Shortage of personnel remains a concern
THE HAGUE--The opening of a youth section at the Pointe Blanche prison in St. Maarten is a positive development, but the shortage of personnel is worrying.
The third progress report on the implementation of improvements after the 2007 visit of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torturing and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment CPT to penitentiary facilities and police cells in the Netherlands Antilles is milder than the previous two progress reports.
This has to do with the general improvements that have been made at the facilities, especially the Pointe Blanche Prison, the Philipsburg police cells, the Bon Futuro Prison in Curaçao and the police cells at Barber in Curaçao.
"Both in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, visible improvements have been made compared to previous reports. While there are still areas of concern, the state of the facilities since the 2007 CPT visit has considerably improved," stated Dutch caretaker State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Schouten on Tuesday.
Bijleveld-Schouten has sent the third progress report along with a letter to the Second Chamber. The report of J. de Lange and P. Vegter dated May this year, but was only now sent to Parliament.
According to the progress report, things at the Pointe Blanche Prison are not too bad considering the limited available means. There are activities and training programmes for the prisoners and inmates have sufficient opportunities to air.
However, the personnel shortage on the level of staff and middle management is worrisome. To alleviate the shortage of personnel somewhat, 15 persons have started training.
There are also problems with rivalling gangs within the prison. Occasionally there are fights. The Staff tries to keep gang members separated as much as possible which is not easy considering the cross-formed building. The tender for the renovation of the Pointe Blanche Prison has recently initiated.
The situation at the Philipsburg police cells complex remains a concern. There are some improvements in the area of hygiene. "The cell block makes a reasonably clean impression and there are sufficient mattresses," it was stated in the report. The airing of detainees at the police cells is still not what it should be. "It couldn't be ascertained whether the one-hour airing per person norm is met at all times."
Detainees generally stay at the police cells too long. The construction of the detention centre for foreigners with about sixty places in Simpson Bay should be ready by the end of 2010. The expansion of the cell complex at the Philipsburg police station was delayed, because of the intake unit that needs to be realised.
The new cell complex in Philipsburg hasn't been fitted with a space to air the detainees, a fact Vegter and De Lange pointed out during their visit to the complex earlier this year. There are plans to construct an airing cage on the parking space underneath the complex.
Until this has been realised, detainees would use the airing space of the current complex. However, this is not an ideal situation and deserves top priority, the report stated.
The police cells in St. Eustatius and Saba were deemed to be in order. A new prison is being constructed in St. Eustatius with a capacity of 30 detention spaces. It should be ready late 2013. By that time the new prison in Bonaire should also be completed.
In her letter to the second Chamber, the State Secretary pointed out the prisons and police forces of Curaçao and St. Maarten would be resorting under the General Measure of Kingdom Government Plans of Approach Guaranteeing Country Tasks.
Under these plans of approach much will be invested in the police forces and the prison in the coming years. The plans of approach will be approved at the Final Round Table Conference (RTC) in The Hague next week Thursday.
