Philipsburg:--- Minister of Education Silveria Jacobs announced on Wednesday during the Council of Ministers' weekly press briefing that no contract has been signed with Sheriff Security to guard public schools as was reported by one of the daily newspapers on Tuesday. The Education Minister said that some four or five companies submitted their bids for the contract and she recently received an advice from the Department of Public Education informing her that Sheriff Security should be awarded the contract. "I want to make clear that the department prepared the advice and sent it to me and so far no contract or agreement has been signed with Sheriff Security. Sheriff was recommended based on the results of the bidding.
Minister Jacobs said her Secretary General and herself as Minister of Education has some concerns with the advice that was submitted. A major concern is the almost doubling of the cost to provide security for the seven public schools on St. Maarten compared to the current contract.
Minister Jacobs said that when she read the contract Sheriff had with the government of St. Maarten they agreed to supply cameras, dogs, and human resources to guard the public schools but the company did not live up to the contract they had previously. The Education Minister said the government of St. Maarten has to be careful on how it is spending the people's money especially since they already have a deficit in their budget.
She said that the matter will have to be discussed and it is unfortunate for some persons within the department to leak such information to media shortly after it was discussed in a meeting on Tuesday. "I want to make clear that we are not going to be operating with a gun to our heads, certain decisions have to be made in the interest of all concerned."
When asked by reporters how much Sheriff proposed in its bid, Minister Jacobs said Naf. 119,000.00 per month. She also confirmed that the contract before was Naf. 59,000.00. When asked by reporters why Sheriff Security increased their monthly fees, the Minister said that the department that prepared the advice did not submit the supporting documents to show why there was a dramatic increase and the advice will be returned so that it can be properly done. Minister Jacobs said there were talks about dogs, cameras, humans, and shifts which are 24 hour shifts. She said that there are several things involved but the company did not provide enough information to substantiate the gross increase. She said she knows for a fact that Sheriff had to provide certain services and it was not provided even though government was paying for these services.
