Saba News News and Information from Saba Island, Dutch Caribbean
Commissioner of Finance Bruce Zagers says the structural thirty million euros for the Caribbean Netherlands should pay for new measures that lower electricity bills and fund a broad public service obligation (PSO) for connectivity, rather than becoming the structural way of financing subsidies that already exist.
Zagers made the comments in a video message following talks in the Netherlands last week between representatives of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba and the relevant Dutch ministries on how the money should be used.
Before travelling, Zagers sent a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament calling for political action on Saba’s high cost of living, electricity rates and connectivity. Two motions have since addressed points in his letter: one on the gap between electricity rates in the Caribbean and European Netherlands, and another, which was adopted, calling for the 30 million euros to be used for measures in addition to what already exists.
“I was genuinely happy to see the three islands sitting at one table with the ministries on such an important topic,” he said. He warned that if much of the new money is used to fund existing subsidies, the islands would mainly be maintaining the status quo. “The existing measures are important and should continue; the question is whether this new money should become the structural way of paying for them.”
Zagers compared Saba with Ameland, Vlieland and Winterswijk, saying nobody first asks how much those places contribute compared with Amsterdam or Rotterdam before deciding on government’s responsibility towards them. “They are part of the Netherlands, but so are we.”
On electricity, he noted that the Dutch government has estimated it would cost more than 36 million euros a year to bring Caribbean Netherlands prices in line with those in the European Netherlands. He called the figure extremely high, particularly without a clear breakdown, and said continued investment in renewable energy is welcome but does not lower the bills people pay today.
On connectivity, Zagers said the legal basis for a PSO is now in place, but funding is not. He argued the PSO should support connectivity as a whole rather than only residents, pointing to what he calls “the RCN economy”: the concentration of the National Government Department for the Caribbean Netherlands RCN and much of the Kingdom presence on Bonaire, which generates employment, trawl, accommodation and conference spending that Saba and St. Eustatius do not have. “It is not simply about cheaper airline tickets. It is an investment in the accessibility and economic development of our islands,” he said.
Zagers said he will keep asking one question: what became structurally better and more affordable for Saba’s people because the additional 30 million euros existed?
The Daily Herald.
