News

From November 19th to the 29th, a group of twelve participants participated in the training ‘Rope Rescue, level 1 and 2’ and successfully completed it on Bonaire. The participants were an employee of Nustar (Statia), one of Contour Global (Bonaire), one of the Fire Brigade Caribbean Netherlands from Saba and …

The Ministry of EZK financed the first phase of the solar park and also contributes financially to the second phase. The Public Entity Saba, SEC and EZK keep working on the good relations to make electricity efficient and affordable for the people. Several topics were discussed, including the development of the …

Late February 2019 Saba will see the start of a most welcome pilot project for the island: the opening of a legal desk where people can get advice on all legal matters, ranging from family law and advice on a will, to labor conflicts and undivided properties. Saba is the …

Saba Commissioner Rolando Wilson visited the renovation project at the A.M. Edwards Medical Center on Wednesday. On that day, the doors were opened to the renovated clinic. Together with social worker Lucretia Paulina, Wilson got a tour from nurse Kendrick Lake. The Commissioner, who has public health in his portfolio, …

On Wednesday November 28th, the partners in the immigration chain assembled in an annual Mini Conference on Saba. For the first time this Mini-Conference was held on Saba preceded by a special immigration chain meeting between Saba and St. Eustatius on Tuesday November 27th. More than 45 participants, from Saba, …

A new Agreement on the Terms of Employ­ment was signed on Mon­day for all school person­nel in Saba. The agreement includes a 3.4 per cent increase of gross salaries which goes into effect on January 1, 2019. Representatives of the Dutch Ministry of Educa­tion, Culture and Science OCW, the Public …

New Council of State Vice-President Thom de Graaf will visit the three Windward Islands from January 20 to 22, 2019. De Graaf will start his visit to the Dutch Caribbean in Curacao where he will arrive on January 17. The follow­ing two days he will visit Bonaire and Aruba, before …

The Saba Government has started a general clean-up and beautification initiative in anticipation of Saba Day and the tourist season. In consultation with Commissioner Bruce Zagers, the Public Works Department has started preparations to carry out the project in the different locations. A number of areas have been identified and …

The Recovery Funds Houses programme of the Public Entity Saba, financed by the Dutch government, is nearing the end. Close to 100 individual persons, four churches and four hotels received assistance to repair damages to their properties after the 2017 hurricanes. The Saba government confirmed that the registration for assistance …

Some 60 participants from the six Dutch Caribbean islands, the Netherlands, Barbados and Jamaica took part in the second Caribbean Vocational and Trade Schools Network (C-VET) conference in Saba on Monday. Main focus was the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) and its implementation in Saba and St. Eustatius. Saba Commissioner of …

Fourth and fifth form students of the Saba Comprehensive School (SCS) on Friday received the Student Handbook 2018-2019, compiled by the Public Entity Saba, to assist them with their tertiary studies. At hand to personally present the handbooks was Saba Island Secretary Tim Muller, acting on behalf of Commissioner of …

In the coming period, UNICEF Netherlands, together with local parties, is conducting research into the rights of children on Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba, looking at what has been achieved in recent years and what can be improved. Together with local and national government representatives, local experts and other parties, …

The Saba government is progressing with the further improvement of waste man­agement. A big step forward is the new, modern air bumer of ROI Envirosaver which should become operational after Jan­uary 2019. It burns much more effectively and efficiently, can handle a lot more volume, and very importantly, should produce …

Saba hosted a work meeting on Wednesday and Thursday to further prepare for the start of the BES(t) 4 Kids day care and after school care program for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba in January 2019. Representatives of the Public Entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, and of the Ministries …

The Dutch Kingdom countries and public entities want all children to grow up healthy and safe in a promising environment, thus the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The seven key elements of cooperation are positive parenting, prevention of child abuse, development of ‘safety nets,’ youth participation, professional assistance …

Last week Friday, members of Saba Electric Company’s (SEC’s) pro­duction department re­ceived certificates for their successful completion of a two-part training course as part of the company’s pol­icy to keep its powerplant workers certified and up to date in the field of electric­ity production. The training was given by mechanical …

Four Members of St. Maarten’s Parliament (MPs), one from each faction in parliament, will be travelling to sister island Saba for the Saba Day celebrations, which will be observed on Friday, December 7. MPs decided during a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament to maintain the customary number of …

The Dutch government is preparing legislation to forbid the finning of sharks and the trading of this animal in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, Minister of Agri­culture, Nature and Food Quality Carols Schouten announced on Monday in response to written ques­tions from Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch …

“See, Say, Stop!” is the slogan of Youth Care and Family Guardianship JGCN during Week Against Child Abuse which will be taking place from today, Monday, November 19, until Sunday, No­vember 25. JGCN wants to break the silence around child abuse, be­cause no child deserves to be mistreated. “Almost every­one …

Pensioenfonds Caribisch Nederland (PCN) will increase the pensions with 2% per January 2019. This was decided in a Board meeting which took place last week on Bonaire. In the meantime, the intended increase has also been approved by the Supervisory Board and the Advisory and Accountability Council (AVO). The decision …

