Letters to the Editor

Since the BES islands were included as special municipalities in the country of the Netherlands on 10-10-10, the policy of the Netherlands excels in measuring with two measures. A poignant example of this is the hassle around a social minimum for the BES islands. The successive government teams postponed setting …

Dear editor, I have been reading about the goat problem being an important issue for Saba, for their effects on nature and on safety. They look cute and don’t harm people directly but still they are described as a nuisance, a cause of problems, a frequent subject for discussion and …

As a result of a growing skepticism over the functioning of Zorgverzekeringskantoor Caribisch Nederland (ZVK), the island council members of Saba travelled to Bonaire to discuss their concerns with officials of the BES healthcare insurer. This came almost at the same time as the publication of the report of the …

Dear Editor, The other day, a beautiful quiet afternoon was unusually disturbed by the sudden loud cry of a goat badly hurt and in severe distress. It was an unusual sound and the sound did not stop. A cry for help, which went on for about ten minutes. The sound …

By Ronald van Raak. It was a typical story that I was told on Saba, the beautiful island in the Caribbean, which has been part of the Netherlands since 2010. After the hurricane Irma, the King came to visit to see the damage. But the Sabans had cleared up so …

Dear Editor, The new stone and soil retaining wall at the swim pond at Cove Bay has apparently reduced the inflow of floating seaweed (I believe that this is mainly sargassum). However, it has also created essentially a dead sea zone within the pond now. The is no marine life, …

The Administrative Agreement signed this week has evoked many and sometimes violent reactions in which words were used as ‘intervention’, ‘under guardianship’ and ‘gentle instruction’. The comparison is steadily drawn with St. Eustatius where one does not hesitate to say that the intervention on Bonaire looks different than on St. …

Dear Editor, I have followed the debate on the social minimum for the Caribbean Netherlands between the members of the Kingdom Relations committee of the Second Chamber and state-sec­retaries Knops (Kingdom Relations) and Van Ark (Social Affairs). I am rather disappointed with the point of view of both state-secre­taries and …

Dear Editor, After the Committee for Kingdom Relations of the Second Chamber visited the Dutch Windward Islands mid-July they fired no less than 46 question at State Secretary Knops. These questions were answered by him on August 28. I would like to comment on two of the answers the State …

Eight years after 10-10-10 it is clear that the present Dutch coalition govern­ment is prepared to finally establish a social minimum. While the responsible state-secretary Van Ark has re­cently announced that the presentation of the study into the social minimum to parliament will be delayed, the chairman of the King­dom Relations …