Plea to tackle Chikungunya

The Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament wants to know how the Dutch Government intends to tackle the Chikungunya illness in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, writes The Daily Herald. The committee approved a request of Member of the Second Chamber Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA, who proposed during Wednesday’s procedural meeting to ask government for a letter on the combating of Chikungunya in the Caribbean Netherlands. “A mosquito roams the Caribbean causing this serious disease, which we don’t seem to have a grip on,” said Van Laar. He wants the minister to provide information to the Second Chamber on the extent of Chikungunya, and the trajectory to combat the mosquito that spreads the disease. Van Laar suggested that the Netherlands, which is directly responsible for the public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, work together with the countries Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten to combat Chikungunya. The illness has also made many victims in these three countries. Especially Curaçao is being hit hard at the moment.