Statia News No. 14

INDEPENDENT NEWSLETTER

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 14

STATIA NEWS

EDITORIAL

In the Hague, Second Chamber debates about three small Caribbean islands will start, what you read in the newspapers about these three islands is distur‐bing. On Bonaire: money laundring and international drugcrimes, on Saba, secession from the Dutch Antil‐les. On Statia? Not much. Meanwhile, decisions are being made about the future of Statia. One important factor that can shape our future is transportation. When you live on Statia, you feel a great need to get off the island from time to time. Unfortunately, boat trips are not regularly scheduled and airline tickets are very expensive. NAF 300 something like that. Making transportion cheaper and easier is a must. Everybody has to go off island every couple of months. Especially if you are in your 20’s, 30’s’, 40’s and 50’s. If you stay on Statia too long, the “eilandkolder” will get to you. A lot of old people have this solution: they spend months and months with relatives on other islands.

One of the main reasons to join some organization or board, or even to go into politics, is the possibility to get off island for free a lot. When you don’t have a lot of money, the only way to get off island is when you go to the hospital in St. Maarten. SVB pays. Imagine Schiermonnikoog, with 3000 people on it and the only way to get off Schiermonnikoog to Groningen for shopping, would be to buy a 120 euro airline ticket. To go to one of the other Wadden islands, or anywhe‐re else, you would have to fly via Groningen again. Do you think all would go well on Schiermonnikoog? In the Caribbean, a trip to another island must be in everybody’s reach, by boat or by plane. Imagine what liveliness would come to us if trans‐portation was cheaper! Enjoy Statianews, Annemieke Kusters

Sept. 15, report on the progress of the transition, page 2 The new year for the Antillean Parli-ament, page 3 Naturalization Ce-remony, page 3 Press conference with exco, page 4 Some more infor-mation regarding back taxes, page 4 Meanwhile in Hol-land, reactions to the new laws, page 5, 6 New Classrooms for the Methodist School, page 7 Discussion, by X. Balentina, page 8 Domino competiti-on, page 9 Vacancies, page 10

FDR Roosevelt Airport, St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean, Sunday Sept. 13, 2009, 6.30 pm

SEPTEMBER 15, REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF THE TRANSITION

PAGE 2 LOCAL NEWS STATIA NEWS

about youth and family and the connection with the ministries of health and of education and social care. The execution of these tasks is already in Dutch hands, although the Antillean Government is still responsible. Hans Bor, who is the kwartiermaker for “sociale zaken en werkgelegenheid”(social affairs and em‐ployment), will be there, and so will Pieter Lange‐baerd, who is the kwartiermaker for “Verkeer en Waterstaat”. He can answer questions about the harbor and the airport. Nico Oudendijk will be there too, he was on Statia before and will be very willing to answer questions about the future of sports on Statia. Although LVV (agriculture) is not in represented in the three clusters, Statia’s VROM kwartiermaker will give a presentation about agriculture and the kwartiermaker Ton Akkerman, who started working on Bonaire the first of September will be here too. Our “own” kwartiermakers Hemmie van Xanten for education and Wim Hofman for VROM will be there too and so will the kwartiermaker for taxes Hans Visser. It is not clear if Maarten Stoffels, kwartiermaker for privatizing of Healthcare will be present.

