Philipsburg: --- The Minister of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles Magali Jacoba told reporters at a press conference on Friday said she managed to visit several departments during her one week on the islands. One of the benefits the Minister said she was that she was able to meet the people that work in the justice chain and hear some of their grievances. Regarding the police, she felt more attention has to be given to them because if they were not happy then they would not perform optimally on the job.
A trend she said occurs everywhere including the court of guardianship, the prison, and other departments. She considers this a ‘very big problem”.
The minister said the same problems that exists on these islands also exists on Curacao and there is no money in the coffers of the Central Government to fully deal with the issues, so they need to be creative in solving these problems. She said the issues regarding the police are one of her priorities and that she would see how best they could deal with the current problems. One of the initiatives the Minister would take is to hold meetings with government to further discuss these matters.
Another concern for the Minister is to make sure the police and other justice workers get the opportunities to upgrade themselves through educational courses. Jacoba said it is necessary for the police and justice workers get the necessary training to properly function in today’s world which she described as being rather complicated. She felt the police especially need to follow educational courses so that they can carry out their duties. She said her intention is make sure an inventory is conducted to see exactly what types of courses the police had and what more is needed for them to be up to par. She said the lack of workers and education was the two major challenges she discovered on her one-week visit.
Even though not able to visit all the places that were necessary, she felt her first working visit was rather successful. Jacoba said one of the things she noticed on all the islands is the increase in youth crime, something that she feels need urgent attention especially on the smaller islands, Saba, Statia and St. Maarten. Jacoba said she already knew that youth crime was on the rise on St. Maarten but she was very much shocked to see that happening on the smaller islands. She felt parents have a rather crucial role to play in the lives of their children. The Minister said one of the things they noticed is that parents are working and are leaving their children alone at home, reasons why their has been such increase in youth crimes. Jacoba said right now there are some spot checks taking place on Saba and Statia and St. Maarten, but she felt that is not enough, she felt the youths have to be given more attention since they are the future generation. The Minister said there are too many youths in prison and that is not good for the islands. She said her intention is to focus on that and see if the Ministry can come up with projects geared at educating both the youths and their parents. The Minister also intends to get a project on stream that would target and deal with youth delinquency both on the streets as well as for those in prisons; she said they are contemplating to see if they can begin the education process in the schools.
Jacoba said if the youths that are currently in prison have nothing constructive to do, they would be thinking about the negative things to do. She felt the prison is a good university for the continuation of crime; therefore, it is of uttermost importance that something be done to address these issues.
During this week, she said those were the most pressing issues, which actually surpass the red line border. Her intention is to place the youths on the front burner so that the issues affecting them can be dealt with.
Another trend noticed State Secretary Ernie Simmons said was the fact that there seems to be a lack of communication. He said that they noticed that communication does not flow from top to bottom, and somewhere along the line, other stories are living a life of its own, which is causing major confusion. Simmons said this is happening especially in the constitutional process and what they noticed is that the civil servants are not duly informed, a concern for most of the departments.