statia news no. 08

INDEPENDENT NEWSLETTER

JUNE 1, 2009 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 8

STATIA NEWS EDITORIAL

Today, Myrtle Suares (behind the yellow iglo cooler) of the Auxilary home, cele‐brated her birthday. She took all the old people along with her to have lunch outside, under the grape tree near the airport. Children and grandchildren of came to visit during their lunchbreak. She had music on: Elvis Presley and other singers from way back in time. Congratulations, Mrs. Suares! Meanwhile, Statia is sunny, the July trees are starting to bloom , the hills are a luscious green and the people on this island still live to respectable old age. If it weren’t for the diabetes!

In this newsletter, you can read a lot about the new Governor. Things are not certain about the appoint‐ment of a new Governor. Maybe a third person will be added to the list of candidates. We will keep you informed. Enjoy the newsletter, Annemieke Kusters

The May 25 Moti-on , page 2 No vegetable oil on Statia’s dump, page 2 The proposed na-mes, page 3 New Tax Laws for the Bes islands. Page 4 Nadya van Putten campaigning on Statia, page 5 Corrie van Duren page 6 Leatherback turtles, page 7 In depth, appointing a Governor, page 8 Kidney failure, page 9, 10 Pineapple, page 10 Tackle Diabetes Now, page 11 Music; Dennis Amajan, page 12 Announcements, page 13

MR. JULIAN WOODLEY ABOUT ‘ ’THE MAY 25 MOTION’’

PAGE 2 LOCAL NEWS STATIA NEWS

only. In his opinion, a list of proposed candidates should have been step two.

The procedure is that a list of candidates goes to the Antillean Council of Ministers and then to the Dutch Council of Ministers. The chairman of that Council of Ministers (Ministerraad) is the Prime Minister, Mr. Jan Peter Balkenende.

Mr. Woodley points out that candidate number one on the list, Mr. Frederick Gibbs. (profile, see page 3) was born in 1951 and according to the Antillean law, that is too old. Maybe a problem can arise, but his candidacy is possible, because in the Antillean law a one year Governorship can be given to a per‐son that exceeds the age limit.

Mr. Woodley said that he was still studying the Wol‐bes, to find out if after the transition, there will be a different policy concerning age.

Our Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Hyden Gittens, will not have a second term. Mr. Clyde van Putten (PLP), who is in the opposition in the Island Council and Mr. Reginald Zaandam, Island Councilmember of the gov‐erning party DP, filed a motion in the councilmeeting Monday , May 25th. In that motion they requested for Mr. Hyden Gittens not to have a second term and they also put forward a list with two proposed names for the next Governor.

With 3 votes against 2, the motion was carried.

Statianews had a short conversation with Mr.Julian Woodley, who supported the motion.

He stated he supported the motion, because he agrees it’s better not to have a second term for Mr. Gittens. If he would have handed in a motion, it would have been a motion about this second term

Mr. Joshua Spanner collects waste vegetable oil from all of the restaurants on Statia. He converts it into biodiesel. The vehicles that use it have 90% less emission then regular petroleum diesel.

June 1, 2009

NO VEGETABLE OIL ON STATIA’S DUMP

PROPOSED NAME FREDERIC GIBBS


Constitutionele Zaken” since 2001, she is member of the “Visserijcommissie” of the Dutch Antilles since 1999 and she is member of the PTA of the Golden Rock Catholic elementary school.

Monique Brown is married, her husband, who was born on Statia and did his educa‐tion in Curacao where they met, works as an an engi‐neer in Statia Terminals. They have two children, born in 2000 and in 2004.

Monique Brown is with the evangelical “Big Stone Fellowship”, where she is a leader at the Sunday school.

Monique Brown‐James was born in 1970 in Leiden in the Netherlands. Mrs. Brown spend her child‐hood in Curacao, got her VWO diploma in 1988 and went to University to study Antillean Law. The judi‐cial faculty of the University of the Netherlands An‐tilles in Curacao had and still has a good reputation, according to Monique Brown. In her days, the stu‐dents had to study Antillean Law and the old and new Dutch Law.

Since 1998, she lives on Statia. At first, she worked as a lawyer at Duncan & Brandons’ law firm.

Since 1999, she works as a “juridisch medewerker” for the island territory of St. Eustatius. Since 2003, she is also acting judge.

