I just found out about this newsgroup, and read the now closed thread on the robberies. We were hit July 25th, at 300am, at a house in Belnem (#20 EEG) along with other houses that night. I awoke to a noise, noted my bedroom door to be open as opposed to closed (but not latched) which I thought strange- got up to yell at the teenagers for not being in bed yet- and found instead 5 hooded gentleman in the living room or on the porch. I chased them out of the house and they scattered out of the yard over fences and gate. I wanted to make several comments after reading the other thread:
1- They left finger prints, and the police seemed reasonably adept at their detective work up of our little crime scene.
2- The police report was available in record time and handled in an efficient manner, though our insurance company may have trouble with the Dutch!
3- I bought trip insurance and would recommend it.
4- Please don't deride the folks at Sun Rentals- Jose and Muys and Simone were extremely supportive and helpful, responding to our plight promptly. They had a phone installed in the house that day (we had'nt thought a phone would ever be needed or wanted in paradise!), had the damage repaired that afternoon, replaced the new DVD player they had purchased for our use two days before and was among the items stolen the next day, checked on us constantly, and even offered the services of their dog to guard the place! Jose even provided a written translation of the police report.
5- The thieves have been caught. Muys is in the process of getting some of our stuff back from the police, and will be sending it to us.
6- These boys were brazen teens when doing their thing in the house, but ran as fast as I ever seen, including the fellow who fell trying to get over the fence back into our yard and then literally sprang up and over the fence like levitation. These guys were not the usual US type bad a... thieves- they were scared and wanted no confrontation. They do like chewing gum though!
7- They left our credit cards and drivers license and travellers checks. This makes a real difference from a US robbery where identity theft is as bad as the cash and stuff. We could continue our vacation for another week without any real problems.
8- I sleep on my keys and cash and put the tickets and passports in a safe- I only wish my wife hadn't left her purse out!
9- No sleeping gas was used on me!
All in all this could have been much worse. I feel for the other gentlemen who started the other thread, as they seemed to have fared much worse- however the support we received from every one concerned while there from Sun Rentals to Police to Elvis and Constantino at BWP to people in restaurants etc made the rest our our trip great. The 5 foot Manta I dove with at Angle City my last dive helped too. So I'll be back to Bonaire, I'll rent a house again hopefully right on the water again, and would encourage all those discouraged by this episode to take heart- Bonaire is still a slice of paradise for me!
Michael Pankau MD

So has anybody kept a log of all these robberies in the last six weeks? You say you and other places were hit that night Michael?
BTW, you could have gotten your police report translated in town, in my experience the insurance covered the translation fee.
And good show on kicking those guys out.
He's a kid doctor, but when he takes off those kid gloves he's
Doc Pankau, BAMD

(Message edited by seb on August 12, 2004)

thanks for the posting. sorry to hear it though. we're still going on our first trip in October but with the aid of these postings and the advise from the other threads, we should be o.k. what then is trip insurance? joedawn

I first would like to say that I am sorry for your unfortunate experience but I would also like to thank you for noting the positive improvements in the handling of the situation! The last three posts are showing that the police are responding and doing what they can to help as well as the property owners. I think Bonaire Talk has once again made a very important impact with the officials in Bonaire!

Sounds like the same guys who burglered Neil by the MO. Also it sounds like all the ruckus raised by the locals and BT'ers may have kicked a few deputies into a little more locomotion. Donkey dung does roll down hill and if enough falls on the Governors and Ministers desk....somebody down the line gets chewed on.

Would have enjoyed watching them come into Grendall's yard. She ignored a tile man for 2 weeks untill 1 morning when he walked in to fast. Rather fabulous deep growl...would not stop despite me saying "easy baby" untill he backed back out to the street. After a few minutes he eased back in and she went back to ignoring him.

I love deep voiced dogs...blood hound, blue ticks, walkers, beagles....Grendall has a nice deep means business rumble.

