Point Blanche Prison an incubator for Gangs.

The Pointe Blanche prison on Sint Maarten is a salient potent example of, the endemic corruption and inability, of the present neo-colonial system of governance on Sint Maarten and the former Netherlands Antilles, being unable to govern the inmates at the prison while protecting prisoners and staff alike.

John van Den Heuvel in his book Sneeuw Over Curacao aka Snow over Curacao, pointed out that guns in prison on Curacao, are a common occurrence and result in multiple death’s, during in-prison liquidations.

When Urvin “Nuto” Wawoe, was housed in the Point Blanche prison in 2014, for the first time in St Maarten’s history guns appeared in prison, here on Sint Maarten. The incidence of gun’s in prison on Curacao, are a known well documented reality, gun’s in prison on Sint Maarten were unknown and only manifested as per the corporate media in: “In September 2014, two guns were found in the prison. One man Carlos Richardson was arrested for attempted murder”. The individual, at the center of the prison unrest was Nuto.  Nuto is a well-known shot-caller within the international crime syndicate the No Limit Soldiers, whose power base is Koraal Specht Curacao. Prison director Edward Rohan received a letter, wherein a death threat was issued to his person in September of 2014, the month that the attempted murder on Nuto, was perpetrated by Richardson.

This month September 2016 on Thursday, September 1, the Daily Herald here on Sint Maarten carried the following caption on its front page: Bling Bling leader Jones gunned down in prison. The fact that a little Blogger, falsely attributed the name “Bling Bling”, to the crew led by Jones bears testimony, to the clueless nature of so-called journalism on Sint Maarten. The real Bling Bling crew, were a group of Sint Maarteners, Kittitians, Crucians and people from St Thomas, who were linked either through friendships familial ties and marriage into a capitalist money generating criminal enterprise with cocaine trafficking being their main source of revenue. One of the main players within Bling Bling was a close associate “cousin” of Amador Jones, the brother of the now deceased Omar Jones. Because of a close affiliation with a well-known Bling Bling crew member, the people within the community affiliated the brothers with Bling Bling by name. That was a simple history for the purists who understand the true history of what is being written here.

The Daily Herald reported that Omar Jones was killed by a fellow inmate in the prison at Pointe Blanche Sint Maarten, around 9: 00 am Wednesday September 2016.  Eleven inmates were said to be involved in the murder, the gun used was later found in a different cell block, than the one the victim was murdered. Again as I have stated innumerably the endemic corruption within all levels, of the neo-colonialist power structure on Sint Maarten, creates the type of atmosphere that leads to the type of situation enumerated. And the killing did not stop at the prison. On Friday September 3, 2016 in the morning a known associate of Jones Donnel Thomas, was shot in the leg in St Peters, by a masked man. According to eyewitness accounts, the assassin’s gun fell out of his hand, preventing him from mortally wounding Thomas. On Sunday September 4, 2016 Alrico Daulphin was murdered on Soursap Road St Peters after 1200 am.

The insertion of organized criminal syndicates into Sint Maarten society has unalterably changed the fabric and criminal culture locally. The trend is towards corporatizing and organizing within a gang structure. The No Limit Soldiers have introduced to Sint Maarten a hitherto alien criminal structure. The NLS with their corporate structure and sophisticated use of social media, has for lack of a better term, “improved” the image, functionality, lethality and financial know-how and capacity of the Afro-Caribbean criminal sub-culture on Sint Maarten. Teaching them how to, engage the already corrupt prison system to benefit themselves. The system is short staffed according to the prison director Rohan, with many guards “fearing”, for their lives. It is plain to see who runs the prison. The inmates are governing themselves and not the state, the state only facilitates the nurturance and development of a more sophisticated and adapt gang culture.