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THE HAGUE--A special white-collar crime unit from the Netherlands at the Philipsburg Prosecutor's Office, an Integrity Officer appointed by the Dutch Government, more direct supervision of The Hague on immigration and border protection through the strengthening of the Royal Dutch Marechaussee, National Detectives/RST, Customs Department, the Royal Dutch Navy and the St. Maarten Police Force.

These are the measures that Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk will be proposing for St. Maarten at the next Kingdom Council of Ministers meeting later this month to tackle corruption and to strengthen the integrity of the island government.

Plasterk announced the measures on Wednesday in effort to soothe the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. Several parties in the Second Chamber, including the governing liberal democratic VVD party, demand action by the minister. St. Maarten was the highlight in Wednesday's handling of the draft 2015 Kingdom Relations budget in the Second Chamber.

The measures announced by Plasterk are the result of the findings of the Integrity Inquiry Team of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), published in a report and ordered by the Kingdom Council of Ministers via an instruction to St. Maarten Governor Eugene Holiday.

In a first reaction to that report, Plasterk told the media that he found its results "disturbing." He said that there was "rottenness in all layers," including in the St. Maarten Government. He said that the report clearly showed the "abuse of power" by members of government. "The situation is very bad. We cannot have that in the Kingdom. Action is needed regardless of which government takes over," he said.

The minister said he hoped to get the support of Philipsburg for these measures though he had not spoken with incumbent St. Maarten Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams yet. "If it is up to me, we will be doing this together. It is in the interest of the St. Maarten people. Measures are necessary and it is going to happen."

The details of Plasterk's proposal still have to be worked out and discussed by the Kingdom Council of Ministers. On Wednesday he told reporters at the Second Chamber that in general he wanted more control on the justice sector in St. Maarten. The measures should go into effect mid-November.

Special unit

The minister proposed setting up a special unit at the Prosecutor's Office which would focus on white collar crime, which includes fraud and corruption also by members of government. The unit would be manned by persons of the Dutch Public Prosecutor's Office.

Also new is his proposal to appoint an Integrity Officer who will supervise the implementation of integrity enhancing measures. This person will be appointed by the Netherlands and not by the St. Maarten Government.

Plasterk wants to improve the border control on the island. "It is the external border of the Kingdom." He wants to realise this through the strengthening of the Coast Guard, Royal Dutch Marechaussee, Customs, Royal Dutch Navy and the St. Maarten Police Force, under direct supervision of The Hague.

The Kingdom Cooperation Detective Team RST will attain a permanent base in St. Maarten so it can offer structural assistance to the National Detectives Department. The jurisdiction in St. Maarten will be strengthened as well.

Asked if this meant that St. Maarten was finally be getting the support for its justice sector, a request that had been done almost a year ago, the minister said that the Netherlands would provide the assistance that was needed.

Guarantee function

It is not clear what legal base the Kingdom Council of Ministers will use to implement these measures in St. Maarten. Article 43 of the Kingdom Charter states that good governance is ultimately a responsibility of the Kingdom; the proposed measures can be seen in light of that guarantee function, said Plasterk. "We will not look the other way. We have to do it together in the Kingdom," he told the media.

The minister officially informed the Second Chamber of his proposed measures for St. Maarten during the Kingdom Relations budget debate Wednesday evening. He agreed with the observation of the Second Chamber that there had been signals that things were "not going well" in St. Maarten for several years.

According to Plasterk, the Kingdom Council of Ministers does not have enough confidence that the recommendations of the PwC integrity inquiry report will be sufficiently carried out. "So action will be taken. The Kingdom Government has asked me to come with a proposal."

The minister said the situation in St. Maarten was sufficiently "acute" to warrant measures. "It is so acute that we have decided to proceed with this matter. There cannot be any doubt about good governance in a country. We have to take joint responsibility."

Firm action

Member of the Second Chamber André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party said that he was happy that the minister was taking up the matter. "Firm action by the Kingdom Government is needed. It is now up to St. Maarten to seriously get to work and to realise a good and transparent government. If they fail to do so, they should not be surprised that an instruction is given," he said.

Bosman said he supported direct supervision of The Hague on the justice sector in St. Maarten. "Only sending people down there makes no sense. I agree to provide assistance, but only with a clear mandate." Bosman said he was giving St. Maarten six months to get things in order.

Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA said he had confidence in the solid package of measures proposed by the minister. He said it was important to discuss this with the St. Maarten government to create a bearing surface. But, he added, "It is time for a big clean-up in St. Maarten."

Wassila Hachchi of the Democratic Party D66 said she too shared the severe concerns about integrity in St. Maarten, but criticised the manner in which Plasterk had gone about the matter. She pointed out that St. Maarten had requested assistance in the justice sector and that this request had not been honoured so far.

Last resort

According to Hachchi, intervention should be the last resort. She questioned whether the minister had done everything possible to avoid this. She said the minister behaved like "an elephant in the porcelain cabinet" and that he allowed things to escalate. She said the minister should work on good relations in the Kingdom throughout the year and not only act in crisis situations.

Peter Oskam of the Christian Democratic Party CDA said he supported the minister's proposed measures. "The debris really needs to be cleared in St. Maarten." He said the additional manpower from the Netherlands was surely a good idea as there were many cases waiting to be investigated.

Gert-Jan Segers of the ChristianUnion (CU) called the situation in St. Maarten "very worrisome. There are indications of bad governance, corruption. The state of law is at stake. This affects the guarantee function of the Netherlands. It is a good thing that the minister is taking action," he said.

Roelof Bisschop of the reformed party SGP said the PwC report gave him the "chills." He said that The Hague had powerfully intervened long time if it had been a Dutch municipality. He called on the minister to establish a Delta Plan for St. Maarten together with the island government. "An integral plan of approach, otherwise the people will continue being the victim of irregularities and bad governance," he said.