Glad you guys are okay. You stated that they were scared and did not want a confrontation - this is what makes me think that alarms would be the way to go in stand alone houses.

Joe and Dawn-
trip insurance is just that- insurance for your trip, including trip cancellation, trip interruption, baggage and other theft etc. There are several companies offering it- we used TravelSafe, but others are available. If you purchase it within 15 days of getting your tickets, it also insures against airline bankruptcy (eg Delta or United)! Doesn't cover everything though, so read fine print- My wife's new prescription sunglasses she got for this trip were in her purse and they for some reason took them - glasses not insured @$250! Oh well.
Michael

I expect these were the same folks who invaded our house in Belnem at 2:00am on the same morning you were robbed. Perhaps one of the hoods they were wearing was the dive hood they took from my husband. We very much agree with you that Sun Rentals and the Police were most helpful. I discussed our robbery in "Rozelle's trip report July 24th-July 31st" if you want to know the details. Only our son saw them and he chased them and then worried about what would have happened if he had caught them. From your description, it sounds like not much.

Seb: yes, all incidents are logged and of that group that "did" Belnem in that week, most seem to have been caught.
Police reports in english is one of the many recommendations put forward to the Governor.

Marc

"yes, all incidents are logged "

Might I ask where these are logged and how one might get access to the information?

It has really bothered me that these reports are not published and it is just too easy to gloss over them without exposure to the harsh light of day. It has been painfully obvious that they have not been published by the police in their reports to the Reporter. Until the facts are publicly available it is impractical to have accountability both to address the problem and also demonstrate its resolution.

Can you imagine the effect of a report that no tourist has been robbed on Bonaire in the past 6 months would have on your tourism industry?

david

Just a little hint on an alarm. If you are hinkey about someone coming in a door, put an empty beer bottle about 2-3 inches from the bottom leading edge, and then put an empty coke can on top of it. Add a few pebbles to the can if you wish. Anyone opening the door will nock the can off the bottle and it makes a hell of a racket bouncing across a tile floor. With a little thought, you can rig up windows also with stuff at hand.
Will be down the first week of Feb for some diving and snorkeling. We have been around the Carrib., usually renting houses or villas, and like to keep our security in mind.

Ahh Bob, you do give engineering the respect it deserves. A few simple items and a little ingenuity. Great advice! I think you've officially become the McGiver of BT. Thanks. Coach Izzy

David, they are logged for internal use, of course. What good would come from publishing them publically? I don't know of any place in the world that does that. I'll say this again, no offense intended: tourists are guests here, nothing less, but also nothing more. If there is to be accountability, it will be towards the Bonairians themselves, in the way they are represented in stakeholder associations. And *that* process is already taking place.

Great tips for inexpensive security - I'd say a rolled up towel along the bottom of the door might come in handy in case there really is a 'sleeping gas', and a chair leaning up against the door works too for commotion. As for windows, I'm sure 10 minutes and we can all come up with something noisy and effective. A telephone is a necessity though.

Carl

Well, just remember that police and the legal system are before or after the fact. they can prevent crimes beforehand by patrolling or harsh penalties. After the fact, they investigate and hopefully capture and punish. During the "fact", it is you and your own ingenuity regarding protecting your loved ones and your stuff. The easiest way is to not be an easy target. Don't drop your guard just because you are on vacation. Just my two cents.

Police Reports are public records in the U.S. Many newspapers publish the "Police Activity Log on a daily or weekly basis. Local TV covers many,many crime reports every day. Any person may view an incident report and a fee may be charges for a copy of the same.
ATG

Arthur, is correct. In fact, in Orange County where I live, you can access all of the crime reports online!

http://www.ocsd.org/

So yes, these things are available to the public in the United States....

I am glad to see that these last two reports show the police taking some quick action and getting the perpetrators/theives/thugs...

The latest edition of the Bonaire Reporter does reference some of the criminals being detained temporarily but with some being let loose due to no jail space being available. Curacao has refused to house them as they will only take "hard core" criminals such as murderers and the like and not youthful offenders.

