In this newsletter: Unkobon condoles Marianne Grutters, Unkobon board vacancy, legal case progress, mini-credit foundation, cooperation Tienda pa Konsumidó, fall Federal Council meeting, proposals Hose Booi.

Condolence for Marianne Grutters
Completely unexpectedly, Zoë, the 31-year-old son of Marianne Grutters passed away in early September during a military exercise. The cause is still unknown. Management and volunteers of Unkobon offer their condolences to Marianne and wish her and her loved ones much strength after this indescribable loss.

Vacancy board member Unkobon (secretary)
Members interested in this interesting board position can contact Mr. Herbert Piar: :+599 7825772

Mini-Credit Foundation
During his visit, Unkobon had a brief conversation with Minister De Jonge (public housing) about establishing a mini-credit foundation to offer the possibility of building their own homes to people with lower incomes who cannot turn to banks. The minister thought it was a good idea and referred Unkobon to the minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations to work with OLB and Unkobon to develop the plan. When Minister De Jonge was asked what he thought of this initiative, he replied, “We just have to do this.”

Cooperation Tienda di Konsumido Boneiru / Unkobon.
In order to join forces and represent the interests of the consumers of Bonaire as well as possible, Unkobon is strengthening cooperation with the consumer foundation. The intention is to meet 1x per quarter.

Progress lawsuit social minimum
After our lawyer submitted the summons at the beginning of December 2022, at the end of April she received the (192-page) conclusion of reply from the State. Plot: the State is working on a social minimum for the BES islands and has great freedom to make it take a long time.

November 23 is the first hearing at the court in The Hague. There the main issue is the admissibility of Unkobon. If the court decides that Unkobon is admissible, a substantive hearing is scheduled for the first quarter of 2023.

Unkobon, meanwhile, is keeping the pressure on politically. This month sees the release of the Thodé Commission report. Despite the fall of the cabinet, the House of Representatives has not declared the introduction of a social minimum controversial. The members of parliament can therefore still decide to introduce a social minimum in 2024.

Date fall Union Council meeting
Save the date for the fall public meeting of the Federal Council to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. All Unkobon members are invited to attend. The meeting will start at 7 p.m. Location and agenda will be sent later.

Introducing: Hose Booi
Born and raised on Bonaire, Hosé was captivated by the microscope during a school visit to the laboratory of the St. Franciscus Hospital, now Mariadal, in 1973. That you could really see white blood cells in red blood fascinated him so much that after MAVO he opted for the analyst training on Curacao.

On Curacao, Hosé joined the staff of the Landslaboratorium (now known as the Analyst Diagnostic Center, ADC). After completing analyst training on Curacao, Hosé was transferred, in 1979, to the Bonaire annex. There, in 1995, he received a Study Order from the Government of the Netherlands Antilles to pursue the Master’s degree in Biochemistry in the Netherlands. His wife and children initially remained on Bonaire but moved to The Hague for the last two years of study. Back on Bonaire, Hosé became the Manager of the ADC facility that a few years later was privatized as Bonlab. Here he became the first Director of Bonlab in 2008.

When the Landslaboratorium on St Maarten became independent in 2009, Hosé applied for the position of Director and was hired for a period of 5 years, planning to retire after that. But retirement had to wait a little longer because a job awaited on Saba and Statia in 2014. In 2015 came another new job with ADC in Curacao. After this, Hosé retired, which was later interrupted, in 2020, by an Executive function at Bonlab with the goal, among others, of accrediting Bonlab.

After achieving accreditation for the Medical part of Bonlab in 2021, accreditation for the Water laboratory followed in 2022. After achieving the above accreditations, Hose could finally enjoy his well-deserved retirement and his Kunuku in early 2023. His wife has since also retired and his two adult daughters have graduated and are working, one in the Netherlands and one in Bonaire.

Furthermore, Hosé was, among other things, Representative for Bonaire in the “National Council of Public Health” of the Netherlands Antilles, Member Rotary Club Bonaire, Member Rotary Club St Maarten, Member White Column Bonaire.

Once retired, Hose wants to serve society as a board member of Unkobon. There he will contribute, among other things, to a structured approach to the problems for which Unkobon’s volunteers are seeking solutions.