Philipsburg:--- The Minister of Justice Roland Duncan has issued another letter to the Chief of Police Peter de Witte informing him that he must remove the temporary station heads from the Philipsburg Police Station and the Simpson Bay Police Outpost. The Minister has denied Inspector Randolph Bloieman the position of division head of the Philipsburg Police Station citing a report Bloieman wrote against the Brooks Tower Accord 2 which landed a number of persons behind bars. At the time, Bloieman was working with the immigration department when he wrote the report specifically highlighting the lack of proper procedures. Bloieman received the highest score in the interview that was given to the four candidates that were interested in the vacancies last year October.The Minister of Justice also denied Inspector Carlyle Rogers his position of the Simpson Bay division head claiming that Rogers needs to choose between the union and the police force. Currently, Rogers is the President of the NAPB St. Maarten. It is understood that the Minister of Justice is angry at the unions who are fighting against the division of the immigration and police departments. Both officers once received warning letters from the Minister when they allegedly incited a number of immigration officers to engage in a protest action and demanded to meet with the deputy Prime Minister Theodore Heyliger. SMN News learnt that both Rogers and Bloieman received their letters on Thursday informing them that the Minister is not in favor of them operating as division heads even though he denied them their promotions. SMN News has been reliably informed that the Chief of Police explained to the Minister of Justice that he did not have anyone on staff to replace the two men who are leading the two divisions and their services were needed for the Christmas and Regatta seasons. The source said the Chief of Police also informed the Minister of Justice that St. Maarten is preparing for its annual carnival season and the two men would be needed for this period but the Minister has already made clear that the reasons given by the Chief of Police is unacceptable and he would therefore have to make a new proposal for the two positions.
SMN News further learnt that Rogers approached his party leader the Prime Minister Sarah Wescot Williams and Deputy Prime Minister Theodore Heyliger on the matter but no one wants to intervene on their behalf. It is also learnt that both veteran officers are considering taking the matter to court. Neither of the two officers could be reached on Thursday for a comment.