PHILIPSBURG:--- A press release from press Prosecutor Tineke Kamps stated that the country's Chief Prosecutor Erick Noordhoek is now off island for an indefinite period of time due to serious private circumstances in his family. Kamps said during Noordhoek's absence he will be replaced by Prosecutor Karola van Nie. It should be noted that while St. Maarten's Prosecutors Office has been crying out loud that they lack staff and that they are unable to conduct necessary investigations, the country's prosecutors are constantly off island or on vacation.
It is understandable that Noordhoek had to leave his post due to family related matters, however, it behooves the people of St. Maarten the constant lack of personnel at the Public Prosecutors Office and their incompetence and inability to complete investigations properly and to take cases to court in a timely manner.
Just last week the Dutch said they are willing to send assistance to St. Maarten in order for the Prosecutors Office to properly investigate the Masbangu case. With the news that the island does not have a Chief Prosecutor at his desk it would be wise for the Minister of Justice of the Netherlands and the Minister of Foreign and Interior Affairs Ronald Plasterk to take the situation on St. Maarten rather serious and provide the country with the manpower and resources they need especially since justice remains under the Kingdom.
Instead of trying to table a motion to intervene illegally or to impose higher supervision based on the PWC report, the Dutch Parliamentarians should read the sections of the 250 page report that states that St. Maarten's justice chain lacks personnel and proper forensic equipment to conduct certain investigations. If the Dutch MPs want to see an improvement in St. Maarten then they need to provide the assistance and equipments that St. Maarten needs instead of trying to hold the country hostage.
It is no longer acceptable for the Netherlands to send recruits to St. Maarten or Prosecutors that are on pension to come to this young country to work for huge salaries and benefits and then label the country as a 'banana republic" or a country full of mafias when they are the ones that are in charge of justice and have decided to use their iron fist against St. Maarten when things are not going their way.
Crime and gun possession on St. Maarten are becoming rampant while corruption is on everyone's agenda. To curb all of the above the country needd the necessary manpower (those with integrity) and resources to combat crime and corruption. It is also no longer acceptable for an Attorney General to be friends with people that are accused of crimes and their cases are lying at the Prosecutors Office for close to five years. It's time for the Dutch MPs to take action against their own. The same way they want the Leader of the United Peoples Party investigated just like many persons on St. Maarten wants they should now investigate the Solicitor General who served twice as Chief Prosecutor on St. Maarten and now as Solicitor General, yet the Prosecutors Office complained to the PWC team that they feel that leaving office every four years is too quick for them. St. Maarten has competent lawyers who could readily fill the positions available at the Prosecutors Office and it would be wise for the Dutch to start recruiting personnel for the Prosecutors Office in the Antilles instead of sending persons here who does not even know the rules and policies of St. Maarten.
