The King and Queen are planning a short introductory visit to Colombia on November 22 and to Venezuela on November 23, following their nine-day tour of all six Dutch Caribbean islands, which starts in St. Maarten on November 12. The Daily herald reports that the Prime Ministers of Aruba, Curaçao …

The experience gained in drafting budgets over the previous years has made the process of drafting the 2014 budget an efficient one, in the view of Commissioner of Finance Bruce Zagers. The 2014 budget is US $10,144,000, some US $869,000 more than the current budget. The draft budget, which has …

The Daily Herald writes that island’s light pollution-free night sky may become a niche tourism asset attracting astronomers and people passionate about the wonders of the night dome. Sea and Learn Saba lecturer, astronomer Stephan Martin, ignited interest in the nocturnal skies with his presentation on the link between astronomy …

The island recently received a modern sweeper truck that will be used to make the island’s cleaning efforts more efficient, writes The Daily Herald. The primary purpose of the vehicle, which was purchased as part of the Airport Improvement Plan, is to sweep the surface of the runway at Juancho …

Sea and Learn Saba guest lecturer James “Jim” Ackerman gave an expert presentation on the orchids of Saba and the limited impact of invasive species Sunday, at Brigadoon restaurant in Windwardside, writes The Daily Herald. The orchid research appears to have prompted an Island Government pledge to address the perennial …

The Daily Herald writes that Roman Catholic priest Father Danilo “Dan” Pastor announced the upcoming visit to Saba of Bishop Luis Antonio Secco, accompanied by all clergymen of the Diocese of Willemstad, on Wednesday. The parish priests of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and Saba are gathering this …

Foundation Social Workplace Saba (FSWS) hosts an intern of Wageningen University agriculture researching the potential to develop mushroom farming on Saba, writes The Daily Herald. Agriculture student Giuseppe “Peppe” Alessandrello is finishing his master’s studies at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, holding a bachelor’s degree in plant sciences from University …

Just 2,200 girls under the age of 20 gave birth to a baby last year in the Netherlands, the lowest level ever, according to new figures from the national statistics office CBS.This means less than 1.5% of live births in the Netherlands are to a teenage mother. In 1970, the …

The majority of the bottled water brands sold on St. Maarten are “non-compliant,” Inspector General Dr. Earl Best said last night. This was reported by The Daily Herald. Samples of different brands of bottled water were collected on March 25, August 7 and September 30, and analysed to determine the …

The Daily Herald writes that Pension Fund Caribbean Netherlands PCN representatives Ingra Bennett and Monique Sambo visited Saba on Saturday to meet with Head of the Personnel Affairs Department Marva Donker and pensioners. Bennett will be visiting Saba in the last week of every month, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, to …

Dutch News reports that on Friday evening, the three opposition parties have agreed to support the cabinet’s austerity drive, giving the coalition an essential but narrow majority of just one in the upper house of parliament. The D66 Liberal democrats and minor Christian parties ChristenUnie and SGP finalised their deal …

The Daily Herald writes that following a EUROTAST symposium hosted by St. Maarten Archaeological Centre Simarc Foundation in February, a larger EUROTAST conference was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in September. EUROTAST is a European Union-sponsored Marie Curie programme for the investigation of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. St. Maarten/Simarc and Leiden …

The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF office in the Netherlands sent a letter to various Dutch ministries on Thursday to remind them of the urgent need to improve children’s rights in the Dutch Caribbean. In the letter, Karin Kloosterboer and Marc Mark Wijne of UNICEF Nederland urged the Ministries of …

The Daily Herald presents RS Accounting and Consulting that will provide a St. Maarten-based notary and lawyer for legal services on Saba. Since about one year legal services were scarcely available to Saba residents, with attorneys often meeting their clients in person only during court-day sessions. Businesses and individuals had …

Akilah Levenstone received the formal endorsement and appointment as Island Registrar of the Public Entity Saba. Chairman of the Central Committee and fraction leader of the governing Windward Islands People’s Movement (WIPM) Rolando Wilson said the Presidium of the Public Entity Saba, comprising Island Governor Jonathan Johnson, opposition leader Ishmael …