Members of Gaming Control Board challenge dismissal

May 31, 2011 5:34 AM

John Gorsira and Elbert de Windt, members of the Gaming Control Board (GCB), challenge their dismissal by Minister of Finance George Jamaloodin (MFK) in summary proceedings. The case came up for trial this afternoon.

The two board members received their congé earlier this month because they had renewed the contract with director Raynold Nivillac but had not consulted with the Minister first. The argumentation was that it regarded an extension, not a new appointment. Nivillac was appointed director in 1999 by the then Board of Governors and his contract has been renewed twice since then.
However, the policy of the new government is not to renew contracts of directors of government NV’s and institutions. On the other hand, the board of GCB stated that the contract renewal regarded a statutory authority for which the government’s permission was not needed. According to the board, the Minister had not disputed this either. He only indicated that he wished to consult with the board of the institution, first about the procedure on replacing Nivillac and second about guaranteeing the required continuity. Therefore, the board assumed that Nivillac would be replaced in due course, after the renewal of his contract. However, on May 19th, Gorsira received a letter on the board’s summary dismissal because the board had contravened the law on Good Governance and because of the board’s unacceptable conduct, which had injured the relationship of trust.

Invalid
The board members contest the dismissal, because according to the articles of association this is only possible if one violates the law, if the stipulated requirements are not met, or if one does not perform his/her task properly. There was no question of this with the renewal of the contract. Therefore, according to Gorsira and De Windt, the dismissal is invalid. Twenty-four hours after their notice letter, Nivillac received a letter per e-mail stating that new board members would be appointed per May 25th at the latest, which was yesterday. This newspaper was unable to discover this morning whether new board members were appointed and Jamaloodin had not been available for comment. The summary proceedings are a matter of urgency because Gorsira and De Windt must be able to perform their duty as long as there’s no valid dismissal or a decision in a basic procedure.

27 May 2011