The newly launched organization; Public Private Partnership for a Safer St. Maarten (P3), yesterday made a donation to the Justice Department to cover the cost of completely outfitting the new Emergency Dispatch Center with hurricane shutters.
P3 which was launched just over a month ago said their aim is to establish a platform that advocates and provides financial assistance for the safety and security initiatives for the benefit of the residents, visitors and citizens of St. Maarten.
“We are here with the only intention of offering support in any way we can to improve our Police Force,” President of the organization; Eric Ellis said. “We as private entities realize that by assisting the police in their initiatives to counter crime, it benefits us as private sector and citizens as it improves the level of safety and security throughout the island, allowing us to run our businesses more successfully and to live more comfortably as residents.”
Board members of P3 who represent the American University; Michael Kanaby and Gerard Lake, made the presentation along with Ellis who represents Nagico Insurances. They presented a check made out to Rollfix, the company contracted to carry out the installation of shutters.
“We are already in hurricane season and we want to ensure that all this top notch equipment is protected in the event of a storm, so the shutters will be installed as soon as possible,” Ellis said. “In a small community like ours, where there are budget constraints and financial limitations, it is imperative that as good corporate citizens, we come together and create a platform to support our Police Force; hence the birth of the P3. Together a few private businesses, which currently form the membership of the P3; namely the American University of the Caribbean (AUC), NAGICO Insurances and the Maho Group of Companies, have come together to pool resources and pledge our support to assist in whatever way we can.”