PHILIPSBURG--Fennix Global Technologies, the company that provided the government of St. Maarten with ankle monitoring bracelets in 2015 for the Pointe Blanche prison, has responded to Minister of Justice Cornelius de Weever’s claim that Fennix seriously breached privacy and confidentiality by exposing sensitive information to unauthorised third parties.

 

The company signed a three-year contract with government, but no payments have been made since the signing.

 

The Justice Ministry owes Fennix close to US $500,000 in outstanding fees for the maintenance and upgrade of 25 electronic ankle bracelets. In reaction to the minister’s statement that there are no funds due to Fennix from the Ministry of Justice, the company said Fennix Global Technologies is disappointed and amazed by the current situation with the Ministry of Justice.

 

“Fennix representatives tried on many occasions to communicate with government officials of past administrations, as we have dealt with four different justice ministers on this issue. … They all never gave their full cooperation in solving the matter,” said Fennix Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chez Rodriquez on Thursday.

 

He said he had made a personal visit to St. Maarten this year and met the minister of justice to facilitate an amicable settlement. Rodriquez realises that the present situation did not manifest itself under that minister’s watch, but offered to come to an amicable settlement with the Government of St.Maarten. He said this leaves his company with no other option but to go to court.

 

“We can say that the current Minister, Cornelius de Weever, did provide us with an appointment on January 26. Previous to the aforementioned meeting, our last active conversation was a teleconference call with former Minister Kirindongo. A promised follow-up call unfortunately never occurred by St. Maarten’s officials.

 

“Both our corporate office as well as our local representative Arthur Lugisse tried to organise conversations with former Minister Boasman. However, he never followed up with anything to that matter. Even if he was the one in charge of that department, all our efforts were to no avail,” stated Rodriguez.

 

“We are in shock to receive the news in regard to a breach of contract and an opportunity to restore services. All documents are in place as well as communications following our standard operational procedures when upgrades to our solutions take place. Upgrades in technology have no cost for our customers.

 

“The reason why Fennix Global Technologies has not taken legal action with the Ministry of Justice was because we believed an amicable solution was the best option, knowing the situation the prison was in and is still in. Lugisse also felt that, with the present and ongoing situation that Government has found itself in since 10-10-10 with creditors taking them to court and costing taxpayers money. Lugisse spoke to all the past Ministers of Justice and none made an effort to resolve the situation.”

 

Fennix Global Technologies is one of seven companies in the world dedicated to designing, developing, manufacturing and implementing technological solutions for the criminal justice industry. Fennix’s Criminal Justice Division, which operates under the trademark brand monitorINMATES, has current successful projects in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Puerto Rico, with both its Pro-Active Tracking (PAT) and Prisons Electronic Management (PEM) modules.

 

The Daily Herald