Van Raak proudly wears Saba flag

Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) wore a pin with Saba’s flag during Budget Day in The Hague on Tuesday.

Van Raak’s main reason for wearing the pin was to seek attention for the need to establish a social mini­mum in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, but also be­cause Saba deserves a compliment and should be re­warded for its solid (financial) management.

“I chose the Saba flag because this island shows that good cooperation can lead to good results. In my opin­ion, Saba can perform more tasks itself, because the politicians on this island can often do things better than all those ministries in The Hague,” Van Raak said. According to the Member of Parliament (MP), the transferring of tasks to Saba should also include means for poverty alleviation. “Saba should also get more funds to combat poverty, because the local politicians are more knowledgeable about what the people need,” he said.

This is not the first time that Van Raak is seeking at­tention for the transfer of tasks to Saba. He has already pointed this out during several meetings in the Second Chamber. During last week’s debate Van Raak repeat­edly urged State Secretary of Social Affairs and Labour Tamara van Ark and State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops to establish a social minimum for the Caribbean Netherlands, which serves as a tool to combat poverty.

The Public Entity Saba has asked the Dutch govern­ment to transfer more tasks and responsibilities to the island. In a recent letter to state secretaries Van Ark and Knops regarding the social minimum benchmark study, Saba’s Executive Council once more pointed out this wish.

“The public entity has shown positive developments in the last years. There is a stable government, the financ­es are in order, which is confirmed by the accountants and the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT, and yearly improvements are made in the government or­ganisation. We consider it an opportune moment to give content to a different division of tasks: more tasks and responsibilities to Saba,” it was stated in the letter.

The Daily Herald.