News

The Daily Herald writes that the Dutch public TV broadcasting company NPO has agreed to place Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba on the so-called white list, enabling people on the three islands to have access to its website and to see the TV programmes of this broadcasting company. Dutch Minister …

A few days ago Saba-News reported that Sabarc had published a link to a movie presenting the visit of Queen Juliana to Saba. Click here to read this post again. This movie was an excerpt of a much longer movie giving a full report of the visit of Queen Juliana …

Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Saba Health Care Foundation (SHCF) Sydney Sorton and SHCF Director Dr. Joka Blaauboer presented the foundation’s annual report 2013. The 2013 report is the first official annual report from the foundation since its establishment on January 1, 2011, and is now available to the …

The Daily Herald writes that Saba Health Care Foundation (SHCF) welcomed a new visiting specialist this week. Pacemaker technician Steven Alvarez from Boston Scientific is the latest addition to a long list of specialist visiting the island to provide specialty care locally, in his case, pacemaker service. With the Zoom …

On Tuesday, October 28th , 2014, around 5.15 AM, the police received report of a burglary at Big Rock Grocery in Windward Side. The police immediately went to the location and has been able to detain a suspect in the act, who matched the description. It concerns  a 34 year …

The Daily Herald reports that the St. Maarten Laboratory Services (SLS) is now testing for the mosquito-borne illness chikungunya virus CHIKV. The test is done using a fluorescent microscope. Since the first CHIKV case surfaced on the island in January of this year, St. Maarten has been sending its chikungunya …

Support for the government’s efforts to the costs of care by getting people to do more for themselves and rely less on official sources of support is fading, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday. The ‘participation society’ concept, officially launched in September 2013, is supported by just 35% of the population, …

The Daily Herald reports that voters on St. Eustatius will have the opportunity to give their opinion on the island’s preferred constitutional status in a referendum on December 17, the Island Council decided. The electorate will be able to choose from four options: public entity (“status quo”); independent country; autonomous …

On Friday, October 24th , 2014, around 6:00 PM, two men were arrested for the illegal  buying of gold. These men went  to the homes of inhabitants of Saba to buy old gold while they did not keep continuous records and also could not show the police a register upon …

Malofi Foundation and Lorsim Productions hosted their annual People’s Choice Award 2014-2015 last Saturday evening, during which the population’s choice of who they considered the “best-of-the-best” on Saba was announced. The people of Saba selected their favourite “idol” in the categories music, art, sports, education, business and economy. This writes …

The Daily Herald writes that the pres- sure that the housing of detainees in the police cells on St. Eustatius and Saba puts on the capacity of the local police force has the attention of Dutch Minister of Safety and Justice Ivo Opstelten. The minister stated this in a recent …

On Friday October 24th, Saba Comprehensive School (SCS) students competed in a mini-triathlon held at the Fort Bay. The multi-disciplinary sports event was organized by the Saba Triathlon Foundation in collaboration with Saba Fit and the Centre for Youth and Family. In teams of six, the students had to complete …

Caribisch Netwerk published the story of Michelle da Costa Gomez from Curacao who contracted chikungunya. She shares her experiences: It began on 23 July. That day, I felt  a bit queasy. The next day in the morning, working I worked on the computer. Around noon I got a headache. I …

Caribisch Netwerk reports that the Health Insurance Office (ZVK) has opened a new office in Saba. The new office has private consulting rooms and offers more privacy for its clients. “At this location we can give better service to the Saban community. We know that there are still questions and …

Saba’s  Archaeological Center – Sabarc – has published a short film from the famous 1955 visit of HM Queen Juliana and her husband HRH Prince Bernhard to Saba. The film was discovered in the archives of the Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid Click here to watch the film on …

In September 2014 Community Officer, Paula Klomp, gave an introduction lesson to the children of the groups 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Sacred Heart School. During these lessons were topics such as bullying, respect and manners discussed. In October 2014, it was the turn for the children of …

Just 6,000 of the 27,000 people who made use of a 2007 amnesty for asylum seekers have taken Dutch nationality, according to refugee organisation Vluchtelingenwerk.The ruling, which applied to people whose cases had taken more than six years to process, also states they have the right to a Dutch passport …

The Daily Herald reports today that, last Friday, the new campaign to introduce and promote recycling on Saba was presented to the public during a Sea and Learn session. Friday’s presentation at the annual environmental awareness event was given by project leader for Waste Management at the Ministry of Infrastructure …

The Daily Herald reports today on the motion in which Members of Parliament (MPs) of St. Maarten unanimously adopted on Wednesday a motion rejecting the instruction handed down by the Kingdom Council of Ministers to Governor Eugene Holiday for the execution of a boundless and limitless investigation into the backgrounds …

The Daily Herald writes today that the Statia Island Council needed a special meeting on Sunday, October 19, to decide on the request of the Referendum Committee to hire three external experts for advice on the options on the ballot for the planned constitutional referendum. Only one out of three …

