News

The Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has invested over eight million US dollars in laying a sea cable between St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius, but it’s worth it. “The importance of the glass fibre connection is multi-faceted.” “It contributes toward an improvement of the social, economic …

Former Island Council Registrar Els Boers says she has found that making the necessary “change in behaviour is the most difficult thing” to accomplish in the wake of the recent institutional changes accompanying the introduction of the dualistic governance system in Saba. She noted that while phasing out Netherlands Antilles …

The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament approved on Tuesday the law proposal to amend the Constitution to incorporate the constitutional basis of Dutch public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. The actual change to the Constitution will take place in or after 2017. All parties voted for the law …

159 Students from St. Maarten were granted study financing assistance for 2012 but the government still has concerns about students in the Netherlands taking much longer to complete studies as opposed to those within the region or in the United States. Jacobs said that the Dutch government has also observed …

Dutch caretaker State Secretary of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation Henk Bleker has confirmed his commitment to protect the coral reefs of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. However, he will not take additional measures, because the reefs are already sufficiently protected. In response to written questions submitted by now departed …

The Dutch Caribbean Police Force KPCN celebrated “Korpsdag” on Saba with a mass at Wesleyan Holiness Church followed by an official ceremony and community lunch at Sunny Valley Youth Center in The Bottom on Sunday, October 21. Acting Saba Chief of Police Wingrove Baker hosted the ceremonies in the absence …

Commissioned by the Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland a research is carried out on the effects of the information campaign that was held concerning the Second Chamber Elections. In the week of October 22nd local researchers will start with personal interviews on behalf of Research Bureau BridgeGaps on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and …

WILLEMSTAD – There is work going on in the formation of a new government, all outside the media’s watchful eye. The parliamentary elections on Friday gave the coalition of Gerrit Schotte (MFK), Helmin Wiels (Pueblo Soberano) and Charles Cooper (MAN) together a majority. The three parties have cautiously begun consultations. …

THE HAGUE–The five largest parties in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, the VVD, PvdA, PVV, SP and CDA, consider the election results in Curaçao a call for independence. They will fully cooperate with Curaçao’s departure from the Dutch Kingdom if the people confi rm this wish in a …

SABA–The Sea and Learn activities last week were minimally perturbed by the passing of Tropical Storm Raphael. Jennifer Rahn’s presentation on “Rising Up – the story of Saba’s seamounts and pinnacles” was held Tuesday, at the Shearwater hotel with a healthy turnout. Rahn provided an extensive presentation of the formation …

SABA–Bishop Luis Secco, seconded by Father Danilo Pastor, held a Thanksgiving Mass Sunday, at the Sacred Heart Church in The Bottom. The bishop arrived on Saba Saturday, and held various meetings with parishioners on the occasion of the completion of the restoration of the Living Water Community’s Catholic rectory in …

ST. EUSTATIUS–An oil slick covered an area of approximately four square kilometres in the waters of St. Eustatius early Saturday morning, caused by a ruptured hose at NuStar Statia Terminal’s docking facility. The rupture resulted in a spill of approximately two metric tons of heavy fuel oil in Tumbling Down …

An independent Curaçao by the majority of the Chamber welcomed. This is evident from the reactions of Saturday parties at the election on the Caribbean island.” I do welcome this wholeheartedly, they get all of our support,” let André Bosman of the VVD know. ” Helmin Wiels (Independence party Pueblo …

Heleen Cornet, the island’s best-known, most prolific and most sought-after artist will showcase her work in a special exhibit at the Agora Gallery in Chelsea, New York. The exhibit entitled “Melange of Milieu” runs from November 1 until November 21 with an opening night reception to be hosted on November …

The office of the Island Governor announced that the Island Council meeting scheduled for October 4, has been rescheduled for Wednesday, October 24, at 9:00am at the Government Administration Building in The Bottom. The agenda of the meeting officially addressed the proposal to “Release Island Registrar” Els Boers, an action …

The Council of State in The Hague has advised against changing the validity of the new Dutch passport from five to ten years. The reason is that government cannot guarantee security risks can be solved during those ten years. In 2010, the Kingdom Council of Ministers decided to introduce a …

The Saba and St. Eustatius subdivisions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (BES) have recently relocated to new premises. The new offices will be shared with the Probation Office CN.   Opening Saba On Tuesday October 23rd, 2012 the official ceremony for the opening will take …

Four employees from Bonaire, two from St. Eustatius and one from Saba have completed a training successfully in the last two weeks to become Metrology Inspector or Inspector of Weights and Measures, a press release from RCN Netherlands said. The training took place in The Netherlands and was given by …

Saba’s Shamiel Levenstone, age 17, will face Curaçao’s Porres Sarabia, 19 and Enoch Charles, 20, also from Saba, will face Kevin Lee, 21, from Aruba in the Boxing after Dark – Clash of the Titans Boxing Tournament at the Juliana’s Sports field in The Bottom October 27. The Saba Amateur …

