KRALENDIJK – Commissioner Hennyson Thielman of Tourism and Economy is not happy with an emotional and sometimes heated discussion that took place on Thursday afternoon at the cruise market in Wilhelmina Park.

There, a group of taxi drivers and tour guides entered into a heated discussion with Adnan Hassan, of the Facebook group ‘Bonaire Future Forum’.

According to several attendees, Hassan seems to be “against cruise tourism”, and his presence in the cruise market was  also seen in that light. Hassan indicated that he is not against cruise tourism per se, but against what he describes as “over tourism”. However, taxi drivers and tour guides seem to feel they might lose income due to Adnan’s statements.

After the interaction got off to a fairly civilized start, tempers quickly rose. Among other things, Hassan was told that he could better ‘leave the island’ because he was not born on Bonaire. 

Decent

Thielman is unhappy with the discussion, which took place in front of some tourists. “I think everyone involved wants the best for the island. But we have to talk about that in a decent way.”

The deputy says that he has been in contact with both parties and has invited them for a joint meeting. The deputy was not happy with the harsh words thrown at Hassan. “A citizen has put forward his ideas, and that should be possible. We need to get together to find a common position that we can all agree on.