PvdA asks about insurance for island police officers

Police officers in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba should have decent insurance in case something happens to them, according to Members of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Jeroen Recourt and Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA.

Recourt and Van Laar have posed written questions to Minister of Security and Justice Stef Blok and Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk to get clarity regarding the insurance of Caribbean Netherlands police officers, and the reports that their Dutch colleagues might be better insured and better paid than them.

During his visit to Bonaire earlier this month as part of the election campaign, Recourt spoke with two local police officers in Rincón, who told him they didn’t have a decent insurance. The officers said their employer, the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force KPCN, had not secured a life insurance for them.

Recourt shared the concerns of these officers, who said in case something happened to them, they wanted to be sure that their family received a compensation. The matter of insurance became pressing following the death of KPCN officer Ferry Bakx in August 2016. It became clear that Dutch police officers dispatched to the Caribbean Netherlands were better insured and better paid than their local colleagues.

The Members of Parliament (MPs) asked the ministers whether they knew about the death of officer Bakx, who was shot dead during an armed robbery in Bonaire, and whether they were aware that this sad event had a great impact on the Bonaire people, and especially the members of KPCN.

Recourt and Van Laar asked the ministers to clarify whether it was correct that there were differences between the members of the KPCN in the manner in which they were insured, including a life insurance policy, and that possibly the officers dispatched from the Netherlands were better insured. “If so, can you give an overview of the differences and what the justification is of these differences? Are you willing to eliminate these differences?”

Recourt said he posed written questions, together with his colleague Van Laar, because he wants clarity on the matter. The answers to the questions can either eliminate the concerns of the local officers, or make clear that the police men and women must be better insured on short term. He said everyone who does dangerous work should be well insured and treated equally to their colleagues.

The Daily Herald.