The suspended director of the Staatsziekenfonds (SZF), Rudrakanth Oemraw, is to be dismissed. The Raad van Ministers (RvM) has approved this, Minister André Misiekaba of Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Arbeid announced on Wednesday.
Oemraw was removed from office by the SZF board at the end of February. According to Misiekaba, the dismissal procedure is being carefully prepared by the ministry’s legal officer, in cooperation with a lawyer.
The minister said that the ministry has lost several court cases concerning dismissal procedures in the past. The department therefore wants to prevent procedural errors from being made in this matter.
“We lose many cases in court. That is why we want to avoid making mistakes in the future, and especially in this matter,” Misiekaba said.
According to the SZF board, Oemraw allegedly made several decisions that were contrary to the organisation’s statutes. One of the issues concerns the rental of rooms in a residential house that were used as a warehouse. USD 600 was allegedly paid per room each month. As there were ten rooms, the total monthly costs amounted to USD 6,000. In addition, another property was allegedly rented for USD 7,000 per month.
The board further accuses Oemraw of making important decisions without consultation with the other members of the management and without a mandate from the board. Under the statutes, the general director may not make such decisions independently. Major decisions must be made jointly by the management, while permission from the board is required to enter into certain obligations.
Oemraw is also alleged to have hired dozens of employees in a short period outside the existing staff establishment and salary scales. As a result, some new employees allegedly received salaries that did not correspond to the applicable remuneration structure.