This sounds like some of the "revolving door" justice systems in some of our US cities.....

Bonaire is now trying to house these bad guys in temporary quarters and fix up the old jail in Rincon to detain others but apparently they are running out of room.

Action is being taken at this point but there does not seem to be anywhere to detain them for any length of time. Carole

Marc:

I have expressed my views on crime, crime rates and perceptions of safety before -- I will not repeat them here -- but I did want to respond to your post.

Your comments sound similar to the position held by many colleges and universities in the 1990s about crime reports on their campus. They tried to argue that the general public had no legitimate interest in the data and that it was up to them to deal with any issues, not the broader community. They were afraid that if they started reporting the information, students would go to schools that seemed safer (including those that simply glossed over any problem) and that there would be a (very unreasonable) expectation of 100% safety. In the end, they mostly looked they were involved in a big cover-up and left the opposite impression they hoped.

Bonaire has a very legitimate and similar concern -- you compete as a tourist destination with areas that, although their crime problems are much worse, are perceived to be safer. I would argue that Bonaire is much safer than Curacao, Vz, most of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, etc.

Still, how does one know if crime is getting better or worse without making information available to the public? How does one know whether it is worth curtailing another government service to fund more police unless you have comparative incident data? How does the police department decide what time of day, geographic areas, and crimes to target unless they have that data as well? How is an individual citizen (or visitor!) put on notice that extra vigilance is required in their neighborhood?

Where I live, every week, the local paper publishes a "crime map" that shows crimes by category (i.e., assault, burglary, car prowl, etc.) for the last week. That is accompanied by the location (city block), and the time and date of incident.

Besides that we are literally awash in crime stats here: summarized annual crime incidents (by city and statewide, including limited trend and rate information); crime victimization survey (by way of its construction, including incidents that were never reported to police); summarized and detailed disposition information (i.e, conviction and sentencing); individual police and incident reports; and the general area where most serious sex offenders released to the community reside.

While one can argue the utility of that information, it does:
a) Allow the public (citizens, visitors, etc.) to make more informed decisions about where they elect to live, work and recreate (for example, I declined to purchase a house because the area had a regular and serious car prowl problem);
b) It provides information to persons who are considering moving to the general area to make an informed decision;
c) It allows the public to make more informed decisions at election time.

Aside from the TV news (which does tend to create a very skewed sense of risk and trends -- if it bleeds it leads), I think this information is a good thing. All of this said, I agree with you that the governance of Bonaire is a matter for Bonaireans. That includes what information the government elects to disclose.

I also hope that you agree with me that decisions about where potential visitors spend holiday each year is a matter for them to decide. I am a regular visitor and will almost certainly continue to be. But nothing puts me off of a destination sooner than the sense that the appearance of the problem (instead of the problem itself) is being managed. And that has happened in the past -- real change, thankfully, seems to be happening now!

I promise to now put away my soapbox for the weekend.

Carole,

It sounds to me that the very fact that they cannot lock up the offenders creates even more offenders because they know they will not be punished. It is a downward spiral - the more they let go for lack of space the more they create causing an even greater need for space to lock them up.

If they would just find some way to lock them up I believe the problem would get lots better because if there were actual consequences for committing a crime maybe potential thieves would think twice about stealing that first time.

Just my .02

Belinda

Excellent point David. Based on the crime incident info made public on Bonaire Talk we choose to stay at resorts and/or villa complexes versus stand alone houses without alarm systems. We feel this lowers the odds of us being a victim of home invasion and will hopefully help to force homeowners to improve their crime prevention measures (i.e. alarm systems).

David, thanks...couldn't have said it better...

Marc.. As you have indicated ..no offense intended but we have very different viewpoints on this issue...Tourism is the LIFEBLOOD of the present Bonairean economy..
No less & no more. If tourism ever collapsed because of a horrible criminal event the Island of Bonaire together with a majority of business enterprises (including yours) would be in dire straits.. Again, IMHO..

