
Pointe Blanche prison remains stuck in its own quagmire
PHILIPSBURG – To say that things are not going well at the Pointe Blanche prison is a serious understatement. In reality it is a mess and in spite of ten years of monitoring the Plan of Approach, in spite of More...

Dean Bar Association welcomes Dutch intervention at Pointe Blanche prison
PHILIPSBURG – The Dutch parliament approved the motion of Chris van Dam that asks the Kingdom Council of Ministers to take control of the Pointe Blanche prison for the next five years with a large majority on More...

Van Dam’s plan to take over prison is unlawful
~ Knops gets it right for once, says MP Heyliger-Marten ~ PHILIPSBURG — Faction Leader for the United People’s UP Party in Parliament on St. Maarten Grisha Heyliger-Marten says Dutch MP Chris van Dam’s More...

Attorneys threaten Minister Richardson with new lawsuit over prison conditions
PHILIPSBURG — The attorneys representing thirty inmates of the Pointe Blanche prison have put the feet of Justice Minister Anna Richardson to the fire with a demand to improve the conditions in the detention More...

Law and order in prison is hard to find
PHILIPSBURG - Internet access, an active Facebook page with nearly two thousand friends, mostly living in St. Maarten, the ability to make or smuggle weapons, and to threaten others physically or virtually: this More...

Knops advises against Van Dam’s prison motion
THE HAGUE –- State Secretary Raymond Knops (Kingdom Relations) advises against the motion tabled by CDA-MP Chris van Dam that asks the government to let the Kingdom Council of Ministers control the Pointe Blanche More...

Will Parliament and Government allow Dutch takeover of the Prison?
Dear Editor, On Monday, June 22, 2020, at 7:00 am, Sint Maarten time, Chris van Dam, Member of the Dutch Second Chamber, will be presenting a motion to the Second Chamber in which he is requesting the Dutch Government More...

Minister of Justice reacts to Court ruling and Van Dam motion
PHILIPSBURG — On Friday, June 19, 2020, the Court of First Instance returned with a decision after reviewing a petition filed by 37 inmates and their attorneys against the Government of St. Maarten and the More...

Van Dam wants Kingdom to take control of Pointe Blanche prison
THE HAGUE – CDA-parliamentarian Chris van Dam wants the Netherlands to take control of the Pointe Blanche prison for the next five years. In a motion, he will present on Monday in a meeting of the Parliamentary More...

Court denies demand for transfer of inmates to the Netherlands
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance has declared inadmissible the demand by a group of Pointe Blanche inmates that the country transfers them to safer prisons, either in the Netherlands or Bonaire. The More...