Oranjestad, St. Eustatius- The Local Boat Ordinance (Verordening Lokale Vaartuigen St. Eustatius 2021) will be send back to the drawing board, after being discussed with fiserhmen and boat owners on the island.

This was communicated by Government Commissioner Marnix van Rij on Monday evening, during the ‘Shedding Light’ program.

Van Rij described the meeting with the fishermen and boat owners as productive and fruitful. “We had a constructive meeting with the fishermen and owners of pleasure boats. It was already promised in a Central Committee meeting of January 28^th that we would have a stakeholders meeting. Some very good questions were put on the table today”, said Van Rij.

Facilities

One of the areas of concern brought up by the boat owners was the total lack of facilities in the harbor. “We will look how we can address some of these issues in a Quick Fix’, said Van Rij, who also mentioned that an overall upgrade of the harbor facilities was underway.

Another issue that was brought up was the fees in the new ordinance and the ability of private boat owners or pleasure vessels to transport people between the islands.

Van Rij said that Government would look how to take away some of the concerns brought up by the boat owners and fishermen. “We will try to implement these changes, as long as they fit withing the higher laws”, said van Rij.

The new ordinance and its regulations led to quite some tensions under boat owners and fishermen. Van Rij did not mention when a new draft of the ordinance would be ready, but did say that it would once again be discussed in the Central Committee and with stakeholders, before presented in the Island Council for formal approval.

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