September 15, Lions’ Den, from 5.30 pm until 7.30 pm: “Report on the progress” Henk Kamp, commissioner for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, will report on the progress He will bring some kwartiermakers from Bonaire, who are responsible for Statia en Saba too. Every Statian gas the possibility to consult them privately. Sander Dijkstra (RSC Statia) explained to me that there will be three “clusters”: Environment, Nature and Infrastructure will give a presentation, then the police, fire brigade and the prison (dienst justitiele inrichtingen) will give a pres‐entation. Taxes, economic affairs and pensions will also be part of this same presentation. And finally Education, Social Affairs, Youth and Family and health will give theirs. These presentations will take 10 minutes each. After these presentations, the public will have the possibility to ask one ‐ on– one questions to the vari‐ous representatives. After the explanation I got from the RSC, I concluded that there is no time to publicly ask questions. Unfortunately, this means that the press coverage of this event will be minimal. The people attending will be: Henk Kamp, commis‐saris of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, Ed van Haveren, the secretary of Henk Kamp, Martijn de Keizer, who will start working as a “beleidsmedewerker” will be present, he will start working from half september, so his job will start with this islands visit. Elza Woudstra will be there too, she will live on Statia and she will be the “beleidsmedewerker for St. Eustatius and Saba. The projectleader of the “Dienst Justitiele Inrichtin‐gen”, Leo van der Meulen, can give answers to ques‐tions about where the bigger prison will be, in St. Maarten or in Bonaire and how many prison cells we will get on our islands and where they will be located and when they will be built. The kwartiermaker Marga Drewes, who was intro‐duced in Statianews issue 12, can answer questions

Sept 14, 2009

People got notes with “Zo waarlijk helpe mij God Almachtig” and “Dat zweer en beloof ik”. Most of them chose the difficult one. You have to have a hot potato in your throat to pronounce “God Al‐machtig”.

THE NEW YEAR FOR THE ANTILLEAN PARLIAMENT


Performing Central Tests for the schools. The other important thing is that they will see to it that all civil servants are “transferred” to the new entities and that the obligations towards these peo‐ple are met before the end of this year. Concerning Air Traffic: A long time before the transition, all the islands have to agree upon operational tasks, responsibili‐ties and international aspects on Air Traffic, this cooperation between the three ministers has been successful so far. Pedro Atacho opened the new year for the Antillean Parliament. This is new. Before this year, the Gover‐nor, head of the council of Ministers, used to do that. Since the second of July, Parliament is inde‐pendent of the Council of Ministers.

Since the Dutch Antilles are in the process of break‐ing up, the Governments’ tasks will be downsized. The Antillean Government still thinks October the 10th, 2010 will be the transition date. The Antillean Government will still be involved in some policies that have already started. For education this means: Continuing the work of the compulsory education officers (leerplichtambtenaren). Proposing measures for help and guidance to chil‐dren and youngsters and their parents and families. Continuing SVP. (Sociale Vormingsplicht)

Sept 14, 2009

NATURALIZATION CEREMONY Wednesday Sept. 9th, Government Guesthouse, St. Eustatius People from all parts of the world are waiting to become Dutch citizens. Most of them have been living on Statia for more than 15 years and are not planning to leave. Lt. Governor Mr. Hyden Gittens explained their rights and obligations and when Dr. Odongo from Uganda had his turn to say: “Zo waar‐lijk helpe mij God Almachtig” everybody cheered.

THE FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE GIS ORGANIZED WITH B.C.


important information was given regarding the back taxes. The taxes will be collected from 2004. Local govern‐ment will use the money to pay off the debt of 2 million NAF to Eutel and the debt of appr. 1,5 mil‐lion NAF to the Apna pensionfund. In the past years, not all civil servants saved for their pension. The laborers, like cleaners and the laborers from DROB (gemeentewerken) still need money for their pen‐sions.

Government Information Service organized a press conference with the Executive Council. Unfortunately Mr. Julian Woodley was off island, so the press had the opportunity to ask questions of Mr. Roy Hooker and Mr. Hyden Gittens. Besides some other topics, like the harbor (plans are still in the make), the water distribution system (in November the hospital and auxiliary home will be connected to the water distribution network) and public safety (bike patrols will soon start), the most

Sept 14, 2009

SOME MORE INFORMATION REGARDING BACK TAXES

Some more information regarding these taxes: local government has made an agreement with the Cen‐tral (that is Antillean) government. The central taxes that still have to be levied, will not go to the Central government, but to the local government. When the Netherlands decided to pay off the Antil‐lean debts, they did not pay of ALL debts. For Statia, this means that the money our local government has to pay Eutel and Apna and some other institutions has to come from somewhere else. Besides the “teruggaaf” (taxes government has to pay back to the people) they will use this taxmoney for these debts that weren’t paid off by Holland. In the last edition of Statianews, we reported about the difficulties people from Statia have had in the past with paying their taxes. (no Chamber of Com‐merce, no tax office on the island, bad service from St. Maarten, no summons being sent, and also diffi‐culties with their own administration). In the GIS press conference, Mr. Hooker agreed that Statia should have it’s own Chamber of Commerce and he also blamed the central government for the failing tax regime. The new tax office on Statia is starting to send out the estimates for the central taxes that have to be paid by the citizens.

