Saba News News and Information from Saba Island, Dutch Caribbean
The Dutch government insists on continuing the position of Kingdom Representative for the Caribbean Netherlands. The Council of Ministers decided to do so today, based on a proposal from State Secretary Eddie van Marum (Kingdom Relations). In doing so, the Schoof cabinet is ignoring the objections of the Executive Councils and Island Councils of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.
The position of Kingdom Representative is part of the revision of the Public Bodies BES Act (WoIBES), which regulates the administrative relations between the central government and the islands. The last Rutte cabinet—partly on the advice of the Council of State—was willing to honor the island governments’ wish and transfer some of the Kingdom Representative’s duties to the governors.
The new WoIBES was already ready to be submitted to the House of Representatives when the government fell, and the now former State Secretary Zsolt Szabo decided to take another close look at it. He announced that he would not abolish the position of Kingdom Representative, much to the anger of the island governments.
Following the PVV’s departure from the coalition, Van Marum took charge of the matter. He stated today after the Cabinet meeting that he realizes that the island governments are unhappy with the decision to maintain the Kingdom Representative. The draft version of the WoIBES, like the FinBES, will be submitted for online consultation next week.
The new FinBES will allow Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba to obtain loans from banks, but only for the implementation of island-wide tasks, such as social housing, roads, and energy supply. Conditions will be attached to the loans, and supervision will be implemented to limit the risks for the national government.
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