THE HAGUE--State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Eric van der Burg has informed the Dutch House of Representatives that the cooperation arrangement safeguarding the implementation of St. Maarten’s country-task action plans will be extended for another two years, as the remaining plans for the prison system and police have not yet been completed.
The Cooperation Arrangement Safeguarding Action Plans for Country Tasks of Curaçao and St. Maarten has been in force since October 10, 2010. It was established after the constitutional reforms to ensure that country tasks which Curaçao and St. Maarten were not yet able to carry out fully independently would be developed through action plans aimed at eventual independent execution.
According to the June 2 letter to Parliament, Curaçao completed all of its action plans in 2017, after which the Curaçao Progress Committee ended its work. Since then, the arrangement has no longer had practical relevance for Curaçao.
For St. Maarten, three of the original five action plans have been completed. The remaining two concern the prison system and the police. The St. Maarten Progress Committee continues to monitor implementation of these plans.
Van der Burg noted that the Netherlands and St. Maarten are working constructively to improve detention conditions on the island. While important steps have been taken in recent years, the latest reports from the Progress Committee show that the two remaining action plans will not be completed before the current arrangement expires on October 10, 2026. This makes a further extension necessary.
In 2020, the Netherlands made €30 million available for improvements in St. Maarten’s detention system. Of that amount, €20 million is being used for the construction of the new prison under the leadership of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNOPS. Preparatory work is currently underway and actual construction is expected to begin soon.
The construction will take place in phases. The first phase is expected to be completed by mid-2027, which will already provide additional cell capacity for St. Maarten. The full new prison is expected to be completed in 2028 with a capacity of 191 cells, more than doubling the current capacity.
The remaining €10 million is being used for structural improvements to detention conditions. Earlier this year, a tripartite agreement was signed between St. Maarten, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, and the Netherlands. Through this agreement, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is contributing €3.2 million to the multi-year ADVANCE SXM support program to improve St. Maarten’s detention system.
The ADVANCE SXM program supports the Ministry of Justice of St. Maarten in strengthening the organization of the prison system and preparing the prison for the transition to the new facility. The program runs from August 1, 2025, based on an initial agreement between St. Maarten and UNODC, through August 2029.
On the police action plan, the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security is providing assistance through the support of a National Police staff member to the St. Maarten Police Force, KPSM. Since 2023, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has also contributed to the renovation of police cells in Philipsburg through funding to the National Recovery Program Bureau, NRPB. These works are currently underway.
The letter also includes the 51st and 52nd progress reports of the St. Maarten Progress Committee. The 51st report covers the period from March to June 2025 and focused heavily on the fire at the prison in May 2025. According to the report, the fire placed significant pressure on the already limited capacity of KPSM and resulted in limited progress on the detention action plan during that period.
The committee nevertheless noted several forms of support from the Ministry of Justice in St. Maarten and expressed a positive view of progress on the implementation of the function book within KPSM. The committee also recognized a willingness within the Ministry of Justice to implement structural improvements.
The 52nd report covers the period from July 2025 to January 2026 and reflects a more positive assessment than the previous report. The committee expressed appreciation for the organizations involved in the new prison construction process, while continuing to raise concerns about staffing levels.
The committee also noted positive steps within KPSM, while pointing out that the police force remains under pressure due to continuous changes in the crime situation. Within the Ministry of Justice, the committee reported progress in strengthening the organization and improving cooperation with partners both inside and outside the Kingdom.
Van der Burg said he shares the Progress Committee’s positive view of the steps St. Maarten has taken in the recent period. He added that he was able to observe both the progress and the remaining challenges during his recent visit to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. He expressed hope that the Minister of Justice of St. Maarten and her team will continue working toward completion of the remaining action plans in the coming years.
The cooperation arrangement may be extended by two years when not all action plans have been completed within the existing period. Extensions have previously taken place in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024. The current arrangement runs until October 10, 2026. Because the detention and police action plans for St. Maarten remain open, the arrangement will again be extended by two years.
The draft Royal Decree to extend the arrangement was discussed in the Kingdom Council of Ministers on April 24, 2026. It has now been submitted to both chambers of the States General for a four-week preliminary review procedure.
Under the arrangement, the Royal Decree must be published in the Bulletin of Acts and Decrees no later than August 10, 2026.
The State Secretary also noted that changes to the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, adopted on October 21, 2023, have limited the possibility of issuing Kingdom orders in council without a statutory basis. In consultation with Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten, work is underway on Kingdom legislation to provide a legal basis for independent Kingdom orders in council that must remain in force, including the current cooperation arrangement.
The extension means that St. Maarten will remain under the monitoring framework for the remaining prison and police reforms while work continues on the new prison, police cell renovations, organizational strengthening and the completion of the outstanding action plans.
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