Steba, the St. Eustatius Business Association, sent a letter to our Executive Council and to the Antillean minister of finance, Mrs. De Lannooy. In this letter they propose to levy taxes from 2007. Steba is of the opinion that collecting taxes from 2004 will have a great impact on the small busines‐ses on Statia. The letter is published on www.statianews.com

FIRST REACTIONS TO THE NEW LAWS

PAGE 5 MEANWHILE IN HOLLAND STATIA NEWS

says that since the taxlaws and the consensus laws with regards to the Statuut are not proposed to the Second Chamber, it is difficult to come to conclu‐sions about the entire operation. The VVD agrees with the choice to make Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba public entities and they ac‐knowledge the consequence that the Dutch consti‐tution will be applied to these islands. They also

agree that after 5 years an evaluation will take place and that a definite choice will be made. They do wonder if other forms of government are consid‐ered. They agree with the Dutch “Raad van State” who advised that there must be a change in the Dutch constitution in this governing period. The VVD does not understand that government says that due to constitutional reasons, the installment of the is‐lands as public entities is temporary and that at the same time government says that they will not change the constitution before the evaluation. They agree that some rules and regulations must differ from the rules and regulations in the Nether‐lands. They miss a time frame for the replacement of Antillean laws into Dutch laws.

The first “package” of laws for Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba will be discussed in the Second Chamber. This starts with a written report of the different political parties about the matter, the so‐called “eerste schriftelijke vragenronde”. Statianews gives you a summary of what the politi‐cal parties in the Netherlands have to say: CDA “patronising” (Daily Herald, sept.2 and translated from antilliaans dagbald, sept.3)) The CDA (Christen Democratisch Appèl), backs the decision to inte‐grate the three islands as public enti‐ties of Holland, but is wondering if the islands are not being “forced too much” into a Dutch model. “As pub‐lic entities within the Netherlands, the islands have less say over their own affairs than they currently have as island territories within the Neth‐erlands Antilles.” CDA also questions the power of the Rijksvertegen‐woordiger. “Depending on the filling of this position, this power could overshadow the regular island or‐gans like the Island Council, the Commissioners, and the Lt. Gover‐nor. Doesn’t this open the door to ‘Dutch patro‐nising’? Doesn’t the government fear being accused of neo‐colonialism?” The party thinks it is not fair that the “kieswet” is different than the “kieswet” in the Netherlands. They also claims these laws are very difficult to read. Government already prom‐ised to “translate” the laws. VVD “mixed feelings” (translated from Antilliaans Dagblad, sept. 4) The VVD (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie) acknowledges that this operation, to make the three Caribbean islands public entities of the Neth‐erlands is unique and for the law, it’s technically complicated. To the VVD the proposals face the Netherlands with important constitutional questions. The VVD also

