Government Commissioner Marnix van Rij and Deputy Government Commissioner Alida Francis.
- EUSTATIUS--Deputy Government Commissioner Alida Francis said recently that the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science OCW has teamed up with St. Eustatius telephone company Eutel to make Dutch Channel BVN available to Statia so that students can keep up-to-date with their Dutch language practice.
The service will be available to Statia and other Dutch-speaking islands in the Caribbean. In Statia, it will be available via Eutel.
To make this a reality, Eutel has collaborated with Airlink TT to provide the channel to the Statia community. BVN is now available to EU-TV subscribers on Channel 210.
Francis said that, taking into account that not all houses in Statia have an EU-TV subscription from Eutel, provisions have been made for children to have access to BVN to benefit their education. Therefore, in collaboration with OCW and Eutel, a link has been provided for NOS TV Bonaire. Persons can log on via the link to access educational programmes via the BVN channel.
Persons who do not have an EU-TV subscription can click on link
www.nostvbonaire.com/live/ for access. The link can also be found on Eutel’s Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/eutelnv/.
Touching on Labour Day, observed on May 1, Francis said this day is a commemoration of the achievements of the labour movements and labour.
“Here on our beautiful island … the public entity of St. Eustatius and the private sector will stand still and also will also stand alongside their workers, allowing them the opportunity to celebrate the significance of this day. If ever there was a time that workers need to be given full appreciation, it is now. These are unusual times that call for well-thought-out approaches, innovative strategies, co-responsibility and most importantly, cooperation,” she had said prior to Labour Day.
“This is the only way we can get through the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending global economic crisis.”
Statia and communities around the world are experiencing major changes to work, the workforce and workplaces during the COVID-19 crisis. Francis urged businesses and their employees to make use of the opportunity now to plan and rethink the way they will do business now and in the future. This, in many instances, will require that investments be made to upgrade and improve the skills of workers after the pandemic.
“Adapting the workplace and implementing protocols in order to provide quality customer service while maintaining social distance are areas that businesses need to expand upon further in this area,” Francis said.
She highlighted the island’s local supermarket, Golden Rock Pharmacy and Queen Beatrix Medical Centre where some of these adaptations have already taken place. “This Labour Day, we celebrate under very difficult circumstances: the public sector and the private sector worry about the economic impact and workers are concerned about job and income security,” she said at the time.
Fortunately, in Statia the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour has rolled out an emergency package, and there are also additional measures from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate, and last week the Ministry of Interior Affairs and Kingdom Relations added some reductions to the cost of electricity and Internet service, Francis said.
Jointly these measures will provide some relief for entrepreneurs, farmers, fishermen, the self-employed and consumers. These measures are being implemented with the objective that employers retain staff.
“As challenging as these times may be for St. Eustatius, each day Government Commissioner Marnix van Rij and I, along with civil servants and all relevant stakeholders, see opportunities amidst this crisis and work together to explore these in the best interest of Statia and its inhabitants. Thus far, one thing that has been proven is that by working together we can achieve more,” Francis said.
