The media is not the place where the Supervisory Board (RvC) of the Telecommunicatie Autoriteit Suriname (TAS) and the Minister of Transport, Communication and Tourism (TCT) should engage in dialogue with each other on internal matters.
Dat is according to TCT Minister Raymond Landveld in an interview with Key News, following the press conference held by the RvC on Thursday on the recent public statements and reporting surrounding the lawsuit filed against six members of the organisation.
According to Landveld, such discussions should be held internally, at the ministry or, if necessary, with the president.
The minister says that after an earlier exchange of information, TAS chair Emanuel Scheek received an extensive dossier, served by bailiff’s writ, containing information on the situation within the authority. According to him, additional information and updates were provided in the period that followed. The dossier was also forwarded to the Raad van Ministers (RvM, Council of Ministers).
Landveld further says that he and the president were subsequently confronted by letter with a request for the dismissal and suspension of TAS director Wendy Jap A Joe. According to the minister, the ministry then followed the procedure prescribed by law.
“You then have to follow the law,” Landveld said.
According to him, a recommendation for dismissal or suspension must first be submitted to the Raad van Ministers and subsequently to the president.
RvM found measure insufficiently substantiated
According to Landveld, the Raad van Ministers was of the opinion that a suspension or dismissal is a serious disciplinary measure and that the submitted request was insufficiently substantiated.
“They found that such a weighty decision was not really supported. We can discuss that at length, but that is the place the law has given to the RvM,” the minister said.
Landveld acknowledges that there is much work to be done within TAS. Following the decision of the Raad van Ministers, he called on those involved to resume work.
Chair Scheek said during a press conference on Thursday that he will submit his resignation if the current situation at TAS continues and Jap A Joe does not leave.
The members of the RvC state that several ambiguities have arisen within the organisation under the leadership of Jap A Joe. According to them, there are particularly questions about TAS’s financial affairs.