Sept 14, 2009

Second Chamber in action

FIRST REACTIONS TO THE NEW LAWS

PAGE 6 MEANWHILE IN HOLLAND STATIA NEWS

For the SP, it’s important to keep in mind that the choice of the islands to become part of the Dutch regime is not made in a situation of strength and conviction, but is especially made because of the unworkable relations of governments of the other islands. Since 1954, a true “nation” did not develop. There never was an awareness of a shared past, a feeling of alliance and a trust in a future with each other. This is the reason why not enough was in‐vested in healthy finances and good governance. The SP is in favor of a new referendum on Bonaire and wonders if Bijleveld has a “plan B” if the people on Bonaire or the other islands do not want to be part of this new establishment. The SP wants to stop the fiscal benefits big multina‐tionals have on Bonaire and St. Eustatius. They want them to contribute because a lot of money is needed for education, health care, safety and social security on the islands. Groen links supports (translated from Antilliaans Dagblad, sept. 8) Groen links supports the process but they want government to inform them about the benefits the people will have from these laws. Groen Links wonders how the “onderstand” will be fit in the law and asks for some clarification about the negotiations concerning “onderstand”. They also want some clarification about the plan‐ning of the replacement of Antillean laws into Dutch laws. PVV (Partij voor de Vrijheid) did not submit a writ‐ten statement yet. Hero Brinkman says he will wait with his comments when the debates start.

PVDA “watchdog” (translated from Antilliaans Dagblad, sept. 4) PvdA (Partij van de Arbeid) agrees with the opera‐tion, but has a lot of questions. One of the things that worry the PvdA will be the reputation of the future Rijksvertegenwoordiger. “Seeing the tasks of this Rijksvertegenwoordiger; the approval of the appointment of civil servants, the approval of islands’ ordinances, the possibility he has to propose to the Minister to cancel deci‐sions made by the executive councils of the islands, he will be seen as the Watchdog of the Kingdom”. “Will the Rijksvertegenwoordiger be able to pro‐mote good governance, if the local politicians are suspicious of him?” PvdA thinks it is justified to have a strict financial regime on the islands, but on the other hand, they point out that in comparison with Dutch municipali‐ties, the local authorities are limited in their free‐dom to make financial policy. The PvdA wonders if this will change in the future. PvdA wants to know how long this regime of super‐vision will last. They have some questions about conflict of inter‐est. Why can there be no family ties within the Ex‐ecutive Council and why is this restriction not made for members of the Island Council? They also have some questions about euthanasia, abortion, same sex marriage and prostitution. Why do these laws differ from the Dutch laws? SP hesitates. (translated from Antilliaans Dagblad, sept. 4) The SP (Socialistische Partij) hesitates to say “Yes” to the first BES laws. The negotiations about the future of Curacao and St. Maarten are not finished and especially in the Sint Maarten case, there are many reservations. Saying “Yes” to the Bes, will mean that it’s harder to say “No” to Curacao and St. Maarten.

Sept 14, 2009

NEW CLASSROOMS FOR THE BETHEL METHODIST SCHOOL


Sept 14, 2009

Monique Brown and her husband Ervin were also there

Rev. Florence Dailey adressed the children of the school: “Keep these new classrooms clean!” (in front seats: Roy Hooker, Gerald Berkel and Aldelka Spanner)

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, O Lord!”

Mr. Ellis Woodley, principal of the school thanked all the businesses, parents and board members and congregations of other Caribbean islands who supported the school with this job.

The children sang “Mercy said no”

Teacher Brenda from Jamaica

Mothers taking pictures

Lena Courtar and her future pupil, in the background Daphney Spanner

Mr. Elvin Timber, staunch member of the church

Mrs. Leonie Brown, longest board member, thanked everybody in five languages: “Thank you, Dank u wel, Danki, Gracias, Merci!”

Floydd Woodley, principal of the public school, showing his support. On his left, Debby Brown, principal of the Catholic School.

Cake waiting to be cut

Florence Daily helping Sister Agatha Simmons up the stairs

Sister Agatha Simmons ready to cut the ribbon. (in the background Sister Alida Francis, normally dressed to kill, now modestly in the background. Probably still busy finishing the classrooms when the ceremony started….)

The ribbon is cut!

Mrs. Louise van Putten

Mrs. Eva Timber and Mrs. Louise van Putten were active members in the church.

Nora Sneek

Roland Lopes

Mercedes Lopes

Mrs. Elsie Thompson supported by Mr. Eardly Woodley

Two big classrooms, a computer room and a teachers’ room have been built.

Luciën Finisie, new teacher, filming his new classroom.

Mr. Hooker congratulates the children.

