News

The Daily Herald writes that a  new television series on National Geographic Channel (NGC) called “Marine Life” tells in five thematic episodes the story of underwater life in the Dutch Caribbean. André Kuipers, former Dutch astronaut and ambassador of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), takes viewers down to this beautiful …

The Daily Herald also reports that the Dutch Government has changed its plans to construct a prison on St. Eustatius due to the high cost, State Secretary of Safety and Justice Fred Teeven announced in a debate with the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Thursday. Detainees from St. …

Caribisch Netwerk reports from The Hague that it is uncertain if  Statia will get its own prison to host  Saban and Statian criminals. It appears that the cost for a detention center for eighteen inmates is so high that the government started to look for alternatives. In any case, the …

The Evaluation Committee that will study the effects of the new constitutional status of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba will be visiting Saba on Sunday November 16th and Monday November 17th. On Monday November 17th from 5.30 until 7.00 PM a Meet & Greet is planned at the Eugenius Johnson …

The Daily Herrald reports that the Statia fire fighter Carlos Leverock passed away after a period of illness at the age of 41. The popular fireman had more than ten years experience in the St. Eustatius fire department. Leverock was a native from Saba where his funeral will be on …

Between November 11th and December 31st  2014  Statistics Netherlands (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek- CBS) will conduct a Labor force survey (Arbeidskrachtenonderzoek (AKO)). Interviewers of the CBS will go to the randomly selected households to administer the questionnaire. The AKO is a sample survey among households. The objective of the …

The Evaluation Committee which examines the impact of the new state structure, visits Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius from 13th to 19th of November. The purpose of this first visit is to hear from various groups on the islands what they consider important for the evaluation. On Sunday, November 16, …

GIS Saba announced  that they have placed  the video recording of Chris Johnson’s press conference of  Monday, October 6, on Youtube today. On that day, the Commissioner of Education held an update  on the ongoing developments at the island’s sole secondary institution, the Saba Comprehensive School, along with members of the Educational …

Evaluation Commission visits the Caribbean Netherlands The Evaluation Committee which examines the impact of the new state structure, visits Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius from 13th  to 19th of  November. The purpose of this first visit is to hear from various groups on the islands what they consider important for …

The Daily Herald writes about the fact that twenty-four pupils of Saba Comprehensive School (SCS) graduated Saturday during a ceremony held at Saba University School of Medicine in The Bottom. A total of 15 pupils graduated at the academic level, seven pupils on  MBO- level and two pupils graduated on …

Commissioner of Finance Bruce Zagers visited the recently refurbished Hyperbaric Chamber of Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF) at Fort Bay. This writes  the Daily Herald. During the visit Zagers met with Marine Park Manager Kai Wulf and hyperbaric chamber engineer from Germany Frank Güssow. Güssow, who spent several days on the …

Customs seized a boat at Fort Bay harbour on Tuesday. This reports The Daily Herald.  Two men said they had sailed the boat from St. Maarten to Saba to get fuel for their boat. Customs Officers found this to be suspicious and carried out a routine check, during which a …

The Daily Herald writes that the various groups which form part of Emergency Support Functions (ESF) groups attended training exercises last week. The training was held under the guidance and expertise of Paul Martens of the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) of the Fire Department on St. Maarten. The purpose …

According to figures released today by Statistics Netherlands, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Saba was just over 43 million US dollars in 2012, for St Eustatius it was 102 million dollars. This is the equivalent of 21,900 dollars per capita for Saba and 26,400 dollars for St Eustatius, two …

The various groups which form part of the Emergency Support Functions (ESF groups) attended a week of training exercises last week. The training was held under the guidance and expertise of Paul Martens of the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) of the Fire Department in St. Maarten. The purpose of …

On Monday, November 10th,  the course for police, Coast Guard and Koninklijke Marechaussee (KMar) officially begun. This is a historic moment because it is the first time that the course is being given on Bonaire, and because it is a combined course for all three units. According to Chief of …

Dutch News writes that Care institutions and local authorities should improve the way they work with family carers and volunteers, junior healthcare minister Martin van Rijn has told MPs. Van Rijn has set aside €4m to encourage institutions to work more closely with family carers and help people stay in …

Dutch News reports that more than 1,600 relatives of people killed in the MH17 disaster gathered in Amsterdam on Monday afternoon for a memorial ceremony. The gathering, at the Rai exhibition centre, was also attended by king Willem-Alexander, queen Máxima, princess Beatrix, ministers and MPs. Prime minister Mark Rutte started …

The twelfth consecutive annual Sea and Learn was held in October. This year’s lecture series was considered one of the most successful in history. This writes The Daily Herald. Every year, a group of scientists are invited to Saba to give a presentation on their field of expertise. Owner of …

Bonaire. nu reports that on Kingdom Day, December 15, the day on which the Constitution is the Kingdom of the Netherlands is celebrated, the Common Court of Justice rules in the appeal case on the equalization of pensions in Bonaire, Statia and Saba and the Dutch pension. The date is …

