KRALENDIJK- Since the end of last week, there have been problems with the online health declaration that passengers traveling to Bonaire must complete before departure.

Although there are passengers who can fill out the form and receive the subsequent confirmation email without any problems, things often go wrong. It is striking that people who travel together sometimes go well and immediately afterwards go wrong for the next person.

Entering or entering several times on a different browser or device does not help. A reporter from ABC Online Media fills out the form now less than five times in a row on Friday, only to receive an error message every time.

Screenshot

Contact with the COVID call center of Bonaire Government does not immediately provide a good answer. “Just make a screenshot of the completed form, so you can show it when you check in,” is the advice of the employee.

Moments later, an email is received from the Public Health Department. “We have received your form, but you have not attached the vaccination certificate”, reads the email. This is incorrect, because the vaccination certificate was uploaded on all five occasions. The e-mail also asks the traveler to still send the vaccination certificate by mail.

On arrival at the airport, despite the e-mail from the Public Health Department and despite the screenshot, the passenger has to fill in the form on a tablet for the 6th time without any further consideration. This leads to quite a bit of delay for those involved.

Aware

It seems the Public Health Department is by now aware of the issue, but has not been able to solve it as of yet. According to information from ABC Online Media, the airlines flying to the island have by now been informed, so that the passenger can still check in without tne normally required confirmation email.

It is not clear why passengers who are affected by the error message still have to fill in the form on the Public Health tablet upon arrival, especially now that it appears that the forms are actually being received. The error seems to be mainly that the confirmation email is not sent out.

According to unofficial information from a source in Bonaire Governement, consultation with the supplier of the system in the Netherlands is ongoing, but the issue had still not been resolved on Sunday afternoon.

Because authorities have not proactively informed travelers of the issues with the system, many travelers have lived through stressful moments, not having been able to receive confirmation of their filled-out form prior to check-in or prior to the moment of travel.