Saba Island Tourism
Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:05:28 +0000
PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME:
Netherlands Antilles
Geography
Area: 960 sq. km. (597 sq. mi.); more than five times the size of Washington, DC; five islands divided geographically into the Windward Islands (northern) group (Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten) and the Leeward Islands (southern) group (Bonaire and Curaçao).
Cities: Capital--Willemstad (metropolitan).
Islands: Curaçao (pop. 137,094) Sint Maarten (38,959), Bonaire (11,537), Sint Eustatius (2,699), Saba (1,491).
Terrain: Generally hilly, volcanic interiors.
Climate: Tropical; ameliorated by northeast trade winds.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Dutch Antillean(s).
Population (2009): 227,049.
Annual growth rate (2009): 0.73%.
Ethnic groups: Mixed black 85%, other 15% (mixed Latin American, white, East Asian).
Religions: Roman Catholic (72%), Pentecostal (4.9%), Protestant (3.5 %), Seventh-Day Adventist (3.1%), Jehovah’s Witness (1.7%), other Christian (4.2%), Jewish (1.3%), other (1.2%), none (5.2%).
Languages: Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish-Portuguese-Dutch-English dialect) predominates, English is widely spoken, Spanish.
Education: Literacy--96.7% Curaçao; 96.3% Netherlands Antilles (2003).
Health: Infant mortality rate--9.1 deaths/1,000 live births; 14.19 live births per 1,000 women 15 to 44 years old. Life expectancy--female, 79.1 yrs.; male, 74.3 yrs.
Work force (83,600; 2005): Agriculture--1%; industry--15%; services--84%.
Government
Type: Parliamentary.
Independence: Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Constitution: December 1954, Statute of the Realm of the Netherlands, as amended.
Branches: Executive--monarch represented by a governor-general (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), Cabinet. Legislative--unicameral parliament. Judicial--Joint High Court of Justice appointed by the monarch.
Subdivisions are by island: Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Curaçao.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.
Political parties:
Curaçao:
Partido Antia Restruktura (PAR); Frente Obrero Liberashon 30 di Mei (FOL); MAN; Partido Nashonal di Pueblo (PNP); Forsa Korsou; Niun Paso Atras (NPA); Partido Laboral Krusado Popular (PLKP); Pueblo Soberano; Partido Democraat (DP); Un Pueblo Nobo; Moviemenu Social Laboral (MSL); Curacao Nobo Nobo (CNN); Partido Adelanto Korsou (PAK); Vota Kontra; Geen Stap Terug (GST); Movementu Patriotiko Korsou (MPK); Socialistise Party Antilliaanse Nederlanders (SPAN); BanVota; PAPPS; E Mayoria; ModPOR; Akshon Pro Independensha; Partido Trafiko Sigur (PTS); Lista Patriotiko Korsou (LPK); P-100.
St. Maarten:
St. Maarten Democratic Party (DP--St. Maarten); National Democratic Party (NDP); National Alliance (NA) (note: the National Alliance is a joint effort by the St. Maarten Patriotic Alliance and National Progressive Party); St. Maarten People's Party (SMPP); People's Progressive Alliance (PPA); United People's Labor Party (UPLP).
Bonaire:
Bonaire Democratic Party (DP--Bonaire); Patriotic Union of Bonaire (UPB); Bonaire Social Party (PABOSO); New Labor Party of Bonaire (POB).
St. Eustatius:
St. Eustatius Democratic Party (DP--St. Eustatius); St. Eustatius Alliance (SEA); People's Labor Party (PLP).
Saba:
Saba Labor Party (SLP); Windward Islands People's Movement (WIPM).
Economy (2005)
GDP: $3.3 billion.
Real growth rate: 1.2%.
GDP per capita: $17,800.
Natural resources: Beaches and offshore diving sites.
Tourism/services (84% of GDP): Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire.
Industry (15% of GDP): Types--petroleum refining (Curaçao), petroleum transshipment facilities (Curaçao and Bonaire), light manufacturing (Curaçao).
Agriculture (1% of GDP): Products--aloes, sorghum, peanuts, vegetables, tropical fruit.
