WILLEMSTAD - The law enforcement and financial systems on the Dutch Caribbean islands are under pressure due to staffing and resource shortages, warn the outgoing prosecutors general of the public prosecutor's office in Aruba and Curaçao, Ton Maan and Bote ter Steege.
Special attention is given to the overcrowded prisons and the vulnerability of the financial system on both islands.
"Financial investigation is in its infancy on Curaçao and Aruba, which poses serious risks to the country's financial system," says Ter Steege. He points out the consequences of a possible failing banking system on the islands, caused by the dependence on American banks. "If the Americans withdraw their support, the entire banking payment system in the region will collapse," he adds.
Maan, the departing prosecutor general of Curaçao, emphasizes the efforts of banks to comply with regulations against money laundering and terrorist financing. "Non-compliance with these rules can have disastrous consequences, given that the islands are heavily dependent on American correspondent banks," explains Maan.
Prisons
Another serious problem is the overcrowding of prisons. "There is simply no space to lock up all convicts," says Maan. This leads to situations where people with a remaining sentence of half to a year are sometimes released to make room for more serious crimes.
Ter Steege expresses concern about the unexecuted prison sentences in the past twenty years. "They were convictions for domestic violence, minor sexual offenses, thefts, burglaries, financial crimes. By not taking fewer people into custody, we try to free up cells and pick up people with an enforceable sentence at the airport."