News

Friday’s all-day campaign in The Netherlands to raise money for the victims of hurricane Irma on Sint Maarten and the other Dutch Caribbean islands raised €13.3m on the day itself. The money will go to the Red Cross relief effort, which is focusing on providing shelter, water and food as …

Open letter to the Executive Council of Saba Date: 14 September 2017 Re: Economic developments after Irma Dear Council, A week ago the monstrous disaster of hurricane Irma affected the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. In particular our mother island St. Maarten.  The island we all depend on if it …

Today, Tuesday September 12th, the Kingdom Council of Ministers met to talk about the current situation on the islands of St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius, which have been hard hit by hurricane Irma. In the Kingdom Council of Ministers maintaining law and order and the emergency relief to the …

King Willem Alexander will be on Saba on Tuesday, September, 12th. He wants to see what damage Irma did to our island and he wants to meet the victims. We want to encourage everyone to come to the firestation at 10 a.m. to greet the King. Please follow the announcements …

King Willem-Alexander will visit the hurricane-hit Caribbean island of Sint Maarten on Monday as part of a short visit to meet locals and assess the relief effort. The king and home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk arrived on Curaçao on Sunday where they were briefed about the aid effort so far. …

TROPICAL CYCLONE BULLETIN NO. 8 WARNING MESSAGE NO. 3 Date: Friday September 08, 2017 Time: 22:56 local time Watches/warnings: A Tropical Storm Warning in effect for Saba and St Eustatius for category 4 Hurricane Jose. At 1100 PM AST (0300 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Jose was located near latitude …

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TROPICAL CYCLONE BULLETIN NO. 16 Date: Wednesday September 06, 2017 Time: 23:13 local time Watches/warnings: *** NOTE: This Tropical Cyclone Bulletin is both an Advisory Message for Hurricane Irma and an Information Message for Hurricane Jose. A Tropical Storm Watch or Hurricane Watch will likely be issued for Jose on …

As of 3.30 p.m. local time, no deaths have been reported on Saba and only a few wounded. There has been a lot of structural damage. Satel is working hard on restoring telecommunication services to Saba. Local landlines are slowly being restored. Outgoing international calls are reportedly possible. Saba seems …

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TROPICAL CYCLONE BULLETIN NO. 13 ADVISORY MESSAGE NO. 1 Date: Wednesday September 06, 2017 Time: 09:46 local time Watches/warnings: At 1100 AM AST (1500 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Irma was located near latitude 18.2 North, longitude 64.0 West. Irma is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph (26 km/h), …

During the Day of the Press on Bonaire Kingdom Representative Gilbert Isabella launched iLanders. iLanders is an initiative of the Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederland to motivate young people and professionals with a Caribbean background to live and work on Bonaire, St. Eustatius or Saba. The Kingdom Representative would like to commit …

Commissioner of Health, Mr. Rolando Wilson, in a rebuttal to statements made earlier today by SLP fraction members Mr. Ishmael Levenstone and Ms. Monique Wilson, clarified that during the Central Committee meeting on August 21st an update was provided regarding news of the departure of the local dentist. Commissioner Wilson …

Saba Labour Party member Monique Wilson questions the Executive Council about the Island Government of Saba’s plan to empower the local youth market. Island Council Member Monique Wilson on August 21, 2017 during the Central Committee Meeting inquired about the Island Governments proposal to strengthen the local, young adult workforce …

Commissioner of Health, Mr. Rolando Wilson, in a rebuttal to statements made earlier today by SLP fraction members Mr. Ishmael Levenstone and Ms. Monique Wilson, clarified that during the Central Committee meeting on August 21st an update was provided regarding news of the departure of the local dentist. Commissioner Wilson …

St. Maarten’s business community will soon meet a new avenue for small business loans with the opening of Qredits Microfinance. After months of hard work by the Ministry of TEATT, via the Department of Economy, Transportation and Telecommunication (ETT), Qredits will soon be opening its doors to the business community …

Open Monuments days 2017 (weather permitting) In the weekend of 9 and 10 September, Saba will be joining the Open Monument Days which have been organized in the European Netherlands since 1987. Cooperation between Dutch Cultural Heritage Association Heemschut and the Dutch Museum Saba results for the second time in Open …

Kingdom Government Representative for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Gilbert Isabella will remain in function until the end of this year, which is a few months longer than the original three years that had been agreed upon in 2014.Dutch caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk informed …

On Tuesday, August 29, 2017, on the grounds of Captain Quarters, the sale purchase agreement was executed. Present was Island Governor Jonathan Johnson, Legal advisor Gerald de Jong, and GIS Saskia Matthew on behalf of Public Entity Saba and Wim and Johanna Van ‘t Hof on behalf of J.W. Hotel …

Members of the St. Eustatius Korps Police Caribbean Netherlands (KPCN) left St. Eustatius to Saba, on Saturday, August 26, around 4:00am to trans­fer two prisoners to Statia, where they were later flown to Bonaire. Senior officer Robelto Hodge told The Daily Herald that the prisoners were transferred from Saba to …