Trade: Exports ($3.71 billion)--petroleum products. Major markets--U.S. 18.9%, Mexico 13.3%, Panama 11.4%, Singapore 6.9%, Haiti 6.6%, The Bahamas 5.3%. Imports ($15.74 billion)--machinery and electrical equipment, crude oil (for refining and re-export), chemicals, foodstuffs. Major suppliers--Venezuela 59.1%, U.S. 17.7%, Brazil 7.1%.
Exchange rate (2005): U.S.$1=1.78 ANG (fixed).
PEOPLE AND HISTORY
Curaçao
The Arawaks are recognized as the first human civilization to inhabit the Netherlands Antilles. A Spanish expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda claimed the island of Curaçao for Spain in 1499 and it remained under Spanish rule until the Dutch took control in 1634. Curaçao was a strategically important point for Dutch military advances against the Spanish and as the center of the Caribbean slave trade. Curaçao became the seat of the Netherlands Antilles Government in 1954.
Bonaire
With origins similar to Curaçao, Bonaire was captured by the Dutch in 1634, and was a granary for the Dutch East Indian Company until 1791, when the government reclaimed control.
Sint Eustatius
The first settlement in Sint Eustatius was established in 1636 and changed hands between the Dutch, French, and Spanish 22 times in its history. In the 18th century the island became a duty-free port for overburdened colonizers shipping back to the homeland, which propelled it into a major port with rapid population growth that lost momentum after the American-British peace treaty in 1783.
Saba
Columbus was the first to sight Saba, but it was the Dutch who colonized the island in 1640 with a party from Sint Eustatius. Because of its difficult terrain, the island's growth progressed slowly, and it remains the least populated island in the Dutch Kingdom.
Sint Maarten
The Dutch were the first to colonize Sint Maarten in 1631, but within 2 years the Spanish invaded and evacuated the settlers. The Dutch failed in an attempt to regain the island in 1644, but 4 years later the Spanish abandoned the island of their own accord. In 1648 the island was divided between the Dutch and the French; however, complete control of the island was seized numerous times in a series of conflicts. The British became involved as well, taking power for 6-year and 10-year stints. Finally, in 1817, the current partition line between Dutch and French was established. The island flourished under a slave-based plantation economy and the exportation of salt until abolition of slavery in 1863.
Unification
In 1845 the Dutch Windward islands united with Curaçao, Bonaire, and Aruba in a political unit. The abolition of slavery hurt the islands' economy until the 20th century, when oil was discovered off the shores of Venezuela and a refinery was established on Curaçao. In addition, during the same period, an offshore financial sector was created to serve Dutch business interests. Since 1945, the federation of the Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten), which is a constituent part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, has been semi-autonomous in most internal affairs. The Kingdom retains authority over foreign affairs, defense, final judicial review, and "Kingdom matters" including human rights and good governance. Aruba was part of this federation until January 1, 1986, when it gained status apart within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
About 85% of Curacao's population is of African derivation. The remaining 15% is made up of various races and nationalities, including Dutch, Portuguese, North Americans, natives from other Caribbean islands, Latin Americans, Sephardic Jews, Lebanese, and Asians. Roman Catholicism predominates, but several other religions are represented, which include Anglican, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Mormon, Baptist, Islam, and Hindu. The Jewish community is the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, dating back to 1634. While faltering economic conditions caused the Netherlands Antilles to experience high rates of migration by citizens to the Netherlands from 1998-2002, this trend has largely been reversed in recent years.
GOVERNMENT
Current political relations between the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba stem from 1954 and are based on the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a voluntary arrangement between the Netherlands, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles. At the time, the Charter represented an end to colonial relations and the acceptance of a new legal system in which each nation would look after their own interests independently, look after their common interests on the basis of equality and provide each other with mutual assistance. In 1975, Suriname left the Kingdom's political alliance. Since 1986, Aruba has had separate status within the Kingdom and is no longer part of the Netherlands Antilles. The Netherlands Antilles enjoys semi-autonomy on most internal matters and defers to the Kingdom of the Netherlands in matters of defense, foreign policy, final judicial review, human rights, and good governance.
