JOINT STATEMENT BY CUSTOMS CARIBBEAN NETHERLANS AND THE STATIA GOVERNMENT ON THE SITUATION AT THE HARBOUR
Over the past two days there has been an unfortunate situation at the harbour which resulted in customs officers withholding their labour. The situation has negatively impacted the clearing of goods from the port.
The Statia Government and Customs Caribbean Netherlands have been working to resolve the issue in the best interest of everyone. The sides agree that the situation that led to the closure of the harbour is unacceptable and should never have happened under any circumstance.
We have agreed that there will be a thorough investigation into what happened and to take steps to improve the cooperation and working relationship between customs and the harbour.
We have also agreed that a customs team will visit Statia to meet with the harbour teams to come up with proposals on how the two organisations can work together more optimally and how we can improve the working relationship. Their recommendation will be formalised into an agreement and communicated to all the stakeholders.
We have also agreed to make available a parking space each for customs and immigration right outside the harbour compound for ease of parking by the officers.
Customs Caribbean Netherlands agreed that the customs officers will return to work until 4:00PM today, Thursday 29 February 2024 and from 9:00AM-6:00PM tomorrow, Friday 1 March 2024. And as of Monday, they will return to normal operational hours.
We have agreed to meet again in two weeks to evaluation the situation to ensure that both sides are honouring the agreement.
We thank the public for your patience and understanding.