PHILIPSBURG:---- Inmates that are incarcerated at the Pointe Blanche Prison are held in deplorable conditions. SMN News received some photos of the inside the cells along with the concerns of the inmates which is below:
If they are implementing the Dutch laws in Sint Maarten, we should be treated the same as the Dutch prisoners. The same rules should apply in Sint Maarten as in the Netherlands. Look at the situation of the prison in Sint Maarten. The food served to the prisoners are not edible. Some of us in prison are tax-paying citizens or our mothers and/or our fathers are tax paying citizens and it not comprehensible that we should live in this deplorable situation. The prison is in a very bad condition it's not livable. Some of our local prisoners are getting sick and matters are only getting worst. The prisoner are also human but live such an inhumane manner.
By charging someone under the Dutch, the Dutch law living condition should also apply in the prison. If you did a crime in Sint Maarten it's logical that you get punished, but getting punished under the Dutch laws but after you get so far by being punished you should be treated under the Netherlands human rights. It should not be one sided where judgement is based on the Dutch laws and then be sent to prison to live under these inhumane conditions. The food is terrible, the bathrooms have running water to hit the ground and touch back your skin and the floor are not cleaned properly and is the same place where you have to wash your clothes. It is the old-fashioned way to wash clothes on our hands and full of dirt and muck. The beds are falling apart, the walls are falling apart, when it rains water comes in the cells, the paint is coming off the walls, you can see the cracks in the walls, and the gates are rusted.
Prisoners’ skin are braking out and getting rashes on your skin. The cells for the prisoners are not being fixed. They take a few pictures of the outside and the roof to make it look good. The exterior of the prison is being renovated, while the interior is falling apart. So, to the public it would appear that the prison is being worked on, but that is not the case. We are not seeing any improvements on the inside as nothing is being solved within the walls. Inside the prison walls is inhumane. We have human rights too. We need county Sint Maarten to hear our voices. Jail is not made for animals. Jails is for anyone that made a mistakes or committed a crime in life. Half of the youths from Sint Maarten who leave the Point Blanche prison have mental problems. The prison is a rehabilitation facility where after serving the sentence, a prisoner should be able to adapt back into society. With all these challenges and no social workers or other care facilities, prisoners are thrown back into society with more mental challenges than when they were brought to prison. As a country, do we want our citizens to live in these conditions, do we want this for our youths. Should the prisoners live in this inhumane manner. No matter what they did to be in prison they are someone son or daughter who is paying taxes.
