatory to rent another home, I never received one. Consequently, I was forced to remain in the same apartment against my will.
4. Did you receive the housing allowance from the Island Government?
If so, did you redeposit this allowance in S4 account and if you haven’t, why not?
Yes, I received housing allowance from the Island Government, but I was unaware of that until December 2007. Prior to that time, I had no reason to think that the housing allowance was being added to my salary, since in 2005 and 2006, the Government made payments towards my housing to S4. Moreover, my salary slips are sent to the Education Department in St. Maarten, and are only picked up and signed for when I go to St. Maarten or someone else comes to Holland with them. Furthermore, my net salary was far from exorbitant, especially when converted into euro. I therefore had no reason to believe that I was receiving too much money.
5. When did you inform S4 and your employer of the wrongful payment?
On December 5, 2007, I sent an email about this matter to the Director of Resources, after having received verbal information on this matter from the former S4 treasurer and former head of the Finance Department in St. Maarten, who had discovered the administrative error when he was on a working visit in St. Maarten in November 2007.
6. What actions did S4 Board and your employer undertake after you had informed them?
The former treasurer informed me of the administrative error upon his return from a working visit to St. Maarten in November 2007. The Board never brought this matter up with me after that. When the present treasurer joined the board in April 2008, I informed him of this matter. To date, I have not received any information from the Board regarding finding any solution to this matter nor did I receive any formal complaint by the Board or the St. Maarten Government about misappropriation of funds. S4 board never contacted me for an explanation nor sent a complaint to my employer, the Island Government of St. Maarten, but instead went to the media with such allegations.
After having been informed by me of the administrative error, the matter was discussed several times with the Director of Resources, in terms of balancing off the amount erroneously disbursed to me with the payments I was yet to receive as part of my remuneration at the end of my term. As soon as I arrived in St. Maarten in July 2009, I met with the Director of Resources concerning this matter. A number of points in my contract are not yet resolved and we are still in discussion about this matter to finalize it as soon as possible
It is quite evident, that there had never been any wrongdoing on my part and that I never withheld any information regarding the erroneous payments made to me the moment I became aware of this.
Drs. Linda A. Richardson