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www.BonairExel.com August 20 to 27, 2004 Volume 11, Issue 32 Kaya Gob. Debrot 200 • E-mail: [email protected] • 717-8988 SINCE 1994 SYMBOLSYMBOL OFOF AA THRIVINGTHRIVING DIVEDIVE Carib Inn Photo INDUSTRYINDUSTRY–– CARIBCARIB INN’SINN’S NEWNEW BOATBOAT ANDAND STAFF. Story on page 8 page 1 ford in the London Observer. What does IN THIS ISSUE: this have to do with Bonaire? It is an ex- ample of how insidiously things can seep Referendum Chronicle 6 onaire has into the ground, since almost all of Bon- Want to Vote? 7 B recorded an aire’s water that isn’t absorbed goes into Cover Story 8 estimated total of the sea where it is affects our coral reef. Naming the Reefs (Capt. Don) 9 4,721 tourist arri- Selibon Does It All 10 That’s why the proposed sewage treat- vals for the month Notable Visitors 10 ment plant to allow fertilizing nutri- of June 2004. It Starting the Day Right (Rotary) 11 represents an in- ents in the irrigation returned to Gardner (Mealy Bugs) 13 crease of 2% as coastal properties is a bad one. It’s Art Opening (Nochi Coffie) 18 compared to last been proven that nutrients harm the coral year. by promoting smothering algae growth. WEEKLY FEATURES: Visitors from the The plan is opposed by Bonaire’s conser- Flotsam & Jetsam 2 US grew 5% com- vation organizations and is under review. Letters (BonairExcel) 4 pared to June 2003 Police Update 5 from 2,299 arrivals Rincon Marshé Highlights 5 to 2,413 in June Photo: Kees de Jong Vessel List & Tide Table 9 2004. The total Pet of the Week (Kitten Brothers) 12 Classifieds 12 North America Picture Yourself (Florence, Italy) 13 market increased What’s Happening 15 4.8% compared to Shopping & Dining Guides 16 2003. On the Island Since Specifically, (Aldith Pieters) 17 June’s numbers Bonaire Sky Park 19 reflected a growth The Stars Have It 19 in travelers from the year-round sunshine states of California, Florida and Texas. Tourist visits from Europe dropped by 3.6% compared to 2003, from 1,801 arrivals to A new Dutch warship arriving in 1,737 in June 2004. The Netherlands increased 2% compared to 2003. Airlift out of Willemstad Harbor drug possession or drug dealing. Last Europe shows a slight decrease in June due to re-allocation of seats on the direct KLM flights. year, the navy sent eight to 10 people The South American market recorded an increase of 4.4% on the whole, while the X Of the 1,000 Dutch naval personnel home for possessing or trafficking in Venezuelan market decreased by 13.3%. T.C.B. press release stationed in the Netherlands Antilles to drugs in the Netherlands Antilles. combat the international drug trade, 15 The Netherlands is responsible for the X BMG, the Bonaire Management participants. have been arrested so far this year for defense of the Netherlands Antilles and Group responsible for most of the is- X Britain's Environmental Agency is allegedly trafficking in narcotics, re- Aruba. The Dutch naval contingent — land’s government owned “private” com- concerned that the anti-depression drug ported the Dutch language newspaper, made up of 300 marines and 700 other panies, is looking for investors and Prozac is being taken in such large quan- Algemeen Dagblad. naval personnel — stationed on the Neth- strategic partners for three of its com- tities in the U.K. that traces are not only Another 30 have been detained by the erlands Antilles is involved in combating panies: WEB (water and power), showing up in wastewater, but also in military police for a range of crimes, in- drug trafficking. TELBO (telephone and Internet) and rivers and wells used for drinking water. cluding serious assault, intimidation, van- Selibon (waste management). BMG head, "We need to determine the effects of this dalism and theft. The Dutch Royal Navy X Two members of the anti-drug team Jopi Giskus has been in The Netherlands low-level, almost continuous discharge," confirmed that eight marines have been at Curaçao’s Hato Airport have been holding serious discussions with potential says agency spokesman Dr. Andy Crox- set home this year from the Caribbean for (Continued on page 4) page 2 The following advertisers support of The Bonaire Reporter help keep subscription costs low. Consider them first when on CLICK to VISIT the sites Our LET BONAIRE’S Focus HARDEST WORKING Is On REALTORS WORK YOU FOR YOU www. sunbelt.an SUNBELT REALTY Quality wines and champagnes from Centrally Located New around the world Studios, 1, 2 and 5 Bedroom apts. Free Delivery Dive packages and more. [email protected] Offering comprehensive services multiple locations and ATMs Waterfront Economical Convenient Friendly Full GOLDENGOLDEN REEFREEF INNINN Facilities STUDIOS $48.00 