Wilna Groenenboom photo olice in Bon- island tours of the island. Dammerman Table of Contents aire have reor- P says the increased seat capacity will Simidan! 3 ganized to focus on allow EZAir to begin providing more Where to Find the Reporter 5 neighborhood polic- service to the current demand at certain Guest Editorial (Open Letter to All ing. A coordinator hours to the under-served islands. Bonairean Political Parties) 6 has been assigned to Letter (Poverty Alleviation through Tourism) 6 the island’s main ► In 2006, 5.6% more US tourists Bonaire Ambassadors districts to take law visited Bonaire compared to 2005 and (Schmidt Award and Magocs Award) 7 enforcement “closer all North America tourism grew Gear Doc (BCD) 7 to the people” and 6.7%. Two primary factors contribute Easter Weekend Fun for Kids 8 prevent problems to that growth: 1- Bonaire's US market- Camping 10 from escalating by ing campaign that targets the affluent, Live Music Everywhere 10 detecting them at an leading edge baby boomers, and 2- Ad- The five police department barrio leaders from left to Shrink Studies SCUBA (Clearing earlier stage to in- ditional airlift, specifically the addition right: Ibi Statie ), Urwin Juaquin, Alejandrina Sambo, Nasal Passages-nasal rinse) 9 crease the safety and of two more American Eagle flights per Snorkeler's Notebook (Spirituality on the Jose Antonio Rosales and Aquiles Francis Lopez livability in the bar- Reef) 13 BVO photo week, bringing American Eagle to a rios/neighborhoods. total of five round trip flights a week The barrio leader is (which were increased to seven when WEEKLY FEATURES: Flotsam & Jetsam 2 responsible for his/her neighborhood and is on the scene. This project falls under demand was there) and the inauguration Biologist’s Bubbles (Coral Sunscreen) 3 the revised Netherlands Antilles Safety Plan. of the Continental non-stop flight from Pet of the Week (“Dorothy ”) 9 The barrio leaders were appointed after a selection procedure: Urwin Juaquin for Houston to Bonaire. Commencing ser- Classifieds 12 Amboina, Nikiboko, Bario Wanapa, Manaparia Kutu, and Lagun Hill; Ibi Statie vice on December 17th, 2005, and oper- Sudoku Puzzle 14 for Antriol, Den Stashi, Bario Seleisi, Bario Mexico and Mexico; Jose Antonio ating at an exceptional 86% annual av- Tide Table 14 Rosales for Rincon, Seru di Suit and Playa Grandi; Aquiles Francis Lopez for Nort erage load factor, the Continental flight Reporter Masthead 14 di Saliña, Nawati, Republiek, Hato and Sabadeco; and Alejandrina Sambo for Tera was a success from the beginning. Fre- What’s Happening 15 Kora, Belnem, Den Chefi, Senkuria, Sabana, Sabal Palm and Punt Vierkant. quently upgraded from a 124-seat air- Movieland Film Schedule 15 craft to a 155-seat aircraft, the success Shopping & Dining Guides 16 lets installed, along with updated elec- of the Houston flight paved the way for Candidate’s’ Partner’s: (Esmeralda Huerta) 17 ► To cope with increased demand tronics that reduce fuel use. "Such sav- a second non-stop flight from the all- Picture Yourself (Maui,Hawaii & on the Curaçao-St. Maarten route, ings will be passed on to our custom- important New York area. A Continen- San Diego, California) 18 Sky Park (Venus, Aldebaran & the Moon ) 19 ers," said Winkel. Aircraft will be Dutch Antilles Express (DAE) will tal Saturday/Sunday flight from Newark The Stars Have It 19 add a second jet flight to its Friday equipped with air conditioning and all began on December 17th, 2006. Sudoku Answer 19 itinerary to St. Maarten. The new new seating equivalent to most carriers' schedule went into effect last Friday. first class seats – all window and ► Discussions on the sale of RBTT Up to now the flight was operated with aisles." Financial Holdings to the regional sub- an ATR prop jet. "Acquiring two more aircraft is just sidiary of Canadian bank CIBC are very DAE’s second Fokker 100 jet arrived the first step EZAir is taking towards far advanced and a final decision is im- in Curaçao from Brazil last Saturday. increasing its service to island resi- (Continued on page 4) The airline intends to start flying to dents," Winkel said. He added that Bogotá, Port-of-Spain, Santo Domingo EZAir has filed a request with the De- and Port-au-Prince. DAE began flying partment of Transportation to become to Caracas on March 20. a regularly scheduled airline. "We are excited about bringing low ► New Aircraft, New Look, New air fares back to inter-island travel." Name for Interisland Service Pro- Sueyenne Dammerman, EZAir’s Chief vider Operating Officer, said. "These addi- It took some maneuvering, arm twist- tional aircraft will allow us continue to ing fighting and dealing and a lot of offer first class, affordable