Parliamentary task force
likely to fight car thefts
PHILIPSBURG--Parliament has taken the initiative to set up a Task Force to combat the many car thefts taking place in St. Maarten. The initiative was taken in a meeting of the Justice Committee of Parliament last week.
Democratic Party (DP) Member of Parliament Erno Labega requested the meeting especially to discuss the problem of car theft after a similar meeting had been held in Curaçao several weeks ago.
“I was pleased with how the meeting went and that Parliamentarians were debating these issues, because local representative have never touched these issues before,” Labega said.
It became clear in the meeting that the problem of stolen cars in St. Maarten was greater than in Curaçao. Both Labega and PAR Parliamentarian Glenn Sulvaran said approximately 1,500 cars were being stolen in St. Maarten and St. Martin per year (an average of four cars per day), while in Curaçao it amounted to roughly 400 stolen cars per year.
Representatives of several stakeholders such as insurance companies, rental car owners, the Prosecutor’s Office, the police, St. Maarten Road Services and the Vehicle Inspection Office attended the meeting.
Labega said the discussions had been very fruitful and several problems had been discussed. He said he had proposed that a Task Force be established for the Windward Islands with representatives of all stakeholders as well as Members of Parliament.
Labega and Reginald Zaandam of the Democratic Party St. Eustatius have already volunteered to serve on the Task Force, which has to streamline the steps to be taken in an attempt to curb auto theft in the Windward Islands.
The proposal to establish the Task Force has to be discussed in the Central Committee of Parliament and, if approved, it will be set up. “I hope we can do it early next year, after the Parliamentary debates on the 2008 draft budget,” Labega said.
He said representatives of the American company Data Dot also had been present and had given a presentation on a new system to combat the theft of cars and car parts.
“The police have made it quite clear that they don’t have the manpower to react to all car thefts on the islands. In that case, the Data Dot proposal can help in preventing and solving the thefts. But it was made clear that the Task Force would be a Parliamentary committee, while the Data Dot initiative is a private endeavour,” Labega said.