Marc

I have to take real issue with your reply.

1. If YOU do not actually have access to the data how do YOU actually know that it is being logged and not buried?

2. In fact very week in our local paper we get DETAILED accounts of burglaries and any other items on the police blotter. The details ARE a matter of public record and the Chief of police is publicly accountable to the press for the activities of his department. He is also never permitted to hide behind closed doors without answers when such questions arise.

3. As a multiple property owner and tax payer on Bonaire with a significant vested interest are you telling me that I in fact have no business in having access to such data??

I actually believe that the problem is not as major as it is being made out. However the lack of detail, innuendo and misinformation is seriously degrading the credibility of the tourist related businesses, political governance and police services of Bonaire. What is currently taking place sounds yet again as though a big fuss is being made in the hope that it will be glossed over without anything actually being done until it happens yet again and again.

As you can see already in this thread many assumptions are being made about various reports without precise data. What good would come from public access to the facts?? Surely it is obvious... reality would be apparent not only to tourists but also to the businesses, property owners and citizens of Bonaire. They have a right to this knowledge and also to hold both elected officials and appointed administrators accountable.

In fact in the rest of the world this is called democracy!! It is surely time for open accountable administration to exist on Bonaire.

My question remains if this information is logged, where and how does one access it??

david

In response to #2 - it is illegal on Bonaire for the police and prosecutor to give out certain details pertaining to a crime until the criminal has been prosecuted. Exactly where the line is drawn I'm not entirely sure. Fact is stranger than fiction.

And yes, they do release crime statistics about once per year with breakdowns by type of crime, neighborhood, hotel/apartment/house, even type of victim (tourist or resident), etc. It is not possible to go to the police station and get current statistics from the desk officer. I don't think any police station worldwide would have these on hand at a drop of a hat. They have too much work to do to compile theft rates daily. My suggestion would be to either contact TCB or the Lt. Governer's office requesting the last published stats. Another option would be the newspapers which is where I've seen this info printed before. Other options are the business associations who have been fighting the battle too like AKIB, BONHATA, and BHG.

In some ways, you are correct you can't be 100% sure the police/government is reporting back all the crimes to the public. This could easily be said about anywhere. Coverups are discovered worldwide so as a possibility sure, as likely here - IMHO - I don't think so.

What I do think is happening here is that petty thefts like missing Ts and flip-flops, etc are being drastically under-reported. A tourist loses their T at a dive site and let's face it - who wants to spend hours in the police station for that? What kind of idiot are the police going to think I am if I report someone stole my $10 T-shirt? Totally agree on that but the kid that took the T today, takes the camera tomorrow. I think a pattern of thefts particularly at dive sites would be easier for the police to spot if all such thefts were reported.

And what is worse it that kid stealing the T today is on the road to worse things unless someone can get to that kid and change their outlook. The worst thing for young offenders is getting sent home after a conviction because there is no program to keep them off-the-street in a constructive, positive way. They go home to the same problems, same attitudes except now they got away with something. They are cool. The police are powerless to stop them. They get arrested and they are back out on the street in 24 hours. And now the Curacao prison says they won't take criminals from Bonaire because ours are not murders and the prison in Curacao is too full. Crazy to have a convicted and sentenced criminal basically walking free without any punishment or community service because the prison was overcrowded.

Sorry for the rant

It was a good rant, Linda. Thanks for jumping into the murky waters with us. Carole

(Message edited by Carole on August 15, 2004)

Linda

In the States as you know it is also not possible to release some specifics of crimes. It is pretty routine though to specify the type of crime and location. I find it quite disquieting that there appears to be an ongoing disparity between the reports on this list and when we meet people on the island to what the police are apparently providing to the Reporter.

While I would not take issue with the concept of escalating behaviour patterns I must admit that in terms of seriousness there seems to be a major difference between tracking tshirts missing from open vehicles and tracking masked intruders of private residences and resorts.

