The Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius, also known as "Statia," has taken a huge step towards environmental preservation with a commitment to develop critical environmental protection rules. Aligned with a central government mandate to protect the environment in Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba, known as the BES islands, the Public Entity St. Eustatius and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management have signed a letter of intent to team up and implement the environmental legislation, thus contributing to sustainable economic growth on the island.
The decree from The Hague shall include legislation directing businesses to take the steps required to protect the environment in the BES islands. The Public Entity and the Ministry have concluded that careful implementation of the decree—which is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2023—is crucial to protect the environment on St. Eustatius, an eight-square-mile island in the Caribbean Netherlands.
The implementation plan aimed at supporting the development of defining environmental rules in an Island Ordinance to ensure that environmental goals are compatible with the local situation; ensuring capacity building within the relevant government departments; achieving a sustainable level of knowledge transfer on the main tasks required to implement the environmental legislation.
The Public Entity and the Ministry have also determined that the business community on Statia must be well informed about the environmental regulations and must be adequately prepared to comply with the rules. In this regard, both parties have also signed a two-year cooperation agreement to establish a system to share information about the environmental legislation with local companies. It will consist of an information desk and a web portal to provide information and advice on the environmental regulations to the businesses.
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management will contribute €50,000 ($52,605) towards the operational costs of the information system, besides contributing to the implementation plan agreed in the letter of intent.
For more information, visit www.statiagovernment.com.
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