Philipsburg:--- Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos clarified for the Members of Parliament on Monday evening that his office did not take a decision on the Anselm murder investigation as was disclosed by the head of detective department Denise Jacob. Mos said the suspect in question has a strong case of self defense but his office is yet to receive the police report on the case. He also informed parliament that if and when he gets the report he will proceed to the court of first instance for the judge to decide whether or not the suspect is guilty of murder or if he in fact acted in self defense.On the questions posed by the Members of Parliament to Minister of Justice Roland Duncan regarding the murder cases committed this year. The Minister promised parliament that he will share more information on the ongoing investigations in a closed door central committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday. The Minister said in the interest of the investigation, he does not want to divulge too much information in a public meeting. However, he admitted that the police and prosecution believes that there are people who come from the neighboring islands to commit heinous crimes on St. Maarten and leave the island shortly after. The Minister said St. Maarten will soon apply to become a member of Interpol which would enable them to get access to information from Interpol, while there is a need for St. Maarten to work on treaties with some of their Caribbean neighbors.
On matters related to the under staffing, the Minister said St. Maarten inherited most of its problems such as under staffing and the lack of materials and tools from the former Netherlands Antilles and as such he needs more time to properly establish the justice ministry on St. Maarten. The Minister said that he does not think that the crime situation is that bad that it would warrant a curfew as is the case in Trinidad and Tobago. He said the police on St. Maarten are doing the best they can with the resources and materials they have at the moment. On the questions posed by Member of Parliament Roy Marlin on the limiting of overtime for police officers. The Minister said that a law was published unknowingly to him that stipulated that a police officer can only work a maximum of 30 hours overtime per month, but that law he said is not yet in effect. The Minister said he plans to come with an amendment to the law when he establishes the decree for the implementation of the police law.
Responding to questions posed by Member of Parliament Louie Laveist on the free flow of guns, the Minister said they are aware of the amount of illegal and or stolen items that are being sent to and from St. Maarten but the under staffing at the customs department is hindering proper controls. The customs he said does have the right to perform controls but they can only become more efficient when they receive more manpower.
As for the Security Cameras (ICT) the Minister said St. Maarten does not have monies in its budget for this project for the year 2012. However, he said he held some meetings with the Ministers of Finance and VROMI who are discussing the installation of cameras for the port and airport and government will look at the possibility of having the same company install cameras in other locations. The Chamber of Commerce they said wanted to contribute towards this project and the possibility for them to do so still remains open.
The Minister also lashed out at the community for the crime situation saying that members of the community participates in the crime situation since they are the ones who are buying stolen items from criminals.