The Daily Herald reports that on November 3, 4 and 5, Saba Comprehensive School (SCS) launched its very own Job Fair for the first time ever. The event was opened by Commissioner Chris Johnson with an inspiring speech. Previously these Job Fairs were only held on St. Maarten, and until …

The Daily Herald reports today that the row over the care received by the mother of Junior Health Minister Martin van Rijn took a new twist on Thursday, with the Algemeen Dagblad (AD) newspaper claiming the ministry tried to block the original interview. Van Rijn’s father and a neighbour gave …

The Daily Herald asks attention for naturalization issues. People who have opted to become a naturalised Dutch citizen must be prepared to renounce their current nationality by giving up their existing (non-Dutch) citizenship. This requirement has been in force for some years now. When applying for naturalization, the applicant has …

Dear Readers of Saba News, I have been asked to explain again the House Rules concerning reader contributions, i.e., “Letters to the Editor” or “comments” to posts. In a larger country, there are commercial publishers that offer the public means to discuss their opinions about their leaders and offer suggestions …

Caribisch Netwerk reports that on Thursday the Police Headquarters Saba has been reopened after a full renovation. The building was outdated and in poor condition. “It is a pleasure for me to open this office, after last month, I was allowed to open the new police station on Bonaire,” said …

Caribisch Netwerk reports that students from Saba are choosing to study in the US or the region. “I choose to study in America because I see a lot Saban youngsters who did not manage to finish their studies in The Netherlands. They claim that it is hard to live in …

The Daily Herald reports today that the Seventh Day Adventist Church is organising gospels for a period of 2 weeks at Princess Juliana sports field in the Bottom. These gospels are initiated by Pastor Sams from St. Eustatius under directorship of the North Caribbean Conference of Seventh Day Adventists (SDA). …

Junior health minister Martin van Rijn told a television current affairs show on Tuesday night he understands his father’s criticism of the quality of the nursing home where his mother, who has dementia, now lives. Van Rijn’s father and a neighbour gave an interview to the AD newspaper earlier this …

On November 3rd, 2014 the two-year training for police officer on Bonaire will start with an orientation week. The process for recruiting and selecting employees, which took place over the past few months, has been completed. The training is a joint venture between the police, the Coast Guard and Koninklijke …

Caribisch Netwerk published an interview of the Director of the SCS with Hazel Durand. “Saba Comprehensive School must become the best school in the Caribbean Netherlands,” said the new director of the only secondary school on Saba, Anton Hermans. Currently the The Golden Rock school on Statia bears this title. …

A delegation from Saba consisting of Commissioner of Energy, Chris Johnson, Managing Director of Saba Electric Company, Dexter Johnson and Policy Advisor, Sarah van der Horn recently returned from the Green Aruba Conference. The primary purpose of the trip was to attend the business to business meetings that are facilitated …

Stakeholders from the various economic sectors on the island and Commissioner of Economic Affairs, Chris Johnson met today in what was the first meeting of the Economic team (E- team) of Saba. The E-team will function as the main economic platform where economic developments on the island will be discussed …

The Daily Herald writes that results of theBody Mass Index (BMI) testing held at Saba’s Sacred Heart School in May, indicate that one-third of the school population is not at a healthy weight. The BMI tests revealed that 18 per cent of the school population is overweight and 11 per …

Representatives of the National Ombudsman’s office will travel to St. Eustatius and Saba for the second time this year. They will be on the two islands of the Caribbean Netherlands November 10-14. In March and April, numerous complaints were filed concerning good governance, local authorities and government practices. In Statia, …

The RCN issued a press release with information that is of high interest for Saba and St. Eustatius, where there is much fishing for lobsters. Bonaire already meets the measures proposed below and, moreover, the amount around of lobsters around the island declined in such a way that commercial fishing …

The Daily Herald reports today that an employee of a local dive shop was bitten by a shark on friday afternoon when it bit her calf. The risk of being bitten by a shark will be greatly increased if you take bait into the water to attract the relatively shy …

St. Maarten News Network reports that several personnel of the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) are enraged at the loss of the two lives that they said could have been saved if the St. Maarten Civil Aviation had taken proper actions on Monday. The workers who spoke to SMN News …

The Daily Herald reports that the Caribbean Examinations Council CXC in collaboration with Macmillan Publishing will launch CXC’s online commercial presence called the CXC Store at www.cxc-store.com on Friday, November 7, during a concert in Jamaica. The launch will be held at Jamaica College auditorium starting at 10:00am with more …

The Saba Day organization has set up a Facebook page to communicate with you. You can access the Facebook page through the link in our “News” menu drop-down on the front page of Saba News. The Welcome message reads: Welcome everybody to our Saba day organisation fan page, soon there …

The Daily Herald reports that one man is confirmed dead and another one was still missing at press time, after a small FedEx aircraft crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from Princess Juliana International Airport SXM around 6:45pm yesterday. The double-engine SH36 aircraft, which was said to be en …