Executive Council had good visit to the Netherlands

The Executive Council looks back at a good working visit to the Netherlands. From May 22 to June1, Commissioners Bruce Zagers and Eviton Heyliger visited a number of ministries and entities, andspoke with several members of the Second Chamber and members of the Dutch Government aboutSaba’s challenges, needs and its development.Plans were presented and discussed to build a new high school campus which includes, academicclassrooms, technical classrooms, a new gym, and an auditorium. Also plans to construct the GilesQuarter Road by-pass road connecting the new harbor area to the existing Giles Quarter Road and plansto expand the Government Administration Building. Also discussed were ongoing projects like the BlackRocks Harbor, the Kadaster and land registry, and investments in water management and sustainableenergy amongst others.Harbor projectMultiple meetings took place with several ministries about the Black Rocks Harbor Project, a very largeand vital project for Saba. Pending the issuing of a necessary permit, approval was given to go to tender.“Receiving permission to start tendering is an important milestone for this much anticipated project.However, there is still some attention that is needed to attain the required permit which is arequirement. Collectively, with the relevant ministries and Rijkswaterstaat, we are busy finalizing thisprocess,” stated Commissioner Zagers. All tender documents have been prepared by engineeringconsultancy Witteveen en Bos.Matters that consistently have the attention of the Saba government were discussed as well, includingthe Saba Package, connectivity and airlift, social housing, healthcare and medical referrals, agricultureand self-reliance, telecommunications, the cost of living and doing business, banking, povertyalleviation, education, sports and culture.Capacity buildingSaba’s challenges with capacity building were brought up in almost every meeting. Capacity is an issueat almost every level on the island and structural solutions are needed. The Netherlands has expressedwillingness to support Saba in addressing this.General developments on Saba and the challenges that the island and its people face were discussed inthe meetings with Members of the Second Chamber Joba van den Berg of the CDA party, Jorien Wuite ofthe D66 party, and Attje Kuiken of the PvdA party, who was joined by PvdA Senator Jeroen Recourt. Ameeting also took place with State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitization Alexandra van

Huffelen to discuss current developments, work that is being done to deal with the challenges and theissue of capacity building. With Minister for Poverty Policy, Participation and Pensions Carola Schouten,Commissioners Zagers and Heyliger talked about poverty alleviation initiatives.First visitFor Commissioner Heyliger, this was his first official work visit to the Netherlands since his appointment.He said he was able to meet with the ministries that fall under his porfolios, namely the Ministry ofEducation, Culture and Science (OCW), the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (SZW), the Department ofSocial Housing and Spatial Planning within the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK),the Ministry of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sport (VWS) and the Kadaster.Heyliger found the working visit very useful. “I was impressed by the reception that we received asdelegation and by the offer that assistance will be given when needed upon request. I look forward tohaving a good working relationship with the ministries and the civil servants that will be working withme as commissioner for the general population of Saba,” he said.The meetings in The Hague are important for Saba. They serve to discuss vital issues for the Sabapeople, to get support for projects and to strengthen the relations with the ministries and variousentities in the Netherlands.Good working relationship“It is important to maintain a good working relationship with the various ministries. Having closecommunication and being able to openly express initiatives and challenges are far more efficient whenbeing done in person rather than through a computer screen. Each visit is different and as such theoutcomes are also different. This visit was more of an introduction for our new Commissioner, but alsoto create the opportunity to outline the various developments, initiatives and ongoing challenges for thecoming period,” said Zagers.Island Governor Jonathan Johnson joined the program in the first week, since he had to return to Sabaon time for the elections of the Electoral College on May 30. Apart from the Commissioners and IslandGovernor, the delegation that visited the Netherlands from May 22 to June 1 consisted of Head ofFinance Maureen Hassell-van der Kaap, Senior Policy Advisor Nicole Johnson, Head of the PlanningBureau Zoubeir Elatmani, Program Manager Nature and Environment Policy Plan Sarah van der Hornand Project Manager of Black Rocks Harbor Project Mario Prak. The delegation attended the meetings invarious compositions, depending on the type and subject of the meetings.

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