Has the referendum taken place? I heard that Curacao wants to dismantle the Nederlandse Antillen and be like Aruba with status aparte. Thus, would Bonaire become closer to the Netherlands? Has there been any word on when the Ned. Ant. will fold? Danki.

Yes it has, the Dutch news says that 68% of the people who voted, voted for a status aparte. I am not sure what this means for Bonaire though...?

St.Maarten voted last year also for the status aparte ... and Saba voted like Bonaire for direct link to the Netherlands ....and St.Eustatius voted for staying in the Netherlands Antilles .... looks like they will be alone in it ....
The next meeting of all the islands is planned for the end of April . There was a meeting in January which Curacao boycotted, so none of the work groups to prepare the meeting whith Holland in June ever started working.
The government of Bonaire hired Prof. Boersma to coordinate the needed proces of changes, as Bonaire does not want to wait till the other islands finally start working.

It sounds like Bonaire really wants to get out of the N.A, but I don't blame them. Curacao has made life difficult for Bonaire for decades. It will be good to see Bonaire "liberated" from Willemstad-control. Maybe this will encourage better air connections since Curacao always wanted all service to go through Hato.

Brigitte -

Thank you for keeping us up to date. I hope you will take the initiative to continue doing so, especially regarding the meeting of the islands at the end of April.

Of all the postings on BT, including the ones concerning crime, none could be more important that this issue of Bonaire's political status. It will be the key, one way or another, to the future citizens and guests experience.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

another article in the St.Maarten Daily Herald

http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h281/edit281.html

Brigitte -

You are keeping us up to date and it is appreciated. I must say the title of the article is perfect.

Masha danki.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

Brigitte, Thanks for all the information. Glad you are on hand to relay it to those of us who can not be there to see this new directions for Bonaire and the other islands.
Andy

and again another Daily Herald article

http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h283/dialog283.html

There are always more in the local papers, but those are in Papiamento and I don't think really useful for the readers of BT

Thanks for helping us stay in the loop Brigitte.

and another article - one about the summit of the 5 islands starting tomorrow - and it looks like nothing will be archived - on the end there is a comment about bi-lateral discussions of each island with Holland.The Bonaire government has already a work group in place (with a Dutch Professor as head of this group) to figure out what Bonaire needs, has to do etc ... and the Bonaire island council voted last week for start of bi-lateral meetings of there is nothing coming from the summit as Bonaire does not want to wait till the others start working
http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h285/summit285.html

I'm confused. What is Curacao's position? I've got to believe that the break up of the Netherlands Antilles would lessen Curacao's importance, and consequently, their revenue from Holland.

As written above, Curacao voted in their referendum vor a status aparte - as did St.Maarten. They want something similair to the status Aruba has, means staying in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (thus keeping their Dutch passports) but being not controlled by Holland, which means also they have to ask for (financial)help which can be or not be given. Saba and Bonaire voted for a direct link to The Netherlands means the (financial) responsability is in Holland and the island politicians are accountable to Holland. The details of all that has to be worked out. The idea was to have island summits and work together and than have a conference with Holland, but as it looks now, Curacao one more time plays difficult and certainly Bonaire has no intention to wait.

Brigitte -

Your consistent postings are most appreciated.

But I must confess I am losing track. Regarding your post today (26 April), how binding are the votes? In other words, is Bonaire in reality any farther along in a new status of direct link to The Netherlands?

Danke.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

By the UN rules, which are signed by The Netherlands, Holland has to follow the wishes of the peoples of the different islands expressed in their referendums. There is certainly a chance that Bonaire and Saba could be out of the Antilles before Curacao even has put on paper what they really want.... Bonaire theoretically could be part of Holland even before all new rules are put on paper.... and they certainly work hard to archive that goal before the end of the year ... if it really goes that fast, we all have to wait and see ....

TKS, Brigitte.

Brigitte -

This is getting exciting!

Thanks so much for keeping us informed. We'll be most interested in future developments.

Charles Poteet
Dallas

Hey, Brigitte, that _is_ exciting!

after the 1st day of the islands summit - somewhere in the middle of this article is said that Bonaire, Saba + St.Eustatius want a meeting with Holland not later than June this year

http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h287/accord287.html

The 2 days islands summit ended yesterday

http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h288/islands288.html
http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h288/summit288.html

The editorial of the Daily Herald
http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h288/edit288.html

in Dutch from the Amigoe... details of the work groups (finance, education, health etc) on Bonaire, they started working and hope to come with advise for the islands council till the end of September this year
http://www.amigoe.com/artman/publish/article_12519.shtml

How exciting.

Brigitte, I can't wait to pick your brain for details and for your opinion.

56 hours....

.......and another article

http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h290/vance290.html

.......and another article

http://www.thedailyherald.com/news/daily/h290/vance290.html


An interesting article. I can't see Bonaire forming an alliance with Saba and Statia. The ABC islands have always seemed separated geographically if not culturally from the other three islands.

The alliance as said in the article is for the meetings and discussions with Holland as all 3 small islands would/could become kingdom islands and as said in the referendum, each with its own direct link to Holland