WILLEMSTAD, THE HAGUE - Minister Plenipotentiary Carls Manuel has place cameras all over the Curaçao house to keep an eye on the staff. The cameras are used to track the movements of the employees from arrival to departure and who is talking to whom. The Members of Parliament for the coalition party PNP, Gwendell Mercelina and Sheldry Osepa revealed this in a vlog.
The latter, a lawyer by profession and himself a former minister plenipotentiary, points out that such a "serious violation of employee privacy" is not permitted by law. The two recall that there have been many complaints about Manuel since his appointment in June 2021, the atmosphere at the Curaçao House has become more and more sour.
Manuel denies the allegations. The fact is, however, that the Curaçao house is experiencing an unprecedented exodus. Only 5 of the original team are still active. The others have resigned out of dissatisfaction with the bullying behavior of their employer or are incapacitated for work for a long time because they cannot handle the tense situation.
The human resources, finance, communication and archiving departments have been unmanned for some time. No vacancies have been announced for these positions. That is the case for a director of the Curaçao House, but the recruitment procedure that started almost six months ago has not yet yielded any results. Since the acting director was relieved of his duties for no apparent reason in November, there is no longer a competent leadership present.
Manuel's attempt to make a family member a director was stopped by the Human Resources department in Willemstad because the person concerned did not meet the job requirements. His brother's appointment was also put on hold, but he was later hired as a personal political adviser.
The ex-DJ takes part in consultations with Dutch ministers, among other things. The duo has surrounded themselves with 'volunteers' recruited from their circle of friends who have free access to the Curaçao House's IT network, including confidential documents, including those of the Kingdom Council of Ministers.
The necessary is also noted on Manuel's external performances. For example, he is accused of paying more attention to his own public relations than upholding the reputation of the Curaçao House in The Hague and his arguments in the Council of Ministers do not always seem to be clear, but the latter may also be due to the quality of the instructions he receives from Willemstad.
It is not the first time that a minister plenipotentiary has been spying on employees. Marvelyne Wiels was suspected of having the telephones tapped and unnoticed to look into PCs.