STATIA, WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE (PART 1)

PAGE 8 DISCUSSION STATIA NEWS

name a few. I can’t help but wonder just how much au‐thority the island government will have to rule on certain local affairs. In other words, will there be any room for a certain degree of self determination within the new status? Boy, where we mistaken After being forced to opt for direct ties with the Nether‐lands no one knew what the implications of the new status would be. I am sure that many politicians and citizens alike thought that Saba, Bonaire and Statia, would have direct consultations with the Dutch. However as it appears, the status of “public entity or special municipal‐ity” has her limitations. Because of this a middle man, the Kingdom representative (rijksvertegenwoordiger) was established. The establishment of this middle man implies “no direct consultation with the Dutch”. Unclear to me is whether or not the Kingdom representative will still exist once Statia becomes a special municipality? But that’s another story. Statia in Transition Now Statia, as I reflect upon my childhood under the almond tree, at the entrance to our lovely fort, the place where I was free to make my own decisions and create my own destiny. I ask myself the question, do we really want to become a special municipality in the Caribbean Sea? Will we allow others to control our destiny? Do we want to be bound by Dutch rules and regulations, which are alien to us? I know that our government has probably failed us in the past. I know that we want better social benefits. I know that we are tired of the nasty politics and preferential treatment given to people who support cer‐tain political parties. But is becoming a special municipal‐ity, or in other words, an integrated state within the Netherlands (even though some may dare not call it that) the way to go? Or do we want a future structure in while our government officials must be held responsible for their actions. A structure in which our representatives should serve Statia and her people in spite of political affiliation? But most importantly, a structure which in time, will prepare us for full blown autonomy? In my opinion, the status of Special Municipality should be tem‐porary. Soon I will tell you why……………

X. Balentina A proud and devoted Statian. The text in italics is by Marianne Williamson (ed.)

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond meas‐ure; We ask ourselves, who am I to be gorgeous, talented, and fabulous; Actually who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us; And as we let our own light shine; We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same The almond tree As a child growing up on Statia, I can recall all the wonder‐ful moments of my childhood. The numerous walks we children of the soil would take, to and from school, while walking along side the colorful July trees. I especially re‐member the moments we as children would spend playing under the almond tree just before the entrance of the fort. Reflecting upon this I now realize the significant of our playful activity. We felt secure; we created and executed our own games. Basically we were for that brief moment in time the creators of our own Destiny. The Netherlands Antilles, once upon a time When the Netherlands Antilles came into existence, she had full autonomy for internal affairs (power to make laws concerning education, health care, taxes), while the King‐dom government was responsible for defense and foreign relations. The island council of each island had the power to make her own socio‐ economic (stimulation of economi‐cal growth, improving quality of life for citizens) and envi‐ronmental plans. New status forced upon us In 2005, a referendum was held in which Statia had a chance to decide her own fate. Six hundred and five people voted to remain part of the Netherlands Antilles, one hun‐dred and sixty‐three people voted for direct constitutional ties with Holland, seventeen people voted for self govern‐ance within the Dutch Kingdom, while five people voted for independence. Even though the majority of Statians voted to remain in the Netherlands Antilles, we were eventually forced to opt for direct ties with the Netherlands. Special Municipality Now I don’t need to tell you that, our beloved Statia will as of 2010 become a “special municipality” of the Nether‐lands. As a consequence of this most Antillean Laws as we know them, will make way for Dutch Laws. In addition to this, tasks once executed by the central government will after the disintegration of the Netherlands Antilles be taken over by the Dutch Government. Such tasks are: tax authorities, licensing authorities and social security just to

Sept 14, 2009

DOMINO COMPETITION STATIA’S ELDORADO STRIKERS - ANGUILLA WARRIORS

PAGE 9 SPORTS STATIA NEWS

Saturday

Sept 14, 2009

On Saturday, the games where played in Local

On Sunday, the finals were played in the Old Ginhouse.

Gerald Lopes, president of Statia’s Eldorado Strikers was proud of Statia’s team, although they did not win, they won last time and they will win next time. He thanked the manager of the Old Ginhouse, Wouter Koenneman (on the right) for sponsoring this event.

