National ombudsman launches investigation into public entity Bonaire

The National ombudsman has started a formal investigation into the public entity Bonaire’s handling of five separate complaints because of its slow handling of grievances made known by the public and its repeated failure to respond to requests. The ombudsman takes the view that services to the public are being jeopardized by the public entity’s failure to reply or make known its position and that this is also preventing the ombudsman from dealing with complaints properly. Through this investigation the ombudsman wants to get the public entity to devote greater attention to providing good services to the public, including how it deals with complaints, and to provide an explanation for what is currently going wrong and the solutions that are necessary.

 The Executive council of the public entity Bonaire has been informed in writing of the decision to launch a formal investigation. The public entity now has four weeks to respond to the five cases brought to its attention. The findings and conclusions of the investigation will be made public in a report. The report will include an opinion of the public entity’s working methods plus recommendations for improvements if they are warranted. Since 10 October 2012 the National ombudsman in The Hague has been empowered to deal with complaints about the public entities in the Caribbean Netherlands. The ombudsman received 28 complaints about the public entity Bonaire in 2014.

Press release Nationale Ombudsman