WILLEMSTAD - The government has not agreed to the two demands made by the trade unions - representing the Isla employees. The first is to dismiss Clift Christiaan from the negotiating committee and the second to admit union consultant Errol Cova team for the future of the refinery.

In a letter to the trade unions, Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath writes that, given the close relationship between Cova and PdVSA / Venezuela, he will not be able to appoint the union consultant to a team that is negotiating with other parties that are negotiating to take over from the Venezuelan State Company.

The Prime Minister says in his letter that Mr. Cova has already signed a contract with the refinery to provide support based on his experience and expertise in the field of personnel and labor. “Moreover, we have an agreement that Mr Cova is an important intermediary for contact with PdVSA and the Venezuelan government. On several occasions we have used the contacts of Mr. Cova when we needed to speak with the top of PdVSA or the government of Venezuela. It is difficult to place the same person who is the contact person for the Curaçao Refinery (RdK) with Venezuela in the RdK team to negotiate with other partners who may be the direct or indirect competitor of PdVSA. Especially since PdVSA is still in the running to manage the refinery after 2019," said the Prime Minister to the unions PWFC and Apri.

The Prime Minister said that he tried to explain that his contact with organizations such as GreenTown, which are promoters of a Curaçao without the refinery, is no reason to conclude that Mr. Clift Christiaan wants to close the refinery. “I myself also had contact with GreenTown and during that meeting I emphasized that the government wants to keep the refinery open in the near future. If there is concrete evidence against Mr. Christiaan, they must be submitted. I am always prepared to evaluate the facts in close cooperation with Refineria di Kòrsou (RdK). As I have already pointed out yesterday, Christiaan falls under the policy and responsibility of RdK, which has its own management and Supervisory Board. In all decisions that need to be taken in this respect, the rules of Corporate Governance and the civil code must be considered.”