Hats Off to Bondia

https://batibleki.wheninaruba.com/hats-off-to-bondia/

They have a lot on their plate

https://batibleki.wheninaruba.com/they-have-a-lot-on-their-plate/

Second Installment, Isla

https://batibleki.wheninaruba.com/second-installment-isla/

It drizzled all night

https://batibleki.wheninaruba.com/it-drizzled-all-night/

Sign up now, to enjoy the Early Bird Special for the 5th Annual Diabetes Run & Walk, 2022

https://batibleki.wheninaruba.com/sign-up-now-to-enjoy-the-early-bird-special-for-the-5th-annual-diabetes-run-walk-2022/

Aruba Aloe and Botica di Servicio joined forces for the Fifth Anual Diabetes Run & Walk, on Sunday, November 13th, 2022.

Sign up now, before September 30th, and enjoy the EARLY BIRD SPECIAL.

SUBWAY also joined the event as the main kids’ run sponsor.

Participants may register via www.diabetesrunaruba.com, pay before September 30th, and get a chance to win one of the attractive Early Bird Special prizes.

The event is design to raise funds to help locals, suffering from diabetes, get greater access to much-needed care, through Fundacion Diabetes Aruba, FDA.

The foundation’s PRISMA prevention program for diabetes type 2, targets people who want to actively take control of their health, manage their diabetes more effectively, and prevent other health complications, that are associated with the disease.

Diabetes is a serious challenge on the island, as the percentage of people with diabetes is almost DOUBLE the percentage of worldwide population with diabetes. Half of all diabetes patients are not even aware of the fact that they are afflicted, and do not receive any of the medical attention they need.

Aruba Aloe, Botica di Servicio, Subway, and FDA, promote a healthy lifestyle in order to reduce the risk of becoming a person with diabetes, and consequently reduce the need for medication. A healthy lifestyle can help patients live without medications, and helps get diabetes under control. Additionally, healthy eating, exercise, and weight loss, helps the body react more positively to insulin, in the presence of the disease.

Sign up for our newsletter, for more details about the 5th Annual Diabetes Run & Walk, 2022.

https://boticadiservicio.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9bcd0908dd4206e99c3753ebe&id=8bcd5d9ec1

10K starts at 6AM from Botica Eagle to the Cove and back.

5K starts at 6:30AM from Botica Eagle to Blue residences and back.

Subway kids run starts at 7AM and has different distances and age groups.

Afterwards, we have a the prize ceremony with a raffle for the participants (really cool prizes).

Fee is AWG 25 for the adults, and AWG 15 for the kids.

All proceeds are donated to Fundacion Diabetes Aruba (FDA), for their Diabetes Prevention & Management Programs.

On Monday night, 11pm, it was pouring outside, for one full hour, the rain came down in torrents.

Then it stopped.

The tropical louvers let some water into my living room, they were intended for the breeze, and were powerless in fending off the pelting rain.

I squeegeed. I laid pool towels on the floor; the deluge thankfully stopped.

On Wednesday early morning, it rained like crazy, buckets, it stopped at daybreak. I squeegeed. I laid pool towels on the floor, then the downpour finally stopped.

On Thursday, I bought a new super-powerful squeegee, and a roll of aluminum tape. Some helpful friends installed a door water stopper. I taped some sensitive areas. It worked.

Last night it drizzled lightly over many hours. I heard the rain tapping sweetly on my roof, I did not mind. It’s the buckets that stress me out. The house was bone-dry in the morning. Relief.

I went on line to check for news: 09L is now a Tropical Depression, it organized and is moving away from us, it is no longer a threat here, but will probably grow into a serious storm northwest of us. Having started on September 19th, with mild 35km/h winds, weather-experts predict it will travel to affect all islands it meets in the Caribbean, on its was the west Florida.

It’s still stressful. Our houses weren’t built for wild weather, I hardly have any gutters, the plywood on the roof is just that, plywood! Don’t the roofing tar sheets melt in the heat?

We’re getting much more rain in recent months, and global warming is finally being felt around the region.

Wasn’t it excessively hot here in the last two weeks, posting record temperatures?

Both drought and deluge are the result of excessive CO2 emissions, green-house gases and the rise in ocean temperatures.

We need a national plan; we need to talk about it.

The minister of energy announced last week, that we might be free of HFO, heavy oil fuel, by 2050, probably not fast enough.

We must organize to place global warming on our immediate agenda. We are an island, and the rising sea waters will swallow Aruba, yet we’re not talking about it, at all.

Where do we start?

