News

Dutch news agency NOS reports that, following Curaçao and Aruba, Bonaire has also closed its airport for incoming flights from Europe. The measure will apply until March 30. The decision was taken after consultation with various Dutch ministries. Cruise ships are also banned. This will apply for the next 30 …

Island Governor Jonathan Johnson, Public Health Doctor Koen Hulshof, Director of BFS & SHCF Joka Blaauboer, and Manager Client & Patient Care Lisette Riley addresses the public on the now pandemic COVID-19. Click the image to view the press conference. GIS Saba

Fire chiefs of the Caribbean Netherlands, the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten met on Saba on Thursday, March 12 and Friday, March 13 to further the cooperation between the fire departments within the Kingdom. In July 2018, the Ministers of Justice of the four countries in the Kingdom signed …

Saba C-Transport shared the following message:

Bruno Bruins, Mark Rutte and Jaap van Dissel at the press conference. Photo: ANP Sem van de Wal Dutch News reports that The Netherlands announced a new package of measures to combat the spread of coronavirus on Thursday but stopped short of ordering schools to close. In particular, the rise …

Faro Media reports that SEC’s energy network on Saba has been wide open for cyber attacks. Negligence in the installation of the solar system allowed malicious parties to take over the entire electricity grid. Not much was needed for this: entering “0000” when the password was requested, was sufficient. SEC …

For the first time since the existence of the Health Insurance Office Caribbean Netherlands (ZVK), on Tuesday March 10th, 2020 a number of medical referrals have taken place from St. Eustatius to Saba. This concerns medical referrals of insured persons who visited an optometrist for eye measurements, among other things. …

Dahlia Hassell, a well-known conservation­ist and native of Saba, has joined the staff of the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA) Secretariat. She is the new Projects Officer, working closely with the park management organisations of all six islands to sup­port their conservation management actions. Hassell graduated with a Bachelor of …

Today, the World Health Organisation, WHO,  has called the COVID-19 infections a pandemic. The viral disease that has swept into at least 114 countries and killed more than 4,000 people is now officially a pandemic, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday. “This is the first pandemic caused by coronavirus,” WHO Director-General Tedros …

Several elements of the BES Healthcare Insurance Claims Regulation (Regeling Aanspraken Zorgverzekering BES) will change as of January 1st, 2020. The changes concern several new claims, and clarification and further requirements for existing claims and provisions. New Medical Devices The claims for medical devices have been expanded with wheelchairs, shower …

From the 2nd to 6th of March the National Knowledge Institute for Cultural Education & Amateur Art (Landelijk Kennisinstituut Cultuureducatie & Amateurkunst, LKCA) provided a train-the-trainer program for the Caribbean Netherlands to promote cultural education. The five-day program was organized by Fundashon Plataforma Kultural with support from the Fonds voor …

16 volunteer-projects have been registered and now we can still use some volunteers. Take this chance to do your share 🙂 Find out online at www.sabadoet.com which projects still need volunteers. More info? Visit www.sabadoet.com, email us at sabalionsdoet@gmail.com or check our Facebook at www.facebook.com/SabaDOET

A solution to accurately diagnosing dengue fever type 1 has just been invented, it’s inexpensive and simple. A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Universidad Nacional de San Martín (UNSAM) in Argentina, has put together in record time a diagnostic kit that can detect dengue fever without requiring any specially trained professionals or …

Commissioner with responsibilities for Gender Affairs Rolando Wilson said he is “very much satisfied” with the programme of events planned and organ­ised by the Department of Community Development and Public Health for Inter­national Women’s Day 2020. “I want to encourage all women residing on our beau­tiful island to come out …

As part of a campaign to learn about their rights in the second edition of UNICEF’s Child Rights Film Festival Caribbean, Saban youth will create and star in their own films. Students of the Sacred Heart School and the Saba Comprehensive School will use the arts as a medium to …

On Tuesday, March 3rd , a traffic check was held in the morning hours on JZ Ridge Road on Saba where a total of 12 vehicles were checked. Two driver’s received a fine for driving without paying the road tax. KPCN

In 2019, there were 25.6 thousand aircraft movements to and from the three islands of the Caribbean Netherlands. This is almost 11 percent up on 2018. The number of air passengers rose by over 6 percent. At Flamingo Airport on Bonaire and Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport on Saba, there was …

Saba, March 3rd, 2020 Dear All, In light of the recent confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus in very close proximity to Saba. The Public Health Department has compiled a list of frequently asked questions on the virus to distribute to the community. All of us need to practice good …

The Dutch Caribbean Healthcare Insurance Office (ZVK) has taken knowledge of social media reports regarding possible cases of infection with the Covid-19 virus (also known as the Corona virus) in the overseas French departments in the Caribbean, St. Martin and Saint Barthélemy. The local health authorities have admitted 2 patients …

The Committee for Financial Supervision (CFT) for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, which visited Saba Tuesday, February 18, and Wednesday, February 19, said the budget, account­ability and financial manage­ment on Saba remain of suf­ficient level. The CET also noticed that some structural tasks are still being funded in an incidental …