The students of the Saba Comprehensive School registered an exceptional performance at their May-June 2017 CSEC and Dutch Cambridge examination as the school procured a 100% pass rate once again. The Saba Comprehensive School offers the Academic and Vocational stream and is the only school for secondary and vocational education …

August 15 was the final date for filing income-tax returns in the Caribbean Netherlands (CN). The majority of the persons who are liable to pay tax did this on time. The Tax Office CN thanked all these persons for doing so, especially those who filed their tax re­turn online. This …

The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament is demanding prompt answers from Dutch caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk about the term of appointment of Kingdom Government Representative (“Rijksvertegenwoordiger”) for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Gilbert Isabella. On the initiative of Member of Parliament (MP) Ronald …

In 2016, Bonaire received around 136 thousand tourists arriving by air. This number is more or less the same as in 2015. A total of 217 thousand cruise ship passengers visited Bonaire, down 6 percent on the previous year. Saba and St Eustatius saw little year-on-year change in tourist arrivals …

St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) confirmed on Monday that a baby was born at the institution on Saturday, August 19, “with characteristics of microcephaly.” SMMC Medical Director Dr. Felix Holiday told The Daily Herald the hospital’s specialists cannot conclude at this point what caused the microcephaly. However, he said the …

Henk Brons, currently Representative of the Dutch Government in Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten, will temporary head the Directorate of Kingdom Relations of the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK per September 15. Brons will combine the temporary position with his work on the islands. However, the majority …

One person is in Police custody after a stab­bing in Windwardside on Saturday evening. Police originally detained two persons in connection with the incident, but one was later released, accord­ing to the police report is­sued on Sunday. No further details have been given about the inci­dent.

On Wednesday, 16 August 2017, a declaration was signed in Kralendijk (Bonaire) in which the Public Prosecutor (OM), Royal Marechaussee (KMar), Police Force of the Dutch Caribbean (KPCN) and the Public Body of Bonaire (OLB), have committed themselves to work together on a “safety picture BES 2017” (Veiligheidsbeeld BES 2017) …

Tourism figures for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba remained stable in 2016, reported the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS) on Thursday. The number of visitors arriving by air in Saba decreased by four per cent from 9,600 in 2015 to 9,200 in 2016; however, more visitors arrived by ferry – …

On August 14th & 15th, Saba held its first Tourism conference for stakeholders of both the private and public sector of the tourism industry on Saba. Attendance at the conference was high and much interest was displayed by the attendees. Topics highlighted were Customer Service, Digital Marketing, Team Work and …

Having questions about parenting is normal. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the opportunity to share experiences with other parents, ask questions and/or give feedback? The Positive Parenting Program provides a course for parents to do just that. Together they can exchange information about parenting and children, with the assistance …

Most of the students that took part in the Public Entity of Saba’s summer-intern programme, gathered on Thursday at the Government Administration Building with their supervisors to meet with the Executive Council to discuss their six-week internship. The students shared their experiences, spoke of the many projects they carried out, …

Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations, Mr. Ronald Plasterk, began his farewell tour of the islands of the Caribbean Netherlands on Saba on Monday August 14th. In meetings with the Island Council and the Executive Council of the Public Entity of Saba, talks centered on the good working relationship …

All children should be able to participate in sports, culture, during their leisure time and at school, also when there is not much money at home for extras. Organisations such as child day care centers, schools, sports clubs and scouting groups have drawn up plans in order to provide this. …

The Sanitation Division of Public Works, Public Works head Russell Thielman, Act. Island Governor Franklin Wilson, Commissioner Rolando Wilson, and Island Secretary Tim Muller assembled today, Friday, August 11th near the recently acquired garbage trucks. The Island Secretary Tim Muller and Commissioner Rolando Wilson on behalf of Commissioner Zagers gave …

Two Saba members of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of St. Eustatius and Saba travelled to St. Eustatius for the mid-year meeting of the board on Wednesday August 9. Since the Chamber serves both islands, it was an initia­tive of the Public Relations Officer (PRO), that …

Saba’s Commissioner of Tourism, Bruce Zagers is proud to announce that on August 14th and 15th, Saba will host its first Tourism and Marketing Conference. This conference is intended to bring together the various stakeholders of Saba’s tourism industry to stimulate the industry with knowledge from experts in the fields …

Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF) and Save Our Sharks Saba are teaming up with North Sea Foundation in contributing to their annual Boskalis Beach Clean-up tour of the entire coastline of the Netherlands and of the Dutch Caribbean islands. This event takes place on Saba at Cove Bay, the coast near …

The Fire Departments of St. Eustatius and Saba have joined forces this week and the next to carry out mountain-rescue training on the “Historical Gem.” Two fire fighters from each Department are being instructed by Ron Mobly and Dwayne Strawn of Caribbe­an Emergency Responders ‘training Academy in Tortola, British Virgin …

Dutch caretaker Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk will travel to St. Maarten on August 13 for a six-day farewell visit to the Dutch Caribbean. He will meet government officials on all six islands, starting with the Windward Islands. The main focus of the visit are the …