PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Commencing on Monday January 22nd, 2018 Minister of Justice Mr. Cornelius de Weever in cooperation with the office of the Representative of the Netherlands in Philipsburg will be hosting a two-day working conference between Sint Maarten and the Netherlands on the topics of Border Control and the recovery of the local Justice-chain post Hurricane Irma.
Participating in the conference will be officials of the Sint Maarten Police Force, Prison, Customs, Coast Guard, Public Prosecutor’s Office, Royal Marechaussee, Court of Guardianship, the Foundation Judicial Institutes St. Maarten, the Sint Maarten Ministry of Justice, the National Security Service Sint Maarten, the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security, Dutch Customs, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), RST and the Dutch National Police.
The conference will amongst other topics seek to discuss ways and means of further strengthening partnerships with regards to protecting Sint Maarten’s borders as well as to increase the organizational capacity of in particular the Police Force, the Customs Services and the Prison System.
The Point Blanche Prison suffered severe damages as a consequence of Hurricane Irma and assessments made by local as well as Dutch experts have advised Sint Maarten to pursue the construction of an entirely new Prison Complex.
Minister Cornelius de Weever welcomes the delegation from the Netherlands to Sint Maarten and looks forward to two days of productive discussions.
