THE HAGUE/SABA—The Saba delegation on Thursday, March 31 wrapped up a successful working visit to the Netherlands which included talks with members of the Dutch Government, Members of Parliament and meetings with the ministries in The Hague.

On the agenda of the different meetings were topics such as the free allowance, poverty alleviation, the high cost of living/doing business, the banking challenges, the harbor project, waste management, water management, connectivity, school buildings, housing, energy and telecommunication. 

30M Envelope

The 30 million euros envelope, allocated for the three Caribbean Netherlands islands, including Saba, in the coalition agreement of the Dutch Government was a much-discussed topic. The envelope, which contains funding for the increase of the free allowance and poverty alleviation, came up in the meetings that the Saba delegations had with the ministries as well as in the talks with the Ministers and Members of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament.

Commissioner Bruce Zagers said that the talks with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations (BZK) with regard to the division of the 30 million euros envelope were still ongoing. He stated that he was optimistic that the outcome for Saba would result in an improvement of the free allowance. Zagers explained that no definite decision was taken since the discussions were still ongoing between the ministries on this matter. 

Optimistic

“It is premature to say what the outcome will be, but we left The Hague with an optimistic feeling that something will be done to raise the free allowance to better enable the Public Entity Saba to carry out its tasks,” said Zagers.

Clarity on the division of the 30 million euros envelope will be provided in the Spring Memorandum (“Voorjaarsnota”) of the Dutch Government in a couple of weeks. Other budgets are also available for nature and climate change related projects in the Caribbean Netherlands. “Because of the coalition agreement, there is renewed energy for the islands. It was positive to see that all ministries are again eager to contribute to investing in the islands,” said Zagers.