~Justice Minister says recent increase in female suspects has forced government to consider restoring local accommodation; four women remain detained elsewhere in the Kingdom as construction of the long-awaited new prison officially gets underway.~
PHILIPSBURG: --- As construction officially commenced today, August 27, 2026, on the new Pointe Blanche correctional facility, Minister of Justice Nathalie Tackling has confirmed that four female detainees are currently being held off-island and that the government is considering reinstating some form of women's detention section locally while it waits for the new prison to be completed.
The timing puts Sint Maarten's prison crisis into sharp focus. After years of planning and discussion, the Ministry of Justice announced Thursday that construction of the new correctional facility has officially commenced under the Detention Sector Reform Program (DSRP).
The ministry said construction is now underway, with heavy machinery and vehicles expected to move to and from the site along Mountain Dove Road. The Ministry of Justice and UNOPS have therefore urged residents and motorists in the Pointe Blanche area to exercise increased caution.
The contractor is also working with the relevant parties on a comprehensive traffic-management plan intended to minimize disruption to the surrounding community as construction progresses.
But while the start of construction represents a major milestone for Sint Maarten's troubled detention system, it does not resolve the immediate crisis confronting female detainees.
During her responses to Parliament in the 2026 budget debate, Tackling disclosed that four women are currently being detained in facilities elsewhere in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom because of Sint Maarten's present accommodation situation.
For the long term, Tackling assured Parliament that the prison now under construction has been specifically designed with dedicated accommodation for women.
However, the minister acknowledged that government may not be able to simply wait until that facility is completed.
Tackling told Parliament that the Justice Ministry is taking the matter seriously because it has seen what she described as an “influx of female perpetrators in the past month.”
Government is consequently considering whether to “reinstate some type of women's section locally prior to the construction of the Point Blanche facility.”
“This is an ongoing discussion,” Tackling said.
I would also strengthen the conclusion to read:
The developments on Thursday therefore presented two very different pictures of Sint Maarten's detention system.
Outside Parliament, construction machinery is beginning the physical work on a new Pointe Blanche prison. Inside Parliament, the Justice Minister is confronting the consequences of a detention system that cannot presently provide adequate local accommodation for women.
The new prison is the long-term answer. Construction has finally begun.
But Tackling's own parliamentary answers demonstrate why Sint Maarten cannot simply wait for its completion.
Four women are already being detained off-island. The minister says there has been an influx in female perpetrators. And the government is now discussing whether a women's section must be restored locally in the interim.
The groundbreaking development may therefore represent progress, but it does not erase the immediate question facing the Justice Ministry:
Where will St Maarten safely and appropriately detain the next woman who must be remanded into custody before the new Pointe Blanche prison is ready?
