Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure (Ministry of VROMI) Hon. Maurice Lake on Friday visited the nine-year old victim of a brutal attack that occurred in South Reward on Thursday morning.
Minister Lake spoke with the nine-year old and her mother on Friday at the St. Maarten Medical Center.
Lake also condemned the murder of a young St. Martin/Sint Maarten businessman, and offered his condolences to the family, friends and business community after learning about the callous act by allegedly two suspects.
“Our communities both North and South were in a state of shock to learn about the senseless acts of violence that transcended upon our communities of Dutch Quarter, Cole Bay and South Reward from Wednesday night up to Thursday morning.
“As an educator, it touched my heart to hear about the act of violence against the nine-year old. It is alleged that the perpetrator suffers from mental illness and is currently in custody. I appeal to our community not to counter violence with violence. I realize that certain members in the community want to take justice into their own hands, but this is not the way to go. I call for restraint! Next Tuesday I will be bringing the matter of violence within our communities to the Council of Ministers in our weekly meeting.
“Mental illness is not something that people cannot control. I commend the mental health foundation for all their efforts. I do believe that the foundation needs additional assistance and resources. As Minister of VROMI I assisted with allocating a piece of government property near the zoo in Madame Estate where the mental health foundation could construct a modern facility.
“I would like to call on the business community to assist the mental health foundation with donations so that they can achieve in bringing this new much needed facility to fruition. They need a proper facility in order to carry out the work that they need to do. I have had discussions with Turning Point and Social Welfare with respect to social housing.
“I am ready to facilitate in any way or form to move this new facility forward. We have a sad situation on our hands, but I think if every business chips in we can all make a difference. We need proper mental health facilities in order to cope with the challenges in this area,” Minister Hon. Maurice Lake said on Friday.
