Text and image Jason Pinas
PARAMARIBO — “This supervisory board will no longer be maintained. That is the government’s position.” This is how Minister Raymond Landveld of Transport, Communications and Tourism (TCT) responds the True Time on developments at state-owned company Canawaima. Members of the supervisory board (SB) may have committed questionable acts.
From pieces about which the True Time it appears that chairman of the supervisory board Richenel Vrieze may have awarded work to a company directly affiliated with him. In addition, invoices with higher amounts than usual have been submitted and paid out.
“There are notes of many thousands of Surinamese dollars that have simply been paid to themselves”
Federal President Dayanand Dwarka
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When the union found out about these matters, work was stopped for a few hours on Monday and there was a vote of no confidence in the council. The strike was lifted after a discussion between federation chairman Dayanand Dwarka and Landveld. “I have assured the employees that the supervisory board will be thanked,” the minister told the newspaper.
In the meantime, after consultation with President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, the Public Prosecution Service has been asked to initiate a criminal investigation into the actions of the council members. “On moral and ethical grounds they cannot remain in that position. They are informed about this decision. It will not be long before they are thanked,” Landveld assures.
According to the TCT minister, it could not have been foreseen that the chief executive may have engaged in questionable practices. “He is a man with years of experience who knows the shipping industry inside and out, which is why we asked him to supervise. We did not expect him to behave like this. But now that these matters have arisen, we will not let grass grow under them,” the minister emphasizes.
Abuses
Dwarka said during a press conference on Monday that members of the supervisory board had abused their powers “in an unimaginable way”. “These people have misbehaved in a childish way. There are invoices for many thousands of Surinamese dollars that have simply been paid to themselves,” the association chairman was annoyed.
According to him, the supervisory board has also taken the place of the manager who is responsible for the daily management of the company. “They hire people without the knowledge of the manager. Since when does a supervisory board hire people?” Dwarka asked rhetorically. “The worst thing is that while the manager was abroad, an interior designer who had only been employed for a few months was promoted by the supervisory board to human resource manager (HRM) while that position does not even exist in the company. It is almost unbelievable,” the association chairman continued.
To accommodate this HRM, space is being added without coordination with Canawaima management, according to Dwarka. “RVC members drive there in service vehicles, cars are rented and the Supervisory Board declares the amounts itself. It is terrible what happened there,” says Dwarka. The association therefore insists on a criminal investigation into these actions.
