ST. EUSTATIUS--The police station in St. Eustatius will be extended with a detention facility for 12 inmates from Statia and Saba, State Secretary for Security and Justice Klaas Dijkhoff said in a letter to the Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber on Tuesday. It is expected for the detention facility to be completed in 2017.
The extra cells are an alternative for a prison in Statia. There were plans for a prison to be built in the vicinity of the Botanical Garden, but these plans were shelved due to cuts on the prison system’s budget by the Ministry of Security and Justice.
Lawyers and family members of detainees from Statia and Saba had complaints about the difficulties they encountered while their clients and relatives were detained in Bonaire.
The cells in Statia are designed for adult men and women, foreigners, and to a limited extent and for a minimal duration, also for juveniles. Young delinquents, who will have to do jail time, will still be transferred to Bonaire.
Because of the limited capacity and facilities in the new location, and the limited number of detainees which can be held in Statia, prisoners and suspects, who are held in custody for more than six months, will be transferred to the prison in Bonaire. This will be decided on an individual basis, it was added.
In the final phase of detention, the detainee may be returned to the detention facility on Statia for the benefit of his or her social rehabilitation.
“This detention facility meets the need of Saba and Statia for custodial sanctions and preventive detention, taking into account the size of both islands and efficient use of public funds. The fact that prisoners no longer or much less have to be sent to Bonaire, not only provides the opportunity for prisoners to receive visits, but also gives them the opportunity to work on their rehabilitation in their own environment. The realization of the detention capacity in Statia is, therefore, an important improvement in the criminal justice system in the Caribbean Netherlands,” it was said in a statement issued by Government Service Caribbean Netherlands on Friday.
