The United Task Force Against Crime has been taking note of the increase in violent crime taking place on St.Maarten in recent weeks. While we commend the Police Force and the assistance provided by various partners in arresting 3 individuals who committed a series of murders and violent criminal acts.
There seems to be recent murders in public areas whereby gunmen are killing in an obvious attempt of revenge and rage. Our young people are literally using guns to wipe out their enemies and they don’t seem to care whether it is day or night or if innocent people are in the surroundings. In the space of two weeks our island was rocked by the gunning down of 2 individuals in the presence of others, in public spaces.These murders resembling the type of crime that is normally seen on the big screen. What is most worrisome are the comments that can be read on popular news websites, comments whereby the writers are threatening to take matters into their own hands regarding the murder of Amador Jones, comments are also being made that "there are more to follow". We can only conclude from these commentators that our communities can expect more killings in the coming weeks. UTFAC supports the statements of the police and public prosecutor whereby persons with information should take them to the justice authorities and refrain from committing criminal acts in the name of revenge and retaliation. One of the statements the UTFAC is hearing from the communities is that our island seems to be saturated with guns. The UTFAC is hereby stating that Duncans controversial gun policy will only place more guns on the streets. The Minister should instead be focussing on ways and means to rid the island of the numerous guns in the hands of young people, gangs,and others who are using them to settle personal scores. We hereby would like send the message to our Parliamentarians not to pass Duncans gun policy. We also hope that the Honourable Governor of Sint Maarten Mr.Eugene Holiday will not entertain such a law and in the interest of keeping the community safe and secure will make an annulment if this law is passed. The UTFAC would instead prefer a policy whereby all illegal guns be removed from our communities in an effort to make our communities a safer place to live and work. It does not matter if one has to pass a psychological test or not, as many of our criminals act out of revenge, retaliation and in many cases out of instant emotional outburst. We strongly request our Parliament not to pass Minister Duncans gun policy whereby more guns will be available to the public. Instead a pro-active approach to rid the island of all guns is preferred. One such suggestion to the Minister would be to consider a 3 month grace period to all illegal gun holders to turn in their guns to the police station, no questions asked. After the grace period anyone with a illegal gun should be severely punished.