News

Fast work The formation of the new cabinet has taken 54 days which is much faster than the average 83 days it takes to put a majority administration together. The number of women in this cabinet is a record, with women holding five of the 13 ministers’ posts, according to …

The residents of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba have less confidence in the future of the islands despite the increased satisfaction regarding education, health service, safety and the police compared to the previous year. This appears from an experience study that was conducted by order of the National Service Caribbean …

The first Dutch Caribbean international nature photo contest of the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF) and the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA), in conjunction with various Dutch partner organisations, turned out to be a great success. Almost 250 persons together submitted over 1,350 photos to the organisers of the photo contest, …

Women’s Medical Students Association (WMSA) and Saba Girls Run Club of Saba University School of Medicine (Susom) announced the second Colour me Saba Run, scheduled for November 29, starting at 5:30pm. The run begins at the university gazebo, continues to the gazebo near Well’s Bay, ending at Saba Coffee House …

Dutch Antilles Express will soon start twice-daily flights from Curacao to St. Maarten, marketing director Joaquin Duenas told the Antilliaans Dagblad yesterday. The company will use an ATR 72 aircraft for the service. While this plane will need 50 minutes longer for the trip from Hato to Princess Juliana International …

Dutch caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Liesbeth Spies assured the Island Councils of Bonaire, St.  Eustatius and Saba earlier this week that the process to amend the Dutch Constitution leaves room for another final constitutional model if that is what the islands want. Bonaire, St. Eustatius and …

After 20 years of flying to the Caribbean, KLM stopped using their MD-11 on the route to the Dutch Antilles. The MD-11 was replaced by the Airbus 330-200 with two engines. On Sunday October 28, KLM started with the new winter schedule and will be using the Airbus 330.

he Saba Amateur Boxing Association (SABA), organisers of the “Clash of the Titans” Boxing Tournament succeeded to bring together amateur boxers from Curaçao, Aruba, St. Maarten and Saba on Saturday, October 27, at the Princess Juliana Sports Field in the  Bottom. SABA treasurer Kelly Johnson, whose persistence made it all …

Island Governor and Chairman of the Disaster Committee Gerald Berkel informed the media on Wednesday, of the findings of safety experts from The Netherlands concerning the October 20 oil spill at NuStar Statia Terminal. After reviewing all relevant documentation and having conducted site visits, the experts flown in from The …

The island’s villages were brimming with colourful spooky costumes throughout the day and evening on Wednesday. Most children and adult Halloween parties were organised in Windwardside. Saba Lions Club set up camp at Lion Rudolph Hassell’s home, where members gathered to welcome young and old “trick-or-treaters.” Special spooky music and …

Dutch caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Liesbeth Spies (46)  felt proud about the positive result of the recent meetings with delegations from Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. She is not proud about the instruction that Curaçao got from the Kingdom Council of Ministers to get its budget …

In a press release, the RCN announced that property tax decrees have been sent out recently in the public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. “This value decree indicates the value of your immovable goods for property tax. Based on this value the payable property tax is determined” The current …

The organizers of the annual Saba Idol Competition at Scouts Place are announcing the top scores for competitors for the semi-finals scheduled for November 9. After each competitor sang six songs, the top scores  are 108 points for a competitor from Colombia, 106 points for a competitor from Germany, 104 …

The list of basic commodities imported into the public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba exempt from sales tax ABB has been expanded, a press release from the tax office of the Dutch Caribbean said. This was decided after consultation between the public entities of the Dutch Caribbean and the …

The Dutch Government is negotiating with St. Maarten for goods bought in St. Maarten and exported to Dutch Public Entities Saba and St. Eustatius to be exempted from Turnover Tax (ToT) by year-end. Finance Minister Roland Tuitt is looking into the legislation to make this possible and is using the …

Reciprocity is important for the new Dutch conservative labour cabinet and as such it will apply the same residency registration rules in The Netherlands for people from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten as the overseas countries have for Dutch people who want to  reside on the islands. Leader of the …

The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament has voted down a motion by Member of Parliament (MP) Wassila Hachchi of the democratic D66 party to secure Papiamentu and English in theDutch Constitution on behalf of Bonaire, Eustatius and Saba. Only a minority in the Second Chamber supported Hachchi’s idea to …

The new Dutch Government is planning to regulate the registration of people from Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten in The Netherlands. This is stated in the Governing Accord the conservative VVD party and the Labour Party PvdA presented on Monday. “Based on criteria that Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten have …

It is now official: PvdA (Labour) prominent Ronald Plasterk follows Liesbeth Spies as Minister of Interior and Kingdom Relations, as was confirmed by the party leader Diederik Samsom yesterday at the presentation of the coalition with the VVD. Plasterk was a member of the Leiden city council for the Labour Party in the early 1980s. …

NEW YORK, NY – Chelsea’s Agora Gallery will feature the original work of Dutch Carribean artist, Heleen Cornet in Mélange of Milieu. The exhibition is scheduled to run from November 1 through November 21, 2012. The opening reception will be held on Thursday night, November 8, 2012 from 6-8 pm. Dutch-born …

