Hemmie van Xanten in Saba’s Island Council hall

THE BOTTOM- The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of St. Eustatius and Saba has recently their two new board members, Jamila Bennet-Lijfrock and Vaughn Sams. 

In the meeting, which took place on January 11, Hemmie van Xanten was appointed as Chamber President and Leonieke Zuidam as Vice-president. Glen Pileo, Jamilla Bennett-Lijfrock and Vaughn Sams are board members.

Following the rules of the Chamber of Commerce, if the president is from Saba, which is currently the case, the vice-president has to be from Statia, and vice versa. 

“In the last two years, not much has been done due to the COVID-19 situation, but now that we are convinced that we have to learn to continue with or without COVID, new strategies will be implemented to service the business sector as best as possible. There is a lot of work to be done, a lot to communicate and the chamber is here to support the community,” the Chamber’s board stated.

New fees

According to the Chamber, they are looking for the best way to reduce the new fees that were introduced by Law and would not have been implemented on the chamber’s initiative.

“As we explained at the end of last year, we were notified about the changes by the Ministry, but we did not agree with the high increase of the fees for small businesses and we will do our outmost to get a reduction where possible.”