State Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen during her visit to the Saba Electric Company power plant on February 23.
THE HAGUE--The Dutch government decided on Friday to make five million euros available to help mitigate the effect of the steeply rising energy prices in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba.
Dutch State Secretary of Kingdom Relations and Digitisation Alexandra van Huffelen made the announcement after Friday’s Council of Ministers meeting. The additional funds are part of a total package of measures in the Netherlands to compensate people in these times of rising energy prices and inflation.
Van Huffelen will consult with the governments of Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba on how exactly to deploy the compensation. She explained that a tailormade measure is needed for the three islands, because the mechanisms there are different than in the Netherlands.
“Point of departure for the implementation of the additional means is to give low-income residents of the islands compensation for the rising cost of living,” said Van Huffelen. The additional five million euros comes on top of the 30 million euros the new Dutch government has allocated to combat poverty and to raise the free allowance.
The 30 million euros is a structural addition for the Caribbean Netherlands and is currently being worked out to be presented in the Spring Memorandum, the amended budget. The five million euros that are now being made available to compensate the high energy prices serve to absorb the first blows for people with the smallest incomes on the islands, Van Huffelen said.
