Once a week (on Sundays) I make an Aruba weekly news recap in English with news that’s relevant to you.

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

Aruba Weekly News Recap

If you want to keep up with what’s happening on the island – this newsletter was made for you!

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Renovating Centro Deportivo Libertador Betico Croes

The outside of one of the oldest sport centers in Aruba (located in the district of santa cruz) received fresh new paint job.

Lotto Aruba (the island’s lotto company) worked together with Aruba sports union and sponsored to paint the outside of this historic sports center and repair certain area’s of the walls that have deteriorated over time.

The sport center is dedicated to Aruba’s ex minister who fought for the island’s status aparte (special status).

At this venue different sport events have been organized, from fighting sports, to basketball, volley and ping pong.

The sports center is frequently used and maintaining it is essential.

Aruba’s lottery foundation (Lotto Aruba) supports sports on the island, they do this by sponsoring teams, renovating sport centers and also creating new places to play sports.

Ready For Elections

The census bureau printed and sent poll cards to all registered voters on the island.

A total of 69.803 poll cards have been sent over to the local post office in Oranjestad to be handed out all over the island.

According to the director of the census bureau, they are already received some poll cards back, because the voters probably moved to another address (or don’t live on the island any more, but still are registered in the system from the census bureau).

Everyone who is registered to vote also received a flyer along with their polling cards, which indicate all the rules and steps while in the voting booth to avoid invalid votes.

If you live on the island and are going to vote, remember to take your polling card with you and your identification.

Rituals in Aruba

There’s a new store on the island where you can buy home and body cosmetics.

It’s called rituals, a popular European store that sells a variety of scented candles, make up, creams, lotions and bath products.

The store is located in the downtown area (near plaza daniel leo), which can easily be reached with a free ride in the electric streetcar.

Lawsuit Against Company That Caused Oil Spill

The government started a lawsuit against the company who caused the oil spill.

All the organizations that helped clean up the oil spill have to make an expense report and deliver it to the government.

The expense report was scheduled to be finished on September 1, 2017 – but the government hasn’t received the report yet, so they can’t finalize the claim.

During a recent press conference, the minister of economic affairs explained that the expense report has to be revised before sending the final version of it, so it may take a while before they can continue with the lawsuit.

The beaches on the north coast of the island that have been affected by the oil spill are looking great again, however some areas still have some oil patches that are visible on the beach and coves.

According to an international company (oil spill response limited) that was hired to examine the oil spill, no one should try to remove any tar balls on the beach without the proper protection, because they can be toxic.

Funds For Developing Aruba

During a meeting in the parliament the government decided to allocate more money from a special fund called FDA (fondo desaroyo Aruba) – to invest into the betterment of quality of the departments within government.

For example the department of taxes, sustainability projects, safety projects, make certain education material digital and protection of our coral reefs are among the projects that the government wants to invest in.

A total of 9 million dollars is available, which of 5 million has been sponsored by the dutch government and the rest by the local government.

Green Corridor Bridge Finally Done

The bridge in spaans lagoen has finally been opened this week.

With the blessings of a pastor and cutting of the ribbon by the prime minister, everyone welcomed the new bridge into official opening.

With the help of elite productions (a local sound and lighting company) the bridge was turned into a concert arena with performances by local bands and a special guests band from Curacao.

The bridge will be available to drive on tomorrow (September 4, 2017).

Want to rent a car in Aruba? Click here to send me a car rental request.

Drilling For Gas & Petroleum

The minister of energy announced that they will be drilling for gas and petroleum in 2018.

It all started 7 years ago in 2010 when the current government first conceived the idea to explore gas and petroleum under Aruba’s water.

In 2011 the government approved certain laws so they can work with other partners in this project.

Then the government successfully signed a product sharing contract with a company named repsol.

In 2012 the government signed a mou with a dutch energy company that would give them technical and economical advise.

Since then they have been doing seismic activity research under Aruba’s waters.

After all the research the government decided to start digging a well in 2017. In 2018 they will start drilling and exploring the well.

All partners including repsol will be investing 50 million dollars in exploring gas and petroleum in Aruba.

They will be exploring 4 areas in Aruba’s waters, beginning with the first one they nicknamed “bon bini” (meaning welcome in English).

Walking Tours Monument Day

Get to know the oldest district of Aruba during international monument day.

On September 9 – 10, 2017 you have the chance to get to know the oldest district of Aruba named – Rancho

Walk through the hanchis (alleys) of Rancho, also known as the origin of fishermen on Aruba in the 1980’s.

If you want to do something unique, take part of this tour that goes through alleys of rancho with a knowledgeable tour guide.

There are two tours on both days – starting at 9:00 AM until 10:00 AM and 10:00 AM until 11:00 AM.

Tours start at J.G Emanstraat 9, in the downtown area.

Entrance is completely free!

Citgo Upgrader 2019

At the end of 2019 the refinery must function as a full fledged upgrader.

Citgo recently gave an update about their plans for the refinery of Aruba.

During a press conference management explained their plans for start up sequence and human resources for the coming months and years.

This month (September, 2017) they will start inspecting the facilities around the refinery.

They are also building a man camp to house all the expats that will be working in the refinery. At the end of October 2017 a total of 400 rooms will be constructed and at the end of 2017 there will be a total of 1500 rooms available for expats.

The government signed a contract with citgo, following a 80/20 policy, where 80% of workers have to be locals and the rest can be expats.

The plan is for the refinery to partially startup at the end of 2018 and transformed into a full fledged upgrader in the end of 2019.

Downtown Area Temporarily Closed For Innovation

The downtown area will be temporarily closed for vehicles starting September 4, 2017.

Reason being that the department of public works is going to be removing tiles from the main street to install WiFi cables and surround sound installations.

They will start at the beginning of the main street, which is near la linda store and move to the end of the main street.

All works will take place from 8:00 AM in the morning until 4:00 PM for 6 weeks long.

The department of public works apologizes for any inconvenience.

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