PHILIPSBURG--Frustrated with the position in which St. Maarten is being placed by the Dutch and the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT, Justice Minister Dennis Richardson said on Wednesday that he was willing to “take a few years in jail” in defence of the country and its people.
He made this comment in response to questions during the resumption of the bi-weekly Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday.
“I have drawn a line in the sand,” Richardson said. “This country has the right to defend its people, to protect its people and do whatever is necessary in that regard, and I will do it as Minister of Justice, and if that means transgressing CFT norms then so be it! You want to come and take me away for that, then so be it. If [Officer Gamali – Ed.] Benjamin was prepared to give his life for this country, then I am prepared to take a few years in prison for this country.”
Richardson gave an insight into the negative position in which St. Maarten is being placed by, amongst others, the Dutch and the CFT.
He said that while St. Maarten was subjected to the Law on Financial Supervision, had to carry out proper financial management and its expenditure had to be covered by income, “the truth of the matter is that we did not start with a sound financial position as is being proclaimed that we should have.”
He said the country had inherited a debt from the former Netherlands Antilles from which it did not benefit or profit as an Island Territory. However, he said that “as loyal citizens we accepted that we were co-responsible [for the debt – Ed.], but we inherited a debt that we did not have before.”
He said the building of the organisation of St. Maarten, particularly where it concerned national services, had occurred despite promises from the Dutch that they would assist. St. Maarten received only NAf. 60 million of the NAf. 180 million it was supposed to have received for debt reconstruction. A total of NAf. 120 million “was silently scratched through by the Dutch Government because we did not meet a deadline.”
He stressed that Curaçao had inherited the majority of the Central Government services and St. Maarten had had to build from scratch.
On top of this, he said, the CFT is “making all sorts of demands” for St. Maarten to, amongst other things, compensate for losses accrued in former years and resolve Government’s debts to Social and Health Insurances SZV and general pension fund APS. He said the CFT position made negotiating more difficult, as these organisations “feel strengthened.”
He told reporters that when he had started at the ministry there had been a backlog in numerous things, including persons not being in the correct salary scales, retroactive payments, including for rent, etc.
He said decisions to the tune of NAf. 3 million had been taken “to do financial justice” for members of the Police Force. As these payments were not budgeted for, the ministry had to curtail its spending in other areas. One of the consequences of this was that a number of vacant positions in the Police Force were not filled to compensate for the adjustments in salaries for police officers.
Good job officers
Richardson had been visibly still very much shaken earlier in the press briefing when he spoke about the Police Force, in particular about Officer Benjamin. At one point during his opening remarks, he began to choke up and wrapped up his comments.
He said the administration admired the Police Force for its quick and successful apprehension of the suspects in the robbery and the gunning down of Benjamin. He said officers had been professional and “did not beat up anyone” during the process. They executed the work the way they should have and he appreciated this because “it also helps the healing process and also because justice has to be done.”
Condemning the shooting of Benjamin, Richardson said he could not understand why and how young people could take lives of others and brag about it like it was a badge of honour. He said the country had to be lucky that most of the young people were good, noting that the root causes of these issues had to be determined.
