Philipsburg: --- The Minister of Justice David Dick and Reginald Doran a representative from USONA inked another contract yesterday at the Parliament Building. The justice minister said there is total of 25.7 million guilders which was made available for renovation work on three of the islands of the Netherlands Antilles. Dick said these monies were put aside by the Netherlands which sums to 9.5 million Euros for the renovation of the prison system after the WODC report was made. The Minister said the monies have now been transferred to the Antilles and USONA has agreed to manage the funding. He said the contract that was signed is the plans that have been agreed upon.
Of that sum 14.2 million is for renovation work in Curacao, which will be used specifically for training and renovation to the youth detention center. St. Maarten will benefit 9.3 million which will be spent on repairing the female cells of the Pointe Blance Prison, and constructing of 64 holding cells for deportees. The additional cells which will house people who are held for immigration purposes will be built on top of the existing police outpost in Simpson Bay. Dick said this new facility would have to meet international standards.
Minister Dick said there would be some technical work at the Pointe Blanche Prison since the section that houses female prisoners are not proper and they would have to be move to another location within the facility.
While Bonaire will be getting 2.1 million of the allotted funds, Dick said based on the plans Bonaire has they would need more monies to execute that plan but for him getting the additional funds will not be a major problem since there are other means of acquiring these funding.
As for the completion of the police holding cells in Philipsburg and other office spaces which is still unfinished the Minister said that he hoped to have the monies for that project within the near future, hopefully before the end of the year. He also said he managed to locate a space in Saunders to house police affairs and other office spaces which handle immigration issues. He agreed that the situation that is currently taking place at the current police affairs building is unacceptable, but said he has been working on a solution for this department, but each time the deal would fall through. Dick said there is a construction site that is presently taking place in Saunders and he managed to convince the owners not to build apartments on the top floor instead build office spaces which would be leased by the Federal Government for much needed office spaces.
Dick said he is expected to sign the youth policy plan Saba today which will focus on prevention. The aim of this plan is to better guide youths and to provide the necessary training which would keep them in the right direction.
Also in the planning is to build an office at the Harbor on Saba and fencing which would enable control on that island, as well as the renovation of the police station after the lease contract is signed.
Problems with Border Control System Regulated--- More Staff was needed
The newly installed Border Control System (BCS) that has been installed on St. Maarten can be considered the best in the world said Justice Minister David Dick. He said in the past St. Maarten or the other islands of the Netherlands Antilles did not have a digital control system in place.
The BCS already went through testing on Curacao for about five months and the minor glitches that were found in the software has been fixed prior to its installation on St. Maarten, and Bonaire which was done about one month prior to the installation on St. Maarten. He said whatever changes are made on St. Maarten will create attention since everything has to be client friendly. However, he insisted that this upgrading is needed and will serve in the best interest of the islands even when the islands are dismantled.
The Minister of justice explained that when the system was firstly installed there were some problems for example long lines at the airport which was regulated by head of immigration Ademar Doran. Dick said the main problem was a lack of sufficient staff during peak hours when there are a number of flights embarking and disembarking at PJIAE. He said Doran spent at least two days at the Airport and he managed to make a new schedule for his immigration officers which basically solved the problems. He said one of the changes that had to be made was the application that can read the American passports which has also been done.
The Minister explained that this system is indeed needed so that persons leaving or coming to St. Maarten can easily be tracked now that all information on travelers is stored digitally. He further explained that had someone requested information on anyone in the past St. Maarten or the other islands in the Antilles could not have provided that information since there was no control done in the past and storing of traveler's information.
The intention is to link this system with the foreign management system which will be connected to the judicial chain. Further plans are to connect the said system to the island government including the census office. He said this is in the interest of the islands and it was mentioned in the WODC report that Immigration has to regulated on the islands which is what this system is intended to do.
Already Curacao has requested an application for the labor department which would also be done for St. Maarten.
Panneflek Will Leave--- Doran going Nowhere
The Minister of Justice when questioned on when and if in fact Assistant Commissioner of Police Richard Panneflek has intention to leave the KPSSS. Dick said that he is a man of transparency and he did receive a letter from Panneflek who requested to leave the police force. He said this is the reason he mentioned Panneflek request in the public meeting of the parliament. However, the top cop is very tightlipped on the matter. "Let's be clear it is a fact Panneflek is leaving but the matter of Doran is a rumor which I don't like". Asked how soon Panneflek intend to leave the Minister said he will be dealing with the matter before the end of this year.
The Minister said since he received the letter and he mentioning it there was no more discussion with him and the police commissioner. As for Ademar Doran the Minister said Doran is not going anywhere and what are being said are complete rumors. He said even though Doran is entitled to additional training which is available for police officers. However, all personnel cannot leave at the same time. When quizzed on the matter Dick said Doran did indicate that he is interested in taking up the opportunity to further his education. He said the trainings for the officers will be tailor made and not everyone leaving at the same time.
Asked who will be filling these positions when they become available. Dick said that he had a two day meeting with the chief inspectors a few weeks ago where they were very open about the issues at hand. He said even though the WIN WIN Agreement states Dongor would be in charge when the two police commissioners are absent he believes in openness in management, something he is still working on. He said that there are no issues at hand and the community should not be worried about this matter.
The Minister said Derrick Holiday remains the Chief Commissioner of Police of St. Maarten even though he is dealing with some judicial issues. When questioned on the fact that he had removed Holiday from his position just two days prior to his arrest, claiming he was going to take up another position with the island government. Dick said at that time he offered Holiday another job which he refused. However, he did not feel this kind of information should be made public since this he said is creating confusion. He further said that this matter is troubling Holiday something that should not happen since it is not a nice thing to do.
