Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister Dennis Richardson minced no words when he publicly called on Attorney-General Guus Schram to prove his claims about the mixing of the so-called underworld with civil society.
Richardson said in Monday's plenary session of Parliament that Schram should prove his claims or "shut the hell up."
Richardson was reacting to comments made by the Attorney-General on Friday at the swearing-in of a new judge for the Court of First Instance. Schram said, "The Friendly Island has lost its innocence."
He said another threat existed in St. Maarten via "transnational subversive crime, the crime which consists of and results from a mixing of the upper world and the criminal underworld."
"Not all information published on the subject formed an accurate representation of reality and not all opinions voiced corresponded with the ones from the Prosecutor's Office. Since this issue largely concerns a political matter between the two governments, the Prosecutor's Office is reluctant to raise its own voice regarding this subject," Schram said. (See opinion pages for the full text of the speech)
Richardson said that in the past the claims about the underworld in St. Maarten had been made largely by politicians in the Netherlands as a way to get votes. This was the Dutch politicians' way of "blackening St. Maarten" for their own gain. Those claims from The Hague could have been ignored as political rhetoric, but now that those same claims have been made by the Attorney General, Richardson wants him to provide proof.
"It [the accusations about the underworld – Ed] has to stop," Richardson said.
He was in Parliament to answer questions from Members of Parliament (MPs) about the protocol he signed on behalf of Government with The Hague at the end of May. The protocol covered the strengthening of the Justice system with an injection of some 22 million euros and manpower. The document also placed a timeline on the passing of the national ordinance to establish an Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten.
That law was adopted by Parliament in August and is now undergoing legally required scrutiny by the ombudsman. This process can take up to six weeks. Following that, the law will be published provided the ombudsman has no challenges.
Richardson said the process to set up the Chamber was underway, with Quartermaster Richard Begina busy at work. Government has set aside some NAf. 400,000 in the country's budget for the Chamber, which The Hague has agreed to co-finance once the actual cost of the Chamber's operation has been determined.
Asked by MPs about a number of pending Justice projects such as a new shooting range, a country-wide camera surveillance system and upgrades to the prison, Richardson said Government had to look at creative ways to finance these projects due to the limitations of its capital budget.
Richardson was not the only one in the parliamentary session to be annoyed about the continuous, but yet unproven connections between civil society and the underworld.
United St. Maarten Party MP Frans Richardson said he was tired of the claims about the underworld, claims he had been hearing since he was a boy. "It almost sounds like a James Bond movie," he said. He said he hoped the Dutch police officers who are to come to St. Maarten under the protocol "will walk the streets" and "not live like they are on a nice vacation."
United People's Party MP Franklin Meyers, like MP Richardson, was adamant about the country having its own people in places of authority. They, like other fellow MPs, want to see the country produce its own judges, prosecutors and lawyers.
National Alliance MPs George Pantophlet and Silveria Jacobs pointed out that the country's shortcomings in the area of Justice could be remedied through education and not the building of more or expanded prisons.
"No change will come from the protocol," said MP Jacobs, because it has "nothing that needs to be dealt with" for the country.
When the police officers from the Netherlands arrive in St. Maarten to work, independent Leona Marlin-Romeo wants Justice Minister Richardson to ensure that they share their knowledge with their local colleagues.
Independent MP Cornelius de Weever requested that the minister give concrete figures about the number of corruption cases with which the Prosecutor's Office has dealt to date in St. Maarten. He also wants a comparison of the number of cases in St. Maarten with those of the Netherlands.
Democratic Party ((DP)) parliamentarian Sarah Wescot-Williams asked the minister whether questions MPs have about St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies can be taken up in the ongoing civil inquiry by the Prosecutor's Office.
Richardson will be back in Parliament on Wednesday at 9:00am to answer that and a number of other questions when the meeting resumes. The meeting was suspended early Monday afternoon because of time constraints.
