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PHILIPSBURG--General Police Union NAPB will be focusing on enhancing its communication with members and the public as well as pushing for government to finalise what is referred to as the police "function book."
The function book covers a range of areas such as the general police law, structure, placement plan and salary package amongst other things. NAPB President Ethelwoldus Josepha told The Daily Herald that officers have been awaiting the finalisation of these matters for in excess of four years and it is time that these issues are finalised once and for all.
"The function book is something I have to work on and the entire board of NAPB has to work on. This will be my main issue this year. It has been four and a half to five years that officers have been waiting for the function book. The police are the only ones who have not yet been placed in their functions. Most just have a temporary besluit (in English: decision) and we have been struggling with the minister to get the function book to go through the ministry and parliament and it's taking too long."
Josepha said once the function book has been finalised many issues plaguing police officers will be automatically solved. "I don't know if it's a financial issue, but this has been brought up with the minister. This will be my number one issue. It is the issue that gives me many sleepless nights. I would want to leave the union with this taken care of," he said.
One of the concerns is that while the Windward Islands allowance has already been incorporated into the salary of some workers, it is not incorporated into the salary of police officers. Several officers who have gone on retirement since St. Maarten became a country in the Dutch Kingdom on October 10, 2010, are affected as the allowance is not taken into consideration in their pensions.
According to Josepha authorities would be able to "get the police off your back" by taking care of the function book as this would resolve 60 per cent of the issues affecting officers.
As it relates to communication, Josepha said this is one of the major weaknesses in the union. "I am guilty of not communicating enough with the public and with our members," he said. To address this issue he is considering appointing someone to be in charge of public relations for the NAPB union.