From UN Act Now: “Everyone can help limit climate change. From the way we travel, to the electricity we use and the food we eat, we can make a difference. Start with these ten actions to help tackle the climate crisis.”

Save energy at home, walk, cycle, car pool more, we can’t really rely on public transport, eat less meat, become more vegetarian, throw away less food, reduce, reuse and recycle, also repair instead of buying new, consider solar panels and an electric car, but don’t let the solar panel installation guys pierce your roof with nails, because then you have a leak to deal with.

After yesterday’s preface, we continue to explore what the remaining GOA ministers regard as their accomplishment:

Isla, GOA’s transparent news vehicle, circulated a special-edition in honor of the 1-year celebration of Gabinete Wever-Croes II.

GOA praises itself extravagantly, and tells us it is transparent, right there on the front cover, how can we argue, if it is stated in black on white?

Each minister got two or three pages in the online publication to flaunt his accomplishments.

The list of projects is staggering: GOA has a lot of balls in the air, and listing them as accomplishments is a bit premature, like putting the cart in front of the horse.

It brought a biblical phrase to mind: Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. Proverbs 27:2

But anyway, with GOA’s popularity in decline, in view of inflation, the rising cost of living, the threat of poverty on one hand and over-tourism on the other, the burden of health-care, environmental abuse, and the dark shadow of global developments, we are facing difficult times, with seemingly just one strategy in deployment, doubling the number of stay-over tourists.

I read Isla with great interest, it sounded like pure election propaganda, three-years prior to the next elections. I summarized some of the points for my readers, yesterday, and continue today.

You judge if we can consider them all accomplishments. Perhaps a slowpoke in the sometimes-right-direction, is more accurate.

The minister of Economic Affairs reports that our economic recovery as a sustainable business is significant. He says our GDP grew 9.2% in 2022, and is projected to grow an additional 4% in 2023. He talks about streamlining processes and reducing red tape in order to stimulate new business, which is always a recurring theme in Aruba. The promising sectors remain promising, and the need to stimulate economic activity in Oranjestad and in San Nicolas remains crucial. The minister would like to stimulate investment in order to develop our promising sectors, via practical economic strategies because, we cannot go on the way we have been operating for the last 30 to 50 years, he says, we have to do things differently, which will guarantee prosperity. And we must transition to alternative energy, promote food & water security and become more sustainable, overall. The Aruba Fair Trade Authority, a new service he created, will do wonders for us, plus we will be collecting more data via a National Statistics System.

He is right, Einstein had already said:  You cannot solve a problem from the same level of consciousness that created it, so yes, do things differently, but I would also like to see it happening on a timetable.

Where is the timetable?

The longest list belongs to the minister of Justice and Social Affairs. He outlines security and vigilance in the barrios, the creation of a Mental Health Foundation, a center for Family Justice, a plan to manage child sexual abuse cases, and the department of Social Affairs, then in Justice various departments to deal with anything from personnel, to the physical police headquarters. He lists some other developments within the force, such as a radar for Aruba, the upgrade of the Fire-Brigade, the fire-brigade personnel.

Certainly, a long laundry-list of issues on his plate, all in the pipeline, none accomplished, all in the works.

The minister of Education also reports on a number of ongoing projects, such as student swim lessons, issues pertaining our secondary schools,  the National Library, evening education, and the renovation of a number of district schools. He is working on a National Strategic Plan for education, special education, on the instruction of languages, on modernizing the laws governing education, plus financial and organizational reports, and efforts to sync the system and its application to the labor market; support for Papiamento teachers, besides individual improvements of a number of district schools here. Under his other hat, Sports, the minister lists the community pool in St Nicolas, various local sports organizations, the Palo Marga Raceway, the KLM Marathon, Lotto pa Deporte, performance excellence awards, the improvements made in various district fields, all in many color photos.

The minister of Labor, Energy and Integration states that he is committed to fulfilling the expectation of his people in their entirety. He is out to please everyone. He mentions a couple of issues within his complex portfolios. Putting people back to work, among them. He is reviewing unemployment figures, investing in education, creating jobs for those trained accordingly, and transitioning from heavy fuel oil to LNG.

With Eagle LNG he says, we will  soon bid farewell to HFO, reduce the price of utilities and protect the environment from excessive CO2 emissions . Big changes are coming to WEB within the next 30 months. He also speaks about the beginning of work at the refinery preparing to welcome LNG storage etc.

His goals regarding the Integration portfolio reflect his commitment to energizing Dimas, and the improved management of foreigners’ permits, which will be processed more efficiently, more accurately, in a transparent manner, in collaboration with the Labor Department and Dimas, improving mutual understanding, to fuel our economic recovery. Wow, that’s all I can say.

