On Wednesday February 12th 2020, Justice Minister Egbert Jurendy Doran was able to sign the “Schikkingsovereenkomst” which is the Settlement agreement for some 24 Cadets who were officially hired of the Police Force of Sint Maarten in the year 2011.
The group of Cadets resorted to taking the Government of Sint Maarten to Court in the year 2016, as they claimed issues with their start date, which according to them was is incorrect, causing the decree that they received to only be retroactive to 2015. The Court of First Instance ruled on May 8th, 2017 that the officers had fulfilled their duties as Police Officers, and to the satisfaction of their team leaders.
Therefore based on this, the court ruled that a new decision must be taken and the correct date should be enforced. However this ruling was not executed. Minister Doran, after taking office last November 2019, was made abreast of the longstanding unresolved situation and immediately, after officially conducting an investigation, met on various occasions with all stakeholders, which included the KPSM Management and the HR Department of the KPSM, in an attempt to get the ball rolling, and to honor the decision of the Court, which entailed getting these hardworking men and women of the Police Force rightfully placed after so many years.
On Wednesday February 12th, 2020, the Minister of Justice was able to proudly sign off on this document which will cause these officers to be able get what is rightfully theirs. Minister Doran words to Cadets were: ‘It took a long time to get this important matter resolved, but I am happy that I was able to immediately put a Team on it and come to a solution, in order that these officers can be at ease and continue to execute the protective service necessary to our people and our Country’. The Minister closed by thanking the officers for their patience and dedicated service over the years.
