Once a week (on Sundays) I do a news recap about the most important topics in the Aruba newspaper.

If this is your first time reading my newsletter – welcome!

Aruba Newspaper Update

A lot of things happened this week, but let’s start with the most important topic in the Aruba newspaper.

Update on Oil Spill in Aruba

We were all shocked by the news that Aruba was hit by an oil spill that happened in Trinidad.

Fortunately most of the oil drifted away from Aruba, due to a shift in the wind that changed the currents of the sea.

The big questions is – did this oil damage our precious beaches?

An international company was hired to inspect the beaches of Aruba. 

They assessed the situation from above by helicopter to see which beaches were affected by the oil spill.

Five areas were detected that was affected by the oil spill. It is suspected that 2 of these zones have residue oil from a spill that happened before this recent one.

Our precious beaches like eagle and palm beach and all the other popular beach alongside the hotel area have remained unaffected by the oil spill.

Experts say the oil that washed up on Aruba’s shores isn’t as dangerous as they expected it to be.

The tar balls that drifted towards Aruba are of low intensity, containing low amounts of toxic materials.

 

According to the experts, the oil that’s stuck on the coves can’t be easily removed by hand, but mother nature should provide the right elements to clean itself up as time goes by.

The Current Situation

Public workers are scouting the north and east coast of Aruba’s coastline every morning to signal left over tar balls heading our way. They noticed that the amount of tar balls drifting towards Aruba decreased by 3% since the oil spill first hit the island.

The government and national park Arikok are organizing an oil spill cleanup at different beaches in Arikok this upcoming month.

If you’re in Aruba during this period and want to help clean up – contact Arikok to help.

Send an email to Arikok – info@arubanationalpark.org or call them at (+297) 585 1234.

The claim

The government is waiting for the reports from different organizations that helped clean up the oil spill, to assess the total damage the oil had on Aruba so they can officially claim the company responsible for the spill.

A plan for the future

The government clearly didn’t have a plan in place to handle the oil spill.

This is a sign that they need a plan to prevent cases like this from happening again.

They better start as soon as possible before the reopening of the refinery, because we’re going to be dealing with all sorts of chemicals, oil, gas and other potentially toxic materials – we should be prepared for any calamity that might happen.

Popular Article – Read 15 Must Have Beach Items To Bring To Aruba

Two Hotels in Sero Colorado

A few weeks ago the local newspaper wrote a few articles about the minister of infrastructure transferring property to investors so they can construct two new hotels in sero colorado, near baby beach – but there wasn’t much information available about which hotels were going to be established in San Nicolas.

The minister of infrastructure gave more detail information about the hotels that are being built near sero colorado during an interview this week.

According to the minister, the new hotels that are being built near sero colorado are from Spanish descent.

One of them is NH hotels, which will be an all inclusive resort with a total of 500 rooms. The other hotel chain is from “Expedia Group” which also has a total of 500 rooms available.

The minister mentioned that NH hotels is the closest between both hotel chains to getting all green light to continue with construction on east side of the island.

At the moment you can see the walls of the hotels being erected, it is just a matter of time until this project will be realized. Even though many people are against more hotels in Aruba, especially in a vegetated area like sero colorado.

Would you stay in one of these hotels in Sero Colorado?

I will keep you updated on the developments about the hotels in San Nicolas in future newsletter articles.

Aruba’s First Political Debate

Political elections are in September, 2017 – a few more months and we will know our new polictal party that wil lead the island forward.

In approach of election day, chamber of commerce organized a political debate.

The leaders of the 7 biggest political parties were invited to share their views on different topics.

The debate was watched by nearly everyone living in Aruba on TV and was streamed live on Facebook.

What actually happened that night was far from a debate, it was just the political leaders answering questions that were sent in by locals.

They didn’t really debate against each other, however a few times some politicians took a stab at their colleagues and the “debate” got some life and spice.

The topics that were covered ranged were…

• general health care
• medical tourism
• approving marijuana for medical and recreational use
• immigration
• retirement age
• illegal landfills (parkietenbos)
• tourism
• eCommerce
• crime & Venezuelan refugees.

There’s talks for a second political debate – the date is not known. Hopefully they turn it into a real debate – politicians actually debating against each other…

Insel Air Aruba Declared Bankrupt

A judge recently declared insel air Aruba bankrupt, but the status of insel air international (which includes curacao) is not clear.

Airport officials are alerting everyone not to buy tickets for this airlines – due to the uncertainty of the company. If you buy airfare from insel air international and they declare bankruptcy, you won’t get your money back.

Amount of debts

Insel air Aruba left almost 17 million dollars in debts after their bankruptcy.

This astronomical debt is owed to over 300 international and local creditors. For example, car rentals, restaurants, insurance companies – to name a few of companies they owe money.

What about the employees?

At the moment, most of insel airs employees are without a job.

The prime minister wants to create a regional airline to absorb the big hit on insel air’s employees.

There’s talk to partner with KLM to manage a regional airline.

Hopefully the prime minister manages to put this together to help insel air’s employees.

Hygiene Control in Aruba Restaurants

The authorities (police, fire department, and public health department) held a hygiene control at 28 restaurants (and takeaways) in the east side of the island.

They closed the following restaurants due to not meeting hygiene requirements (or not having the necessary permits) – Grote Berg Snack, E.M. Snack, Juana Morto Take Away, Asian Sranang, Big Happy, Aki Sushi, Tio Pepe, Rising Dragon, Charm Jam Jerk House, Peng Hu, Palmita Fortune House and J.R. Restaurant.

They will be reopened again after they meet all requirements by the local authorities.

Take this as a precautionary message, and think twice before you eat at one of these following restaurants (or takeaways).

New bicycle path in Aruba

The minister of infrastructure and the prime minister of Aruba recently divulged during a press conference that Aruba will get a new bicycle path.

It will be constructed along the roadside from the green corridor highway – which starts from the airport until San Nicolas.

The new bike path will be approximately 6 kilometers long, beginning from the district of sero theisji.

There’s possibility to extend the bike bath with an extra 20 kilometers if they connect the path with the district of San Nicolas, the still to be developed watty vos boulevard project and linear park.

According to the ministers, this project is beneficial to the health of the local community, the locals who practice the sport of cycling and for everyone who enjoys biking.

The bike paths will be built separately from the highway providing safety for all cyclists.

Developers of green corridor highway will be donating a thousand bikes to Aruba’s youth after the bike path project is finished.

With the addition of new electric bicycles around the island, and a new bike path that is going to be created – I foresee a lot of people riding bikes in the near future along Aruba’s roadside.

Aruba Car Rental – Click here to get my personal help with renting a car in Aruba.

Who Want’s To Be A Millionaire in Aruba

Aruba’s local lottery company is looking for the islands next millionaire…

The current jackpot is about 1.4 million dollars.

You don’t have to be a local to participate – even visitors can take a chance and win.

A ticket will cost you $4.00 – have a local friend buy you a ticket here, if you’re not on the island – the next drawing will be this Tuesday. If no one wins it for the next 3 drawings, the jackpot will surpass last year’s 1.7 million dollars winner.

Can you imagine winning the lotto in Aruba?

I’m sure you’re thinking about retiring and buying a ocean front villa and inviting me to celebrate of course 🙂

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