One can hardly list it all under accomplishments, they are challenges, long term plans, with no specific delivery timelines.

Another Bible quote comes to mind: The man who puts on his armor should not boast as much as the man who lives long enough to take it off.”

What did the book mean? The one heading out to war shouldn’t boast as much as the one returning from it at the end of the fighting. He is not done, he still has the battle ahead, it’s not over yet, so don’t boast.

Isla, GOA’s transparent news vehicle, circulated a special-edition in honor of the 1-year celebration of Gabinete Wever-Croes II.

GOA praises itself extravagantly, and tells us it is transparent, right there on the front cover, how can we argue, if it is stated in black on white?

Each minister got two or three pages in the online publication to flaunt his accomplishments.

The list of projects is staggering: GOA has a lot of balls in the air, and listing them as accomplishments is a bit premature, like putting the cart in front of the horse.

It brought a biblical phrase to mind: Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. Proverbs 27:2

But anyway, with GOA’s popularity in decline, in view of inflation, the rising cost of living, the threat of poverty on one hand and over-tourism on the other, the burden of health-care, environmental abuse, and the dark shadow of global developments, we are facing difficult times, with seemingly just one strategy in deployment, doubling the number of stay-over tourists.

I read Isla with great interest, it sounded like pure election propaganda, three-years prior to the next elections. I summarized some of the points for my readers.

You judge if we can consider them all accomplishments. Perhaps a slowpoke in the sometimes-right-direction, is more accurate.

MinPres states upfront that she is filled with dedication and drive, aiming to secure progress and well-being for our community. She claims to have been surprised seeing she was the big vote-getter for Aruba, in last year’s election, and repeats the fact that together we can weather all storms.

As you know, MinPres is also the minister of General Affairs, Innovation, Government Organization, Infrastructure and Territorial Planning, and she made considerable efforts, she states, to reduce GOA’s expenses and comply with the Landspakket. She compliments the Parliament of Aruba for managing to be transparent, and efficient in governing the country, and supervising the ministers.

She has a sense of humor.

Isla posts nice pictures, on its 28 pages. Yellow and red are MinPres’ favorite colors, and she also wears skylark blue quite often.

To conclude the first segment Isla delivers a short paragraph on Digitalization and innovation. Under the Department of Infrastructure, the rotunda of Palm Beach shines brightly.

General praise is lavished  on DOW, DIP, Kadaster and DTI, which according to MinPres stepped up their game, including improved customer service.

What do YOU think?

Up Next Ursell Arends, the Minister of Integrity, Nature, Transport and Care for the Elderly; he promotes a clean, sustainable future for the next generation. Arends sums up his first year in government with a credo: The bigger the challenge, the bigger his determination.

He lists RWZI, the dump, Serlimar, a restructuring in the Department of Transportation, his Trash2Cash initiative and his vision, as accomplishments.

In truth, these can hardly be listed as accomplishments, but they are all definitely simmering on his agenda.

Third up, the Minister of  Finance. Her headline states that the government was able to comply with all its financial debts and work to maintain the financial credibility of our country – so it can borrow more. She shows some small illegible graphs regarding the island’s finances, and expressed satisfaction over the country’s 2023 budget, handed in on time, regardless of how it was received by our financial supervisors. She also talks about the reduction of expenses.

Under her culture hat, she elaborates on the work done during the first year, she dedicated herself, she states, to cultural celebrations that are important to our country, recognizing our cultural values and working to conserve and promote our cultural heritage. She also talks about educational youth programs I have never heard about, but apparently exist. She lists as an accomplishment last year’s Torch Parade that supposedly lit fire under our economic recovery.

Next, the Minister of Tourism. He lists all his tourism accomplishments during the first year, and pays himself a compliment: They were impressive, he says. He takes credit for more airlines, more cruise ships, the Baby Beach Waterfront Promenade, the reveal of the Port City Project, restoration of Palapas on public beaches, and the restoration of the stairs at Rogers Beach, most of those are routine maintenance projects, in my book, and no accomplishments at all. The minister acknowledges the collaboration with PPEF, a fund originating in the timeshare sector, which pays for all fixes.

In Public Health, Isla attached a small ad promoting the upcoming Free Health Expo,  dedicated to chronic illnesses; Isla also warns against the danger of tobacco. Which is good.

The minister talks about a National Plan for Prevention, his efforts to curb the use of tobacco, the ARUBIG registration, some Roadmap to Reform at AZV, and tighter collaboration with Stichting Bob, as well as a pension increase.

They have a lot on their plate.

More tomorrow.