People with higher than average incomes will be hardest hit by the new coalition’s plans because they will have to pay more for healthcare, their children and their homes, analysts say on Tuesday. The right-wing VVD and Labour party (PvdA) outlined their plans for government on Monday afternoon and both …

Caribbean students studying in the Netherlands are at a disadvantage because of poor language skills, a report by the Soualiga Foundation found. Stichting Soualiga Foundation caters to the specific social and cultural needs of Sint Maarteners living in the Netherlands. Other factors that hamper studies are poor preparation before departure …

Commissioner of Finance Bruce Zagers presented amendments for the 2012 and 2013 budgets, both of which were adopted without any diffi culty during last week’s Island Council meeting. The 2012 amendments deal with the allocation of the US $1.2 million received as additional free remittance and approved by the Committee …

The new Dutch cabinet formed by the conservative VVD party and the Labour Party PvdA will not cut Curaçao and St. Maarten any slack where it comes to financial supervision. “Supervision on the countries of the Kingdom based on the Law on Financial Supervision will be maintained,” it was stated …

SABA–The tenth Sea and Learn season, which marked the 25th anniversary of the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF), ended last week Saturday evening, October 27, with several presentations held at Shearwater Resort. Sea and Learn organizer, Lynn Costenaro thanked the volunteers, the scientists, researchers, the sponsors and organizations that worked together …

SABA–Saba Lions Club partnered with Saba University School of Medicine (SUSOM) to hold a skin cancer lecture event at Sunny Valley Youth Center in The Bottom, Wednesday evening, October 24. SUSOM faculty and students also called on Saba Lions Foundation, AIDS Support Group Saba Foundationand Strong Women of Saba, who …

Some very good news for the economic stability of Saba: the NVAO accreditation for SUSOM has gone through. This is good news for those who were expressing worries about losing their livelihood about the whole affair going sour. ‘NVAO is an independent and authoritative accreditation organisation set up by the …

MPs from the right-wing VVD and the Labour party (PvdA) will meet today, Monday, to discuss the draft coalition accord which will form a blueprint for a new coalition government, Nos reported on Sunday. Although the measures will be applicable to the European Netherlands initially, some of these measures may …

With the VVD’ers Henk Kamp, Stef Blok and Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert the government team of the second kabinet Rutte is complete. Sources around the formation are reporting this. Long remained uncertain who would get the post of Minister of Economic Affairs. This goes to informateur and current Minister of Social Affairs …

Leaks about the right-wing VVD and Labour party PvdA’s plans for government show clear decisions are being made, according to newspaper editorials. The Financieele Dagblad says the coalition agreement shows that the two parties have been able to agree on a straightforward exchange of policies rather than getting bogged down …

The pending new Liberal-Labour government plans to scrap payments to help low-income households pay for health insurance from 2014, sources close to the cabinet formation talks said on Friday afternoon. Health insurance benefit – a maximum of €70 per person – will disappear as part of a shake-up in the …

Jan Kool, an advisor for Emergency Response Dutch Caribbean and North Sea unit under the Water and Shipping Division of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment arrived on Saba Thursday. He is  responsible for the implementation of the OPRC in the  Dutch Caribbean (OPRC= International Convention on Oil Pollution …

Dutch caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Liesbeth Spies said on Thursday that she was disappointed about the decision of the future coalition partners, the conservative VVD party and the Labour Party PvdA to scrap the ten million euros for nature management and sustainable development in Bonaire, St. …

The VVD-PvdA alliance has agreed to phase out tax relief on mortgages by an annual 0.5% from 2014 as the final touchs are put to the new coalition agreement, the Telegraaf reports on Friday. The maximum tax deduction will go down from the current maximum 52% to 38% over an …

The three political parties have signed the willingness agreement. There are also candidate ministers ready to be screened. These are: Ivar Asjes – Prime Minister Terry Hernandez – Minister of Finance Elmer Wilsoe – Minister of Justice Nasser el Hakim – Minister of Economic Development and Tourism Jacintha Scoop-Constancia – …

SABA–The postponed Island Council meeting of October 4 took place on Wednesday, October 24, with some obvious challenges and lasted for more than four hours of heated discussions. The stakes were high after Windward Islands People’s Movement (WIPM) Island Council Members Carl Buncamper and Eviton Heyliger notified Chairman Governor Johnson …

StatiaNews has issued a press release with some more information on the recent oil spill: Dear Statianews reader, Last week you recieved the press release about the oilspill. Here are 3 articles as they appeared in the Daily Herald about this occurance. The picture in the attachment was made Oct …

Chief Prosecutor for the BES islands David van Delft spoke on the occasion of the opening of the new OM/Probation-Rehabilitation Office in Saba, which took place on Tuesday, October 23. During his speech, Van Delft spoke about issues of concern with regard to failing detention capacity, the physical distance that …

The board of the Committee for Financial Supervision CFT for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba had conversations with the three public entities’ Executive and Island Councils in which focus was on the execution of the 2012 and 2013 budgets, financial statements and the current status of their financial management, a …

It seems Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba lost the ten million euros that the Dutch Government had reserved for nature management and sustainable development in the Spring Accord to adapt the 2013 draft budget. In response to written questions by the Permanent Committee for Home Affairs of the Second Chamber …