A vast majority of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament expressed support for the law proposal for a direct intervention in the St. Eustatius Government, sending home the Island and Executive Councils as a result of what has been termed as “gross negligence.”. The Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for …

Last week Island governor, Jonathan Johnson, visited the European part of The Netherlands. During his visit, he had an introductory meeting with the new Minister of Justice and Safety, Mr. Grapperhaus, to discuss issues such as enforcement, drugs, and domestic violence. The governor also met with State Secretary, Mr. Knops, …

Update: The Refunjol-Janssen report (in Dutch) is available for download at the bottom of this post (845 KB). ———————- Today, State Secretary Knops (Kingdom Relations) has submitted a bill to the House of Representatives to be able to intervene administratively on St. Eustatius. The bill stipulates that the island council …

Teranov, the French geothermal developer based in Guadeloupe, has been recently granted a geothermal exploratory license by the Executive Council of Saba (Caribbean Netherlands). This exclusive permit authorises its holder to explore geothermal resource over the next three years on the island in order to qualify geothermal resource for further …

The PO-Raad, the Dutch sector organization for primary education, who represents the joint interests of school boards in both the European and Caribbean part of The Netherlands, has partnered with Training Professionals International Firm (TPI). The aim of this partnership is to provide coaching for school principals and vice principals …

Police notifications of  Monday, January 29th until Thursday, February 1st 2018 On Monday, January 29th , a man with initials K.G. was detained at a home at Under the Hill on Saba, regarding  abuse and insult. KPCN

Since September, the Public Entity has called attention from the national government for the economic impact of the hurricanes and asked for different measures to alleviate the impact.  As a result, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has set up an economic relief fund for the tourism sector. The fund is …

Update January 31st State secretary Raymond Knops announced that there will be no financial support from the Dutch Government for the independent press on St. Maarten. The press should remain independent, so he does want to end up in a situation where the sponsors newspapers. He indicated that funds from …

As a result of the devastating hurricane Irma tourism on the Dutch islands of Saba and St. Eustatius has been hit hard since September last year. In order to support this sector in this part of the country, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (EZK) in coordination with the …

A new fund for payment of damages to victims of violent crimes in Bonaire, St. Eusta­tius and Saba will be intro­duced in May, Chief Pros­ecutor Henry Hambeukers said. The Violent Offences Com­pensation Fund, or Schade­fonds Geweldsmisdrijven in Dutch, is a “pot” of money made available by the Dutch Government from …

New Prosecutor for the Caribbean Netherlands, Martine Boheur, was recently introduced to the Island Governors of Saba and Statia, as well as to the Police and others on the islands, said Chief Prosecutor Henry Ham­beukers. He said he was glad that Boheur had joined their office, as she brings experience …

Tent Reef has been nominated as one of the 10 Best dive sites in the Caribbean by USA Today. Just west of Saba’s Fort Bay harbor lies Tent Reef, a rock ledge 13 feet below the surface that gets progressively deeper until it turns into a sheer wall. By day …

For Com­mander Andre van der Kamp and his men and women on the ocean-going patrol ves­sel HNLMS Zeeland of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the 36-day operation providing emergency assistance in the three Windward Islands and Dominica after Hurricanes Irma and Maria was both a unique and impressive expe­rience. Van der …

From now on, most crimi­nal court sessions on Saba and St. Eustatius will be handled by a Prosecutor from St. Maarten instead of by a colleague from the Prosecutor’s office for Bo­naire, St. Eustatius and Saba. Chief Prosecutor Henry Hambeukers gave details on the changes in which the Prosecutor’s Office …

Last week a team from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, Rijkswaterstaat and Netherlands Airport Consultants (NACO) visited Saba to make preparations for the renovation of the airport runway. In a well-attended town hall meeting on Thursday, January 18th, the public was informed about the plans. The overall response …