Dutch Parliament to attend Saba summit

The delegation of the First and Second Chambers of the Dutch Parliament, during their visit in January 2016, will not only take part in the Inter-Parliamentary Consultation for the Kingdom IPKO in St. Maarten, but will also attend a Caribbean Netherlands constitutional summit in Saba.

The twelve-member delegation will participate in the IPKO from January 5 to 8, together with the Parliaments of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten, after which they will travel to Saba for a summit on January 9, with Commissioners of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.

Discussions at the summit will be about, among other things, the developments and experiences since Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba became Dutch public entities five years ago. The First and Second Chambers have shown great interest in hearing the view of the island governments on the recently presented results of the Caribbean Netherlands evaluation.

On the agenda of the IPKO in St. Maarten are mostly recurring issues such as the Dispute Regulation, economic opportunities in the Kingdom, energy, youth and youngsters, healthcare and education. There are areas where the Parliaments of the four countries are seeking cooperation and joint solutions.

The Dutch delegation will be headed by Chairman of the Second Chamber’s Committee for Kingdom Relations Jeroen Recourt. Chairman of the First Chamber’s Committee for Kingdom Relations Ruard Ganzevoort will act as the deputy leader of the delegation.

The members of the Second Chamber in the delegation will be: André Bosman of the liberal democratic VVD party, Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP), Roelof van Laar of the Labour Party PvdA, Wassila Hachchi of the Democratic party D66 and Liesbeth van Tongeren of the GreenLeft party (GroenLinks).

Representing the First Chamber in the delegation will be Thom de Graaf (D66), Sophie van Bijsterveld of the Christian Democratic Party CDA, Frank van Kappen (VVD) and Meta Meijer (SP).

The Daily Herald.