Minister Dick attends
to prison, police issues
PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister David Dick arrived in St. Maarten over the weekend and will be attending primarily to issues concerning the Pointe Blanche prison and the police force.
Dick told The Daily Herald he would be meeting with prison management and the unions today, Monday. He is very positive about the communication he has with the prison and the unions.
He said the meeting would be geared to finding structural solutions for the problems the Pointe Blanche prison has been encountering. Four members of the Soualiga Patrol have been stationed at the prison since last week Thursday as a temporary measure to help in maintaining order in the correctional institution.
Prison Director Rudsel Ricardo requested the assistance after a fight broke out the Saturday before, leaving two prison guards wounded.
Dick said he was working on acute technical help for the Pointe Blanche prison that would cost NAf. 300,000. He said he had already allocated NAf. 150,000 for purchasing and installing of cameras and other material.
He said he and the State Secretary of Personnel Affairs were also working on proposals for a creative way to recruit more prison guards soon.
Although not wanting to go into details, the Minister said he also would attend to some issues regarding the police force. One of the major issues probably will be the ongoing investigations into a human trafficking case allegedly involving a police commissioner.
Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards, who has been in the Netherlands to attend to a meeting of the Association of Dutch Municipalities VNG, also appealed to the Dutch Government for immediate special assistance and cooperation from the Dutch Government to help the men and women in blue on St. Maarten in their fight against crime.
He said financial and other resources should be made available as soon as possible in the form of immediate special assistance and cooperation, as recommended in the St. Maarten Safety Plan.
Dick reacted recently in the Curaçao-based newspaper Extra, stating that he understood Richards’ appeal. “I myself on several occasions had asked for additional assistance especially for St. Maarten.”
Although it is not usual for an island territory to go directly to the Dutch Government, the Minister said he saw the appeal by St. Maarten as sustaining his policy, because at the moment the Antillean Government has neither the financial means nor the human resources to help St. Maarten.
Dick will be leaving for Curaçao again on Tuesday morning.
