News

Dutch universities are the third most popular in Europe with foreign students, both from elsewhere in Europe and further afield, according to research by website StudyPortals. In particular, Greek, British, Indian, German and American students are keen on a move to the Netherlands, the research shows. Britain and Germany are …

The Daily Herald writes that Commissioners Chris Johnson and Bruce Zagers of Saba held a summit with their political counterparts of St. Eustatius, Commissioners Reginald Zaandam and Carlyle Tearr in St. Maarten last week Friday, August 2. Also in attendance were Island Secretaries Menno van der Velde of Saba and …

The Island Council meeting scheduled for Friday morning was cancelled due to a lack of quorum caused by members of Windward Islands People’s Movement (WIPM) council members, reports the Daily Herald. Island Governor Jonathan Johnson announced the postponement following the 15 minutes required from the official opening hour. Saba Labour …

PUBLIC NOTICE Due to there being no quorum in the Island Council on August 9th, 2013 a public Island Council meeting will be held on Wednesday August 14th, 2013 at 9:00 am at the Government Administration Building, thus according to article 15.2 of the Rules of Procedure Saba and article …

The Daily Herald reports that Commissioner Chris Johnson briefed the Island Council members on developments since the last Central Committee (CC) meeting including the visit of Dutch State Secretary of Social Affairs and Employment Jetta Klijnsma and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Johnson stressed the importance of discussions with the …

St. Eustatius Monuments Foundation (SEMF) won the appeal at the Joint Court of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, in their case against the Spatial Development Plan as adopted by the Island Council of Statia. This can be read in The Daily Herald. SEMF’s case …

The Daily herald writes that the proposal for the Joint Audit Chamber Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba will be handled by the Island Council (IC) in a public session today, Friday, and it is expected to be adopted with some reservations from council members. The proposal was already discussed in …

In contrast with the inflation in the Netherlands, the consumer price index of Curaçao has fallen in the month of June 2013 by 0.5 percent compared to May 2013. The Curacao Chronicle reports today that, measured over a period of twelve months until June 2013, the prices increased by 2.3 …

Single mothers in several cities are being pressured by officials to reveal the name of their children’s fathers, so they can be made to pay child support, the Volkskrant reported lastFriday. Experiments with trying to trace unnamed fathers are also under way in Zwolle and Maastricht, the paper says. Last …

DutchNews reports today, that the inflation in The Netherlands is now almost double the European average, reaching 3.1% in July, according to new figures from the national statistics’ office CBS. This is the highest level since September 2008 and a rise of 0.2 percentage point on June, the CBS said. …

The Daily Herald reports how Commissioner Chris Johnson presented the draft statutes of the Saba Electric Company N.V. to Island Council members in Tuesday’s Central Committee meeting. The document was not submitted for approval or disapproval to the committee, but as a formality for adoption in Friday’s Island Council meeting …

Commissioner Bruce Zagers explained during Tuesday’s Central Committee meeting the need for the Buffer Capital proposal submitted for adoption in the Friday’s Island Council meeting, as was reported by the Daily Herald. He explained that allocating such resources would allow the executive to cover unbudgeted costs while at the same …

The Daily Herald reports that “Pensioenfonds Caribisch Nederland” (PCN) made considerable progress with professionalising the implementation of the pension scheme in 2012. From the annual report on the pension fund for government, education, health care and associated bodies in the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) it appears that …

King Willem-Alexander enjoys the trust of 86% of the Dutch population, a survey by RTL news shows. A quarter of those questioned said they have ‘a great deal of trust’ in the king. Willem-Alexander, who celebrates 100 days as king today, has seen his trust rating increase from 79.2% just …

The Algemeen Dagblad writes that the government’s bookkeeping is a mess, with millions of euros paid out against the rules or unclearly accounted for. The paper basis its claims on documents obtained under the freedom of information law which the paper had analysed by accountants and professors. According to the …

The Daily Herald reports about discussions in the Central Committee meeting in which a quorum was reached despite the absence of WIPM-members Eviton Heyliger and Amelia Nicholson. Present were Committee Chairman Rolando Wilson and Carl Buncamper (both WIPM) and Saba Labour Party SLP) opposition leader Ishmael Levenston. Lt. Governor Jonathan …

Foundation Social Workplace Saba (FSWS) Director La-Toya Charles and Organoponics Garden’s agricultural engineer Otto Manuel Andres Ramos visited St. Eustatius Friday to negotiate the import of manure from Statia’s Agriculture Station. This has been reported by The Daily Herald. They met with Director of the Department of Agriculture, Fishery and …

The interests of patients must come first in any decisions on which medicines should remain in or be added to the healthcare package, the health insurance council CVZ said on Monday. Thus was reported by DutchNews. The comment comes after last year’s advice from the CVZ that payments for expensive …

The Dutch Government is making funds available to promote the acceptance of homosexuality within the Dutch Caribbean community in The Netherlands. The Daily Herald writes that the Dutch Minister of Education, Cultureand Science Jet Bussemakerannounced this at the annual CanalParade in Amsterdam on Saturday.The Dutch cabinet actively supports gay rights …

The Daily Herald reports about the fact that Saba University School of Medicine’s (SUSOM) Global Health Club (GHC) held its third Global Health Seminar, Wednesday at campus. Among the club’s recent plans is the development of a public health awareness poster on dengue and a volunteer trip to serve poor …

