After a year of discussions, the island councils of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba have yet to reach an agreement on a cooperation arrangement. A majority in Bonaire’s island council now supports moving forward with a settlement, even if it excludes Saba, as revealed in documents published on the website of The Mad.

The goal of the proposed cooperation arrangement is to strengthen the islands’ collective position in negotiations with The Hague. However, Bonaire’s initial draft proposal was poorly received by the other islands, which expressed concerns that the plan granted too much dominance to Bonaire, or “Kralendijk.”

The matter will be revisited during the upcoming BES Summit, scheduled to take place on Saba on February 12. To reach consensus, Bonaire has submitted a revised, more conciliatory version of the proposal. Bonaire’s political parties—PDB, UPB, and Vrolijk—support concluding an agreement with St. Eustatius regardless, leaving the door open for Saba to join at a later date if desired.

During recent discussions, Mrs. D. Coffie highlighted that, during a visit to the Netherlands, a second, milder proposal was suggested. This version aimed to facilitate alignment among all three islands and will require further dialogue with St. Eustatius and Saba.

Mr. B. Dirksz expressed support for forming a cooperation arrangement with St. Eustatius, alongside a separate Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Saba, should the latter decide to participate at a later time. His view was echoed by Mr. C. Vrolijk and Mr. D. Crestian, who also emphasized the importance of moving forward with a joint arrangement between Bonaire and St. Eustatius.

Bonaire: Desnoods zonder Saba samenwerkingsregeling