The Antilles is governed by a popularly elected unicameral "Staten" (parliament) of 22 members. It chooses a prime minister (called minister president) and a Council of Ministers, consisting of six to eight other ministers. A governor, who serves a 6-year term, represents the monarch of the Netherlands. Local government is assigned authority independently on each island. Under the direction of a kingdom-appointed island governor, these local governments have a "Bestuurscollege" (administrative body) made up of commissioners who head the separate governmental departments.
Principal Government Officials
Governor General--Frits M. d. l. S. Goedgedrag
Prime Minister--Emily S. de Jongh-Elhage
Deputy Prime Minister--Ersilia T.M. de Lannooy
Minister of Constitutional and Interior Affairs--Roland Duncan
Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports--Omayra V.E. Leeflang
Minister of Finance--Ersilia T.M. de Lannooy
Minister of General Affairs and Foreign Relations--Emily S. de Jongh-Elhage
Minister of Economic Affairs and Labor--Hubert Martis
Minister of Public Health and Social Development--Omayra V.E. Leeflang
Minister of Justice--Magali Jacoba
Minister of Transportation and Telecommunication--Maurice H.P.P. Adriaens
Minister Plenipotentiary to The Hague--Marcel van der Plank
Minister Plenipotentiary to Washington, DC--Norberto V. Ribeiro
Director, Bank of the Netherlands Antilles--Emsley D. Tromp
Attorney General--Dick A. Piar
POLITICAL CONDITIONS
In the parliamentary elections of January 27, 2006, the Antillean Restructuring Party (PAR) gained 5 of the 14 seats available in Curaçao, an increase of one seat from the 2002 elections. The PAR had emphasized unity in its electoral campaign with its popular new leader Emily de Jongh-Elhage. Former Prime Minister Etienne Ys had earlier stepped down as party leader. The Workers' Liberation Front (FOL) emerged with only 2 seats (5 seats in 2002), while the Labor Party People's Crusade (PLKP) did not get sufficient votes for a single seat (2 seats in 2002). A coalition government was formed by the PAR, together with the National People's Party (PNP), St. Maarten's Democratic Party (DP--St. Maarten) and National Alliance (NA), and Bonaire's Patriotic Union of Bonaire (UPB).
Voters in the Netherlands Antilles have opted to dismantle the Netherlands Antilles and create new structures between the various islands and the Kingdom. St. Maarten and Curacao have opted for an autonomous country status within the Kingdom similar to Aruba's status. Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Bonaire have opted for closer ties to the Netherlands. The target date for implementing these changes is 2010-2011, but it is unclear if the target will be met.
Drug smuggling by means of swallowing narcotics packets and boarding flights was a major issue for the Netherlands Antilles, but has been significantly reduced through intensive cooperation among Dutch and Antillean law enforcement authorities.
ECONOMY
Tourism and the financial services sector have been the mainstays of the Netherlands Antilles' economy since the 1970s. The Central Bank reported that the economy of the Netherlands Antilles became somewhat stronger during 2006, backed by positive developments in the private and public sectors, led by the construction, wholesale and retail, and financial services sectors. The higher economic activities did translate into more jobs, as the unemployment rate fell to 14.7% in 2006. Inflationary pressures were up in 2006 as the annualized inflation rate soared to 3.4%, largely fueled by higher world oil prices. The islands' public finances are characterized by structurally high deficits and a high and rising debt ratio and as a result, interest payments absorb an increasing part of revenues. Overall, the islands enjoy a high per-capita income and a well-developed infrastructure compared with other countries in the region.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Netherlands Antilles conducts foreign affairs primarily through the Dutch Government. However, the Netherlands Antilles recently has strengthened its relations with other Caribbean governments. It has been granted observer status at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and in December 1998, signed an agreement with the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) that made the Netherlands Antilles an associate member.
U.S.-NETHERLANDS ANTILLES RELATIONS
The United States maintains positive relations with the Netherlands Antilles and works cooperatively to combat narco-trafficking.
Principal U.S. Officials
Consul General--Timothy J. Dunn
Vice Consul--James E. Hogan
Management Officer--Donald Feeney
The U.S. Consulate General for Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles is located at J.B. Gorsiraweg #1, Willemstad, Curaçao; tel. 599-9-461-3066, fax: 599-9-461-6489; Monday-Friday, 8:00 am-5:00 pm. Email: acscuracao@state.gov
Other Contact Information
U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
Trade Information Center
14th and Constitution, NW
Washington, DC 20230
Tel: 1-800-USA-TRADE
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For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Alerts, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov. For additional information on international travel, see http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
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Further Electronic Information
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The war continued to have a major affect on the lives of locals including the forced internment of Japanese Canadians.
