THE HAGUE--St. Maarten has yet to pay its 2010 contribution for the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard, stated Dutch Minister of Defence Hans Hillen in a recent document sent to the Second Chamber.
St. Maarten has an outstanding bill of 128,842 euros for its share in the operational cost of the Coast Guard over 2010. Aruba and Cura�ao on the other hand have paid their contributions. According to Hillen, St. Maarten has pledged that it will pay "within short." St. Maarten's Justice Minister Roland Duncan recently questioned the sense of financially contributing to the Coast Guard.
The payment of the contribution was one of the twenty questions that Members of the Second Chamber's Permanent Committee of Defence had posed to the Minister in relation to the 2010 Annual Report of the Coast Guard for the Dutch Kingdom in the Caribbean.
The operational cost of the Coast Guard is shared by the partners in the Kingdom whereby the Netherlands pays a larger portion: 69 per cent. The Committee remarked that the Dutch contribution was "disproportionate," also considering the fact that the Netherlands unilaterally covers the cost of aerial supervision.
Hillen explained that the division key, instituted when the Coast Guard was established in 1995 was only slightly adapted when the Netherlands Antilles was dismantled in October 2010. The Netherlands finances the aerial supervision because of international obligations of the Kingdom.
The Defence Committee, which has a meeting with Hillen this Wednesday to discuss the Annual Report and other matters relating to the Coast Guard, was also interested in the operational specifics and especially the fact that less drugs and fewer illegal immigrants were seized.
Minister Hillen told Parliament early July this year that 2010 had been "a successful year" for the Coast Guard whereby 274 kilos of drugs were seized during nine actions. Together with the Dutch Navy, 1,483 kilos were confiscated late May 2010.
Parliament however questioned why less drugs had been seized in 2010 compared to previous years, especially when considering that the coastal radar system was working well, the Coast Guard's authority had been expanded and the cooperation with other countries improved.
Hillen acknowledged that the organisation had seized less drugs than in previous years. He noted that the Coast Guard had been successful in operations together with the Dutch Navy on various occasions and explained that the organisation was only part of a chain to maintain law and order on the islands, directed by the local Public Prosecutors' Offices.
Another reason for fewer drug confiscations may be the fact that drug smugglers tend to change their routes when "resistance increases," said the Minister. "The flow of drugs to the countries in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, and on to Europe, has diminished in the past years. The joint efforts of the Coast Guard and its partners in the chain of combating crime seem to play a role in this."
The Coast Guard is keeping a keen eye on the increased drug seizures near Aruba. The drugs are mostly from Colombia, and the shipments are usually transported from Venezuela. "It is a new trend that we will closely monitor in cooperation with the Public Prosecutor's Office, police and the Kingdom Detective Team RST," stated Hillen.
Illegal immigration remains a priority for the Coast Guard, despite the fact that no illegal immigrants were caught at sea in 2010. Hillen said control at sea has increased, but that no irregularities were discovered during these patrols. He said there was no specific reason for this.
The expansion of the coastal radar system to the Windward Islands is still being discussed between the islands and the Netherlands. Parties are still to determine whether the operational added value is worth the extra expenses. The Committee had inquired about the status of the expansion plans of the radar system.
It is unclear at the moment to what extent the major budget cuts at Defence in the Netherlands will affect the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard for now will have 92 sailing days on the station ship of the Dutch Navy at its disposal and 290 flying hours of the ship's helicopter.
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