News

Eight years after 10-10-10 it is clear that the present Dutch coalition govern­ment is prepared to finally establish a social minimum. While the responsible state-secretary Van Ark has re­cently announced that the presentation of the study into the social minimum to parliament will be delayed, the chairman of the King­dom Relations …

The prepa­rations for Saba’s Fort Bay Harbour multimillion-dol­lar project have received praise from Dutch State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops after his two visits to Saba in May. The state secretary men­tioned the extensive proj­ect which is in the plan­ning phase during a recent debate with …

Businesses and residents on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba were urged to take note of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that went into effect on Friday for the European Union (EU). Al­though the current data-privacy legislation will remain in effect in the Caribbean Netherlands, the effects of this …

On Wednesday morning the official Saba Summer Festival Schedule for 2018 was officially presented to me in my capacity as Commissioner with responsibilities for Culture and Economic Development by the treasurer of the Saba Festival foundation, Ms. Julieta Woods. I am extremely contented that once again we will be celebrating …

The last flight of the CN-Express is scheduled for Friday, June 29. The temporary air connection between Bonaire and the Windward Islands has been operational for a month longer than initially planned. Starting the first of July, Winair will include the connection between the Windward Islands and Bonaire in their …

The 3 mil­lion euros the Dutch gov­ernment made available between 2015 and 2017 for projects to strengthen chil­dren’s rights in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba have yielded positive results. There is much more aware­ness of children’s rights in schools and in the com­munity, children in vulner­able positions are getting assistance …

Tasked with the project of creating a school business, the business students of Saba Comprehensive School Forms 3 & 4 decided on the concept of a pop-up movie theater as part of their learning in action called Sabaplex. Sabaplex will debut this Friday, May 25 at the Sunny Valley Youth …

Recently 11 cadets of the Caribbean Netherlands Fire Department (BKCN) have successfully passed the appointment verification. The trainees, 7 from Bonaire, 3 from Saba and 1 from St. Eustatius, are busy with the training for Manschap-A since January 28th .They learn all about fire control, technical aid and accidents involving …

Annually the Island Government host a one-day island-wide clean-up in June. As of this year, the initiative will be expanded to an annual weekly event. The last week of May will officially be dubbed “Keep Saba Clean Week.” The hope is that during this week the community at large can …

There are still families in Bo­naire, St. Eustatius and Saba who are not re­ceiving child allowance (kinderbijslag). Fami­lies will be encour­aged to register their children, so they can receive this allowance. Dutch State Secre­tary of Social Affairs and Labour Tamara van Ark stated this in a letter she sent to …

Saba Commissioner of Infrastructure and Waste Management Bruce Zagers signed a letter of intent for the purchase of a new, state-of-the-art waste-processing installation for the island while in Canada last week. The finalisation of the purchase is pending further negotiations on the final construction of the installation and approval from …

The objection made by the Court of Audit (in Dutch: Algemene Rekenkamer) against the information security of the Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland has been withdrawn. In response to the objection, the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) immediately took measures to remove the most urgent risks. An RCN information …

Public Notice The Central Committee of the Public Entity Saba will meet on Thursday May 24th at 10:00 am at the Government Administration Building. The agenda for said meeting is 1. Opening 2. Approval of the agenda 3. Approval of the Minutes from the Central Committee meeting on Oct. 19th, …

Saba’s efforts to address social housing were mentioned as a positive example by Dutch State Sec­retary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops in his response to the struggle with Bonaire’s social housing foundation FCB and its director Ben Oleana. “In Saba, the public entity, the Own Your Own …

Winair announced new services to connect Bonaire and Aruba with St. Maarten effective July 1, 2018. We will offer 4 flights per week Bonaire – Curacao – St. Maarten and vice versa, 3 flights a week Aruba – Curacao – St. Maarten and vice versa. In addition, Winair will also …

Saba Comprehensive School hosts workshop on Carnival Costume Design with CrepeArt Designs of the Bahamas-St Maarten. Students of Saba Comprehensive School’s Forms 1&2 and PrO 1&2 were granted the opportunity take part in a 2-day workshop in Carnival Costume Design organized by Project Leader Shaigan Marten and sponsored by the …

In the spirit of further strengthening the coopera­tion with the Dutch Gov­ernment, Saba used the op­portunity of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s visit on Sunday evening and Monday morning to ad­dress a number of issues: poverty, finances, the eco­nomic structure, public or­der and crisis management, the division of tasks, and …

The Child Focus Basketball Team went over to Sint-Maarten from May 11 till May 13, 2018 for a friendly inter island competition between Sint-Maarten, Sint-Eustatius and Saba. The trip was made possible in collaboration with the Public Entity Saba, the Saba Sports Federation and Child Focus Foundation. As defending champs Saba played the first game …

  Saba’s suc­cessful implementation of the island’s disaster man­agement plan will serve as an example of how to act in times of crises during the annual congress of the As­sociation of Dutch Munici­palities VNG in Maastricht late June. Saba Island Governor Jonathan Johnson and Saba crisis management advisor Fanny de …