I find it hard to believe that the actual crime statistics are not available on the island and if published would certainly demonstrate that possibly either this problem is not increasing or perhaps not being accurately reported or addressed. Surely before any solution is proscribed the problem must be defined so the result of any future action or inaction can be measured. In most jurisdictions the police are proud to release this information to illustrate their value to the community and avoid the potential innuendos and criticism that seem to be occuring.

david

Readers might find it interesting:

http://www.central-bureau-of-statistics.an/justice/justice_w2.asp

On this site the figures for Curacao and St Maarten are current thru 2000..... Bonaire information seems to have dried up a couple of years earlier.

What you are used to at home is NOT always better! The Dutch system differs a lot from the US system and you can't apply things that (seem to?) work in the US to a non-US system. I guess a great part of the holiday experience is about being in another culture, so don't try to change something you don't like to somehing you're used to! This problem needs to be solved, but it's a local problem and local solutions should be found.
Just my 2 cents.

David,
What I was trying to say is that a lot less information is allowed to be released to the public than what people in the USA are used to. It is part of the system and not a choice made by the police and prosecutor. This not a simple issue like withholding the name of a rape victim. It is much more extensive covering many aspects of a crime.

Igor, you are 100% right. You have to understand the legal system in its entirety in order to make changes for the better. I don't understand it but I do know that due to budget issues both on Bonaire and in Curacao with the central government that adult criminals are not serving their sentences as the judges have determined them. Again budget issues are preventing youths from receiving appropriate sentences and/or rehab programs that Bonaire laws do allow. So I'm not suggesting we change the system. The politicians need to get the existing system working as it is intended to following the laws as they are. For those of us living on Bonaire, mainly we can support the non-profit groups that are providing programs for the youth like Jong Bonaire - teenager afterschool program, the foster care system through Maria Hoppner Foundation, and even Wowo di Bario which trains locals with job skills in the security field.

-------------------------------------------------
Bonaire is now trying to house these bad guys in temporary quarters and fix up the old jail in Rincon to detain others but apparently they are running out of room.
-------------------------------------------------

Send them to Holland.

It would be so helpful if Americans stop trying to compare Bonaire to the US...

BTW, Democracy is electing officials to govern a country and trusting them to do so. NOT letting everyone have their say in every matter, because then nothing gets done at all.

Actually, a true democracy is one in which everyone has a say in everything, but as you say, nothing would get accomplished in a true democracy.

Most so-called democracies are actual representational democracies where some or all of a populace votes for a party and/or individual to represent them in voting on everything. In Bonaire and the Antilles and in Holland, popular votes go to a political party, while in the U.S. they go to an individual (although voters may vote the party line). However, that doesn't change the fact that both Bonaire and the U.S. operate as representational democracies.

Where the difference lies, Marc, is that the constitutions of various countries convey certain rights to its people. The U.S. constitution is much more liberal than that of Bonaire/Antilles, and has been interpreted by the courts to also require various pieces of official information to be accessible to the public because it is in the interest of the public. The Antillean constitution, modeled after various European constitutions places a higher value on individual privacy than the U.S. constitution does (something most of my fellow Americans may not know). For example, it used to be that you could not send junk mail to folks in various European country without them explicitly giving you permission, for privacy reasons (I don't know if that's changed in recent years).

Anyhow - just a clarification/correction of what Marc said.

Although, as a Bonaire resident, I would be very pleased to see the Bonaire government (and police and prosecutor) issue regular public updates on its efforts to combat crime and deal with crime issues instead of leaving it to speculation, rumor, and interpretation of short news items gleaned by various Bonaire papers.

Jake

The only reason I'm comparing to the US is so that US visitors remember it is not the US. They forget, or assume the laws are similar. So while Americans may think the Bonaire government is hiding the crimes. They are not. They are following the letter of the law and correctly so.

