KRALENDIJK – On Thursday, many entrepreneurs looked somewhat disturbed at their e-mail box, which suddenly overflowed with repeated invoices which were sent out by the Chamber of Commerce Bonaire this afternoon.

Some entrepreneurs complained about the fact that they had already received the same invoice ten times. Entrepreneurs who are registered with multiple companies, or those with more than one e-mail address were even more affected. That, however, was not the only complaint from the entrepreneurs. Many were also upset that the annual contribution has doubled or even tripled.

The determination of the new rates has been a long process, about which much has been done. For example, the rates that were to be introduced on 1 January 2022 were still a lot higher than the amounts that have now been sent out.

Feedback

The Chamber of Commerce of the BES Islands and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, responsible for the new rates, took the criticism to heart and once again discussed the proposed rate increase.

Although the new rate that was finally adopted is in most cases higher than in previous years, the Chamber of Commerce points out that the rates have not been increased for 10 years and that the duties and activities of the House have grown in recent years. For example, the Chamber of Commerce played a central role in support measures during the COVID-19 crisis.

The time involved in determining the new rates has also resulted in invoices being sent out much later this year than in other years.

Apologies

“Due to unforeseen technical challenges, there were problems with the sending of invoices today. As a result, some companies and organizations erroneously received the invoices several times. In the meantime, the technical problem has been solved. The Chamber of Commerce apologizes for this error and requests the entrepreneurs and organizations involved to pay the invoice only once”, according to a statement by Bonaire Chamber on their Facebook Page.