New domicile for Attorney General

January 16, 2012 3:04 PM

The new domicile of the office of the Attorney General on Wilhelminaplein was officially opened yesterday.

After its domicile in the city hall for 150 years, the office of the Attorney General now has a beautiful own building between the Temple of the Public Prosecutor and the city hall of the court.In his brief, unconventional speech, Minister Elmer Wilsoe (Pueblo Soberano) said he would be well pleased if Dick Piar would now become a fulltime Attorney General (PG) for Curaçao instead of half or a third and he hopes this will happen in the future.

The Minister referred to the fact that Piar is also the PG of St. Maarten, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (BES). This is a big thorn in the flesh of the party of which Wilsoe is minister because it doesn’t fit with the vision for the status aparte of Curaçao.

For that reason, Wilsoe had not minced matters yesterday. The Minister hopes the Public Prosecutor (OM) will really be open and transparent. Both the Temple and the office of the PG are built on a former cemetery. “I don’t want to think what’s buried there but I hope the OM will open their windows and doors for a fresh breeze through the building and remove old bodies from the closet.”

The Bank of America and also the Bank of Boston had their domicile in the building on Wilhelminaplein. After some renovation, insurance company Interassure moved in for several years. However, initially it was the domicile of the Lodge of Pleasure, a kind of palace. PG Piar expressed his gratitude to the former minister of Finance Ersilia de Lannooy for the country realizing the purchase in 2009 and the negotiations led by the Directorate of Finance. The city hall had become too small considering the expansion of the office of the PG the past years. After adjustments by the architect, the relocation was a fact last month; a modern building of which the first floor study of the highest boss of the Public Prosecutor catches the eye on the street side. Cherry-wood furniture, a wooden floor and two leather fauteuils offer a warm sight but simultaneously radiate authority. Minister Wilsoe is pleased for the office of the PG with their new domicile, even though he doesn’t have any money to modernize his monumental office thoroughly – only touch it up – across the street. “You have a palace and I have some kind of tent. On the other hand, it also creates obligations; what’s built on Curaçao, belongs to me. Besides, with the new building, the PG need not leave that often, which means he can spend more time on Curaçao so we can have a fulltime PG.”

15 January 2012