In her extracurricular activities, she is in the “Stuurgroep Herstructurering Gezondheidszorg”, since 2003, she is a member of the “Werkgroep

PROPOSED NAME MONIQUE BROWN

Mr. Gibbs (Dhr. Mr. Drs. Frederick Gibbs) was born on Statia in 1951, he went to the Governor the Graaff school for his primary education. And he did his mulo and havo on Curacao. He then went to Holland, to join the Marechaussee. After his initial training, and experience on the field, he did the “onderofficiers opleiding” in 1978—1979 and the “officiers opleiding” in 1979—1981. As an officer, he was member or the staff of the “Districtscommandant Koninklijke Mare‐chaussee” in Maastricht In 1981, He man‐aged 200 man marechaussee personel.

During his career in the Marechausee he studied law at the University of Maas‐tricht.

In 1985, he became Captain: “Kapitein Kon ink l i j ke Marechaussee” as “Veiligheidsofficier” with the “Nato Eenheid Joint Operations Centre (J.O.C.)” in Cannerberg, Maas‐tricht (1985‐1989). In 1989, he was appointed with the Military Judicial Service on the Staff of the first army corps.

In November 1989 he changed his career and went to Aruba to work as a lawyer, which he does up to to‐day. His specialties are “strafrecht, arbeidsrecht, ambtenarenrecht en administratief recht.”

From 2004—2006, he studied public administration at the University of Utrecht.

He has been active as president of the board of “Casa pa Hubentud” on Aruba. In 2003, this shelter for children the age of 12 – 18 who can’t live at home, (“gezinsvervangend tehuis”) was situated in an old monastery and had a strict re‐gime. He is married, his wife grew up in Curacao, her parents both come from Statia. She is an English teacher. They have two sons.

Frederick Gibbs is a member of the Methodist church.

He will be visiting Statia by the end of July.

June 1, 2009

NEW TAX LAWS FOR THE BES ISLANDS

PAGE 4 DISCUSSION STATIA NEWS

over tax and transfer tax. In the BES structure it is the intention that profit tax and turnover tax will disappear. The new list of taxes will then be as fol-lows:

Wage tax; Income tax; Immovable property tax (vastgoed belasting); Revenue tax; General spending tax or ABB (algemene

bestedingsbelasting); Transfer tax.

The line of thoughts behind this proposed new tax structure is:

The system needs to be simpler both for the government collecting the taxes and for the tax payer, resulting in a lower administra-tive burden for both.

For this purpose there will be a shift from indi-rect taxes to direct taxes.

Wage tax needs to be an end tax as much as possible, which means less deductibles and additions to the income.

In principal the total tax revenue should remain the same as in the old system.

Because of the fact that profit tax will disappear, the incentive of granting a tax holiday for qualified in-vestments will also disappear. A tax holiday, as we know it, is in fact a facility granting a 2% profit tax. This will no longer be necessary. What will remain is the so called economic zone as for instance is in effect for Statia Terminals. In general the proposed new tax regime looks like an improvement and could turn out to be beneficial to the inhabitants and businesses on the BES islands. This does not mean that one should have to take a closer look at the proposals. I have studied them and have made an attempt to interpret them as well as to highlight the good and the not so good sides of the laws. In the following editions of Statia News I will give my view on the individual taxes such as income & wage tax, immovable property tax, and the ABB.

By Koos Sneek It seems that representatives of the Dutch government are not in agreement with the fact that the recently prepared third draft tax laws for the BES islands have already been discussed among the population and businesses on the islands before becoming law. As a representative of STEBA I have received the drafts directly from the commissioner of finance with the purpose to discuss them within our membership. In a democratic process one feels that this is the correct way of having a discussion prior to the proposals be-coming law, allowing for input by the stakeholders. In the new constitutional structure of the BES islands taxes will be the responsibility of the Dutch govern-ment. This means that Holland will become responsi-ble for the levying and collection of all taxes. Only the levying and collection of the local taxes will be the responsibility of the island government. Only lo-cal taxes that are mentioned in the Law Financial Re-lations BES may be levied. These taxes are similar to those that can be levied by Dutch municipalities. They include:

Land tax (or property tax); Tourist tax (now room tax); Car rental tax; Road tax; Tax on gambling; Dog tax; Precario tax (this is tax for instance for signage

along public road); Harbor tax.

