PHILIPSBURG--Justice Minister Anna Richardson said during the live Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday morning she received an official notice from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) on April 6 that its plenary session will now take place in November. The plenary session was originally scheduled for May.
Richardson announced during a parliamentary session on Friday, April 3, that the CFATF had given the country a six-month extension to comply with its recommendations. This meeting discussed the draft Criminal Procedure Code and St. Maarten’s compliance with CFATF recommendations.
Members of Parliament (MPs) Melissa Gumbs of Party for Progress (PFP), Sarah Wescot-Williams of United Democrats (UD) and Claudius “Toontje” Buncamper of United St. Maarten Party (US Party) wanted clarification as to whether it was the deadline that was extended or if the plenary session had been postponed to November. Gumbs and Wescot-Williams also expressed their wish for the extension to be confirmed in writing and sent to Parliament.
According to Richardson, she shared the document with Parliament Chairperson Rolando Brison on April 6, who was to share it with the remaining 14 MPs.
Richardson said she held a meeting with the Ministry of Justice’s legal advisors regarding the amendments to the draft Criminal Procedure Code, some of which were submitted by Buncamper and Brison during the parliamentary meeting on April 3.
She said she hopes to reconvene the meeting by next week, by which time the legal team would have combed through the amendments. Richardson had asked for the meeting to be postponed for three weeks. This was to give her time to discuss the amendments with her support staff.
“I am really excited about the fact that we are looking positive to move St. Maarten from the third round to the fourth round [of the CFATF mutual evaluations – Ed.] and … to have the grey listing statement on St. Maarten lifted,” said Richardson.
She said she is looking into the possibility to have a St. Maarten “ambassador” placed at the CFATF Secretariat.
“I believe if we have someone there and in constant communication with the CFATF; updates, trainings, information, everything that is needed will be received in a timely manner and will be dealt with in a timely manner,” said Richardson.
