Dutch State Secretary for King­dom Relations and Digi­tisation Alexandra van Huffelen will be in St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba for Emancipation Day on July 1.

The presence of the vari­ous members of the Dutch government at the official Emancipation Day cer­emonies on the various Dutch Caribbean islands at the start of the Slavery Past Commemoration Year was announced on Tuesday.

State Secretary Van Huffelen will visit St. Maarten in the morning on July 1, Saba in the af­ternoon that day and St. Eustatius in the evening hours. Minister of Public Health, Well-being and Sport Erns Kuipers will be in Curacao, Minister for Housing and Spatial Plan­ning Hugo de Jonge in Bo­naire and State Secretary of Justice and Safety Eric van den Burg in Aruba.

Almost all ministers and state secretaries will at­tend the Emancipation Day commemorations that are taking place through­out the Kingdom and in Suriname. Minister of For­eign Affairs Wopke Hoek­stra will be in Suriname that day.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Minister of Educa­tion, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf, Minis­ter of Finance Sigrid Kaag, Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Hanke Bruins Slot and Minister for Legal Pro­tection Franc Weerwind will all attend the national commemoration in Am­sterdam.

As was already an­nounced, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima will be at the na­tional commemoration which will take place at the Amsterdam’s Ooster­park, where the slavery past statue is located. The King will speak at that cer­emony and it is anticipated that he will apologise for the slavery past.

Prime Minister Rutte apologised for the role of the Dutch State in the slavery past on December 19 last year. On that day, various ministers and state secretaries were on the is­lands for the live broadcast of Rutte’s speech and to talk with the people about the slavery past.

The Daily Herald.