Dick not afraid St. Maarten not
complying with Justice criteria
PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister David Dick says he is not afraid of St. Maarten not being able to comply with criteria set in the Justice area for the island to go over into a transition period leading up to country status.
The Minister said he believed the island should not focus on what was wrong, but on the developments to reach its goals. “We should see to it that basic matters are in place to avoid any problems,” he said
National Alliance (NA) Member of Parliament William Marlin had requested a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament, requesting the Minister to be present to give information about the re-organisation of the Windward Island Police Force, specifically in St. Maarten, and concerns the Dutch Second Chamber had raised about St. Maarten not being able to achieve its separate status.
Marlin wanted to know as well whether the re-organisation plans of Police Coach Ronald Dongor were in accordance with the Minister’s vision.
Dick said the re-organisation of not only the Police Force, but the entire Justice system was ongoing. However, in addition to the re-organisation, St. Maarten has to set up its own Justice Department while a basis for cooperation should be set up for the Federal Detective Department. St. Maarten also has to set up its own intelligence service.
The new police organisation has already been drafted and has been discussed with the unions. “The new organisation has the blessings of the unions,” Dick said.
He said the re-organisation had to take place on paper, but the behaviour of the people in the Justice system had to change as well.
Dick believes the process Dongor has started has been progressing well and a visit from Dutch top police officials can be expected by the end of November to discuss the re-organisation process.
Dick stressed that he had not recruited a police coach, but had wanted someone to take over the organisation. It was during the negotiations for the re-organisation process that it was decided to bring in a coach to upgrade the local talent within the Police Force.
The Minister said projects in light of human resource building would have high priority in 2009. He indicated that three internationally renowned companies had been contacted to provide the necessary training sessions to top level police officials.
He warned Members of Parliament that any process of change would meet resistance from people who wanted to stop the process. In this regard, he requested that Parliament be very cautious with complaints about the ongoing re-organisation.
One of the police departments that, according to the Minister, will no longer be needed after the re-organisation is the Central Police Department CPD. “The service is past its time. With today’s technology such a department is not needed any longer,” said Dick
Furthermore, in response to Marlin’s request for clarity about funds made available for improving the Justice system under the Netherlands Antilles Safety Plan, Dick said he had received five million euros for St. Maarten last year, of which 3.8 million euros had been assigned to Immigration.
Several projects have been forwarded to Dutch funding agency USONA for this amount. Meanwhile, the Minister said he had received confirmation that another four million euros had been assigned for projects in St. Maarten.
Also, regarding the 9.5 million euros for the prisons in the Netherlands Antilles, he said he had finally received the green light and hoped to sign soon the agreements for the upgrading of the Pointe Blanche prison in St. Maarten, Bon Futuro Prison in Curaçao, and the prison cells in Bonaire.