The court on Saba sentenced suspect S.S.J.G. on Tuesday, May 8th, 2018, to a two month suspended prison sentence and 2 years’ probation for the mistreatment of B.S.J. during an altercation in St. Johns on March 9th, 2018. S.S.J.G. had hit the victim multiple times in the face as a …

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has several field visits and meetings as part of the packed programme when he and State Secretary of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops are in the Wind­ward Islands on Sunday and Monday, May 13-14. The empha­sis will be on the islands’ recovery after Hurricanes …

In 2017, inbound tourism on Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba declined by 5, 5 and 9 percent respectively. Although the first eight months of 2017 were good for tourism, on Saba and St Eustatius this positive development was completely offset by Hurricane Irma. On Bonaire, the decline in inbound tourism …

The Cultural Heritage Inspectorate visited Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius from April 16th to 26th. This Inspectorate supervises the management of public records and archives in both the European and Caribbean Netherlands. The purpose of the visit to the Caribbean Netherlands was to investigate the quality of public records management; and …

A disaster management exercise will take place on Saba during the week of May 7th through May 9th; the objective of such activities is to learn. This year we will be tackling infectious diseases. On May 10th, plans and procedures will be adapted based on the learning experience. All emergency …

The Saba Comprehensive School (SCS) organizes the first annual Mr. and Miss Pageant show that is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m. The pageant competition was designed to critically assist the team at (SCS) institution in building the self confidence of their students, while working …

The Dutch Government is willing to invest in an innovative ag­riculture programme in the public entities Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, but only if the local governments are truly committed to structur­ally developing this sector on their island. State Secretary of Home Af­fairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops alluded to …

The report of the working visit of Minister Grapperhaus and State Secretary Knops to Saba is summarized in the video below   Min. Internal Affairs  

On 13 and 14 May, Prime Minister Rutte, together with State Secretary Knops, will pay a working visit to St. Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten. The working visit is dedicated to the reconstruction of the islands and the recovery of the economy after the devastation of hurricane Irma. RCN

— Water transport system to be further expanded — Commissioner Bruce Zagers per­formed the official opening of the new water transport system from Fort Bay Harbour to The Bottom on Tuesday. The new waterline, which was built last year, will sig­nificantly reduce the water price to US $60 per 1,000 …

As a follow-up to the digital letter of appreciation sent to Dutch Ministers Ingrid van Engelshoven of Education, Culture and Science and Arie Slob of Primary and Secondary Education and Media, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Jorien Wuite paid a visit to the Dutch Representative of the Netherlands …

The publication of the results of research into the so-called ‘social minimum’ in the Caribbean Netherlands is (again) taking longer than foreseen. The target date on which the report would be sent to the House of Second Chamber – before May 1 – has come and gone. State Secretary Tamara …

Will Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius succeed in producing food themselves? The Dutch government in The Hague is of the opinion that the local governments in the Caribbean municipalities should do their best to support this. The islands are still dependent on expensive imports of, for example, meat, fruit and …

On April 2nd , 2018 Police Officer Wingrove Baker was officially promoted to Inspector for Korps Politie Caribisch Nederland and on April 21st 2018 his stars were officially pinned on his shoulders. The promotion was honored by Inspector Baker’s family, friends and colleagues. Present to officially recognize the promotion with …

King Willem-Alexander celebrates five years on the throne on Friday. He is more popular than ever, according to the annual ‘royalty survey’ carried out by current affairs show EenVandaag. Some 85% of the programme’s 25,000 strong panel said they had confidence the king is doing a good job, up from …

On April 21, 2018 the Chess Clubs of Child Focus Foundation Saba C.N. and St. Dominic High School Sint-Maarten met for the third annual Chess Tournament. This year’s winner is Leroy Goocharran of team Saba. The second place went to Edward Zeagers of team Saba and Third Place went to …

In Q1 2018, Saban prices of goods and services were on average 2.9 percent up year-on-year, versus 2.5 percent in Q4 2017.  The price increase is caused by price developments of a wide range of product groups. Food, clothes and household appliances, among others, went up in price compared to …

Some 1,000 ex-students live in the  Caribbean Netherlands and have received student grants from the Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (DUO) in the Netherlands. They were often insufficiently aware of the repayment possibilities of their student debt. Some therefore had to deal with a bailiff. In order to deal with the debt …

From April 29th until May 2nd, Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security and State Secretary Raymond Knops of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, will visit St. Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten. For Minister Grapperhaus this is a first acquaintance with the Windward Islands. The visit mainly focuses on the …

KPCN will introduce the new operational uniform on Bonaire on April, 30th. Bonaire has the scoop, Saba and St. Eustatius will follow in the third quarter of this year. The basic color of the new uniform is dark blue, with yellow stripes in the outerwear. The uniform comes also with …

For years, James “Crocodile” Johnson talked about reestablishing the trails that were used by previous generations of Sabans to get to their farms on the slopes of the mountain. In those days, men and donkeys did the backbreaking work of bringing home bananas, tanyas, cristophenes, cabbage, pumpkin and much more. …