The Public Entity Saba, in collaboration with external partners, Cadwell Inc and EJL Services BV, sat down together in an extensive waste management workshop last week to discuss further improvement in the waste management process on the island. The two primary points of discussion during these sessions were quick wins …

In 2019, Bonaire saw the highest increase in trade deficit among the three islands of the Caribbean Netherlands. Saba’s deficit was up as well, while St Eustatius’ deficit was lower relative to 2018. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on newly released figures. The Caribbean Netherlands has a structural trade …

On Wednesday, February 12th , a unilateral collision occurred on the JZ Ridge Road on Saba at around 10.11 PM. Upon arrival of the patrol, the car was found across the road, with a lot of damage. Because there were glass and oil on the road surface, among other things, …

The central government is investing 20 million euros in Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire. Thus contributing to the desired strengthening of society and broad prosperity on the islands. The investment is in addition of the 30 million that was made available before from the ‘Regio Envelop’. On a proposal of …

Minister Van Veldhoven (Environment and Housing) answered questions today from the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) about the Land Registry Act BES (Kadasterwet BES). The law regulates the land registry in the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba) with Kadaster in the Netherlands. The purpose of the law is …

The “Koninklijke Marechaussee” inspected a boat originating from Sint Maarten around 6 PM on Saturday, January 25th , 2020. The boat arrived at a non-regular pier after which various goods were unloaded, including a quad. An inspection revealed that the persons on board did not have the correct clearance and …

In response to the “Letter to the Editor” of last Friday concerning the possible issues at Saba’s Sacred Heart School, the Board requested to have the following reaction published: Reaction to: “The real Sacred Heart School situation on Saba” The school board and management of the Sacred Heart School on …

Dear Editor, On behalf of the vulnerable and seemingly voiceless, opinion-less youth of Saba, most of whom have been subjected to many injustices during their course of primary education on Saba, I request immediate action by those in authority, against the functioning of the Sacred Heart School. I am very …

The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament wants to know why the cost of tickets between the Windward Islands is so high and is pressing for measures so people can pay a more reasonable price to fly between St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba. The Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for …

The official installation of Wingrove Baker as Saba’s Chief Basic Police Care of the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force KPCN on Tuesday morning, February 4 was deemed “historic” for he is the first Saba-born person to hold this position. Born and raised in The Bottom, Baker said that he accepted this …

Commissioned by the Directie Sanctietoepassing en Jeugd (Directorate of Sanctions Application and Youth), the Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen (Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency), the Justitiële Inrichting Caribisch Nederland (Correctional Institution Caribbean Netherlands, hereinafter JICN) and Maatschap Antillen (Netherlands Antilles Partnership) entered a two-year project on February 1st, 2020 to realize placement under …

Recently, BES Reporter communicated that, contrary to the expectations raised about lower ticket prices for flights between the islands, there seems little hope that these will indeed materialize on the short term. Nearly a year ago, on March 5 2019, Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W) …

In the near future, teachers from abroad, hired to work at one of Saba’s two schools,  will no longer be required to request a working permit. They will only have to apply for a residency permit. Dutch State Secretary of Social Affairs and Labour Tamara van Ark announced on Friday …

Windward Islands Airways International, Winair, has announced it will be rolling out an advance check-in service at its Philipsburg sales office starting on Monday, February 10. “With this advance check-in service, Winair will provide its customers the opportunity to check-in their luggage and receive their boarding passes one day in …

On Wednesday, January 29th , a traffic control was held from 5:30 PM on the JZ Ridge Road on Saba. A total of 15 vehicles were checked, of which two were given a fine for driving without a license and without valid insurance. KPCN

The Police Force Caribbean Netherlands KPCN is investigating a case of ill-treatment, that took place in Saba. Two suspects were arrested in Saba after a man was severely mistreated with a weapon. After further investigation one of the suspects was released later. The other suspect G.D.C. was transported to Statia. …

The water filling station in Windwardside has become operational. This means that water trucks can now fill up at this location to supply water to the villages of Windwardside and Hell’s Gate instead of having to fill up in The Bottom and making the drive uphill. The new filling station …

After years of complaints about the limited banking services in the Caribbean Netherlands, obstacles are being removed so residents and entrepreneurs of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba can open a bank account in euros at a Dutch commercial bank. Dutch Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra stated in a letter to …

The Joint Court of Justice sentenced a 28-year-old woman from Saba to three years, one of which was suspended, on two years’ probation, for having stabbed a man with a box-cutter during a fight near Scout’s Place in Windwardside, Saba, on August 19, 2017. The Appeals Court pronounced the verdict …

Department heads and managers of the Public Entity Saba on Monday, January 27, started a five-day Integrity and Leadership workshop. The workshop facilitator is Oene Bouman, who has provided many workshops and training in the area of integrity throughout the Dutch Kingdom. Honesty and integrity being two of the essential …