News that 30 Immigration and 20 Customs officers will be trained in the next two years was generally welcomed in Parliament during Friday’s Central Committee meeting on border control. For one thing, Police Chief Carl John made it clear that this approach was chosen instead of the original plan to send 40 or more Dutch Marechaussee to the island.
He said the latter would have been a takeover, while it turned out not to be feasible in terms of readily available manpower in the Netherlands either. Recruiting and training locals is obviously the preferred option, with 15 Immigration and 10 Customs officers each to be added in 2018 and 2019.
Some may wonder it that’s not too much for such a small country with a tight budget. After all, St. Maarten has only a few main points of entry, being Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA), Great Bay Harbour and Simpson Bay Lagoon for yachts.
However, one should keep in mind that the Immigration Service is dealing with a severe shortage of personnel, compounded by the fact that several officials were suspended and/or dismissed due to irregularities in the recent past. The intention is also to protect the labour market as much as possible during the island’s recovery and reconstruction period.
Customs currently doesn’t collect import duties, so their role is limited to stopping illegal items such as weapons and drugs from coming in. Still, that’s no easy job with all the unguarded bays and beaches, never mind the open border with St. Martin.
It was good to read that in addition to having French immigration at PJIA, Dutch-side officers will be at the Galisbay cargo facility in Marigot when there is specific freight destined for the southern part of the island. John also mentioned an expansion of teams working at Port St. Maarten “where we can see that more controls are necessary.”
However, the reality is that without a modern container scanner, checking what is shipped in and out remains difficult at best. In addition to recruiting and training employees, investing in such equipment therefore seems like a no-brainer.