The Daily Herald writes that National Alliance NA) Member of Parliament (MP) Christopher Emmanuel said on Monday that he had been offered US $2 million for his parliamentary support as he stressed the point that St. Maarten had an integrity issue. Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Emmanuel said he had …

The Saba Triathlon Foundation is excited to announce that registration for next year’s annual Saba Hell’s Gate Triathlon is now open! Next year’s triathlon will be held on Saturday January 31st 2015. The track for next year’s triathlon will be the same as this year’s, an 800 meters open water swim …

The Chairpersons of the First and Second Chamber, Ankie Broekers-Knol and Anouchka van Miltenburg began their working visit to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom on Sunday October 19th on Saba. They were warmly received by Island Governor, Jonathon Johnson and Kingdom Representative, Gilbert Isabella. Later in the evening there …

The Daily Herald writes this morning that the liberal democratic VVD party, the Labour Party PvdA and Socialist Party (SP) representing a majority in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament fully support the decision of the Kingdom Council of Ministers last week Friday to order a more thorough screening …

The Daily Herald reports that the Kingdom government has ordered a more stringent screening of St. Maarten’s incoming Council of Ministers. The Kingdom Council of Ministers decided on Friday to give St. Maarten Governor Eugene Holiday an instruction to hold off on the appointment of the ministers and prime minister …

Dutch News reports that in total, 2.5 million people out of almost 17 million live below the poverty line in the Netherlands – that is 14% of the population – according to a new report. But despite the economic crisis, this is only an increase of 1% over the past …

The Daily Herald reports today that the hotels in Saba will not obtain a reduction on real estate tax in 2015, Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk stated in a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament The Chamber Committee for Kingdom Relations had asked …

The Daily Herald reports today that Statia and Saba have shown that they are willing to cooperate to improve education on their island and to solve the problems at their secondary schools. These islands will receive additional funds. Bonaire on the other hand is not cooperating and has been warned …

Fire fighters of the Caribbean Netherlands Fire Department are on Saba attending two weeks training in rappelling from high elevations and learning various rope techniques. Three fire fighters from Bonaire two from Saba and St Eustatius each are undergoing the two week long intensive training. Firefighters attending this training are …

The Chairpersons of the First and Second Chamber, Ankie Broekers-Knol and Anouchka van Miltenburg, will be jointly making an introductory visit to the Caribbean part of The Netherlands from October 19th through October 25th. The purpose of the visit is getting to know the six islands better. It is the …

Human Trafficking is an international problem and is often invisible. What is human trafficking exactly? Human trafficking is (in the broad sense) the forcing of people to work, sexual exploitation or forced donation of  their own organs. What are the signals with this kind of crime? Signals concerning the crime …

The education quality in the Caribbean Netherlands was the main topic of the so-called “Algemeen Overleg” (General Discussion) on October 15th, between the Permanent Committee of Kingdom Affairs and State Secretary Sander Dekker (OCW) in the Second Chamber. The State Secretary was supported for this discussion by the Project Director …

Saba suffered very few effects due to the passage of Tropical Storm Gonzalo, which passed just north of the island in the afternoon on Monday, October 13. With the storm defying initial forecasts, which had it passing approximately less than 50 miles south of the island, there was much less …

Elections were held at Korps Politie Caribisch Nederland (KPCN) for the Participation Council on October 8th . This council will consist of five persons, three of which will be from Bonaire, one from Saba and one from Statia. They represent the interests of the organization and personnel in the performance …

Island Governor, Jonathan Johnson, has decided to close government offices as of 11:00am today due to the imminent passage of Tropical Storm Gonzalo. This is so that civil servants can go home and take the necessary precautions to safeguard their homes and other property. Government services will resume on Wednesday …

The Daily Herald has decided not to publish a paper on Monday because SXM is under Tropical Storm Watch, with Gonzalo (wind now 40mph) expected to strengthen before is passes close by south early Monday. To safeguard our employees who work at night and especially including those who have to …

Tropical Storm Gonzalo… Tropical Storm Gonzalo formed this afternoon @1pm, and has caused the following islands to be placed under a Tropical Storm Warning: Guadeloupe, Desirade, Les Saintes, Marie Galante, St. Barths, St. Maarten/St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, Barbuda, Antigua, Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Montserrat. A Tropical Storm Watch …

In a press release, Koos Sneek, President of the Democratic Party, announced that on Wednesday October 8th the island council of Statia has passed a motion to hold a referendum preferably before the end of this year. The motion was tabled and passed by four against one vote (DP voted …

The Chamber of Commerce together with the St. Eustatius Business Association met with the Secretary General of Kingdom Relations, Mr. Richard van Zwol, and Secretary General of Finance , Mrs. Manon Leijten. The topic of the discussions was the draft multi annual plan for Statia. Since according to the Chamber …

Commissioner of Education, Chris Johnson, earlier this week, presented an update on the continuing developments in the recently established Education Task Force. The ETF was established as there was no longer a board at the Saba Comprehensive School, the island’s only secondary education institution. Two members of the task force …