BES islands keep striving for
December 15 target date
MAHO--The BES islands (Bonaire, Saba ad St. Eustatius) will continue to strive to attain a new constitutional status by December 15, 2008. The islands had a meeting on civil servants level with representatives of the Netherlands in the Bonaire Room of Sonesta Maho Reef Resort on Thursday.
The meeting will be finalised today, Friday. However, Saba’s Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Chris Johnson told The Daily Herald no major decision would be taken, although constructive and positive discussion were being held on how to further pave the road for the BES islands to attain their desired new status by December 15, 2008.
He stressed that the islands would continue to work seriously to meet the target date. “It seems that we will get a lot done this year. The Central Government may doubt us, because they will be the ones out of work, but the general consensus is to try to achieve the new status by December 15.”
Without giving any details, Johnson said the discussions on the BES funds, the WolBES, the legal framework for the islands once they become part of the Netherlands, the general legislation to introduce the BES islands’ new status, the so-called IBES, and the voting law had been satisfactory.
The voting law, for example, needed amending to make it possible for the islands to participate in Dutch elections. Whether the islands will have representation in the Dutch Parliament as well will have to be discussed on the political level, Johnson said.
The discussion will continue today on the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles and the agenda for a week of meetings in The Hague scheduled to take place by the end of January. “We need to agree on the agenda for the meetings in the Netherlands,” Johnson said.
The decision of Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld-Shouten to suspend the temporary provision for supervision of the budget and financial management if the BES islands by six months was not discussed yesterday. “Possibly we will table the matter tomorrow (Friday),” Johnson said.
Island Council Member and Parliamentarian for Bonaire’s UPB party Ramonsito Booi said the suspension had to do with legal aspects. “Dutch laws on accountability are pretty strict. Some of our old debts were never audited. This gives a legal problem. That’s why the suspension: so we can work out a solution,” said Booi.
