The Caribbean Nether­lands (CN) tax office has devised a new system to prevent taxpayers who re­fuse to meet their fiscal payment obligations from using their vehicles. This new instrument, which is called a barnacle, will be­come an alternative to the wheel clamp. It consists of a shield which will be attached …

Hope on the islands to have a social minimum set for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba in the short term to help alle­viate poverty was squashed during a plenary debate in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament on Wednesday. The current coalition par­ties Christian Democratic Party CDA, the Democratic …

For the time being, no minimum social minimum is set for the Caribbean Netherlands. CDA, D66 and ChristenUnie went through the knees for coalition partner VVD who feels nothing for pulling a poverty line on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba where almost half of the population has insufficient income to …

On September 20th, 2018 the Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality mrs. Carola Schouten and the Government Commissioner of St. Eustatius, mr. Mike Franco signed the declaration that St. Eustatius joins the Yarari marine mammal and shark sanctuary. The waters of Sint Eustatius are now part of the eleventh …

TROPICAL CYCLONE BULLETIN NO. 1 INFORMATION MESSAGE NO. 1 Date: Wednesday September 26, 2018 Time: 05:25 local time Key Messages / Watches and warnings: – NHC has re-initiated advisories on Tropical Storm Kirk. – Tropical Storm Kirk is moving west and is expected to pass about 280 km (170 miles) …

Additional funds for health care and the transfer of the respon­sibility for the after-school activities of Child Focus to the public entity Saba were two of the pledges that Dutch State Secretary of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sports Paul Blokhuis made during his visit to Saba late June. In a …

How much money does a person on Bonaire, Saba, and Statia need to survive? The opposition parties SP, and Groenlinks want to force the Government of the Netherlands to determine the social minimum. The Government of the Netherlands refuses to say what the amount is while both the Senate, and …

On September 20th, 2018, the commissioners of Education, the deputy Kingdom commissioner, school boards, representatives representation of the staff and the Trade Union on Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius signed the new terms of employment agreement for 2018 – 2020. The deal includes: There will be a salary increase of …

The Public Entity Saba reminded the public that it is forbidden to fly drones on Saba due to the risks for flight operations and construction work The island government was informed last week about drones flying above and around the construction site at Juancho Yrausquin Airport. which is currently under …

From the end of September until the end of November of this year, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) will conduct the Labour force survey (LFS) on Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba. Interviewers of CBS will go to the randomly selected households to administer the questionnaire. The Labour force survey is a sample …

“Construction for a new parking lot for the Primary and Secondary Schools commenced early this week,” announced Commissioner of Infrastructure Bruce Zagers. This new parking lot will hold approximately 25 cars and is scheduled to be completed before school starts in January. Traffic congestion and a shortage of parking has …

In 2016, the volume of gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 2.2 percent on Bonaire; on St Eustatius and Saba, it fell by 1.0 and 0.5 percent, respectively. The total GDP volume in the Caribbean Netherlands increased by 1.4 percent. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on newly released figures. …

The Dutch gov­ernment confirmed on Tuesday its intentions to give content to the paragraph in the governing accord which says the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Re­lations BZK will get a bigger role in the area of Kingdom relations, in particular with the Caribbean Netherlands. State Secretary of Home …

The major dam­age to the Windward Islands caused by last year’s hurricanes was mentioned in the Speech from the Throne read by King Willem Alexander on Tuesday, but the attention was limited to two lines. “The reconstruction of St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba has a high priority after the …

Member of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament Ronald van Raak of the Socialist Party (SP) wore a pin with Saba’s flag during Budget Day in The Hague on Tuesday. Van Raak’s main reason for wearing the pin was to seek attention for the need to establish a social …