and safe waiting, but EZAir finally gets air- travel with increased frequency." She borne. added, "And this is just the beginning." In keeping with its plans for expan- With the planes coming on line and sion and growth, EZAir announced the the intent for EZAir to become a addition of two new planes to its fleet scheduled airline, Dammerman said a and a new overall look and feel. Capt. change of name seemed in keeping Rene Winkel, EZAir’s founder and with the company's expansion plans. CEO, confirmed that the additional EZAir currently provides inter-island planes will increase EZAir's seat ca- scheduled charter service between pacity by 150%. All aircraft will have Curaçao and Bonaire, via Kini kini air new, state-of-the-art, fuel saving wing- express TBA Easy air, as well as circle Page 2 Bonaire Reporter - April 13 to April 20, 2007 COVER STORY imidan, the har- S vest festival, started off in Rincon last weekend. It’s one of Bonaire’s most exciting events, with music, dancing, feasting and drinking. The season ends on April 30, Rin- con Day, amidst much some animals eat celebration and a festive MAA-rich foods and exuberant parade of and then relocate everyone – locals and the MAAs into visitors alike – linked their skin together, arms around (evidence in each other, singing and crown-of–thorn dancing in the streets. starfish and some photos and story by sea cucumbers)! Wilna Groenenboom As you might have guessed, there is ongoing research on these com- pounds to develop them into sun- screens for humans. So, for those of you who believe sunscreens are for sissies, take a look at the clever work of Mother Nature and think again! Photo & story by id You Know…Corals need sunscreen too? Caren Eckrich D Scientists have recently discovered that corals produce their own natural sun- screens, called MAAs, that protect them from harmful ultraviolet radiation. What is really cool is that these MAAs are thought to be produced and translocated Caren Eckrich teaches Coral Reef Ecology and Scientific Diving to Ameri- into the coral’s tissues by the coral’s symbiotic algae (their zooxanthellae). MAAs can University students at the CIEE Research Station Bonaire. She's also the are found in a wide variety of marine organisms living in shallow environments in- Director of Sea & Discover, a marine education center offering interactive learning programs to kids and adults. You can reach her at 717-5322 □ . cluding blue-green algae, fungi, invertebrates and fishes. It is also hypothesized that Bonaire Reporter - April 13 to April 20, 2007 Page 3 (Flotsam and Jetsam. Continued from page 2) ernment, will win the most votes in the lands Antilles. The current group of stu- minent, the Trinidad Guardian reported April 20 Curaçao Island Council. How- dents will be chaperoned on their trip by Thursday. In a statement to the Guardian ever 34.1% of the interviewees said they Moreno Bellini and his wife, who own Tuesday, a senior RBTT official said, do not know yet who they are going to the airport restaurants. “While it is RBTT’s policy not to com- vote for. ment on market speculation or to disclose Fourteen youngsters telephoned 550 the nature of any commercial discussions, people to do the survey. They recorded I confirm that RBTT has not, I repeat, not that PAR would win 18% of the vote (8 agreed to the sale of the bank or to a seats), followed by MAN with 9.6% (4 merger with any third party.” RBTT has a seats), PNP with 4.7% (2 seats), Pueblo branch on Bonaire. Soberano with 4.3% (2 seats), the De- mocratic Party with 4.1% (2 seats), ► Just when we thought we had it fig- Forsa Kòrsou with 4% (1 seat), NPA with ured out. Both Dutch State Secretary of 2.9% (1 seat). The FOL, Anthony Kingdom Relations Ank Bijleveld- Godett's party, the leader in the last is- Schouten and Justice Minister Ernst land elections, would garner 4% (1 seat). Hirsch Ballin said during last Wednes- If the survey holds for the actual elec- day’s debate in the Dutch Parliament tions, the parties in favor of the final Empty shelves Warehouse photo ► The trend continues. As more people that there is confusion within the Par- statement (Slotverklaring) defining the read in The Reporter that others are tak- liament on the future constitutional breakup of the Antilles will just have a ►Bonaire’s limited seaport facilities ing batteries off Bonaire, more people status for Bonaire, Saba and St. Eusta- majority. became apparent last week when the go to the Carib Inn to help. Here Susan tius. cruise ships calling on the island Urban from New York saves Bonaire They emphasized that, as often said ► In its March 2007 report the Econo- blocked the delivery of cement and from more toxic waste.