Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
The announcement by Justice Minister Dennis Richardson in today's paper that the "leaked" proposal to send 50 to 55 persons to St. Maarten to strengthen law enforcement was part of the original draft kingdom measure on the Integrity Chamber and has been off the table since, may be seen as good news. Also in light of the reaction from the police union NAPB to recent reports (see Friday edition), executing the plans as described most likely would have led to considerable unrest in the judicial sector.
The latter is always undesirable, but all the more in the middle of the high season, with thousands of visitors in need of protection continually on the island. What's more, the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta and then Carnival 2015 are around the corner, both requiring an extra uniformed presence.
As Richardson said, support is welcome, but must be provided within the present division of powers and must be tailor-made to the needs of the country. He mentioned opposing the placement of Dutch special investigators at the Attorney-General's Office because it's not clear to whom they would be accountable.
Instead, the minister requested specific assistance for the national detectives due to their heavy caseload already a year ago and is still waiting. At times it seems almost as though both Philipsburg and The Hague basically want the same thing when it comes to fighting white-collar crime, in particular corruption, yet can't agree on how to do so.
Surely neither the local prosecution, of which the vast majority is ironically from the Netherlands, nor the police can just be sidelined. Should that be done in any way, one certainly would expect some kind of trouble.
Such problems are actually the last thing St. Maarten and its one-pillar tourism economy could use right now. Action to ensure proper governance is definitely in order, but best taken together.
