THE HAGUE--The Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant and Antilliaans Dagblad of Curaçao published articles on Wednesday morning on the Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten and the strengthening of the law enforcement sector on the island.

 

The newspaper articles were based on confidential documents of the Kingdom Council of Ministers.

 

According to de Volkskrant, the Netherlands will be "taking over" the fight against corruption in St. Maarten, whereby Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in his capacity as Chairman of the Kingdom Council of Ministers will be appointing the chairperson of the Integrity Chamber for St. Maarten.

The Integrity Chamber will be secured in a so-called General Measure of the Kingdom Government ("Algemene Maatregel van Rijksbestuur" AMvRB), of which a draft version has been leaked to the newspaper, and will be investigating alleged integrity violations by members of the St. Maarten Government.

 

The second member of the Integrity Chamber would be appointed based on a proposal of Dutch Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk. The Government of St. Maarten would nominate the third member, which means that the country would lose its autonomy in the process to tackle alleged integrity violations. The Integrity Chamber would be supported by a secretariat. The Integrity Chamber and its secretariat will be funded largely by The Hague.

 

St. Maarten has objected vehemently to the Kingdom Government's proposal and has prepared its own Integrity Chamber National Ordinance, as was recommended in the Wit-Samson Integrity Committee and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) reports, under the guidance of the Oosting Committee.

 

The Netherlands is demanding complete independence of the Integrity Chamber and is not convinced that St. Maarten's national ordinance will guarantee this sufficiently. According to the Kingdom Government, "systematic integrity violations" not only damage St. Maarten's reputation, but also harm the Kingdom as a whole.

 

So far, St. Maarten and the Netherlands have not been able to reach an agreement on the setting-up and the tasks of the Integrity Chamber. The Kingdom Council of Ministers decided last Friday to start the procedure to impose an AMvRB. Minister Plasterk has said on several occasions that he hoped that this AMvRB would be based on a consensus with Philipsburg.

 

The draft AMvRB document of the Kingdom Council of Ministers mentions the appointment of an independent quartermaster who would prepare the establishing of the Integrity Chamber. The quartermaster will have to draft a plan of approach within one month after his/her appointment, which then will be approved by the Kingdom Government.

 

Antilliaans Dagblad published a front page article on Wednesday with details of the proposal to strengthen the law enforcement system in St. Maarten in the next two years. The proposal was part of the documents, including the draft AMvRB, that were submitted to the Kingdom Council of Ministers on January 16. Documents of the Kingdom Council of Ministers are confidential and it is considered unlawful and highly unethical to peruse them publically.

 

The proposal as quoted in Antilliaans Dagblad states that the Netherlands would be investing some 10 million euros per year in the period 2015-2016 to strengthen St. Maarten's law enforcement.

 

Additional manpower of 50 to 55 persons would be needed in Philipsburg. These persons, able to carry out large-scale criminal investigations, would be in addition to the already present Royal Dutch Marechaussees and the Kingdom Detective Team RST.

 

The additional personnel would include law enforcement officers for the RST, a Special Prosecutor specialised in financial-economic crimes and supporting staff, a Judge of Instruction, and experienced criminal judges from the Netherlands who will be attached to Joint Court of Justice.

 

The RST in St. Maarten would be expanded by the Dutch National Police. The additional RST personnel would be working on a team that would be accountable to the Attorney General. The Attorney General in turn would be accountable to the four Justice Ministers of the Kingdom, not to St. Maarten's Justice Minister. The Marechaussees will be deployed to improve border control and prevent human trafficking.

 

Minister Plasterk announced plans early October last year to strengthen St. Maarten's law enforcement agencies and to place the Justice System under more direct supervision of The Hague. The four Justice Ministers of the Kingdom agreed last month to work on a joint plan to strengthen law enforcement on all Dutch Caribbean islands.

 

The Daily Herald