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On June 25, 2021, police protested en masse in Philipsburg for the lack of their placement offers and adequate pay since 10-10-10. In photo: Minister of Justice Anna Richardson (right) was met by angry police officers as she left the Parliament building.

PHILIPSBURG--The Placement Committee of the Ministry of Justice will begin issuing placement offer letters to all justice personnel starting on March 15, Minister of Justice Anna Richardson announced on Monday. The letters will include information such as the new function and salary amount.  

  The minister sent a letter to all justice personnel on March 2 requesting them to share any documentation to support the function they are in, as these will be taken into consideration when preparing the placement letters.

  Richardson: This process has been and continues to be a meticulous one, requiring accuracy and diligence with the data of over 700 Justice employees: Prison, Customs, Police, Immigration, MOT [Bureau Unusual Financial Transactions Ed.], National Detectives, Staff Bureau, and Judicial Affairs.

  The Court of Guardianship currently remains part of the Ministry of Justice pending the necessary updating of the National Ordinance Structure and Organization of Government (Landsverordening Inrichting en Organisatie Landsoverheid (LIOL)). Once that is done, their Function Book will be added to the Ministry of Justice, Richardson said.

   Five weeks after she engaged with St. Maarten Pension Fund (APS) for the incorporation of the 16.3% retroactive pension calculations for law enforcement personnel, all related data have been sent to APS for review and completion, Richardson said on Monday.

  Richardson met with APS Adjunct Director and Manager Pension Administration Oscar Williams, APS Senior Pension Administrator Eric Tjon Tam Pau, Human Resources (HR) Senior Policy Advisor Florence Marlin, HR Consultant Grace Marlin-Blijden and support staff on January 31 to discuss the next step of the calculation process for the finalisation and approval of the draft Legal Position Regulation for the Police of St. Maarten.

  This step includes the incorporation of the 16.3% retroactive pension calculations for law enforcement personnel of the Ministry of Justice which will be updated in the ongoing placement process.

  The incorporation of the 16.3% retroactive pension is the last part of the calculation process to establish the full debt amount the government of St. Maarten will have to pay law enforcement personnel over a three- to five-year period as agreed in the established covenant agreement, Richardson said.

  Antek IT Solutions was consulted by the Ministry of Justice to retrieve historical data of all law enforcement personnel. This information is being used to calculate the payments once APS has made the updates to their administration, Richardson explained. The ministry is also using this system to ensure the information provided by each department regarding their personnels past and current function, salary and other pertinent related information is accurate.

  To prevent any discrepancies in the amounts to be paid out to the respective justice personnel, the data of the total calculations will be submitted to the Government Accountant Bureau SOAB for auditing, Richardson said. Upon receipt of the audited report from SOAB, I will send the completed National Decree containing General Measures (Lbham) in connection with the new police law, the new salary scales, and the approved Function Book back to His Excellency Governor Ajamu Baly for approval and signature. 

  She concluded her statement to the media on Monday with a request: I ask that persons using professional platforms to create unrest consider this, as the spreading of false narratives is misleading a number of justice personnel and the population, an action not conducive to the process. 

  Richardson thanked all personnel of the Ministry of Justice for their patience.