News

Brawl On Saturday, the 29th of January, the police station received a report about a fight in Windwardside on Saba around 01:25 AM. An ambulance also had to come to the scene because one of the people involved had become ill. The police were forced to fire a warning shot …

The Queen Wilhelmina Library (QWL) in collaboration with the Saba Comprehensive School (SCS) will be hosting a comprehensive entrepreneurship workshop for students starting next week. The workshop, designed to encourage and enhance the skills of Saba’s young entrepreneurs, will provide participants with the knowledge and skill required to be a …

From February 7 to 12, 2022, a Team of the National Ombudsman and the Children’s Ombudsman will be back on Saba and St. Eustatius for consultations, and residents may drop by free of charge during visiting hours to file any complaints they may have regarding (government) agencies. Due to COVID …

Five weeks after Saba moved to the coro­navirus alert level three due to an increase in the number of persons who tested positive for the dis­ease, the public entity Saba scaled down to alert level two from 6:00pm on Friday, January 28. Saba does not have any positive cases of …

New Dutch State Secretary of Fiscality and the Tax Department Marnix van Rij will have to explain the sudden tax hike in Bonaire, St. Eusta­tius and Saba to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. The Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee of Finance during a proce­dural meeting on Wednes­day, January 26, approved …

Today marks five weeks since we moved to alert level three. I want to commend the community for your commitment to the measures that came with it and taking the necessary precautions and personal responsibility—also much thanks to our Public Health Department. We are all in this together, and our …

Although the COVID restrictions continued to affect international travel in 2021, it was still busy at the borders of the Caribbean Netherlands. In the past year, many people traveled to or from Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (Koninklijke Marechaussee, KMar) is responsible for border control and …

The securing of the legal right of residents of the six Dutch Caribbean islands to have a current account at a bank in the Netherlands is a step closer with the submitting of a law pro­posal to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. On Wednesday, Member of the Second …

Children on Saba between the age of 5 and 11 will be receiving a COVID-19 vaccination next Tuesday, February 1. The vaccines arrived from the Netherlands on Tuesday, January 25. Children will receive an age-appropriate dose of the vaccine made by Pfizer/BioNTech. The vaccine is the same as the one …

The Showroom Intensive Horticulture Pilot has completed construction and seedling trials have started. Jim Garza of Gezondheid Farms, the public-private initiative to develop agriculture at Rendez-Vous, aims to have the first round of crops harvested by end of February. “We will be providing a spring salad mix in a 1/2lb …

On International Data Protection Day, the Data Protection Authority BES (the Authority) will be focusing on the subject of data breaches. A data breach involves unauthorized/illegitimate access to personal data, such as through the accidental loss of a USB stick, a misdirected email or a criminal hack carried out on …

Online income tax returns for 2021 can already be submitted. Since last year, this has been possible via the www.MijnCN.nl platform which is more effective and guarantees the security and efficiency of the online services. Last year, a huge number of taxpayers submitted their tax returns online. We hope that …

The World Customs Organization (WCO) has declared the 26th of January as ‘International Customs Day’ and this day is celebrated worldwide. This year, the WCO has selected the following theme for the year 2022: “Scaling up Customs Digital transformation by embracing a data culture and building a data ecosystem” In the …

On January 17th, 2022, Mark Zagers, Managing Director of the Saba Electric Company (SEC), officially handed over the keys to Peter Johnson, President of the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF), the new tenant of the old power plant at the Fort Bay harbor. Also present were commissioner, Bruce Zagers, other SCF …

The Financial Services Complaints Institute (Kifid) in The Netherlands has rejected a complaint by a resident of Bonaire about the ‘foreign surcharge’ that ABN AMRO charges residents of the Caribbean Netherlands. The bank is allowed to do this because European legislation is not in force on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and …

Update Covid 19 status, Wednesday, January 26th On Wednesday, January 26th there are no new active cases. 3 people are recovered and out of isolation. Update Covid 19 status, Sunday, January 23th On Sunday, January 23rd, there are no new active cases. 3 people have recovered and are out of …

Pending her visit to the six Dutch Carib­bean islands, new State Sec­retary of Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen has asked the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament to post­pone a meeting scheduled for February 23. Van Huffelen sent a letter to the Second Chamber’s Per­manent Committee for King­dom …

It was a proud moment for owner James Granger when his new F3 Fun Free Fitness Center opened in The Bottom on Saturday, January 22. For Saba, the new fitness center is a very welcome addition to the healthy lifestyle that many residents have adopted. Present to perform the official …

In Q4 2021, consumer goods and services on Bonaire were 5.7 per cent more expensive than one year previously. The inflation rate was still 4.3 per cent in Q3. Year on year, the price of electricity rose by 31.1 per cent and the price of water by 6.7 per cent. …

— Committee to islands late February — The Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations of the First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, in anticipation of its visit to the Dutch Caribbean in February/March, has invited new State Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation Alexandra van Huffelen for a meeting on February 15. The Senate Committee during its first …

In February 2022 a follow-up inspection will take place in the Caribbean Netherlands regarding the corona support measures that were carried out from March 2020 through October 2021 by the RCN unit SZW. Through the ‘SZW Emergency Regulation’ and the ‘EZK compensation’ a total of about 98 million EUR of …

