Justice Minister Rafael Boasman seems to be on the right track (see Monday paper). For starters, he told the Council for Law Enforcement their opinions will not be taken for granted from now on, because apparently a report on what Government planned to do with handling the recommendations hadn’t been submitted to Parliament since 2014.
Boasman said his office intends to use every bit of expertise available in the country to address the crime situation. That is exactly the correct attitude, also because of a motion passed by Parliament for him to indicate within 60 days how the problem will be tackled.
In addition, the new Minister took a conciliatory tone in his recent meeting with counterparts from the Netherlands, Curaçao and Aruba. He emphasised the need to work together, but called for an end to accusing each other of all kinds of wrongdoings and creating the impression that people in St. Maarten are all a bunch of crooks.
The latter plea should probably be directed most at Dutch parliamentarians, in particular a Second Chamber member whose last name differs from his by only one letter, but the message will no doubt be relayed. Then again, he was told too of the impression existing in The Hague that Philipsburg is not taking the issues involved seriously enough.
It will be up to the Minister to show the contrary, not just with words but through decisive action on pressing matters, such as the fact that the prison director remains in function despite being a suspect in an ongoing vote-buying case.
