The Dutch Government has created a group of “working poor” among the civil servants in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. Dutch Government Representative (Rijksvertegenwoordiger) for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba Wilbert Stolte issued this warning in his second progress report, which was sent to the Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber last …

RBC Royal Bank reported on Monday that it does not have any incidents of tampering or skimming at any RBC/RBTT ATMs located in the Dutch Caribbean islands it serves (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba and St. Maarten). The statement from the bank did not indicate what had prompted the declaration. As …

The quality of education in the schools of St. Eustatius is insufficient. The curriculum, class time and the care and guidance in schools must be improved. It has been decided that all schools are now under surveillance to ensure that the problems are properly tackled. This is contained in a …

The Registar, Mrs. Els Boers announce that the majority of the committee has decided the the public meeting scheduled for Tuesday, March 27 at 7:00 PM is cancelled. No reason for the cancellation has been given. No future date for this meeting has been given either. The original agenda and …

AIDS Support Group Saba Foundation in collaboration with Saba University School of Medicine (SUSOM) implemented two days of workshops for the youth of Saba Comprehensive School on March 21 and 22. Since its establishment in 1990, ASGS Foundation has been the agency charged with the development of Saba’s Strategic Plan …

The 10th Lispcomb University’s missionary trip on Saba ended Saturday after 10 days of youth programmes and community service activities. The relationship began with Michael Thomas and Aletha Thomas arriving on Saba as newly-weds. He was a Saba University School of Medicine student and she worked as food preparation teacher at …

Elementary schools could face difficulties as a result of the government’s plans to change the way they are financed, the Association of Dutch Municipalities warns in a letter addressed to parliament. The government wants to make the schools themselves to pay for maintenance of the school’s exterior, the municipalities say. …

The schools in the Dutch Caribbean will receive extra money the coming four years to recruit teachers. It regards a total amount of almost six million dollar (4,5 million euro) up to and including 2015. This was decided by Minister van Bijsterveldt and State Secretary Zijlstra of Education, Culture and …

On Friday afternoon Registrar Els Boers presented her latest book  “Spelregels uit de Gemeentewet” to Lt. Governor Jonathan Johnson. The “Rules of the game from the Municipality law” is written in Dutch. It explains  the Dutch municipality law. However as the Wolbes law has a lot in common with this …

The local Saban girls have been working on a great new mural at the Cove Bay. Photo James Wischusen

For the first time liaisons from St. Kitts and Anguilla joined the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard during patrols in regional waters. The liaisons joined the Coast Guard boarding team and members of the St Maarten Customs Department. This form of international cooperation facilitates a more efficient approach towards international shipping …

Dutch State Secretary of Finance Frans Weekers has promised Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba that he will check if it is possible to adapt the fiscal system for 2013, if there is room in the budget to do so. Weekers stated this in a letter that he sent to the …

Governor of Aruba, Fredis Jose Refunjol, escorted by the director of his cabinet and his personal security, ended an official visit to Saba Friday morning following similar stops on St. Eustatius and St. Maarten. His trip to the Windward Islands is meant to foster closer ties, but also to nurture …

Three low-income houses are being built in The Range, an area overlooking The Bottom. The new houses will add six dwellings, consisting of three-bedroom apartments upstairs and one-bedroom apartments downstairs, with separate cisterns. The land owned by Own Your Own Home Foundation (OYOHF) for some time, already has two other …

The Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS) has requested that commercial banks not increase their personal loan portfolios for a period of six months. The deficit in the monetary union’s balance of payments grew to NAf. 490.2 million in the third quarter of 2011. “A disturbing development,” said …