< MVP’s (Most Valuable Players) Shandette Carty and Kenneth Bryan, Anguilla Warri‐ors Dominoclub.

< Rosie Lopes recieves Sta‐tia’s trofee. She and Aman‐da Schmidt were thanked for all their hard work pre‐paring food for the players.

Sport Commissioner Roy Hoo‐ker refers to “Dubbelspel” (novel by F.M. Arion) when talking about the importance of domino in Carib‐bean Culture. He hopes the youth will participate in the future. >

Shandette’s domino nails

Statia’s MVP’s Calvin Courtar and Khan Hasib, Eldorado Stri‐kers >

TRENCHTOWN

PAGE 10 MUSIC STATIA NEWS

who came from rural Jamaica to find work settled there as it was a desirable location. Most of the new development consisted of one‐ or two‐story concrete buildings, built around a central courtyard with communal cooking facilities and a standpipe for water. Due to lack of funds no sewage system was planned for Trenchtown. Before the hurricane, the squat‐ter camps had emerged around Kingston’s landfill and had become the home of one of Kingston’s Rastafarian communities. Bob Marley spent much of his youth in a "government yard" (housing project) on First Street. Songs Bob Marley’s songs Trenchtown and Trenchtown rock makes reference to it, and he also mentions it in No Woman, No Cry. Trenchtown is known in popular culture due to numerous other Reggae musicians, including Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. The neighborhood became unstable and dangerous from the early 1970s onwards. Since the 90’s some community projects have started and crime rates have recently de‐clined, the murder rate in west Kingston has dropped sharply since the mid—1990’s.

(source: Wikipedia)

Lion’s Den, Wednesday Sept. 9, Rootsriders, reggae band from Holland, performed tribute to Bob Marley. It was a top of the bill performance. The songs of Bob Marley are mostly about the struggle poor black people in the Caribbean are going through. For the Rastafarian movement, he is seen as a prophet. As a child, he grew up in the countryside and later, the family moved to Kingston. In “A government yard in Trenchtown” as he sings in No Woman no Cry. Trenchtown Trenchtown is a neighborhood located in Kingston, the capital and also the largest city of Jamaica. The area gets its name from its previous designation as Trench Pen, thirty‐three acres of agricultural land once used for livestock by James Trench, an Irish immigrant. The Trench Family aban‐doned the land in the late nineteenth century. During the 1930s, Trenchtown, in West Kingston, was a residential area. Squatters lived in the Dungle (city dump) area near the waterfront. Trench Town was re‐developed when a housing project was built, replacing squatter camps that were destroyed by Hurricane Charlie in 1951. Many

Sept 14, 2009

VACANCY FOR STATIA’S RSC

PAGE 11 VACANCIES STATIA NEWS

Copied form the GIS paper: Information Bulletin It is a monthly publication of the island territory of St. Eustatius., email: [email protected] The Labor Department hereby makes it known that petitions have been submitted by employers to obtain work permits for foreigners in the functions mentioned below. �� Full time Administrative clerk The applicant should be able to work with Quick books, Internet Explorer, Taxation forms, book keeping, write and read Dutch language. �� Part Time Administrative Clerk The applicant should be able to speak English and being able to articulate in Spanish is a plus. To acquire more information about these vacancies you may contact the Labor department by phone 318– 2881 to make an appointment. Email: [email protected]

In the first week of October, vacancies in the sector Youth and Family will be published.

1 - office manager

2 - medewerker front office

The closing date for these vacancies is Sept. 17

More information at the RSC and on www.werkenbijhetrijk.nl

Sept 14, 2009

VACANCY FOR STATIA’S LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The Island Government of St. Eustatius, Personnel Affairs Department acknowledged that there are a number of vacancies within the Government Administration that are presently vacant. These vacancies are: �� Head of Welfare Department �� Head of Sport Department �� Head of Economic Affairs Department For more information regarding the conditions for each vacancy, applicants are advised to contact the Head of the Office of Personnel Affairs. Ms. Florence Marlin. Tel.nr.: 318 2931 E-mail: [email protected]

Statia News No. 14

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