The Welfare and Society Directorate launched the Dare2C­are Safe Statia campaign to bring more awareness on domestic violence at the Mega Musical Experi­ence in February. This was followed by the Kas Sigur training, arranged by the Ministry of Justice and Se­curity for Saba and Statia professionals on Statia last week. …

The website BES-Reporter announced that this afternoon, the Government Agreement between The Hague and Bonaire was signed by State Secretary Raymond Knops on behalf of The Netherlands and the Island Governor, Edison Rijna, on behalf of Bonaire. The signing of the agreement was made possible by the approval by the …

The First Chamber of the Dutch Par­liament has proposed to the Dutch government to implement a temporary al­ternative in anticipation of the establishing of a social minimum for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba in 2020. The Senate’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations on Tuesday de­cided during a procedural meeting to …

The Netherlands will actively interfere with the government on Bonaire. A specially appointed ‘program manager administrative agreement’ will reorganize the financial management and the official organization. According to State Secretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relations, the current capabilities of local government are far below par. The new administrative agreement covers …

Artist Heleen Cor­net has been living on sev­eral islands of the Dutch Caribbean for forty years. During those years she has made thousands of paint­ings, around four hundred of which are shown on a hundred pages of her new book titled “Artist on Saba – 40 years, 400 paintings”. The …

In October, the directors of Gwendoline van Putten School in St. Eustatius, Scholengemeenschap Bo­naire SGB and Saba Com­prehensive School signed a collaboration agreement to proceed together as a Tech­nique Region. These three schools join hands to make youngsters acquainted with technique and to encourage more stu­dents to choose a technique …

Of the three Caribbean islands, Saba had the lowest income inequality in 2016. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the distribution of incomes was most uneven on St Eustatius, whilst Bonaire was in the middle range. The disparities in standardised disposable income – income adjusted for differences in household size and …

Coralita: if nothing is done, biodiversity may be gone, that is the winning slogan from a contest held by the Coralita Girls during Science Cafe hosted by Ca­ribbean Netherlands Sci­ence Institute (CNSI) last week Thursday. Botanist Elizabeth Haber and social scientist Jetske Vaas, jointly known as The Coralita Girl, presented …

The Dutch Caribbean Police Force has received several reports of fraud via the internet in recent months. On the internet there are several advertisements of good and affordable cars from the United States. The cars are offered for sale at a good price. In the advertisement, all information about the …

Months of planning, scheduling and preparation culminated past Friday in the start of the installation of Saba Electric Company’s (SEC’s) second solar park project. With a 1.142 Megawatt peak (MWp) solar park already in place, this second park is a continued effort by SEC to increase its shares in renewable …

The Caribbean Vocational and Trade Schools network (C-VET) is organizing the second conference about vocational and trade school education. This second conference is the result of the initial conference that was held on Sint Maarten in October 2016. During the conference on Sint Maarten, the desire was expressed to continue …

The green left party GroenLinks in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament wants the Dutch government to make one million euros annually available for the Nature Trust Fund to protect the fragile nature in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. GroenLinks also called for a Shark Action Plan. Members of …

On October 23th and 25th, representatives of the school boards, management and staff spoke respectively in Bonaire and St. Eustatius during a conference on collective labor agreement, the content of it and employee participation. The education union Simabo was also present on Bonaire. The conference highlighted points for improvement, which …

November is Internship Month for the Saba Comprehensive School’s Vocational and upper-forms PraktijkOnderijs (PrO) students. They will be interning at various organizations around the island throughout the month of November 2018. The students will start their internships on Friday, November 2nd and continue until Friday, November 30th for a total …

The new employers’ premiums for the Caribbean Netherlands have been published in the ‘Staatscourant’. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) will lower the premiums from 18.4% to 13.4% effective January 1st, 2019. This way, the wages can increase and the purchasing power could go up. Through the structural …

Transparency of prices is in the consumer’s interest. The price comparator published by the consumer organizations FTpKB and Unkobon in collaboration with the Ministry of Economic Affairs provides a monthly transparent and objective insight into the prices of a basket of 60 products at 15 supermarkets. With the price comparison …

Committee for Fi­nancial Supervision CFT for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba praised Saba dur­ing its Tuesday visit for the timely submission of bud­get documents and the con­tinuation of good financial management. Discussions were held with the Executive and Is­land Councils about the reconstruction project, the 2017 financial statements, the 2019 …

Last night, Sea & Learn 2018 organised its final event at Scout’s Place. For the 16th consecutive year, the program has brought a variety of intriguing scientific experts from around the world to share their passion and research with the island of Saba. Hands on activities have included counting the …

On Wednesday, October 24th, four candidates namely; Alexandria Hassell, Judella Heyliger, Kai Wulf, and Randall Johnson took their oath and was sworn in as Special Government Enforcers (BAVPOL). The Island Governor Jonathan Johnson stressed during the ceremony that the candidates went through a strenuous course in 9 days that usually …

On November 13th, Saba a new activity restaurant will open on Sabba, called “Different Taste“. Different Taste will be held every Tuesday in the existing restaurant of Chez Bubba, located in the middle of Windward Side. Different Taste will offer an activity program for people with certain challenges in life. …