By Chuck Davis, The History of Vancouver
Photos courtesy of Vancouver Archives
Expulsion of the Japanese
1942 began on a solemn note when, on January 14, the Canadian government invoked the War Measures Act. Ottawa announced that all Japanese—Canadian-born or otherwise—would be removed from the west coast to government camps. The Pearl Harbor attack had spooked people all along the Pacific coast of North America, and there were rumors that collaborators might be lurking within Japanese-owned fishing boats in Steveston. On February 26 all British Columbia’s Japanese were ordered interned, and in March Exhibition Park in Vancouver became an internment camp. It was closed to the public and turned into a “processing centre” for more than 8,000 Japanese Canadians. (After they left Hastings Park would serve as a military facility until 1946 when it would be renamed “Exhibition Park.”)
Soon Japanese- Canadians began to be moved from the west coast to camps in the interior and points east. The government “took into custody” 1,337 of their fishboats, as well as houses and other property. The owners received little or no compensation. Other businesses, radios, cameras and cars were also confiscated. Japanese-language newspapers were suppressed and language schools were closed. Steveston, home to many people of Japanese descent, was particularly hard hit.
A light in a Stanley Park monument built to honour Japanese-Canadian soldiers who had fought bravely and with high casualties for Canada in the First World War was switched off December 8. That monument, surrounded by cherry trees, was a tribute to 196 Japanese-Canadians who had volunteered to fight for Canada. At Vimy Ridge, fought over four days in April, 1917, one of them, Sergeant Masumi Mitsui of Port Coquitlam, led his troop into battle with such distinction that he was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery. Of those 196 volunteers, 145 were killed or wounded. Now, 25 years later, Mitsui was so enraged by the expulsion order he threw his medals down onto the desk of the confiscating officer. His family was moved from their seven-hectare Port Coquitlam chicken farm and new house to an internment camp in Greenwood, northwest of Grand Forks. The monument’s flame would stay dark for more than 40 years. (In August 1985, Masumi, then 97, would be the honoured guest at the relighting of the lantern in the park monument.)
Sub attack!
On June 20 a Japanese submarine, the I-26, surfaced off Estevan Point on the west coast of Vancouver Island and unsuccessfully lobbed more than 25 shells at the lighthouse there. These and other raids by the I-26 and other subs further down the coast were the first attacks on North American soil since the War of 1812. (The I-26 was herself sunk in October, 1944 by a US destroyer escort during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.)
On October 6 the last Japanese-Canadians left Vancouver for the interior. The well-known 1981 novel Obasan, by Joy Kogawa, gives an excellent and poignant account of life in the camps. Ms. Kogawa, born in Vancouver June 6, 1935, was sent at age 7 with her family to Slocan.
Another locally prominent Japanese-Canadian, Dr. Masajiro Miyazaki, who had arrived in Vancouver June 29, 1913, aged about 13, and who took part in UBC’s Great Trek in 1922, was sent to an internment camp in the Bridge River-Lillooet area. He served as the doctor for 1,000 internees. In 1945 the town of Lillooet would petition for his release to replace its deceased doctor. Miyazaki would receive the Order of Canada in 1977.
To fill the gap left by the departure of the Japanese-Canadian workforce many people came from the Prairies, which had been slower to recover from the Depression. Much of Surrey’s strawberry crop was lost with the departure of the Japanese farmers. The fishing industry—strengthened for white fishermen by the departure of the Japanese—was declared an essential service, with its workers exempt from conscription. Even more men were needed, so a few convicts were released to work on the fish-boats.
A total of about 20,000 Japanese were interned during the war. The internment administration was conducted by a body named the B.C. Security Commission, under chairman Austin Taylor. In 1947 Taylor would be awarded the CBE for his wartime service.
