Mercelina weighs in on Ministry of Justice Failure… 

to settle legal status and back pay for police…

Dr. Mercelina issued a statement  at the weekend expressing concerns about the current situation within the Ministry of Justice 

According to the leader of the Unified Resilient Sint Maarten Movement, (URSM) Dr. Luc Mercelina stated he is worried about the placement and retroactive payment of Justice workers. 

He is quoted as saying “It is my hope that we are truly nearing the end of this unfortunate and unnecessary process. For too long our men and women in the Police force have sacrificed their lives, their own families to protect the people of Sint Maarten, while their employer continues to neglect and disrespect them. I do hope that once and for all the Council of Ministers, not only the Minister of Justice, finalize this process in a correct manner as there are too many uncertainties regarding whether or not a placement letter would be sufficient to be able to collect any retro-active payments.”

When asked what he meant by uncertainties, Dr. Mercelina explained that a placement letter is merely one step of the entire process of legally being placed as a civil servant and collecting the retroactive monies that are owed. He highlighted the need for all relevant pieces of legislations linked to this process to go through the full legislative action and be properly published. He referred to the different function books within the Ministry of Justice and the “Rechtspositie of the Police”. Dr. Mercelina also questioned whether the Minister of Finance would be able to pay-out the monies owed to the Justice workers. The leader of URSM hinted towards a 2023 budget for country Sint Maarten that has still not yet been approved.  

Dr. Mercelina end his statement by thanking the men and women in the Justice Ministry for their continued hard work and hopes that this process will soon be over. 
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