Inflation was lower in the third quarter of 2012 than in the previous quarter on Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius, the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics reported this week. Lower cost for electricity on Saba and St. Eustatius helped to keep inflation low. On Bonaire inflation was 2.3 per cent, …

The Saba Lions Club celebrated World Lions Day on Sunday, October 14, by organizing an event at the Honourable Henry Every Home for the Aged. The Lions treated the elderly to celebratory cake and the entertainment was provided by the Occasionals’ band with their famed old Caribbean songs. In photo: …

Head of Economic Affairs in Saba Dave Levenstone together with representatives from St. Eustatius, Bonaire and Curaçao completed two weeks of training in metrology in Delft, The Netherlands, recently. The training consisted of “rigorous, theoretical and practical training” in weights and measurements, Levenstone said. The training, held by National Metrology …

Lobsters, the threatened economic boon of the local economy, and Lionfish, the feared invasive species for the entire region, were the subject of two complementary Sea and Learn presentations. Visiting scholar Mark Butler gave a presentation at Queen’s Gardens Resort on “The Tale of the Spiny Lobster: Homelessness, Pestilence and …

The alleged connections of Curaçao and St. Maarten with the mafia put pressure on relations in the Dutch Kingdom. If the countries want to do business with criminal elements, The Netherlands can no longer be responsible for them, said Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van …

Lessons learned By Rudy Dovale Every system that has engulfed this area has left lessons to learn. One lesson is to let the world “outside know how we are doing, what we have done in terms of safety and level of comfort.” It is somewhat confusing, when we talk about …

Chief of Police Herman Oosterveen confirmed that a vehicle had lost control and knocked down part of a road wall in the proximity of Mathew’s Dorms in The Bottom due to Tropical Storm Rafael. The driver had left the site and is asked by the police to come forth and …

“Times They Are a Changing – A Look at the Evolution of Saba’s Cloud Forest”. This is the title of a wonderful and informative presentation by Tom van ‘t Hof. Saba resident and founding father of Saba Marine Park and Saba Conservation Foundation Tom van’t Hof is responsible for a …

The third meeting of the Dutch Caribbean Committee on Marine Biodiversity and Fisheries, also known as the EEZ Committee, was hosted at Juliana’s Hotel in Windwardside, October 11 and 12. The EEZ Committee consists of delegates from Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba as well as The Netherlands. The Dutch Caribbean …

Over 75 people turned out at El Momo Cottages on Tuesday for Jennifer Rahn’s “Where’s the Beach?” presentation, providing an accessible scientific understanding of Saba’s elusive “wandering beach” phenomenon. Cartographer, coastal geo-morphologist and dive master Rahn is Director of the Environmental Studies Scholars Programme at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, …

Members of the Tax Office and Customs officers in St. Eustatius travelled to Saba to attend a one-day workshop on the sister island on Tuesday. The course members sailed to Saba on board “MV Waterman.” Acting Harbour Master Austin van Heijningen (left) was on board to see the party off …

In a joint press conference the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Police Corps Caribbean Netherlands and the Royal Military Police Caribbean Area explained the seriousness of the first human trafficking case on Bonaire in detail. The Colombian women are to work in degrading circumstances considering the locally prevailing standards, values and …

Tonight,  Saturday October 13, tropical storm Rafael .

The decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union is ‘great recognition of the major historical role the European Union has played in peace, security and democracy, prime minister Mark Rutte said on Friday. Labour leader Diederik Samsom, currently in talks with Rutte on forming a new …

Caretaker Dutch State Secretary of Finance Frans Weekers and delegations from Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba closed an agreement on Wednesday to improve the fiscal system in the Caribbean Netherlands and to also remove some bottlenecks. The agreement includes several measures to improve the economic development of the islands and …

Schoolbuildings on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba will be further renovated and improved in the coming years. Education Commissioners Glenville Schmidt of St. Eustatius and Chris Johnson of Saba signed a covenant with Dutch caretaker Minister of Education, Culture and Science Marja van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart on Wednesday, sealing their June 27 …

Delegations of the Dutch public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba were able to secure various agreements with the individual Dutch Ministries this week which will give a social economic impulse on the islands and as such directly benefit the people. Some of the issues that agreements were made on …

Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba need no longer be worried that their constitutional status will be anchored in the Dutch Constitution anytime soon. The Constitution can only be amended at the earliest in 2017, long after the general evaluation of the islands’ public entity status in 2015. The law proposal …

Voting rights for non-Dutch nationals in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba remain a dilemma for The Hague. The proposal to amend the Dutch Constitution doesn’t include a definite solution for the issue of the influence that this group of foreign citizens may indirectly have on the First Chamber of the …

Saba chose not to mark the two-year anniversary of Saba’s transition into the new constitutional status as a public entity of The Netherlands. Service Caribbean Netherlands (RCN) marked the day instead as “Appreciation Day” for its workers and it will be celebrated next week with the visit of RCN Director, …

State Secretary Weekers of Finance and the governors of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba have agreed today on  a package of measures during a meeting on the fiscal system of the Dutch Caribbean. These changes will dissipate a number of bottlenecks in the economic development of the islands, and they …