In this newsletter: spring meeting of the Union Council, no foreign surcharge Dutch ING bank account after letter Unkobon, petrol prices now in line with Curacao, contact persons Unkobon.

Spring meeting of the Union Council On Monday 22 June 2020 the spring meeting of the Federal Council, which had been postponed due to the Corona crisis took place at Hofi Kultural. On the agenda was the review of the annual accounts, the annual report 2019 and the annual plan 2020. These documents were confirmed. During the meeting, Marianne Grutters was also appointed as a member of the Unkobon Management Board in the position of secretary.

No foreign surcharge ING bankaccounts BES A few hundred inhabitants of the BES islands were informed by the ING bank that from now on an extra 1 euro per month would be charged because they live “abroad”. After Unkobon raised this with the supervisory authority De Nederlandse Bank, the ING bank decided not to apply the specific foreign surcharge for the BES islands in view of their special municipal status and the fact that they are part of the Netherlands.

Fuel prices in line with Curacao As of December 2019, Unkobon asked the Executive Council why the fuel prices on Bonaire were so much higher than on Curacao and Aruba. The perseverance of the Union was successful. In April 2020, the prices dropped significantly and after the drop in July, the prices are again in line with our neighboring islands.

The excise on gasoline is almost 32 cents per liter. Unkobon is now trying to get the Executive Council to ask the Netherlands for a temporary reduction of this excise duty.

Contact persons Unkobon Unkobon would like to receive more signals from society, more contact with consumers and members on Bonaire. The Union has approached members with the result that eight people have signed up. In a first meeting a list of possible activities for the contact persons was jointly drawn up. The most important thing is to pass on signals that may be of importance to the Consumers’ Union. The names and telephone numbers of the contact persons will be published on the website.