News item | 07-11-2025 | 1:00 PM
Create a multi-year cooperation program to improve the physical environment on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba and ensure that sufficient resources are made available for the construction, maintenance and replacement of the island infrastructure. With this assignment, the next government must work to improve the physical infrastructure on the 3 Caribbean islands.
This is the core of the government’s response to the 3 recommendations from the Council for the Living Environment and Infrastructure (Rli), the Council for Public Administration (ROB) and the consultancy firm Andersson Elffers Felix (AEF) that were adopted in the Council of Ministers.
State Secretary Van Marum of the Interior and Kingdom Relations: “The cabinet is continuing to work decisively to promote the quality of the physical living environment of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. For example, we have made extra money available for improving the roads on Bonaire, the construction of a port on Saba and we offer support to help with implementation. However, eliminating backlogs requires a lot of patience. It is up to the new cabinet to be formed to build on what has been initiated in the past year and to introduce new measures. The government can help the public bodies with money and knowledge, but the islands must also get to work themselves.”
The government response states what steps the cabinet can take to follow up on the advice and what the new cabinet should take up. Four lines of action are mentioned: a multi-year cooperation programme, strengthening implementation capacity, better safeguarding ‘comply or explain‘ and sustainable financing.
For example, there is a need to draw up a multi-year cooperation program, in collaboration with the public bodies. These so-called ‘physical agendas’, which will be delivered at a later date, state what needs to be done for the construction of homes, better roads and accessibility. This must also include the relationship between projects and how these projects can be implemented step by step. It is important that sustainable money also becomes available to carry out the tasks. The AEF report and the ROB advice show that financing for making investments, carrying out maintenance and ensuring timely replacement of the physical infrastructure is still inadequate. Both reports emphasize that structural financing is needed. It is up to a new cabinet to investigate how this should be arranged.
It is also important that there are enough people to do the work. That is why the Caribbean Netherlands Project Office is being expanded with staff who have experience with projects in the physical living environment. To the principle of ‘comply or explain‘ to better implement it, we will look at which existing legislation for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba needs to be further introduced or revised.