per night Flotsam and Jetsam (Continued from page 2) jumped from the open doors to the arrested on suspicion of involvement in ground. BonairExel’s chief pilot was at LETTERS-BonairExel drug trafficking. The two Customs offi- the controls, and the flight crew handled cials, P.P. and E.J., are the third and themselves very professionally, accord- Dear Readers of The Bonaire Reporter, fourth members of the Hato Team who ing to reports from the passengers. The It was quite a while ago that we, for the last time, read about the wonderful 98 % on time were apparently bribed by drug lords to ATR-42 was towed off the runway. The flight results of Air Exel. Why? Because they do not fly on time any more. My recent let through their couriers. Not too long ArubaExel plane, which is similar to the experiences have been very disappointing. At the end of May a direct flight to Aruba had ago two police officers of the Hato BonairExel aircraft, was pressed into a two hour delay. In addition, without notifying the passengers, the flight had a non- Team, G.L. and T., were also arrested. service. ArubaExel’s first official flight scheduled stop in Curaçao which costs you another hour. The jailing of the two Customs officials is set for August 27th. A couple of weeks ago I checked in for Curaçao. When receiving the boarding card I was advised the boarding time was one hour later than planned. When I asked why they is reportedly related to the same case. did not give me a call, the answer simply was: “It is only a delay of one hour, we call our The investigation is being conducted by X In another aircraft incident last clients when the delay is more than one and a half hours.” Due to the delay I had time to the Antillean Police Force with support week a control lamp on a Dutch Carib- find out why I was stuck at the airport. The answer was the same answer I received in from Kingdom detectives . bean Airlines (DCA) flight from St. May: “We only have one plane available, so we have to delay and reschedule flights all Maarten caused some concern when the the time.” X The Central Bureau of Statistics warning system indicated that the land- Would it be an idea NOT to sell tickets for non-existing flights? (CBS) kicked off an investigation into ing gear cockpit was locked. However, it I never had these experiences with Exel in The Netherlands. What is it with Caribbean the spending patterns of 1,500 house- was OK, and the plane landed normally based airlines?! Yvonne Nuijts holds on all five Antillean islands. In- cluded will be a determination of the X DCA Chairman of the Board Tonchi Dear Readers, Customers and Others interested in BonairExel: poverty level. The survey will take about Leonard, a member of the Curaçao Is- BonairExel is rapidly approaching its first birthday and we are very proud of what we a year and involve visits to 352 house- land Government, said, "Seven million have achieved in the last 12 months. But we leave the ‘back patting’ to others, while our holds in Bonaire. (guilders) for DCA will only buy some focus remains on continuous improvement of our services and network. The letter of CBS publishes the price index figures of more time." He implied that a lot more Mrs. Nuijts proves clearly that there is still room for improvement. Curaçao every month and of the other money will have to be spent before DCA BonairExel has faced quite some challenges in the last months. For a period of time, we have hardly been able to keep our schedules, as a result of technical and operational islands every two months. Based on a can be considered a solid business. One problems. Throughout these challenges, our aim has always been to minimize passenger list of products and services, the Bureau calculation was that up until now inconvenience. We truly believe that making the difference comes from solutions determines whether or not the cost of NAƒ36 million has already been spent offered and not from problems experienced. Contacting passengers that will be de- living has gone up. The last survey was by the Curaçao government to maintain layed is one of these ‘solutions’ and we can proudly say that most passengers highly ap- held in 1996. For the poverty analysis, its national carrier. That's about preciate this service. Combining flights to make sure that all passengers will reach their those surveyed will be asked not just NAƒ200 for every man, woman and final destination is another solution, which might create inconvenience for some but will about their income and employment but child on Curaçao. benefit many more. also about their social network and Commissioner Leonard said that at this The fact that we had the challenges as described above is not surprising.