Government of Sint Maarten ** 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞 **

Philipsburg – On Saturday, July 16th, 2022, the Honorable Minister of Justice Anna E. Richardson together with workers within the Ministry, participated in the first Justice Week Amazing Race throughout Philipsburg. The ‘Amazing Race’ was facilitated by Tri-Sport and combines action, adventure and fun in a fast-paced challenge modeled after the popular TV Show. Present at this year’s team building activity were teams consisting of the Minister of Justice, Acting-Secretary General of the Ministry, Staff Bureau, Judicial Affairs, Financial Intelligence Unit, Court of Guardianship, Foundation Judicial Institutes St. Maarten (SJIS), Coast Guard, Customs St. Maarten, Immigration and Border Protection Services, and the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.At the start of the race filled with challenges, Tri-Sport representatives briefed the participants with instructions and the rules of the race. Each team included a navigator who was charged with a map of Philipsburg and a clue master who served instrumentally as the team member to solve the clues that would lead their team to the next destination, direct them to perform a task, or complete a challenge for bonus points.

Minister Richardson stated, “Justice Week began with our yearly three-day Justice Conference, a platform which brought together department heads and management teams to discuss various topics and strengthen collaboration between departments and agencies within the Ministry. It was also necessary to include an exercise during Justice Week whereby workers of the different departments and agencies could interact, have fun and participate in a team building activity. Workers within the different departments are not very familiar with each other, as such, I am committed to changing the status quo to improve efficiency and collaboration across the entire Ministry.”

During the prize-giving ceremony at the end of the race, the Coast Guard came out victorious as the winning team for having completed most of the challenges within the shortest time frame followed the Immigration and Border Protection Services in first place. “I’d like to thank the Avatars, Smooth Operators, Protection Avengers, Dynamite Explorers, Team Coast Guard, Team Customs and the IBP Minions for their participation, and I look forward to even more teams of the Ministry joining in on the fun in 2023,” stated Minister Richardson.

The Ministry of Justice hereby thanks the sponsors of the Justice Week Amazing Race including TelEm Group, Da Waterhole, Blue Point, Office World, ILTT SXM, CC1, Lucky Cosmetics, Sound 2000, Princess Casino, MNA AutoParts, Franklin Concrete, NV GEBE, the Indian Merchants Association and all other sponsors who contributed toward the event’s success.

The final day of the Justice Week celebrations will be on Sunday, July 17th, beginning with a church service at 9:00 AM at the Philipsburg Methodist Church. Minister Richardson encourages the general-public to celebrate Justice Week with the Ministry by joining the Justice Parade taking place in front of the church subsequently after the service at 11:00 AM. The route begins from Front Street and heads on to Emma Plein, Vogestraat, ending on E. Camille Richardson Street at the Police Station.

Photo caption: The Honorable Minister Anna E. Richardson standing third from the right together with Team Coast Guard.