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Carnival Schedule
Carnival is coming in a big way. This year's celebration has already kicked off, and is now featuring the battle of the Tumba bands.
Carnival (or more appropriately, Karnaval) organizers are planning on making this year's highlight, the parade bigger than last year's, with it looping around the downtown area twice.
The schedule is as follows:
- 23-28 January - Tumba Festival
- 5 February - Election of Carnival Queen
- 6-7 February - Children's Parades (Rincon & Kralendijk)
- 13-14 February - Grand Carnival Parades (Rincon & Kralendijk)
- 16 February - Farewell Parade (Kralendijk)
(Thanks go to Port Call for parts of this report)
More Taxing Matters
A new sales tax, officially named the Netherlands Antilles Purchase Tax, was presented to the Antillean Advisory Council last week.
The new 2% tax could go into effect as early as February 1st. However, it has just begun its passage through the legislative mill. The last step will be the approval by the Antillean Parliament in a public meeting.
The 6% ABB sales tax was cancelled at the beginning of the month, but some establishments are still charging the tax. If it's added to your bill, challenge it and refuse to pay. As a result of the ABB cancellation,
the cost of goods, services and restaurant meals are 6% cheaper than they were a few weeks ago and will continue to be until the new tax is made law. Enjoy it while it lasts. (Courtesy of Port Call)
On a related note, rumors are starting to trickle in that the local airport departure tax at Flamingo International Airport, currently set at US$10 for departures to international destinations, may be increased in
the not so distant future to match Curacao's recently raised departure tax of $20 per person.
Telbo Clamps Down
Last week found over 700 local residents suddenly without phone service, as Telbo clamped down on those with long overdue, unpaid phone
bills. In many cases, phone bills from one, two, or even more years ago had gone unpaid or been skipped for one reason or another.
Telbo sent notices to those people about to have their phone service shut off warning them to pay up or lose service in 5 days. Many people, with bills in the hundreds or even thousands of guilders were unable to
come up with the necessary funds to cover their bills, resulting in disconnection.
The sad thing, from our perspective, is that much of this is Telbo's own fault, seeing as they have been providing poor service in terms of prompt billing, which in turn has led to people calling beyond their means
because they had no tangible concept of the cost of their phone use. Before you call us bleeding heart liberals (which we most definitely are not), consider that the September '98 bill _just_ arrived in our
mailboxes last week. That's at least three months overdue, and it's the closest Telbo has gotten to delivering a "timely" phone bill in our memory. Bills had previously been up to 7 or 8 months late, and
Telbo's been playing catch-up for the last year and a half.
Certainly Telbo is changing, and it looks like it's for the better, but to demand payment on bills in a five day period, when they take three or more months to issue bills seems just a little hypocritical. And even
worse is cutting off access to emergency communications to over 700 families. Telbo has the ability to limit calls, on a per line basis, to Bonaire numbers only - which would allow those people with overdue payments
to make calls to the police or hospital, but not let them continue to run up excessive bills with inter-island or international calls. Hopefully Telbo decides to exercise this option in combination with some sort of
repayment plan to help those who spent too much time on the phone.
Substance Abuse Treatment
Port Call reports that during 1998, 604 persons sought help for problems associated with alcohol or drug abuse. This was a
rise of 20% from 1997. Most of the people had problems with cocaine and its derivatives. There are several private and government sponsored rehabilitation programs on the island. It should be noted with some alarm
that this only represents the number of people who _sought_ treatment, and not those who actively abuse various substances, which is likely a much higher number.
Art Exhibit - Through a Different Lens
The Bonaire Art Gallery will soon feature a special exhibition of six local artists, entitled "Through a Different
Lens". The exhibit opens with a party on Friday, January 29th at 8pm, and runs through March 1st. Featured artists are John Crum, Susan Davis, Captain Don, Jane & Alan Gross, and Carol Takvorian, presenting
non-traditional photography of Bonaire's people and places. The work of these artists combines a number of photographic variations, including hand colored black & white photos, multiple exposures, and computer
digital editing. Call Bonnie at 7120 for additional information.
Bonaire Twin Cinema News & Features - January 28 - February 3, 1999
Bonaire Twin Cinema is located in the heart of Kralendijk next to the Exito Bakery
and behind the Cultimara Supermarket. Starting Thursday, January 28, Bonaire Twin Cinema will be offering the following film features (NaFl.10.- for all normal features):
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Ronin - New this week!
