Labega proposes authority in
St. Maarten to deal with safety
PHILIPSBURG--Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Erno Labega launched a proposal at the end of Tuesday’s meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament to have someone in St. Maarten on a consistent basis to take care of justice and safety matters that need attention.
Yesterday’s meeting with Justice Minister David Dick lasted almost eight hours and almost all aspects of the safety situation in St. Maarten were discussed. At the end of the meeting, Dick endorsed Labega’s proposal. It was the DP Parliamentarian who had requested the meeting.
“I want someone to be regularly on the island to attend to pressing safety issues in St. Maarten. It could even be State Secretary Ernie Simmons who passes through St. Maarten each Thursday to go back home. He can stay for a day to handle matters in St. Maarten,” Labega said.
According to him, the Justice situation in the Windward Islands, in particular the island of St. Maarten, is becoming more and more a concern to residents and visitors.
“Since becoming a Parliamentarian, many people have been asking me to address the issue of increasing crime in St. Maarten and it is with these people and the general population in mind that I have requested an audience with the Minister in this setting to receive information and clarity on this unacceptable problem,” Labega said.
While money has been pumped by the Dutch Government into combating crime in the Netherlands Antilles, the people of the Windward Islands, St. Maarten in particular, are not seeing progress being made in the area of Justice and the prevention of crime, Labega said.
“On the contrary, there seems to be an increase of violent crime in the areas of armed robberies and hold-ups of businesses and individuals alike. Violent crimes are being committed in broad daylight with total disregard for the welfare of the population, the victims and with clear lack of fear and/or regard for the authorities,” he said.
The recently published WODC report, Labega said, gave a number of areas that need to be addressed by the justice authorities and all efforts need to be made to address the issues brought forward in said report.
“However, if those particular issues of crime which affect the daily lives of the citizens and visitors of this country are not being properly addressed, we will rapidly be faced with the negative side of a thriving economy and the negative consequences affecting the population.”
According to Labega, criminals no longer have respect for the strong arm of the law. The manner in which homes are broken into, armed robberies are taking place, and drug-dealing takes place in public areas provides enough evidence to take an urgent stance against the increase in criminal activity.
The increasing gang-related violence with guns, knives and machetes is leaving a trail behind that will ultimately lead to a total decay of our society with irreversible consequences, he said.
Labega posed a total of 63 questions to the Justice Minister on the police, mainly regarding the fact that the Police Force has been understaffed for years. The Voluntary Corps St. Maarten (VKS) and cross-border crime also were subjects on which Labega wanted answers.
Concerning the latter, he specifically asked about the manner of cooperation between the Dutch-side police and the French-side Gendarmes.
Reallocation of the Police Affairs Department, the status of the request for more Marechaussees, police assistance from Suriname and problems with the inmates and guards at the Pointe Blanche prison also were areas of concern about which Labega posed questions. The situation with youth outreach and support organisations and the rapidly increasing youth crime were additional topics for queries.
