It appears St. Maarten will be taking over some of the 33 prison cell containers no longer needed in Bonaire (see related story), as will Aruba and Curaçao. The move seems logical because all these three autonomous countries within the Dutch Kingdom are coping with
a shortage of detention space, which leads to both sentence reductions and delays in their execution.
The containers, which can hold a combined total of 84 persons, are obviously second-hand, but weren’t used that long and ought to be in decent shape. Moreover, they are being made available by the Netherlands free of charge.
People concerned about the human rights of inmates in this regard should keep in mind that it involves temporary accommodations, which in the case of Bonaire was necessary during the construction of a new jail. They are already equipped with the basic necessities for such, so that no additional work on them will be needed.
Utilising adapted containers for provisional housing is nothing new and those who were on the island at the time will remember the container village that was erected after Hurricane Luis to place people who either lost their homes in the devastating storm or were living in the shacks bulldozed for public health reasons following its passage. It must be said that ceiling fans had to be installed back then to make the temperature inside bearable, which is something to consider depending on where they are to be located and prevailing wind conditions there.
The latter is actually a good question, because putting them anywhere else but inside the walls of the correctional institution at Pointe Blanche probably would mean additional security measures. However, as expansion and improvement work has been ongoing there as well as at the holding facility in Simpson Bay, the containers probably will come in quite handy.
There was no immediate word either on how they are to be transported from one island to the other, but perhaps the Royal Navy stationed in the Caribbean can assist as it has done in the past. The bottom line is that if the containers contribute to convicts serving a greater part of their time and doing so more quickly, most people probably would welcome them.