Despite the rocky start of the new year, Saba Commissioner of General Affairs Bruce Zagers looks at the future with much optimism. The local economy is recovering, ongoing initiatives continue to be enhanced and several important projects will start this year. “We saw how quickly our economy and private sector …

Two pallets with self-test kits for the schools on Saba arrived on Wednesday, January 19. The COVID-19 self-tests, 10,800 in total, were financed by the Ministry of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sport (VWS) and transported on Royal Dutch Airlines KLM from Amsterdam to St. Maarten on Tuesday, January 18, and …

Dutch min­isters and state secretaries have to limit their visits to the Dutch Caribbean due to the small scale of the islands. This is stated in the manual for members of the Dutch government, the so-called Blue Book, which has been released in connection with the installation of the new …

The Temporary Regulation COVID-19 measures for Bonaire, St. Eusta­tius and Saba have been adapted to secure mea­sures in connection with the surge in infections, such as the wearing of face masks for five days and group restrictions for incoming travellers. The adapted regu­lation, submitted by Dutch Minister of Public Health, …

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of St. Eustatius and Saba has welcomed two new board members as of January 11. In that meet­ing Hemmie van Xanten was appointed as chamber president and Leonieke Zuidam as vice-president. Glen Pileo, Jamilla Bennett-Lijfrock and Vaughn Sams are board members. Following the rules …

The Saba Business Association is strongly against the fare hike for the Chamber of Commerce (CoC) fares recently announced. This is stated in a press release sent out by SBA on Friday evening. SBA refers to the fact that on December 22, 2021, a fee increase was announced by the …

The Netherlands Nation­al Institute of Public Health and the Environ­ment RIVM on Friday reported that a total of 14,064 persons in the Dutch Caribbean re­ceived a positive coro­navirus COVID-19 test result in the week of January 6-12. This is more than the RIVM stated in its previ­ous epidemiological re­port of …

The Dutch Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sport VWS is assisting with additional healthcare personnel, coronavirus COVID-19 test material and the booster vaccination campaign. New Minister of VWS Ernst Kuipers stated this in an extensive letter to the Dutch Parliament with a general update on the COVID-19 situation. The …

Message from the principal SCS: To parent(s)/guardian(s), students and other stakeholders of the Saba Comprehensive School St. John’s, January 14, 2022 Re: Re-opening of the school Dear parent(s)/guardian(s), students and other stakeholders, Earlier this week the SCS Team was informed by the Outbreak Management Team that schools will resume and …

On December 22, 2021, a fee increase was announced by the Chamber of Commerce, to be implemented on January 1, 2022. The SBA has taken note of this announcement and the backlash that ensued regarding the increase of fees. Letting businesses know 1 week in advance, during the Christmas Holidays …

The public entity Saba and Kindernet child­care organisation from the Netherlands recently sealed their collaboration by signing a twinning contract. As part of the BES(t)4Kids programme, the day-care and after-school-care organisa­tions in Saba are working in a twinning programme to­gether with Kindernet in the European Netherlands. The twinning was set …

Queen Máxima paid a virtual visit to Saba’s Expertise Centre Education Care EC2 on Thursday. Officials of EC2 and the Oranje Fund, parents and students participated in an animated, open talk with the Queen. EC2 won an Orange Apple (“Appeltje van Oranje”) of the Oranje Fund last year for its …

Update Thursday, January 13th 4 new cases – 2 imported cases and 2 close contacts. 11 persons recovered. Update Wednesday, January 12th 9 new active cases – 7 close contacts, 1 end of quarantine, and 1 source unknown. 11 persons recovered. Update Monday, January 11th 12 new active cases – …

James Granger, coming back to Saba after 4 years of studying and working in Bonaire at among other Bon Bida Gym, saw opportunities for a new gym on the island. “For a long while there was only one public gym on Saba and it was located in Windward side. When …

The Saba Electric Company announced that in accordance with the Electricity and Drinking Water BES Law, the Authority for Consumers and Markets  (ACM) has set the maximum tariffs for Saba Electric Company (SEC) for 2022. These new tariffs have gone into effect as of January 1, 2022. The new variable …

The KNMI wants to install two new measuring stations (GNSS) on Parish Hill near the whale’s tail. These measuring stations monitor the volcano by looking at tiny movements of the earth, giving an even more accurate picture of the volcano’s state. There are already three other comparable stations on Saba. …

Introductory video State Secretary for Kingdom Relations Alexandra van Huffelen

New State Secretary of Kingdom rela­tions and Digitalising Alex­andra van Huffelen said on Monday that she wants to visit the Dutch Caribbean islands as soon as possible. “I look forward to meet­ing the people in the Carib­bean part of the Kingdom,” she stated on Twitter after the swearing in ceremony …

An “alarm­ing increase” is how the Netherlands National In­stitute of Public Health and the Environment RIVM referred to the COVID-19 situation in the Dutch Ca­ribbean. In its most recent epide­miological report of Friday, January 7, the RIVM stated that in the week of Decem­ber 30 to January 5, a total …