State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation Alexandra van Huffelen on her way to the Kingdom Council of Ministers in The Hague. (File photo Suzanne Koelega)
THE HAGUE--Dutch State Secretary for Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation Alexandra van Huffelen will be in St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba next week from Tuesday until Friday.
The state secretary will start her visit in Bonaire this Sunday, and will subsequently visit Saba next week Tuesday and Wednesday. Next week Thursday, she will be in St. Eustatius and on Friday in St. Maarten, before returning to the Netherlands that same evening.
In St. Maarten, Van Huffelen will meet with St. Maarten Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs. She will attend a meeting with the governors of the three Dutch Caribbean countries, Governor of St. Maarten Ajamu Baly, Lucille George-Wout of Curaçao and Alfonso Boekhoudt of Aruba. Also on the programme is a meeting with Chief Prosecutor Hieke Vriezen-Buist.
In Saba, Van Huffelen will meet with the recently installed Island Council and the new Executive Council. Also scheduled is a meeting with the Saba Business Association and a roundtable meeting with stakeholders, including the Saba University School of Medicine, Saba Cares and the private sector. The subject of the roundtable is the opportunities of digitalisation, now and in the future.
In St. Eustatius too, the state secretary will meet with the recently installed Island Council and the new Executive Council. In St Eustatius, a similar roundtable meeting will take place with stakeholders to discuss the challenges and benefits of digitalisation and how it can affect daily life. Van Huffelen will furthermore speak with the Roaming Animals Project Team and with goat owners.
The state secretary starts her visit in Bonaire where she will meet the new Island Council and Executive Council. Visits are planned to the Regional Information and Expertise Centre (RIEC) Caribbean Netherlands, the foundation that runs the local food bank, the housing foundation Fundashon Cas Boneriano (FCB), farmers and businesses in the agricultural sector.
Van Huffelen will also visit the recently opened call center of the public entity Bonaire to improve service of government to residents. On Tuesday morning, she will officially open the three-day workshop with participants from throughout the Kingdom about European funding and how to make better use of these funds.
