Grapperhaus gets a different taste of St. Maarten

PHILIPSBURG – Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus (Justice and Security) got a firsthand taste of the destruction Hurricane Irma inflicted on St. Maarten during his visit to the island that was preceded by stops in Saba and Statia. On Wednesday afternoon, the minister gave a short press briefing in the conference room of Holland House, together with local Justice Minister Cornelius de Weever and Dutch Representative Chris Johnson.

Grapperhaus arrived in St. Maarten right after the second Carnival Parade on Tuesday. On Wednesday he began his day with a meeting with Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo, Justice Minister De Weever and State Secretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Ralations), followed by a discussion with the council of Ministers.

During a lunch at Holland House, Grapperhaus discussed “relevant topics” with Minister De Weever and his support staff. In the afternoon he visited the police station and the Pointe Blanche prison.

On Thursday Grapperhaus, who taught law at the University of Maastricht before he joined the Rutte III cabinet on October 26 of last year, will pay a visit to the Coast Guard and the Alpha Team at the airport before he goes on a tour of the island “to see some more of the damages with his own eyes,” as Dutch Representative Chris Johnson expressed it.

Grapperhaus spoke of a “fruitful meeting” with Prime Minister Marlin-Romeo, Justice Minister De Weever and State Secretary Knops about “specific issues relating to the justice and security area” without going into those specifics.

“I am impressed by the way this group of interim ministers has stepped forward in a very difficult time to take upon them this very complicated and ungrateful task to lead St. Maarten towards a new government in a period when the island is recovering from this tragic disaster of last year – Irma,” Grapperhaus said.

The minister said the had reached agreements about “important issues related to justice and security,” adding that he had in particular spoken with officers of the local police force and members of the Dutch National Police.

“I heard from both sides motivated stories about how good it was to work together. The Dutch police officers learned from their colleagues in St. Maarten and the other way around. There is a positive cohesion.”

Grapperhaus said that he was shocked at the status of the police headquarters in Philipsburg. “It is in a state of demolition. A lot of rooms cannot be accessed because there are no roofs. In other rooms windows are boarded up and the camera system does not function. We should work together to get this functional again at the shortest possible notice, at least before the hurricane season begins again.”

The Dutch minister encountered a similar, if not worse, situation at the Pointe Blanche prison. Another hurricane, he observed, and the building could be a total loss. “We have to consider how we can make amends in the short term. There is a lot of work to be done and I am committed to going back to the Netherlands to elaborate on a lot of things is this respect.”

Minister De Weever labeled Grapperhaus’ visit as important: “When you see things firsthand, reality sinks in,” he said. “The cooperation with the National Police is a perfect template for any other form of cooperation. We can use a similar template for the prison.”

Asked by stmaartennews.com about the plans of his fellow-minister Sander Dekker to change the rules for early release, Grapperhaus said that there is “first going to be further consultation in the Netherlands before the draft law goes to parliament or to the other countries in the kingdom. It is in a very early stage.”

Minister de Weever remained non-committal on the issue, saying that the minister plenipotentiary would hear about it in the Kingdom Council of Ministers. “One we receive the information we will review it with the entire ministry and form an opinion. Right now, I don’t have one.”

Grapperhaus declined to elaborate on the plan of approach for the strengthening of border control in St. Maarten. “We had a brief talk about it in the Council of Ministers and we will continue these talks in the next couple of weeks. Then we will  agree on how this will be made public,” he said.

Minister De Weever: “The plan of approach was approved by all parties, but it contains certain sensitivities. We will give you a version that you can use. We cannot always share the whole document.”

Top photo: From left: Minister De Weever, Dutch representative Johnson and Minister Grapperhaus during the press conference at Holland House on Wednesday afternoon. Photo Hilbert Haar.

Mid photo: Minister Grapperhaus (left) with security staff at the Pointe Blanche prison. Photo courtesy Laura Bijnsdorp.