News

The Day Care staff and the Afterschool Care staff attended a two-day first aid course for small children and babies on Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29. The staff of the Afterschool Care was trained in the morning, while the staff Day Care staff received their training in the …

The Public Entity Saba said farewell to Acting Island Governor James Franklin Wilson on Friday, March 29. Mr. Wilson reached the maximum age and had to step down after having served as Acting Island Governor for two periods, totaling more than 11 years. In the presence of his wife Yvonne, …

On Thursday, March 28, Shamara “Amelia” Nicholson was sworn in as the new Acting Island Governor. Acting Kingdom Government Representative Jan Helmond administered the oath in the presence of the new members of the Island Council and Island Secretary Tim Muller, with Island Governor Jonathan Johnson acting as witness. The …

The five members of Saba’s new Island Council for the period 2019-2023, Eviton Heyliger, Vito Charles, Carl Buncamper, Hemmie van Xanten and Esmeralda Johnson, all of the Windward Islands People’s Movement (WIPM) were sworn in on Thursday, March 28. WIPMs two biggest vote getters Bruce Zagers and Rolando Wilson during …

The highest point of four restored social housing units in St. John’s was reached on Tuesday, March 26. The roof is almost completed and the project is moving along. The building in which the four units are currently being reconstructed burned down a few years ago. At the time of …

PUBLIC NOTICE The Island Council of the Public Entity Saba will meet in a public session on Thursday, March 28th, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will take place in the Courtroom of the Government Administration Building in The Bottom. AGENDA 1. Opening 2. Establishment of Agenda 3. Review credentials …

Representatives of approximately 12 social organizations have attended an information meeting of ‘Kansen voor alle Kinderen’ on Monday march 25th. Social organizations in the Caribbean Netherlands can hand in their plans for applications again from April 29th to May 13th. This is the third consecutive year that subsidy may be …

The blog Caribisch Netwerk reports that, currently, the number of medical students on Saba has seriously reduced. The economy on Saba runs, apart from the tourists, on 2000 people, of which 400 are usually students at the Saba University School of Medicine. But at the moment there are barely 200 …

A new baggage scale was placed at the Juancho Yrausquin Airport on Friday afternoon. The scale at the check-in counter was inspected by calibration specialist Head of the Economic Affairs Department Dave Levenstone and was found to be in good working order. After its installation and inspection, the new scale …

The Main and Central Voting Bureau during a meeting on Friday, March 22, ascertained the final results of the March 20 elections for a new Island Council and Electoral College. This means that the elections results are now official with the Windward Islands People’s Movement (WIPM), list number 1, having …

Member of Parliament Nevin Özütok (GroenLinks) wants State Secretary Raymond Knops of the Interior and Kingdom Relations to discuss with National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen, what measures are needed to combat poverty in the Caribbean Netherlands and to reduce inequality between the Caribbean and European Netherlands. Özütok responds with her …

March 21, 2019 is World Down Syndrome Day.The students, faculty, staff, and visitors (Lipscomb University) at Sacred Heart School on the island of Saba showed their support, respect, understanding, and acceptance for those who have Down Syndrome and especially for our student Jayden. They wore mismatched socks and the color …

The Windward Islands People’s Movement WIPM secured all five seats in the March 20 Island Council elections on Saba with 779 votes of the total number of 984 valid votes that were cast. The preliminary voting results announced shortly after 11:00pm on Wednesday showed that the Saba Labor Party (SLP) …

Artists from Saba are currently in Curaçao for the Plein Air Festival 2019, a large art event with local and international participants that involves a lot of outdoor painting. Heleen Cornet (seen in photo), Angelita Peterson and Mary Thielman are attending the art festival with the financial support of the …

The Public Entity Saba on Tuesday, March 19, sent a letter to Mayor Jan van Zanen of Utrecht to express sympathy in regards to the shooting incident in a tram on Monday which left three persons dead. The letter, signed by Island Governor Jonathan Johnson and Island Secretary Tim Muller, …

Saba’s new head of police Gert Geerdink visited Island Governor Jonathan Johnson on his first working day on Monday March 18. The meeting had an introductory character and also served to discuss points of attention and police processes. “I want a good cooperation with all partners in the justice system. …

Give sports on Saba a boost, motivate young people to be active, and get their parents involved, and intensify the cooperation with the local stakeholders and within the Dutch Kingdom. Recently appointed Sports Facilitator Joelyn Robinson has hit the ground running to make these ambitious goals happen. “We want to …

The political arena in Saba may look very different after Thursday’s Island Coun­cil election. For years the blue Saba Labour Party (SLP) and the orange-coloured Wind­ward Island People’s Move­ment (WIPM) have battled it out between each other. Now a third party has joined the race, the green United People Movement …

Voters may not wear or display promotional material inside the two voting stations on Saba during Election Day this Wednesday, March 20. Wearing for example a t-shirt or a cap stating the political party and/or candidate will not be allowed when a person enters the voting station to cast his …

On Friday the 15th of March 2019 the new Collective Labour Agreement was signed by representatives from the Saba United People Labour Union and Association (SUPLUA), Benevolent Foundation Saba (BFS), Saba Health Care Foundation (SHCF), and St. Eustatius Health Care Foundation (SEHCF). The new CLA was negotiated for in 2018 …

