Safety, security reasons
for alarm, says Richards
PHILIPSBURG--The situation of safety and security in St. Maarten gives every reason for alarm, Local Chief of Police Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards said during a Rotary Club presentation on Wednesday.
He recently proposed to the Minister of Justice to establish a committee with the main task of making an inventory of all the present judicial tasks of all members of the Justice system in the Netherlands Antilles, in close cooperation with the dismantling committee, and subsequently transferring these tasks to the Justice taskforce, which is yet to be established by the Government of St. Maarten, or the authorities in the new country St. Maarten.
Richards made his proposal in light of the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles.
“In the Final Accord of November 2006, agreements were made regarding those conditions which St. Maarten must meet in order to become a country within the kingdom of the Netherlands. Among those is that we strengthen the police organisation prior to the new status becoming a reality.
The alarming situation with Justice in St. Maarten has been underscored in various reports published in recent years, among them the WODC report. The report noted that St. Maarten’s geographical location and infrastructure, combined with a judicial system plagued by shortcomings, made the island the ideal spot for the developing and carrying out of criminal activities.
In this regard, Richards said he recently had forwarded to Netherlands Antilles Minister of Justice David Dick a publication regarding a safer St. Maarten titled A safe St. Maarten. Together we are responsible.
The document in question was drafted within the framework of the Netherlands Antilles Safety Plan since specific resources recently have become available to St. Maarten.
Dick is the competent authority for the judicial system and therefore responsible for the allocation of funds to be made available for proposed projects within the framework of the Netherlands Antilles Safety Plan. Naturally, the proposals can be approved or turned down, Richards said.
However, thus far all project proposals forwarded by St. Maarten have been turned down, for which reason it was decided to embark on the initiative to prepare the said document and present it to the competent minister.
“The idea is to convince the Minister that those same funds that are expressly earmarked for St. Maarten will indeed become available to us and be put to use, as a matter of priority in those areas where it is most needed.”
Bottlenecks with which St. Maarten has been faced with are that the island has been pressured for allegedly not taking care of the judicial system, although in fact Sint Maarten is not responsible for the judicial system. All the same, St. Maarten will have to prepare itself to take over the judicial system during the process of becoming a country.
An inventory of all tasks is necessary. The Lt. Governor said he believed it was important that St. Maarten work in very close cooperation with the dismantling committee of the Netherlands Antilles, so that the island will be able to establish its own Justice Department.
