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SAFETY FIRST
Dear Editors,
Feeling safe in your own home and in the environment where you live is one of the most important things in life. If that is taken away, people in general get scared, edgy, hard and suspicious of everything. Peace of mind is hard to find.
After so many horror stories, I've been getting strange thoughts. Police do not seem to be numerous enough to cope with the situation of rising crime. Or so they say.
In a small community of about 11,000 people, where most people know each other or of each other, I find it strange that break-ins, thefts and worse cannot be solved. Is everyone too scared to speak up because of repercussions? If nothing is done, the criminals will feel they have the freedom to do whatever they like; they won't get caught nor punished. Victims and would-be victims will get fed up with the situation and take their own precautions. I am thinking of people protecting their property with bars, alarm systems etc., hence creating their own prison. Or worse, protecting themselves by arming themselves. Neighborhood watches, legal or illegal vigilante groups will appear, all for our safety and the protection of our belongings. What is wrong with this picture?
The do-it-ourselves bit, indeed.
I have heard voices calling for more police, preferably from the Netherlands, who have no involvement in local situations, but with a impartial outlook. I have heard voices calling to bring in the marines to make a clean sweep. I have heard the suggestion to rotate the police force on the Antilles so that a local force would consist of officers with no family or relation ties. Whatever the solution, something has to be done before crime gets out of hand and people take the law into their own hands. I am already afraid of not feeing safe in my own home and in my own environment, having recently been the victim of theft. What has to be done to make the people in charge realize what can happen? Let me suggest something.
If you have the feeling nothing is happening after you reported a crime or you have not been taken seriously or have been left in the cold, send your story to:
G.E. Daantje, Police Chief
Kaya Lib. Simon Bolivar # 4
P.O. Box 360
The Island Prosecutor's office
Att. E.T. Wesselius
P.O. Box 214
The Lieutenant Governor
Mr. Herbert Domacassé
Bestuurskantoor
Plaza Wilhelmina # 1
The Minister of Justice
Mr. B. Komproe
Ministry of Justice
Fort Amsterdam
Curaçao
The Minister of Antillean Affairs in the Netherlands (Minister voor Bestuurlijke Vernieuwing en Koninkrijksrelaties)
Thom de Graaf
P.O. Box 2001
2500 EA Den Haag
The Netherlands
Your local newspaper
One of the bigger newspapers in the Netherlands.
(The latter two, only in case you get no reply whatsoever. Negative publicity is bad for the island, don't forget.)
Again I wish Bonaire the best for the future, which is also mine.
Marjolein Hayden,
A concerned resident of Bonaire.
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