Newsletter April-May 2017
In this newsletter: the Union Council spring meeting was very successful; Unkobon helps with wrongfully accelerated collection of ground lease bills; possibilities for consumers to produce their own energy; guaranteed bank balance and the updated agreement with WEB.
Union Council Spring meeting
The meeting, open to all members, was held on April 22. The gathering enabled members to strengthen their mutual bond and their ties with the association.
Points of discussion during this meeting were the Evaluation document (Dutch only), which describes Unkobon's most important activities in 2016, and the annual account 2016, which describes the financial course of events. There was a fruitful exchange of opinions among the members about a desirable future (Dutch only) for Unkobon. The members present provided the board with useful suggestions, which will definitely be followed up.
All members appreciated the extent of work done by the volunteers and participated in the meeting by putting up various matters for discussion under any other business. After the meeting there was time to chat with some drinks and bites. All in all it was a big success.
Land lease
For most people with long lease ground the land rent (yearly contribution) has increased considerably since 2011. In a lot of cases it is doubtful whether those increases were legal. During 2015 and 2016 , through talks and letters, Unkobon has been suggesting to the Executive Council to jointly request an independent court judgement. Despite several urgent requests -even by the National Ombudsman- the Executive Council has not to date formally responded to our proposal.
Recently the media has been reporting that the local government of Bonaire will be tightening the screws on home owners who owe land lease back payments. Unkobon would like to know whether the Public Entity Bonaire will also be demanding payment of the controversial increases instead of trying to solve the issue in cooperating with Unkobon. Members who have leased land can still request information/help at: .
Solar Energy
A Unkobon working group has started to look into the possibilities of making it possible for members (and other consumers ) to participate in the advantages of new developments such as solar energy. We have the impression that households could save a lot on their energy expenses. Bonaire is very much behind as far as solar panels and wind mills generating energy at home is concerned. Unkobon and other parties are discussing the possibilities of jointly purchasing solar panels, financing by banks for target groups, and the possibilities of PPA’s (power purchase agreements) in larger projects.
System of Guaranteed Deposit
In the European part of the Netherlands (savings)accounts with a bank ( deposits) are guaranteed up to an amount of €100.000 per person per bank. Should a bank go bankrupt, an account holder will not lose their money if their deposit is less than the guaranteed amount. In the Caribbean part of the Netherlands there is no such protection mechanism in place.
A bill has been put forward that outlines a guaranteed deposit system for the BES islands. 80% of the bank deposits should be completely covered by it. The proposed guaranteed amount is set for up to $6.000 per account holder. The Unkobon working group on finances is of the opinion that $6.000 is far too low an amount and would like to know what the members think of this proposal. Members can react before May 10, 2017 via .
Agreement with WEB renewed
On 13 March Unkobon and WEB boards of directors signed an updated agreement, which details collaboration between both organisations for the coming years. You may access the agreement here on Unkobon's website.
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