The Daily Herald writes about the first Colour Cross-Fit event on Saba received a healthy turnout Thursday evening. Although the Women Medical Student Association and the Saba Girls Run were the main organisers, many of the participants were both young Saban men and male medical students. Everybody wore the event’s …

The National Service Caribbean Netherlands RCN reacted to accusations which was published in the Daily Herald that it did not always observe the rules in the past for hiring temporary employees. This can be concluded from a reaction to accusations expressed by civil servant union ABVO. RCN wrote that in …

Corrected version: Public Notice The Island Council of the Public Entity Saba will meet on Friday, August 9, 2013 at 9:00 am at the Government Administration Building. The agenda for said meeting is as follows: 1.  Opening and announcements 2.  Approval of the agenda 3.  Incoming correspondence 4.  Approval of …

The newspaper Today reported yesterday that Curacao will increase retirement age from 60 to 65 years a bit more than five years from now, in 2018. This is one of the proposals in a leaked plan of the government to get a grip on its personnel costs. The plan also …

The Daily Herald reported that Police Officer Wingrove Baker confirmed Monday that several persons were arrested after the official closing of Carnival. He said the weeklong series of Carnival events and parades “went off without a glitch.” Through the monitoring of suspicious behaviour, the police arrested one male suspect for …

Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) is currently fully engaged in carrying out the Budget Survey 2013 on Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius, writes The Daily Herald. This budget survey is considered an indispensible source of data on spending, used by CBS for the production of inflation figures and other data. …

Corrected version: Public Notice The Central Committee of the Public Entity Saba will meet on Tuesday August 6, 2013 at 9:00 am at the Government Administration Building. The agenda for said meeting is as follows: 1.  Opening 2.   Approval of the agenda 3.  Approval of the  Minutes from the Central …

The Daily Herald announces that the Saba University School of Medicine’s Women Medical Student Association will be holding the first-ever Colour Cross- Fit in The Bottom today, Thursday, at 5:30pm. The event combines a colour run with several sports challenges integrated along the track. The start line will be as …

Saba’s main business centre and mailing-services provider Island Communication Services (ICS) celebrates its tenth anniversary within the newly opened offices at Breadline Plaza in Windwardside.Both ICS owners and managers, Alida Heilbron and her life and business partner Bob Morgan, have been involved with The Daily Herald since 1996, initially contributing …

To complement earlier announcements that Winair will lease an ATR-72 aircraft to extend its range and offer new routes, the airline also revealed on Facebook and in The Daily Herald  that it would be servicing the Dominican Republic and Tortola soon with hints that more routes would be announced soon. …

The Daily Herald published that TelEm Group mobile provider TelCell made a big impression during Carnival 2013, having successfully sponsored a night of entertainment featuring 3-Cylinder Band from Antigua and Grand Masters from St. Kitts. According to TelCell representatives Angel and Melvin Richardson, the special night of entertainment was much …

Students from Saba University School of Medicine (SUSOM) supported Body, Mind and Spirit Foundation (BMSF) by distributing condoms throughout Carnival 2013. The Daily Herald wrote that each evening, groups of volunteers participated in the various shows and parades handing out beads with condoms to revellers. They also provided goodie- bags …

Saba and St. Maarten Lions Club members joined about 40,000 others in Germany this month at an annual convention reports the Daily Herald Nine Lions from Saba and St Maarten spent five days with other club members at sessions that featured a world-renowned singer, a former NBA star and a …

“Jump and Scream” Carnival 2013 set itself apart with colourful costumes and foreign music bands that entertained the local crowd, writes The Daily Herald. Asked about this year’s Carnival highlights, Commissioner for Culture Bruce Zagers mentioned the “really good music bands all week long, with internationally recognized performers.” He particularly …

On Friday,  Otti Thomas reported in the paper Amigoe that the Dutch government, also on behalf of Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten, has taken many measures  since 2010 in the crusade against discrimination and racism in all four countries of the Kingdom. The recommendations of the UN-committee against racial discrimination …

DutchNews.nl writes on Saturday that expats living in The Hague, are fed up with Dutch people immediately switching into English when they hear their accents.Although the Dutch may think they are being courteous, expats are irritated at not being able to practice their Dutch in cafes and shops, according to …

The paper DutchNews reports on Saturday that  the former Dutch colony of Suriname has joined Caribbean nations to press for compensation from the Netherlands, the UK and France for the lingering legacy of the Atlantic slave trade.Caricom, a regional organisation for the Caribbean Community, has taken up the cause and …

The Curacao Chronicle reports that the Department of Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunication (EVT) of St. Maarten produces on a quarterly basis the MacroMonitor. This a publication that gives an overview of the macro-economic developments of St. Maarten. In addition, special editions of the MacroMonitor are produced that cover specific …

The Daily Herald reports today that Bonaire’s prison “Justitiële Inrichting Caribisch Nederland” (JICN), formerly known as the House of Detention, was overcrowded in 2012. As a result authorities were forced, as was the case the year before, to release several detainees “both through the front and back door,” according to …

In their press release of July 24, the Stichting Patiëntenbelangen BES announced the following: On 29 June 2013 Stichting Patiëntenbelangen BES organized a meeting of concerned patients and health-related NGOs to discuss cooperation among all groups regarding the proposed changes to healthcare coverage for the BES islands. Seven NGOs and …