- Matinees Sat. & Sun. at 4:00pm
- Nightly at 8:45pm
- Late Shows Fri. & Sat. at 11:15pm
Robert DeNiro leads an international team of covert operatives in the attempted theft of a mysterious briefcase. It soon become clear that other groups are after the same thing, and that double crosses, betrayals,
and money dominate the roles everyone plays. (Rated R, Action Thriller, CinemaScope, 121 min.) For more details, see: http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/guide/ronin.html
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The Siege - Last Week
- Matinees Sat. & Sun. at 4:15pm
- Nightly at 8:30pm
- Late shows Fri. & Sat. at 11:00pm
Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington star in this riveting tale about a fight against extreme terrorism in New York City. [The Bonaire E-News rates this movie as 3.5 stars out of a possible 4. Plot is all too
believable, reminding us that the apparent stability of our democratic society is only a hair's breadth away from a blend of anarchy, fear, and facism.] (Rated R, Action Thriller, 118 minutes) See http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/guide/the_siege.html for details.
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Babe: Pig In The City
- Matinee Sat. & Sun. at 2:15pm
- Nightly at 6:30pm
Babe, everyone's favorite talking pig, returns to the big screen in this sequel where Farmer Hoggett is injured, and Babe needs to travel to the big city to find help. (Rated PG, Comedy, 97 minutes) For more details,
see: http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Movies_and_Film/Titles/Children/Babe__P ig _in_the_City/
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Prince of Egypt
- Matinees Sat. & Sun. at 2:00pm
- Nightly at 6:45pm
This animated feature length movie brings the life of Moses to the big screen. (Rated PG, Animation, 93 minutes) For details see: http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Movies/The_Prince_of_Egypt/
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The Bonaire Twin Cinema also offers a Dinner and a Movie special in conjunction with and DeTuin Eetcafe. Nafl. 35.- gets you dinner, beer or soda, popcorn, and a ticket to a
movie.
The Bonaire Twin Cinema Box Office opens nightly at 6:00pm, and no reservations are required. Tickets are only available at the box office. Questions about the movies? Call Bonaire Twin Cinema at 2400 (Noon to
closing everyday), FAX: 8010, or send an e-mail to mailto:TwinCinema@InfoBonaire.com (please include your phone or FAX number).
Web Site of the Week
Each week, we'll list the addresses of new Bonaire Web sites that we come across.
Our Web site (or in this case, a "sub-site") of the week is:
Calabash Skyviews - Bonaire: http://www.skyviews.com/bonaire
If you have a new Bonaire-related Web site and want to make sure people know about it, send a message to mailto: news@infobonaire.com with the details.
Quick Takes
- UW Clean-up Date Change. The monthly underwater clean-up, co-sponsored by Green Submarine, NetTech, and Selibon, originally scheduled
for Saturday, February 6, 1999, has been moved to Sunday, February 7, 1999 at 10AM due to a scheduling conflict with a training session for Bonaire Marine Park Volunteers (many of whom make up the core group of
underwater clean-up volunteers as well). Therefore, those interested in helping keep the waters and reefs of Bonaire clean should mark 10AM, Sunday, February 7th on their calendars, and then show up at Green
Submarine at Kaya Playa Lechi 24 (ignore the do-not-enter signs off of Kaya Gob. N. Debrot. The clean-up dive will be followed by a pot-luck BBQ for all participants. Tanks will be made available to all divers. If
you are a snorkeler, or you want to help out on the beach, you can help out too - all assistance is greatly welcomed. Please RSVP to Eric Groenhart (mailto:dive@greensubmarine.com ) or Jake Richter (mailto:jake@nettech.an ) if you can make.
- PADI Update. All PADI professionals (divemaster and higher certifications) should plan on going to the annual PADI Update being offered by PADI Regional Manager Mike Hill on Thursday, February 11th, at
6:00pm at Capt Don's Habitat. The update session is expected to last 2-3 hours, and will feature news about a variety of changes PADI has implemented in several existing and new programs. No need to pre-register,
but arrive early to get a seat - last year's update was standing room only.
- U.S. Consul Visit. Americans on Bonaire take note. The U.S. Consul General for the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba will be on Bonaire on February 23rd for American Citizen Services. The Consul will be
available at Trans World Radio from 10:15am-12:30pm and 1:30pm-4:00pm on a first come, first serve basis, and will offer the following services: U.S. passport renewals or first time issuance, report of a birth
abroad to a U.S. citizen, immigrant visa application for the spouse, parent or child of a U.S. citizen, and notarial and authentication services.
- Yard/Porch Sales. The Groenharts & Green Submarine will be holding a porch sale on Saturday, January 30th, at Kaya Playa Lechi 24, starting at 10:00am. Among the items for sale will be kitchen &
household applicances, clothing, an assortment of books (in Dutch or English), furniture, toys, sports & dive equipment. Call 2929 for directions. Also, Mikel Ann Hall and Patrick Uhlrep are leaving Bonaire for
a while and are looking for buyers for a variety of household goods ranging from a stereo system to furniture to appliances. They also have two great dogs up for adoption (see below). Call 7413 to be FAXed a list of
goods.
