Lourdes Lake new head
of Police Force operations
PHILIPSBURG--Lourdes Lake will be appointed the new interim head of operations of the Windward Islands Police Force KPSSS as of June 1. Although the decision has not been formally announced yet, unions representing members of the Police Force confirmed for The Daily Herald that they too understood that such a decision had been taken.
Lake, who has been working at St. Maarten Tax Office, proved to be the best of the five candidates who applied for the job.
Justice Minister David Dick, the Lt. Governors of the three Windward Islands, the Chief Prosecutor, and unions NAPB, ABVO and WICSU agreed on March 31 to the upgrading trajectory for the Police Force, the so-called “Win-Win Agreement” (WWA).
In light of this agreement the Council of Ministers approved Ronald Dongor’s contract as an advisor on Wednesday. He will be the “Interim Coach” of the police for the next two years, coaching mainly the police management in specific managerial skills.
The WWA also identified other key positions within the KPSSS to be occupied by experts. One of the positions that had to be filled in the short term was an interim head of operations who will be brought in as a technical assistant.
In this regard, the office of the Netherlands Antilles Safety Plan PVNA initiated a recruiting procedure and Lake, a union activist for WICSU who ran on the DP slate in the 2007 Island Council election, turned out to be the best of the candidates who applied.
However, there has been a lot of talk about her appointment within the KPSSS since last week and questions have been raised about the procedure used. The WWA stated clearly that local police officers should also have the chance to apply for the several job openings within the Police Force; otherwise, they would be hampered in making careers within the force.
ABVO president Roland “Nacho” Ignacio and NAPB president Elvis “Chicu” Mercelina said they had talked with the Minister about the matter. They were informed that PVNA had led the recruitment procedure. An ad was placed on the Central Government Website
www.gov.an and all the heads of Personnel Affairs of the police forces in the Netherlands Antilles were informed of the ongoing procedure.
“We were informed that five persons applied. Two were from St. Maarten and two were interested in other positions that need to be filled. Although not officially yet, we were informed that Lake has been accepted for the job,” Ignacio said.
However, based on complaints received from members, Ignacio said the unions would be requesting more detailed information from the Justice Minister on how the recruitment had gone when the sounding board met. The sounding board comprises all partners that signed the WWA and was established to constantly monitor the process of upgrading the Police Force.