Another item that is often misunderstood is the government on Bonaire, the central government and Bonaire's relationship to Holland and the Dutch Kingdom. A lot of Americans assume, incorrectly, that Bonaire has the same powers as a US state to the federal government and this is not so. The relationship is entirely different in many, many ways. So when people start making suggestions or even demands for changes that don't even blame the right bit of government for the situation.

The bottom line here is that crime continues to be a problem on this island. The island may be a diver's paradise but on land, the poor people have to resort to theft. So on land, it is not a paradise for the poor. The poor need work and a means to decent living. The government does not seem to have the resources to fix common basic societal problems. Where all the tourist $$s go is beyong me.

The poor ARE Desperate. The poor need work and a means to decent living. I think what they are doing only hurts themselves and their country. So in no way are the thieves justified. Theft always is where poverty exist. Until poverty is taken care of, these problems will exist not only in Bonaire but all around the globe.

Marc:

The reason I brought up US comparisons was because of two comments you made: "What good would come from publishing them [crime incidents] publically?" My response was designed to answer your question by showing that they can add value. I picked the example I was very familiar with (from my work).

Next you said, "I don't know of any place in the world that does that." My response was designed to show that there are, indeed, places in the world that do that.

I think comparisons to other political jurisdictions (including the US) can be helpful -- a fact most political scientists would agree with.

That said, it is always important to remember that: a) comparisons work both directions and should not be limited to just one other country; b) what works well in one place might only make things worse in another for a variety of factors (cultural, economic, political, financial); and c) each sovereign political entity is, by definition, responsible for its own political affairs.

I agree with Marc, at least after clarification by Jake, that both the US and NA are representative democracies (albeit with many, many, differences). In fact, where I live, if you can get enough citizens signatures on a proposed law (initiative) the people, at the next election, get to directly decide the issue as a ballot question. In another month, voters will get to directly decide on five (fairly major) issues. See: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/initiatives/signatures.aspx . So there is some direct democracy as well -- and this process varies state to state (and many states do not have it at all).

Dave

Reza:

I will leave the poverty/crime connections to the sociologists and to those most familiar with the Bonairean employment picture.

That said, I feel like I should point out that poverty is neither a necessary or sufficient condition for theft. Not all thieves live in anything approaching poverty (be they selected Enron officers or the teen from a well to do family who shoplifts); and b) Not all persons living in poverty resort to crime.

Has not money already been spent to upgrade the present cell block at the Bonaire police station?
Did they not build a new maximum security facility and a new juvenile detention wing at Koraal Specht prison on Curacao?
ATG

1) According to the Bonaire Reporter, an inmate set a mattress on fire, and the resulting blaze closed the Bonaire jail until future notice (October opening is what the paper said).

2) Koraal Specht doesn't exist, and hasn't for years. The jail of that name had its name changed to "Bon Futuro" (Good Future) some years ago as a PR effort to overcome the negative publicity of a number of prisoner escapes. The name change didn't help and the escapes continued, mind you. No idea about a juvenile detention wing.

Jake

About two weeks ago, the Bonaire Reporter had an article about $1.5 million sent by Holland for police, etc., services on Bonaire, sent by the Dutch to the Antilles central government in Curacao FFT to Bonaire, in spite of pleas by the Bonaire island officials for direct transfer. At that time the money was still in Curacao (and I am assuming it still is with no further news in last week's BR).

Another difference from the US, another problem for the hard working Bonaire officials and people.

Back 2000/2001 the prison was done over and 146 new cells added for a total of about 700 cells, a new juvenile wing was added (30 new beds) and the Rio Carario Police Detention Facility added 20 new cells for drug offenders. It is said that the Dutch Govt. kicked 30-35 million dollars for the prison construction,1 year of ongoing staff trainging/retraining and a 1 year program of professional prison management.
ATG

I agree with David above. I did not mean to indicate otherwise if it went thru like that. My point was that people need meaningful jobs. Clearly as David stated, crime and poverty may not necessarily go hand in hand.

