After announcing the controversial change publicly, something had gone wrong during the construction of the new Oranjestad police station and it all had to stop! The police department received the keys for their new building located on Paardenbaaistraat, at the end of March, and the beginning of April.
Everything indicates that the work stoppage has to do with a “bouwvergunning” (building permit). It is assumed that when a project begins, some things will change from the planning stage on the map, and during the process, it will be adjusted and sent back for changes. This is the moment when urgency is needed for the said project.
Necessary changes are made according to the demands of DOW, and a new map is sent with all the changes. This was apparently not the case here. Another scenario may be that nothing was sent, and the additional construction on the building was carried out without a building permit, which has now become the case!
For this reason, there has been a complete halt in the construction of the part of the building. It is not excluded that the changes taking place inside the building also do not have a building permit. It should be noted that any changes made to an existing building, such as in the case of the one in Paardenbaai, require approval from DOW before making any changes.
There will be at least a few days, if not more, of delay in the additional construction of the building until the necessary permit is obtained. Meanwhile, those around the construction site can already see that the construction is taking place behind the building, where there will be a complex of cells, a bathroom, and some additional offices. There is also no indication whether the minister responsible, i.e., the Prime Minister, will try to speed up the building permit process, but there is still no progress on the new police building.
