PHILIPSBURG--Interim Justice Minister Egbert Doran said at the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday that he will be implementing a joint plan of approach with key stakeholders to tackle the increasing incidence of car thefts in St. Maarten.
He referred to statistics of an unnamed insurance company which demonstrated that a total of 97 cars were tampered with for stolen parts between 2016 and 2019. A total of 144 cars were stolen in that same time period, said Doran citing the figures.
He emphasised that the actual number is much higher, considering the figures are from only one insurance company and do not take into account persons holding third-party insurance policies. Doran declined to disclose the name of the insurance company when asked by reporters on Wednesday.
Doran said it is “too easy” to steal a vehicle, re-register it, and then sell it as a “legal” vehicle. He said what makes the process easy is that bills of sale and insurance documents are being forged by car thieves.
His plan of approach will incorporate the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM, the Receiver’s Office, the Vehicle Inspection Department, and insurance companies.
“It is too easy to re-register a stolen car. … Once we deal with the requirements for re-registering via inspection, via the Receiver’s, via police as well, we will then make it more difficult for people to register stolen vehicles. That will be a way to mitigate the issue somewhat,” said Doran.
He said he will be meeting with St. Maarten Insurance Brokers Association (SIBA) Chairperson Neil Henderson and other stakeholders on Tuesday, February 4, to determine a further plan of action. He also said a plan to reduce car thefts had been in process since 2016, but was never rolled out.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the buyer of a stolen car will be penalised if he/she knew the car was stolen. “Most of the time the buyer has more or less an idea whether the car is legitimate or not,” said the Prosecutor’s Office in an invited comment on Wednesday.
If a car is found to have been stolen, it will be confiscated and returned to its original owner, even if it had been sold several times since it was stolen, said the Prosecutor’s Office.
