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style="text-align: center;">People of St. Maarten should take the time to read the document Issued by the Dutch Regarding Integrity on St. Maarten.

PHILIPSBURG:--- Ethelwoldus Josepha, President of the NAPB Police union has issued a strong call on the people of St. Maarten, mainly civil servants and politicians to take their time and read the document sent to St. Maarten Government regarding the higher supervision placed on St. Maarten due to the lack of an integrity chamber. Josepha told SMN News on Sunday that he has a few issues with the RST and the Marechaussee.
As for the RST he said they are of the opinion that St. Maarten does not have enough manpower, knowledge, and expertise to conduct certain investigations. Josepha  said he agrees with the RST to a certain extent with their analysis however, he disagrees with the fact that the RST wants to single-handedly decide what they would investigate. "The RST wants to decide whom, when and how they will conduct the investigations they choose to conduct without any influence from the local Police Force (KPSM). They already formed an opinion that the detectives working at KPSM cannot handle any of these investigations therefore they will be the ones doing it for KPSM and St. Maarten."
Asked how long now he realizes the motives of the RST and what they want to do on St. Maarten? Josepha said it's been about one year he has been following the trend and this he believes has to do with the evaluation of the RST performance on St. Maarten. "An evaluation had to take place from 2014 to 2015. That evaluation will determine if the RST has the right to remain on St. Maarten to work. "I have no problem with the RST helping St. Maarten because the island do need extra assistance, however, I am concerned as to how the RST will assist KPSM and under whose leadership. It is still amazing that the RST works with the police but they are semi-independent from the Chief of Police (KPSM). I am not discussing their presence on St. Maarten but what I want to know how the working relationship would be between KPSM and the RST henceforth. "Right now the relationship is not as bad, but if the people of St. Maarten read the draft document that was sent to the government of St. Maarten they will see that the Dutch Government will be sending in 50 to 55 workers (detectives) who will be coming to work with KPSM but they will not be working under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Police and that in itself creates a confusion."
Regarding the Marechausee he said that they are of the opinion that they should not have to work the same amount of hours like the local detectives because they believe that is beneath their standards. "While the Royal Marechaussee has different rules I do believe that if you are in Rome then you have to do what the Romans does. We are here for the same reason which is to fight crime and provide security for the country, but when a they will decide where, when and how they work then that will make the situation more complicated. "Right now the discussions that are taking place is that the Marechaussee wants to hold on to their core task which is immigration, border control at the main ports of entries which is the airport and the harbor and human smuggling. Since St. Maarten does not have an department that handles these tasks the Marechaussee thinks they are the ones that should take over immigration, border control and human smuggling, my concern in all of this is the word "take over" I want to know when would Government formulate a protocol that will clearly outline that when these persons are coming to St. Maarten to help then that is exactly what they will do 'help" and not take over and they are not the ones that has to decide on what they will investigate or where they will work. It is the local Minister of Justice that has to take these decisions with KPSM and the other justice partners when it comes to Justice. Josepha said this discussion should not even take place because St. Maarten has everything outlined in its year plan that outlines the country's vision and direction and it is the union belief that this year plan should be upheld since St. Maarten is their main core and they know to a certain extent what takes place on the island.
When it comes to the Integrity that is a whole different story Josepha said because when anyone reads the document sent to St. Maarten they will realize that the Parliament and Government of St. Maarten were placed on the sidelines; while three persons coming from the Netherland will take decisions for St. Maarten. These three persons will not be working for St. Maarten they will be working for the Netherlands and they will be the judge, jury and executioner who will be reporting to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Netherlands.
"I do not support or agree with politicians but one thing that must be clear is that the people of St. Maarten voted for those that are in government and it is only fitting that the government of St. Maarten be given a fair chance to clean up their own house. I do blame the politicians for what has transpired but it must be made abundantly clear that the politicians holding office now were elected to office by the people of St. Maarten and not by those in Den Haag and Amsterdam."
"The reason I chose to speak out is because I want to educate and enlighten the people of St. Maarten who voted for the politicians that are currently in office. When you read the document you will realize that everyone on St. Maarten is open to an investigation because the Dutch will choose who and how they investigate people without anyone's permission. I am saying again that everyone on St. Maarten should get their hands on that document have it translated and understand that we are all victims of the Dutch. As bad as our politicians are I do not think we as a people should give our patrimony away because when someone give up their patronage they ended up giving up their identity." Josepha said that the people of St. Maarten should start share the blame and hold the politicians they elected to office accountable by giving them a chance to regulate and clean up their house. When it comes to integrity there is a process that has to be followed; that process was not followed by the Dutch, they decided to kill an ant with a hammer without following proper procedures. Therefore I am calling on my colleagues in the Police Force and civil servants to read the letter that was sent to the Government of St. Maarten regarding the higher supervision that was imposed on the island. St. Maarten does have an integrity problem, but how big is the problem compared to Holland.
Josepha said the next step for the NAPB is that they will try to meet with the Minister of Justice to discuss the issue of higher supervision that was imposed on St. Maarten.

Click here to view letter sent to the Government of St. Maarten regarding higher supervision.