Most of these taxes already exist, but on Statia for some of them the tariff is zero (like land tax), while others are simply not collected. In the future it is up to the island government whether they charge these taxes or not. The income collected from these taxes can be spent by the island government as they see fit. It is noteworthy to mention that property tax is the main source of income for municipalities in the Neth-erlands while in Statia at present this tax is not levied at all. Taxes that are now officially the responsibility of the Central Government in the new BES structure will become country taxes (“Rijksbelastingen”) and will be levied and collected by the Dutch government. These include wage tax, income tax, profit tax, turn-

June 1, 2009

NADYA VAN PUTTEN CAMPAIGNING ON STATIA


To be elected in that Parliament, you need 18000 votes. European laws apply for the Caribbean too. The flight tax and the banana tax are two examples. The decision making in Europe is not influenced by local governments. And Europe can do a lot for us, that the Netherlands as a county might not be able to do. If Nadya is elected, she will be part of the Euro‐pean Greens. The Green parties in Europe want to work on a sustainable growth of the economy and on developing green energy, like wind energy.

Thurday and Friday May 28th and 29th, Nadya van Putten, Groen Links candidate for the European Par‐liament, was on Statia. She spoke on Talkin’ Blues Thursday night and after that, she went to Super‐burger. Here, the topic of conversation was Antil‐lean politics. It was nice to see how many people on Statia know her, and knew her father and mother. Her father helped the students on Aruba that came from Statia with housing etc. And a lot of Statia’s children stud‐ied in Aruba, when Statia did not have the Mulo. Friday morning she was on the radio and after that, she went to the Gwendoline van Puttenschool. She talked with the Havo 4 class. She explained about the European Parliament and what effect it has on the Dutch Caribbean.

June 1, 2009

Nadya van Putten talks to 4 havo students at the Gwendoline van Puttenschool.

CORRIE VAN DUREN


services were rendered 24 hours, 7 days a week. Corrie and her husband developed a plan for a petting zoo, a shelter and a boarding kennel, where people could bring their pet when they went off island.

The plan was that young people could perform “stage” (aka job training) for the secondary school, or as part of the social compulsory education. They would be guided by a paid veteri‐narian assistant and a social worker. The young boys and girls could get experience in different fields and the contact with the animals would have a positive influence on their development. With this plan, there would al‐ways be professional and paid veterinary help for the animals and Corrie would have assisted with that.

Unfortunately, the Government did not live up to its promise to financially support the Animal Welfare Foundation neither did the board members support the plan. After many years of hard work, Jan left the board two years ago. Corrie left the board last year. This was one of the most painful mo‐ments in her life, because her heart was and still is with the animals. Since she no longer has access to the medica‐tion and the building, Corrie cannot help sick animals anymore at her Whitewall house or in the building of the Animal Welfare Foundation. She still hopes that someone will see the bene‐fits of their plan and provide a sustainable pro‐gram.

Many people on Statia know Corrie van Duren as the person you bring your pet to when it is sick or injured. Currently, no veterinarian lives on the island. Often Corrie is known as “the vet.” She is not a trained vet. Instead, she is Regis‐tered Nurse who happens to be a compassion‐ate animal lover Corrie arrived on Statia in 2000. For several months she observed a unique pat‐tern. Many puppies and kittens were born against the wish of their owners. Kitten and puppy owners did not know how to go about birth prevention. Corrie and her husband, Jan, set up the St. Eusta‐tius Animal Welfare Foun‐dation. The goal: to bring more awareness about caring for dogs and cats. Their efforts resulted in a building constructed be‐hind the Agriculture Building in Concordia. In‐side is an operating room, office space, shelter space, a porch which could serve as a waiting room for pet owners or as an educational space. Corrie and Jan organized “spay and neuter clin‐ics” with volunteer veterinarians from abroad , who brought a lot of medication for the clinics with them. During the 8 years they were active, much less unwanted pets were born. Jan was busy recruiting overseas volunteer vets. Corrie dedicated much time and effort into caring for the animals. She saved many animals from death and brought them in to be sterilized. Of‐ten times the work was tedious, difficult and emotionally strenuous because of severe inju‐ries, illness or poisoning of the animals. Owners and school children were educated on how to take better care of their cats and puppies. Free

June 1, 2009

LEATHERBACK TURTLES AT ZEELANDIA

PAGE 7 NATURE STATIA NEWS

May 19th: five baby leatherback turtles were given their freedom. They came from a nest of 64. Five of the 64 eggs were left in the nest. Stenapa, Statia’s National Park, took them to hatch out and they all did. A Leatherback turtle digs a hole of about 60 cm, lays her eggs, 60—80 , and goes back in the sea. The eggs that come out, will have to make their way out of the nest and into the sea.

