List of Resolutions adopted by the BES on 31-Jan-08

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  • List of Resolutions adopted by the BES political meeting held on 31 January 2008 in The Hague

     

    • During the meeting discussions were held between politicians of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (BES) and the State Secretary for Internal Affairs concerning the outcome of the BES week of consultations held from 28 thru 31 January 2008;
    • Based on the discussions held during this week of consultations, BES and Holland[1] have during the political meeting drawn the following conclusions.

     

    WolBES [BES Public Entities Act], the Elections Act and the BES Financial Relations Act

    • A step forward was made on the road to constitutional reform of the BES-islands by reaching agreement on the guiding principles for the BES Public Entities Act (WolBES). These guiding principles will now be forwarded to the Second Chamber and the Island Councils. Based on these guiding principles, a bill will be drawn up constituting the administrative organization of the three public entities;
    • In addition, there is consensus on the required amendments to the Elections Act. This concerns, among other things, the right to vote for the Second Chamber and the Island Councils of the public entities. Based on the agreed guiding principles amendments to the Elections Act can now be drawn up;
    • In the Final Declaration of 10 and 11 October 2006 a [basic] agreement was reached on financial relations to regulate the cash flows between BES and Holland. During the political meeting, agreement was reached on the guiding principles, so that these can now be worked out in a separate BES Financial Relations Act.

     

    Level of Government Services

    • In a constructive and open atmosphere discussions were held on [the level of] government services on the islands after the status change. The focus was particularly on education, public health, social security, youth, finances and safety;
    • The point of departure is that indexes and/or standards will be established to ensure a level of government services on Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba that can be considered acceptable within Holland, particularly in the fields of education, public health, social security and safety;
    • Within this context the islands' specific circumstances will be taken into account: their small population size, their insularity, their remoteness from Holland, their small surface area, their topography as well as any undue administrative and socio-economic effects.
    • Holland and the BES-islands will jointly use their best efforts to achieve this level. This level can be introduced step by step;
    • Holland will be responsible for legislation and policy in these four fields, but implementation may be delegated to the islands. The funds will be furnished by the responsible entity.
    • Point of departure is also that status-changing measures should duly take the specific circumstances of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba into account, so as to avoid social and economic disruption.

     

    Education

    • Every child on Saba, St. Eustatius and Bonaire shall have an equal opportunity to education;
    • A proposal will be worked out to set up a system of student financing to enable students to study within the Caribbean region. Also a study will be made to see if free primary and secondary education is possible. In addition, efforts will be made to preserve compulsory education and special attention will be given to pupils who are in need of special care.

     

    Public Health

    ·         A system of public health insurance will be set up. To provide public health care (i.e. buildings and inventory) a list of priorities and [necessary] investments will be drawn up (as the final item on the substantive agenda which now has the highest priority). The possibilities for referring patients to surrounding countries (to receive care which necessarily has to be obtained elsewhere), will be explored;

    ·         The Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports will finance the drafting of a Long Term Housing Plan (LTHP) for the BES-islands;

    • Holland will ensure that the BES-islands will comply with the requirements for Infectious Diseases Control set by the International Health Regulations (WHO, 2005, IHR). To this end, Holland will use its best efforts - in co-operation with the BES-islands and the other Kingdom partners - to set up and facilitate a "focal point" for the former Netherlands Antilles.

     

    Social security and incomes policy

    ·         In consultation with the island governments a clear description of the present system of social security and unemployment benefits on the BES-islands will be drawn up during the month of February 2008. Thereafter the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment will draw up a plan to organize the transition, extracting a [new] implementation structure from the present Netherlands Antilles implementation structure. The system of social security and unemployment benefits, as well as any changes to be included therein, will take their effects on the labor market into account;

    ·         The various separate measures in the fields of the taxation, social security and social insurance, including health insurance and pensions, will before the summer of 2008 be considered within the context of their effects on the purchasing power as related to the burden of taxes and premiums in the BES-islands.

     

    Safety

    • The quality of the police will be improved. After the constitutional changes all basic police duties on the BES-islands will be carried out under the responsibility of Holland. Holland will be responsible for the deployment of sufficient personnel, special forces and expertise;
    • Safety is a priority. Within this context the reorganization of the police force, the quality of disaster contingency plans, youth detention and detention facilities will be given special attention.

     

    Finances

    • The BES-islands must balance their budgets not later than by 2011. In the meantime Holland will finance the approved deficits as set out in the ‘deficit reduction plan'. This will make it possible to undertake the required restructuring of public finances within a realistic period of time. Arrangements will be made with respect to the debts run up in 2006 and 2007, as well as the extra debts resulting from[2] the ‘deficit reduction plan';
    • In addition to development aid, the islands will in the coming years have at least at their disposal the funds from the Socio-Economic Initiative (which will be implemented during the spring of 2008), [the funds from] the Island Education Program for 2008 and from the Safety Plan Netherlands Antilles;
    • Holland wishes to emphasize that the above are just some guidelines, which need to be elaborated further both substantively and financially.

     

     

    General administration office

    • Holland will be as accessible as possible for citizens and businesses by setting up one general government administration office with a branch on each island. In this general administration office all government services of all ministries (e.g. inspectorates and services for processing and granting licenses) will work together.

     

          Continuation of the process

    • Of prime importance is that the BES status-change process progresses satisfactorily and is handled and with due care and is well coordinated with other ongoing processes (such as the dismantlement of the Netherlands Antilles);
    • On 22 January 2008 the political steering committee directed the administrative task force to draw up a realistic plan to manage the process. This plan should include planning proposals for the BES-islands. The BES-islands and Holland will discuss these proposals before they will be considered by the steering committee in March 2008;
    • In consultation with the islands Holland will - in so far as possible - try to implement certain actual changes in anticipation of the official status-change of the BES-islands into public entities;
    • The above measures are just the beginning of [a series of] changes that are about to be implemented and about which agreement has been reached between the BES-islands and Holland. The outlines will become clearer as plans materialize, making it possible to reach more [detailed] agreements about the future of the BES-islands.


    [1] Translator's note: ‘Nederland' has been translated throughout as ‘Holland', to avoid confusion with ‘Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden' (the Kingdom of the Netherlands).

    [2] Translator's note: The intended reference here is probably to any extra debts run up ‘over and above' the approved deficits set out in the ‘deficit reduction plan'. However, the Dutch text says ‘op grond van' = ‘based on' or ‘resulting from'.




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