The Saba Red Cross is making a new start. A new manager has been appointed, a meeting was held with the volunteers, two regional Red Cross officials visited Saba over the weekend and a number of goals for this year have been set. Maarten Plante-van der Horn was appointed manager …

The Dutch government plans to adapt the law to ensure strict con­trol that Dutch European persons don’t overstay in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, the three Dutch public entities. Dutch State Secretary of Justice and Security Mark Harbers stated this in re­sponse to written questions submitted by Member of the …

On Monday 18th of March the Saba Healthy Lifestyle program kicks off its 10 weekly Monday sessions with an Introduction Evening from 7 till 8.30 pm at the Queen Wilhelmina Library in The Bottom. The program is free and open to anyone (16+ years old) who wants to feel fit, …

The new ferry service between St. Maarten and Saba with Big B, a 230 passengers 130 feet vessel owned by Bobby Velasquez, was inaugurated on Thursday. The new service of Blue Peter Charters will run five days a week, providing not only service to residents of Saba and St. Maarten, …

Members of the Mount Scenery Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church served some 33 Saban youngsters with bicy­cles on Sunday. This project was made possible through one of the many Ministry of Social Affairs and Employ­ment SZW in The Hague initiatives called “Oppor­tunities for all Children” (“Kansen voor alle Kin­deren”). The Mount …

Mem­ber of the Second Cham­ber of the Dutch Parlia­ment Nevin Özütok of the green left party GroenLinks wants to know why the Caribbe­an Netherlands Health Insurance Office ZVK neglected to inform the Saba government about two important changes in policy regarding the transportation of pa­tients. Irked by this news, communicated …

A new ferry service between St. Maarten and Saba will start this Thursday. The Big B ferry of the St. Maarten ferry operator Blue Peter Charters will service Saba on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This will be a pilot program for the next three months, after which the …

Anneke van den Breemer has been appointed Managing Director of the Belastingdienst/CN. She starts in her new position on June 1st , 2019. In this function she succeeds Nichalin Martina. Anneke van den Breemer is currently Regional Director Douane Rotterdam, where she has worked since 2014. Previous to that, she …

Saba’s women celebrated International Women’s Day on Friday March 8 with a well-attended event at Queen’s Garden Resort. Safe Haven Director Cassandra Richardson of St. Maarten was the guest speaker and several women were recognized for their contributions to the community in general, and women in particular. The Public Entity …

Today, Tuesday, March 12, HES Construction will commence the construction of a stone wall at the hotel-construction site at Lambert Hassell Road. To ensure the safety of motorists, Lambert Hassell Road leading to Windwardside from The Bottom and St. John’s will become a one-way street until further notice. All motorists …

Police report of Friday, March 8th until Monday, March 11th 2019 On Friday, March 8th, a burglary was reported in the fire brigade building in The Bottom on Saba. Unknown people forced a side door to enter and took a black/orange generator of the brand Daewoo. The burglary had taken …

The Chamber of Commerce of St. Eustatius and Saba wants to actively assist in setting up a direct airline service between Colombia and St. Eustatius, with onward service to Saba, and to get a shipping company interested in transporting goods from the South American country and the Windward Islands. St. …

The first Legal Desk opening in Windwardside on February 23rd was a success with a good turnout of eight people. Nathalie Tackling, a legal professional from St. Maarten who runs the Saba Legal Desk, has already received requests from seven people for an appointment at the next Legal Desk opening …

On Thursday, March 7, the Public Entity Saba bade farewell to Margaret Child as she began her well-deserved retirement. Margaret served as Day Care Manager on Saba for the last 23 years and began working there when the facility opened in October 1996, then called the Care Bears Day Care …

The Public Entity Saba is progressing in the area of sustainability within the government organization, but there are still areas with room for improvement. Tom van Haaren, architect specialized in sustainability in a built environment, arrived at that conclusion during his five-month stay on Saba as trainee. Van Haaren looked …

A small delegation from the Public Entity Saba attended the 39th annual Heineken Regatta in St. Maarten last week to promote Saba as a tourist destination. Desiree Johnson of the Saba Tourism Bureau and policy advisor of the Public Entity Saba Nicole Johnson hosted a booth at the Heineken Regatta …

The decision to start with charter flights directly from Saba to St. Maarten vise versa as of March 4th stems from grievances filed by both our insured clients, as well as the medical practitioners on Saba and St. Maarten regarding the frequently occurring situation of non-availability of seats on Winair.  …

Subsidised flights between the islands seems the only way to guarantee reliable air transport within the Dutch Caribbean. This can be deduced from a report by the Social Economic Research SEO unit at the University of Amsterdam on the problematic air connec­tions in this part of the Kingdom of the …

The Public Entity Saba laments the fact that it has not been informed beforehand about two important decisions of the Caribbean Netherlands Health Insurance Office ZVK that have an impact on the Saba people in regards to the transport of patients on island and off island. The Saba Government was …

As of now entrepreneurs can file their General Expenditure Tax (ABB) and Payroll taxes (LH) online  The Belastingdienst/CN has now digitised this tax return process and this has some major advantages for entrepreneurs. Simpler process The process is simpler, quicker and less prone to errors both for  the entrepreneurs and …