- Air Jamaica Update. This week was supposed to have been the first week that Bonaire saw flights from Montego Bay, Jamaica via new twice-weekly air service provided by Air Jamaica. Well, it hasn't happened.
Apparently the first flight date has been pushed back to the end of March while Air Jamaica (actually, Air Jamaica Express) refurbishes a plane for this purpose. We'll keep you posted.
- Restaurant Changes. The Restaurant Formerly Known as Chez Truus and Restaurant Klein Bonaire has changed hands again. The new owner is none other than Rianne, whom many E-News readers will recognize as the
gracious, friendly, and cheerful personality who graced City Cafe and more specifically, City Fondue with her presence. The new restaurant will open in the old location of Restaurant Klein Bonaire on Monday,
February 1st. The name of the restaurant wasn't available at press time, but we feel confident in recommending that our readers check out Rianne's hospitality - we certainly will.
- Dogs for Adoption. Sooty and Sweep, two-and-a-half year old Bonairean Ridgeback (a breed of dog for those unenlightened) sisters are looking for a good home. The CV (Curriculum Vitae, i.e. Resume) the pups
provided us with indicated that they are very outgoing, sporty, alert, good with people and like belly rubs. If you think they could fit into your daily family life and that they would enjoy it as well, give their
present home a call at 7413. Their present family is leaving Bonaire on February 4th, so don't dawdle.
- Pen Pal Sought. This may seem like a strange request, but Frank Barulli, a 33 year old single male from Massachusetts wrote to us to say he will be coming to Bonaire for the first time during November of
this year (with a couple of friends who are repeat repeat visitors), and to quote Frank "it would be cool to make some friends before I come [to Bonaire]". We thought that perhaps one or more of our
Bonairean readers might want to exercise some of that Bonairean hospitality and become Frank's e-mail pen-pal so that he can be properly prepared for Bonaire. Frank's interests include diving, fishing, experienceing
new cultures, reggae, Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffet, and nature. Oh, and Frank's e-mail address is mailto: Fbar69@aol.com . And no, the Bonaire E-News will not be starting a "personals" section anytime soon - those looking for the perfect mate will need to try more traditional means, like bars, discos, and iguana soup.
- Contractor Victims. If any of our readers have recently (in the last several months) had dealings with a Theo Clappers (he also does business under the name Thetronics N.V.) which have left you holding the
bag and him the money, please drop us a note with details at mailto:ClappersMatter@infobonaire.com . This information may be used to aid an official investigation.
Classifieds
Lots of things for sale, and some things being sought (please note that we do not warrant the accuracy or validity of the
products/services/etc. being presented here):
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For Sale:
AUTOMOBILES
1987 Toyota Starlet for NAFl. 3000
1993 toyota starlet for NAFl. 7000
both in good condition
Call Marlon at 7292
MOTORCYCLE & BICYCLE & PHONE/FAX/ANSWERING MACHINE
Suzuki 550 motorbike for NAfl 3500.
Raleigh off and on road bicycle for NAfl. 400
Telephone/fax/answer machine for NAfl. 400 Call 2050 for details.
BOOKS: Sea Change, personally autographed by author Dr. Sylvia Earle, NAFl. 25,- or US$14. Profits go to benefit the Bonaire Marine Park. Call Jake at 6773, mailto:jake@nettechnv.com.
RANGE ROVER STATION WAGON
Classic '76 4x4 - only one of its kind on Bonaire Mint condition with parts and qualified maintenance available locally. Only NAFl. 12,000. Call 7223 or e-mail
mailto:intertech@bonairelive.com
TOYOTA TERCEL
"Classic" car. Cream puff condition, 65,000 miles. Asking Nafl. 5000. Call 2447
COMPUTER HARDWARE
Used 2GB External SCSI Hard Disk - 3 years old - Nafl. 500 or best offer Used (5 months) 32MB DIMM - Nafl. 75 Call 6773 or mailto:jake@nettech.an
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Want to Buy:
TELEPHONE ANSWERING MACHINE
- Should be in good condition and be easy to use Contact mailto:classifieds@nettech.an
STUFF FOR APARTMENT
- Second Hand (small) refrigerator with freezer section
* Furniture for a small living room
* Bed (mattress size 1.90m x 1.40m)
* A carpenter :-) who can make me a bed and a
desk/cubboard Contact tel./fax 5095 or e-mail mailto:titus71@hotmail.com
USED NOTEBOOK COMPUTER:
Looking to spend not more than Nafl. 1500. Send details to mailto:classifieds@infobonaire.com.
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