June 1, 2009

BEACH CLEAN UP

Friday morning , May 29th, All through the year, Stenapa cleans up Zeelandia Beach every month. During the turtle season they have nightly pa‐trols and when there is too much rubbish, they clean it up more often. If you want to see a turtle that comes to lay her eggs, please contact Stenapa.

SOME RULES AND REGULATIONS ABOUT THE APPOINTMENT OF A GOVERNOR

PAGE 8 IN DEPTH STATIA NEWS

You can find more information at: http://www.arcocarib.com/assets/files/knowledge_center/legal/constitutional_structure/memorie‐van‐toelichting‐wolbes.pdf The chapter on “Gezaghebber” ends with a para‐graph that explains the necessity of a strong leader who has to be above all parties.

Nice detail: Like a “burgemeester” in the Nether‐lands, a “Governor” on a Bes island, will get some decoration. In the Netherlands, a “burgemeester” wears a “ambtketen”, something like this will be designed for our future “Gezaghebbers”.

In the present, Antillean situation, a list with pro‐posed names for the next Lt. Governor comes from the island council, from there, the Antillean Council of Ministers and then the Dutch “Ministerraad” must approve with the number one and two on that list. That number one, if approved, will be the next Lt. Governor and the second one on the list, will be the acting Governor. With the Queens’ signature, the candidacy is a fact. In the new situation, with closer ties to the Dutch, it is stated in the Wolbes, that the Dutch Minister of Internal Affairs (Binnenlandse Zaken) will appoint a new Lieutenant Governor. Before this recommenda‐tion, the island council can develop a profile for a new Governor. The “Rijksvertegenwoordiger”, a new position after the transition, like what Mr. Kamp is now, will select candidates. The Island Council can install a “vertrouwenscommissie” that can investi‐gate the candidates the “Rijksvertegenwoordiger” comes up with. This report, that is confidential, will be presented to the “Rijksvertegenwoordiger”. After this, the “Rijksvertegenwoordiger” makes a motivated recommendation for one candidate. The final decision is being made by the Crown. The law for the nomination of a Lt. Governor is al‐most the same as for a “burgemeester” in a munici‐pality in the Netherlands. Some things differ because of the size of our communities. As said, In the Antillean situation the number two on the list of candidates will be acting as “acting Gover‐nor”. In the new situation, the executive council will appoint an island council member to act as “acting Governor”. In the Netherlands the general rule is that the “gemeenteraadslid”, with the longest service in the council acts as acting “burgermeester”. In practice, there are made exceptions to that rule. When a Lt. Governor cannot preside the council‐meetings for a longer period, due to illness or other circumstances, the “Rijksvertegenwoordiger” will be acting Governor. This is the same as in the Nether‐lands, where a “Commissaris van de Koningin” can take over the presidium of a “Burgemeester”.

June 1, 2009

KIDNEY FAILURE

PAGE 9 HEALTH STATIA NEWS

An important function of the kidneys is that they filter the blood. To test kidneys if they do filter the blood properly, Mr. Gardiner explains about the blood and urine test. In the urine, no traces of pro‐tein, crystals and sugar must be found. If there are traces, that means, these valuable elements are not in your blood, so the filter does not work properly. Kidneys have other functions as well. They regulate fluid, make a hormone that makes blood cells, modifies vitamine D for bone growth regulate the “acid ‐ base – status”. Mr. Gardiner explains that there are two kinds of renal or kidney disease; acute and chronic. The acute version is self limiting, it recovers with treatment. It can be caused by a hypertensive crisis, from infection, from toxics (in certain medications) and by obstructive reasons; kidney stones of pros‐tate disease. The chronic version is incurable. It has a slower on‐set and deteriorates over time. 51% of the cases of chronic kidney failure are caused by diabetes. Both version hardly have any early symptoms. Mr. Gardiners’ advice is to go to the doctor once a year to do a complete check up that includes the testing of your urine and blood. One symptom in a later stage of the disease is swol‐len feet. Mr. Gardiners’ advice: “If your feet are swollen, go see a doctor.” From Mr. Gardiners point of view, diabetes is a more life threatening disease than cancer. He explains about the medications for kidney fail‐ure. All they can do is prolong your life. If you live long enough with diabetes, after 20 years, you end up with kidney failure. He explains about dialyses. “Every island on the Caribbean should have a di‐alyses machine.” When your kidneys fail to filter the blood, you need to be on a dialyses machine for several hours every 48 hours. It’s better to be on the machine every night, because kidneys normally do their filtering job 24 hours a day.

