Justice Minister Rafael Boasman is not to be envied. He inherited a number of unresolved matters from his predecessors and remains under constant pressure to comply with the Plans of Approach for law enforcement agreed on – without accompanying budget – when the Netherlands Antilles was dismantled and St. Maarten became an autonomous country within the Dutch Kingdom per 10-10-10.
At that time a new organisational structure for the police was also introduced with many requirements regarding their legal position, etc. It’s fair to say that seven years later Government is still playing catch-up in this sense.
There were also persistent issues at the prison and a crisis management team was installed to improve the situation. However, some problems such as a lack of cell space obviously cannot be eliminated from one day to the next.
The latter makes it even more amazing that the Minister has so far not made work of earlier commitments regarding the supply and monitoring of electronic ankle bracelets (see Saturday paper). After all, their use would allow qualifying inmates to sit the remainder of their sentences at home and thus alleviate overcrowding at the correctional facility.
The debt in question has reportedly reached close to US $200,000, but the company involved says it’s willing to discuss how to continue. The fact of the matter is that the 25 purchased bracelets are currently not being used, as became evident in the Corallo case.
If nothing changes soon the matter probably will go to court where nobody – except perhaps lawyers – often ends up winning. Elsewhere the ankle bracelet has proven to be a good tool for detention outside of the penitentiary, with the added bonus that those concerned may more easily integrate back into society once released.