I always wish the best for all the Bonairians.

Above the inferences are invited that there is significant 'poverty' on Bonaire and that that contributes to the crime we are talking of. Evidence of either????

Didn't mean to offend anyone, and Linda, I certainly didn't mean you . I just feel that in discussions like these, every line that starts with "In the US..." or even "In Holland..." is per definition meaningless, because this island is not (part of) the US or Holland. You have to take into account our political system, financial situation, mentality and level of education of the people, geographical position... We have a hard enough time as it is explaining us to ourselves, let alone to "outsiders". Also, we are not so backward that we don't know how things get done in other countries. But that doesn't mean we can simply copy/paste that to Bonaire. Or want to.

Jake, FYI and while you were away, the Lt. Governor has been having exactly those kind of meetings with barios and stakeholder groups, explaining to them what is being done, what not and why, and how the people can help.
Given what I know of the people arrested, I doubt that true poverty has anything to do with it; rather, a matter of haves and havenots and therefore, mentality.

The Lt. Gov also spoke at Rotary on the 3rd about the crime issue. Seems genuinely interested in actually doing something. Although I'm not sure I would agree with some of his positions on how to do it. He made an issue of people parking where ever they want. Like enforcing parking would be a good start.??

It may sound like a minor thing, but if you have a chance, read Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point". He describes in there how Guiliani started fixing crime in New York by preventing people from avoiding paying for the subway. Interesting study in causality. I think he referred to it as the "broken window" effect - if a neighborhood has one broken window, and it's left broken, likely others will get broken, and so on, at an ever increasing rate, ultimately turning the neighborhood into a ghetto and high crime area. The idea is that if people accept broken windows (or in Bonaire's case, illegal parking) as the norm, it leads to more disrespect and ignorance of laws and the value of others' property (and rights). In other words, it's quite possible that curbing illegal parking, speeding, loitering, etc. would help cut down on petty crime, because people would realize there are rules and laws that must be followed.

Marc - Belnem is not a bario, and I'm not in a stakeholder group, so what you indicated the Gezag is doing doesn't do much for me in terms of information dissemination. Doesn't help owners of homes in Hato, Sabadeco, Republiek, Santa Barbara, etc. either, as they are not officially barios. Perhaps an in-depth interview published in the Bonaire Reporter (and maybe public responses to letters to the Governor published there too?) would take care of addressing a fair number of residents in these non-bario areas?

I would think also, however much you disagree, that repeat visitors to Bonaire are a stakeholder group too. Especially as a fair number of these either own property on Bonaire, or at least have considered (and are still considering) buying property on Bonaire.

Jake

Marc

I also have been trying very hard not to offend anyone or even to compare Bonaire with anywhere else or to profer over simplified solutions. I do own property on the island and anticipate the opportunity to spend much more time there in the future than I do now. I am just very interested in EXACTLY what is going on and how the future develops. Without valid statistcs it is impossible to determine this. The numbers ARE available for the rest of the Netherland Antilles and in fact should be available for Bonaire. There is even an agency setup to diseminate them for this very reason:

CENTRAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS BONAIRE

Kaya Governador Debrot 44
Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles
Tel.: (599-7) 178676
Fax: (599-7) 178406
Email: cbs.bon@telbonet.

It is unfortunate that the information is not easily available because it certainly creates the appearance that they are hiding something. It would be truly revealing if in fact the numbers showed that there was not a major change which is probably actually the situation. My concern is that the Bonaireans have a right to this information in order to be able to make valid decisions regarding their own destiny. In actuallity do the elected officials have access to them as instruments of their people?

david

I would add 'every visitor, repeat or first time,' to Jake's list of stakeholders, since all are potential crime victims per these discussions. In a sense, they are better represented than individual property owners since the travel industry on the island has their interests at heart and can represent them as a group. 'Individual owners, arise and organize';