TAS director Wendy Jap-A-Joe is not accepting the position of Minister Raymond Landveld of Transport, Communication and Tourism (TCT) that her term of appointment has expired and that her administrative responsibilities must be transferred immediately.

In an official letter dated Tuesday, October 20, 2026, she states that her employment contract provides for legal certainty and continuity of governance. In doing so, she opposes the legal basis on which the Supervisory Board (RvC) seeks to take over the interim management of the telecommunications authority.

Jap-A-Joe’s response follows a letter from Minister Landveld, reference number MIN-SEC 1582-26, in which the minister officially informs her that her five-year term as director of the Telecommunicatie Autoriteit Suriname (TAS) has expired. The minister indicated that the transfer of her administrative responsibilities must take place immediately.

Landveld refers to the presidential resolution of October 2021 appointing Jap-A-Joe. According to the minister, the RvC must take measures within the legal framework to safeguard the continuity of governance and TAS’s operations. This is apparent from the reporting on the TCT minister’s letter.

Jap-A-Joe invokes employment contract

In her response, dated October 20, 2026 and bearing reference number Dir/DSU/260666, Jap-A-Joe says she has taken note of the contents of the ministerial letter. However, she points to the existing employment-law arrangements.

“However, I draw your attention to the employment contract existing between the parties, which expressly provides for legal certainty and continuity of TAS governance,” she writes.

Jap-A-Joe subsequently states that there is no absence of the director, as referred to in Article 4, paragraph 2 of the Wet Telecommunicatievoorzieningen.

With this response, she disputes the position that TAS’s interim management automatically falls to the RvC. The director thereby makes clear that she does not endorse the interpretation of the minister and the commissioners.

RvC previously declared Jap-A-Joe unauthorised

The letter follows a general notice from the RvC, in which the commissioners declared that Jap-A-Joe was no longer authorised to represent TAS as director as of Tuesday, October 20.

According to the RvC, she was appointed for five years by presidential resolution of October 20, 2021. The board states that her appointment ended by operation of law on October 19, 2026.

The commissioners made clear that as of Tuesday, Jap-A-Joe may no longer sign documents on behalf of TAS, authorise payments or assignments, or exercise other director’s powers.

According to the RvC, interim management of the telecommunications authority rests with the board pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 2 of the Wet Telecommunicatievoorzieningen. The commissioners also indicated that actions taken by Jap-A-Joe after the expiry of her appointment term will not be accepted without express written confirmation by the competent management.

Brunswijk: no dismissal without a resolution

ABOP chairman Ronnie Brunswijk has also spoken out on the conflict. In an interview with ABC Suriname, he stated that Jap-A-Joe cannot be removed from her position without a formal dismissal resolution.

According to Brunswijk, termination of the directorship must take place in accordance with the applicable legal procedure. He also criticised the attempt to remove Jap-A-Joe from her office on Monday, which also involved the police.

Brunswijk stated that agreements had previously been made with President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons on how to address the problems within TAS. This reportedly included discussion of the need for an investigation.

The ABOP chairman has for some time voiced criticism of the treatment of the TAS director. In September, he stated in De Nationale Assemblée (Suriname’s parliament) that ABOP officials are being criminalised, according to him. He explicitly referred to the situation within TAS.

Government previously rejected suspension

The new development is remarkable because the government had previously seen insufficient grounds to suspend Jap-A-Joe.

In August, the Council of Ministers decided not to approve an RvC request to suspend the director. According to the government, the arguments put forward by the commissioners were insufficient to justify such a measure.

Minister Landveld subsequently stressed that management and the RvC had to continue their work. Key News previously reported on this in the article ‘TAS director and RvC must work together again despite ongoing conflict’.

During an interview with Key News in September, Landveld also addressed the matter extensively. The minister said at the time that the media were not the appropriate place to fight out internal governance conflicts.

He explained that a proposal for dismissal or suspension must first be submitted to the Council of Ministers and then to the president.

According to Landveld, the Council of Ministers had found the earlier request insufficiently substantiated. The minister stressed that the legal procedure had to be followed.

Legal battle over appointment and employment contract

With Jap-A-Joe’s latest letter, the conflict is explicitly shifting towards the legal significance of her appointment and employment contract.

While the minister and the RvC maintain that the statutory appointment term has expired, Jap-A-Joe invokes the contractual provisions which, according to her, guarantee legal certainty and continuity of governance.

The distinction between the appointment as director and the employment contract may be decisive in this regard. After all, the expiry of an appointment term does not necessarily mean that all employment-law obligations also end. Conversely, the existence of an employment contract does not automatically confer the right to continue exercising statutory director’s powers.

Based on the available correspondence, it cannot yet be determined which legal interpretation will ultimately be decisive.

President and vice president informed

Jap-A-Joe has sent copies of her response to President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons, Vice President Gregory Rusland, also chairman of the Council of Ministers, and TAS’s Supervisory Board.

The dispute has therefore once again been brought directly before the highest government authorities.

For the time being, it remains unclear whether the government will take an additional decision in response to Jap-A-Joe’s defence. It is likewise unclear how administrative powers within TAS will be exercised in practice in the coming period.

The telecommunications authority is thus in a situation in which the director, the supervisory body and the responsible minister hold differing positions on the legal consequences of the end of the appointment term. Further handling will have to determine who is authorised to continue TAS’s management.