Thursday May 21. The Statia Health Awareness Foun‐dation started a series of health seminars with a sym‐posium in the Lions’ Den about kidney failure, or re‐nal failure.

Medical students were present to measure people’s blood pressure and blood sugar. Mr. Ishmael Berkel of the Health Awareness Founda‐tion explained the purpose of health seminars. He said that a lot of his brothers and sisters died of can‐cer. Together with his daughter and sister, he once went to a symposium about breast cancer. The per‐sonal testimonies and the question that were asked at that symposium helped them in coping with this illness. After Mr. Ishmael Berkel, Mr. Randolph Marsden, who suffers renal failure, told the audience the per‐sonal story of the development and treatment of his illness. “It’s a rough road, but you have to keep your faith and stick to your diet.” was his conclusion. Then Mr. Walter H. Gardiner, MD, had his lecture. He thanked Mr. Marsden for his testimony, adding that it takes a lot of courage to talk about such a personal matter. Mr. Gardiner is medical director of the Kidney Centre in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. He was educated in the United States and has worked there in different ca‐pacities; as a assistant professor in nephrology (kidney specialist) and as head of different dialyses clinics.

June 1, 2009

FOLLOW UP: KIDNEY FAILURE


Lenora Cannegieter of the Statia Health Awareness Foundation, who led the seminar, thanked Mr Gar‐diner for his in formative lecture and presented him a token of appreciation. If you want to be updated about upcoming health seminars, you can send an email to Lenora Canne‐gieter: [email protected]

The only cure for kidney failure is a kidney transplant. If your lifestyle doesn’t change after the transplant, the transplanted kidney will fail after a few years. The audience was very interactive; Mr. Gardiner had to answer a lot of questions. Mr. Gardiner took away some preconceived assump‐tions: “You don’t have to drink a lot of water to keep your kidneys working well.” “Acid reflux has nothing to do with kidney failure.” He said that he did not come to lecture about a healthy diet and enough exercise, because as a nephrologist with a long practice, he experiences that people know how to live healthy but still fail to do so. His lecture was more about symptoms, medication and treatment. And about the numbers; diabetes and kidney failure are becoming the number one cause of death all over the world.

HEALTHY FRUIT: PINEAPPLE

June 1, 2009

Pineapple has been used by many people for centu‐ries as a folk remedy for numerous ailments, parti‐cularly digestive problems. Modern research has shown that bromelain, an enzyme found in both the stem and the fruit of a pi‐neapple, may be where pineapple gets many of its health benefits. Pineapple contains substantial amounts of both vitamin C and manganese, so eating pineapple can help streng‐then bones, relieve cold symptoms, aid digestion, and stop diarrhea. A cup of fresh pineapple chunks contains 73% of the manganese the body needs for the day. Manganese, a trace mineral, is needed to build bone and con‐nective tissues. A recent study found that a combi‐nation of glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and manganese offered significant improvement of

symptoms for people with mild to moderate osteo‐arthritis of the knee.

Although many people instantly reach for a glass of orange juice when they feel a cold coming on, it might be a better idea to take a swig of pineapple juice instead. They both contain heal‐thy amounts of vitamin C, but the pine‐apple also contains bromelain, which helps suppress coughs and loosens mucus.

Studies have found that bromelain is effective in treating upper respiratory conditions and acute sinusitis. You can make a natural cough syrup by mixing 2 teaspoons of honey into 8 ounces of warm pineapple juice. Sipping the soothing liquid will ease the pain of a sore throat and help quiet coughs.

source: http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/4‐2‐2006‐92514.asp

TACKLE DIABETES NOW! BY JOYCE WIJSHAKE


With the increasing of age those risk factors can increase too. Metabolic syndrome is definitively linked to insulin‐resistance. The 5 risk factors each are life‐threatening. A com‐bination will be even more serious. People with Diabetes type II are in the middle of the danger‐zone. Health risks are; Arteriosclerosis which can cause heart problems like heart infarct and heart failure, leg problems like claudicatio intermittens (every time you walk a dis‐tance you have to stop because of the pain, after a while the pain goes and you can continuing walking for a while again). Brain problems like a stroke, high blood pressure which can cause kidney failure, eye problems, some forms of dementia (vascular dementia, “Alzheimer disease”) Try to improve your daily activity, watch your eat pattern (pay attention to the portion , eat always the same time and don’t skip a meal) and take your medicine always, regular and on time. Learn more details about the positive advantages of this active lifestyle program, call 318‐4304 (physical therapist) or ask your doctor.

Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome Metabolic Syndrome is a combination of 5 risk fac‐tors which cause enormous health risks;

1.a disturbed glucose‐ and insulin‐ metabolism; too high blood sugar level; higher than 126 mg/dl.

2. too high cholesterol, too low HDL (good part of the cholesterol); lower than, too high blood‐fats.

3.high blood pressure (hypertension)

4. over weight and too much fat around the abdomi‐nal area; more than 88 cm for women and 102 cm for men.

5.increased inflammation of the blood vessels which causes earlier arteriosclerosis (narrowing of and hardening of the inside of the vessels by poisoning chemicals of the cigarette smoke and cholesterol)

When 4 of the 5 risk factors are seen, you will be di‐agnosed with “metabolic Syndrome”.

June 1, 2009

DENNIS AMAJAN

PAGE 12 MUSIC STATIA NEWS

your musical skills. All the young people from Statia that play in bands on Statia and abroad, have been his students. His approach is playful. “I teach music in a fun way.” He plays games with the children and lets them know that music is all around them. Twice a month, on Mondays he performs as a one man band in Blue Bead and the Old Gin house. He brings in different guest performers. Usually, they’re his students. “Bringing out the young people to perform helps develop their confidence. A lot of students are very good in the classroom, and tend to get very nervous when they have to perform.” Dennis tries to encourage them and performing live on stage also helps to encourage the parents to support their children. On Wednesdays, Dennis also performs at the Old Gin house with the Colors Band. This band has pro‐fessional players from different nationalities. They play a variety of international music. It helps to keep the night live going and is an outlet for tour‐ists. In the third week of June, there will be the Annual Music Festival for the schools. It will be held at Charlie’s Place. The theme will be “Statia’s Young Beethovens in concert”. All schools will participate and Dennis will be conducting.

Mr. Dennis Amajan is a music teacher from the Phil‐lipines. In 1995, he got his bachelors’ degree with orchestration as his major, and from 1996 he has been working on Sint Eustatius. In 1999 he went back to the Phillipines to finish his Masters’ degree and after he came back in 2003, he has been working for the Culture Department.

Dennis Amajan is an arranger. He plays brass, string, woodwind, percussion and for the culture depart‐ment he directs music programs. His major goal is to teach children to play music. He teaches all the children at the Golden Rock and Gov. de Graaffschool. Mr. Amajan also has music classes at the Department of Culture, because according to him, teaching music in school alone, is not enough. To develop talents, individual classes are necessary. According to Dennis Amajan there is definitely a lot of musical talent on Statia. He provides a formal edu‐cation, that is a necessary foundation for developing

Dennis Amajan conducting the Oranje Steelband. Part of the band are Marcella Gibbs (head of the Department of Culture) and Nellie de Visser (wife of the island secretary)

June 1, 2009

Vacancy: The Board of the Bethel Methodist School is seeking: 2 (two) fully qualified (preferably Male ) teachers for FBE Cycle two (ages 8 & 9) Applicants should: - have knowledge of the Antillean Education System - have a flexible personality - be a good team player - be fluent in the Dutch language (verbal & written) Applications and complete CV must be sent to the attention of: Rev. Florence Daley Black Harry Lane, St. Eustatius Neth. Ant. fax # 599 318 2919 email: [email protected]

There are opportunities on the Dutch Antilles for Dutch and Suriname companies. St. Eustatius and the other islands are developing and need solid partners, suppliers, subcontractors and investors. For Dutch companies, facing the economic decline, investing in the Antilles is a new challenge. There will be an exposition, a congress, workshops and a “matchmaking” program. This matchmaking is very important, because here the contacts are made. Mr. Sneek will go to Curacao and he will try to make valuable contacts for Steba’s members. When he comes back, he will write a report. Anyone on Statia that has suggestions for Steba, or who wants to join Mr. Sneek on this trip, is very welcome to contact Steba at [email protected]

Steba,( St. Eustatius Business Association) represented by Mr. Koos Sneek, will participate in “Zaken doen met het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden”, which will take place June 10 – 18 in Curacao and Suriname. This is the eighth time this event takes place. The focus is on stimulating social and economic development by attracting investors that want to build on a lasting co‐operation between the Netherlands, Suriname and the Dutch Antilles.

ZAKENDOEN IN HET KONINKRIJK

PAGE 13 ANNOUNCEMENTS STATIA NEWS June 1, 2009

statia news no. 08

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