Justice Ministry proposes Cg 113.8 million budget for 2027
The Justice Ministry’s proposed 2027 budget is Cg 113.77 million, while 590 of its 1,096 approved posts are filled.
The Ministry of Justice has proposed a Cg 113,769,620 budget for 2027, Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs said when she presented the ministry’s budget to Parliament on Tuesday 3 November on behalf of Justice Minister Nathalie Tackling. According to the ministry’s budget presentation, the amount is about Cg 44,000 below the Cg 113,813,582 approved for 2026.
The presentation reported that 590 of the ministry’s 1,096 approved positions are filled. It includes Cg 2.59 million to recruit 53 employees. The ministry said its Police Force has 211 employees for 344 approved posts, while the Prison and Remand Center, Customs, Immigration and Border Protection, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the National Detectives Department also have vacancies.
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Personnel expenses account for about Cg 81.8 million of the proposal, according to the presentation. It also allocates about Cg 13.6 million for goods and services, Cg 13.8 million for Kingdom-law obligations and Cg 4.6 million in subsidies. The ministry expects Cg 24.8 million in revenue, leaving a net government cost of just under Cg 89 million.
The ministry said about Cg 2 million previously budgeted for housing Sint Maarten detainees in the Netherlands has been moved to personnel spending for prison guard salaries. It said Sint Maarten is not required to pay those detention costs until a new penitentiary facility is completed.
The proposed capital budget is Cg 4.47 million, including funds for vehicles, ICT equipment and immigration-system software. The ministry said capital projects planned for 2026 were not carried out after the national budget was approved in August, leaving insufficient time to secure borrowing.
The presentation said the ministry aims to complete outstanding National Decrees for 15 active employees and seven former employees by 30 November 2026. Payments tied to retroactive salary calculations are planned for the first and second quarters of 2027, subject to administrative approvals and signed decrees.
File photo: Nikodem Nijaki / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · cropped, SXM Today mark added
