PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – In his quest to officially acquaint himself with the department heads and functioning staff, Minister of Justice, Egbert Doran, visited some of the many departments in the Justice
Ministry.
His first vsist took place on November 22 nd at the Point Blanche Prison and House of Detention, where he met with the director Mr. Alwin Keli. Accompanying the Minister was Member of Parliament, the honorable Dr. Luc Mercelina, who took over the chairmanship of the Justice Committee upon the resignation of Minister Doran as Member of Parliament.
Mr. Keli used the opportunity to lay out his overall plans of approach for the institution and gave an update on the current state of affairs.
Minister Doran and MP Mercelina also had the opportunity to have an audience with the Inmates Association and their lawyer Ms. Sjamira Roseburg, who gave an outline on matters that they deem utterly important and in need of urgent attention.
The discussions were fruitful and all parties agreed that urgent measures should be put in place to
ensure prompt solutions.
This visit culminated with the officials receiving a tour, where they got a firsthand look at the prison situation.
The Minister continued his Departmental tour with meetings at the Immigration and Border Protection Service (IBP), where he met with Department heads Mr. Richard Panneflek and Ms. Keturah Brown, who updated him on matters and introduced him to the staff at the Department.
In continuation, Minister Doran held a meeting with the acting Secretary General of Justice Mr. Rudsel Ursela, during which he was also introduced the staff of Judicial Affairs and Justice Bureau.
The Minister was consequently updated on matters pertaining to the respective department Departments.
Minister Doran stated that it is his focus during the interim term of this government, to personally get acquainted with, and be updated on the functioning and progress of these departments. The intention is to allow Department heads to present their policies and plans in order to assess the priority areas and to tackle the deficiencies in these departments in a most efficient and urgent manner.
Lastly, the Minister stated that it has been quite an eventful first few days. Since getting an inside glimpse of the Justice chain from the executive perspective, he is eager to dig deeper into the issues together with all Justice workers and to implement solutions.