More than 65 years later it’s easy to be critical of the actions of the government concerning the expulsion, but the country was at war and the majority of the Canadian public was in favour of the action. The author had a conversation in the 1980s with a prominent public figure who strongly supported the Japanese expulsion on the grounds they were an “enemy race,” and many veterans contrast the internment with the inhuman treatment by Japanese guards of Allied servicemen during the war.
Not one British Columbian Japanese was ever shown to have acted treacherously during the war. On September 2, 1988 Prime Minister Brian Mulroney formally apologized to Japanese Canadian survivors and their families.
More war
Turning to other war-related events of 1942: Vancouver’s Cecil Merritt became the first Canadian in the Second World War to win the Victoria Cross. His citation reads, in part, “For matchless gallantry and inspiring leadership whilst commanding his battalion during the Dieppe raid on the 19th August, 1942. From the point of landing, his unit’s advance had to be made across a bridge in Pourville which was swept by very heavy machine-gun, mortar and artillery fire: the first parties were mostly destroyed and the bridge thickly covered by their bodies. A daring lead was required; waving his helmet, Lieutenant-Colonel Merritt rushed forward shouting, ‘Come on over! There’s nothing to worry about here.’”
Here at home, A.E. McRae’s Hycroft mansion in Shaughnessy, built at a cost of $109,000 in 1909 (a colossal amount for the time), was sold August 9, 1942 by the McRaes to a grateful federal government for $1. (The McRaes were faced with rising costs and the war made hiring of staff difficult for this very big house—in its original configuration Hycroft had 30 rooms, 11 of them bedrooms, with a coach house, stables, a swimming pool, an Italian garden and more, all on 5.2 acres.) Hycroft was put to immediate use to handle the overflow of patients from Shaughnessy Military Hospital, full to bursting with convalescent soldiers. It would serve as an auxiliary to the hospital for 18 years. Then a new wing was added to Shaughnessy and Hycroft was emptied. It would sit vacant for two years, until 1962 when the University Women’s Club would buy it. They have occupied it ever since.
The Shaughnessy neighborhood was affected by the war in another way: wartime housing shortages prompted the federal government to issue an order in council allowing Shaughnessy homes to be split up into smaller units. That order in council would not expire until 1955.
Women at Work
A faint precursor of a postwar phenomenon appeared September 30, 1942 when the first group of women workers was hired by Burrard Dry Dock in North Vancouver. At the peak of wartime activity 1,000 of the yard’s 13,000 workforce were women. When the war ended those women would be let go to make room for returning servicemen, but their taste for good-paying jobs would linger.
On July 28 the Nine O’Clock Gun was silenced to save gunpowder.
In April gasoline was rationed. Then, on August 24, the Wartime Prices and Trade Board began the issue of ration books covering purchase of sugar, coffee and tea. Butter, meat, coffee and other foods would follow. More than 11 million ration books would be issued across Canada during the war, and there were lineups outside liquor stores for rationed beer—when it was available. The federal department of agriculture broadcast shows on how we could make do with less, and suggested canning our own food. Housewives were encouraged to make their own butter and restaurants observed meatless Tuesdays and Fridays.
Oops!
And on September 13 some Second World War excitement of a somewhat farcical nature occurred. Writing in The Vancouver Book (1976), Peter Moogk relates: “It was a hazy Sunday when a fish-packer sailed in across the ‘examination line’ from Point Atkinson to Point Grey, oblivious to the wartime crisis. As the boat chugged on towards the First Narrows, the gunners at the fort received a message to fire a ‘stopping round’ ahead of the boat to compel the master to come to a stop and to identify himself. It was customary on such occasions to fire a non-explosive, solid shell that would kick up a large splash in front of the offending vessel . . . When one of the 12-pounder guns of the fort fired the ‘stopping round,’ the shell hit a wave and started to ricochet across the water at an oblique angle. Beyond the fish-packer in English Bay was the Fort Rae, a 9,600-ton freighter that had been launched the month before and was still on its sea trials. The skipping round hit the freighter above the waterline. As the shell passed through the number 3 hold it turned sideways and punched out a hole below the waterline on the other side. At first this was not noticed. The ship was evidently on its way back to the Burrard Drydocks when the captain received word of flooding in the hold. He beached the freighter on the north shore, just inside the First Narrows. It remained there, on the tidal flats, until it could be patched up and floated off . . .”