The Dutch Ministry of Economic Af­fairs and Climate Policy has asked Pioneer Consulting, an American full-service submarine fibre optic tele­communications consulting and project management company, to deliver its ex­pertise by producing a comprehensive investigation into enhancing the digital connectivity of the Carib­bean Netherlands. The study will focus on subsea cable …

Acting Kingdom Repre­sentative Jan Helmond, in agreement with the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, recently appointed Richard Arends to the position of labour dispute mediator for Bo­naire, St. Eustatius and Saba. As of July 1, Arends will succeed Anselmo Pontilius, who has been in the role since 2014. …

Caretaker State Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen is visiting Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, St. Eustatius and St. Maarten from Sunday to Friday, May 26-31. This is expected to be her last work­ing visit to the islands. The visit is marked by the Gover­nors’ Consultation in Aruba, the …

Dutch Na­tional Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen and Ombuds­man for Children Margrite Kalverboer are once again calling for more direct action from the Dutch government to support the people in the Caribbean Netherlands, many of whom are still liv­ing in poverty. In their an­nual report, Van Zutphen and Kalverboer argue that poverty …

Seven out of nine motions proposed last week were passed by majority vote in the Dutch Second Chamber of Parlia­ment on Tuesday, May 21. The motions requesting that the Dutch govern­ment assess the impact of increasing the minimum wage on small businesses in the Caribbean Netherlands and that the government …

The BES Childcare Law passed the Dutch First Chamber of Par­liament by a large majority. Only four members from the SGP and FvD parties voted against the law proposal. This means that parents re­siding on Bonaire, St. Eusta­tius and Saba (BES) will soon pay much less for childcare. In his …

Improving of the social security for residents of Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius and coming to new agreements on the collaboration to implement reforms with the countries Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten. In 2023, these were some of the most important milestones in the relations between the Netherlands and the …

Raoul White, Groenlinks-PvdA Member of Parliament (MP) with Surinamese roots, would like the Dutch government to monitor whether the steps that have been taken to increase the social minimum on Bo­naire, St. Eustatius and Saba have been sufficient. White submitted this motion during a debate with the Permanent Committee Kingdom …

The impact of the extra 30 million euros that the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Re­lations BZK allocated for the Caribbean Netherlands (CN) cannot be determined. This was concluded by the Netherlands Court of Audit in their report on the Annual Report 2023, published on Wednesday, May 15. In …

Oranje Fonds and Kinderpostzegels are launching the three-year programme Strengthening Families Together, for social initiatives in the Caribbean part of our Kingdom. The programme focuses on initiatives that support fami­lies — children, youth and parents — in vulnerable cir­cumstances. Organisations in Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba …