Once a week, on Sundays I publish a newspaper Aruba recap. The newsletter covers a broad range of news topics.

It’s a perfect way to stay up to date with what’s happening in Aruba – whether you’re living on the island, miles away or your first visit!

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

Newspaper Aruba Recap

Let’s get started with this weeks recap of Aruba news.

Smart Houses For Sale in Aruba

Aruba has its first smart community of 20 houses.

It’s a residential area serving as a small scale environment with sustainable living conditions to gather knowledge about sustainable energy specific to the Caribbean climate.

The project is fundamental to the development of Aruba, because these houses are a model of how to build greener homes.

All the houses were created with innovative building materials and have top of the line technology installed for sustainable living in Aruba’s climate.

Smart Community is a collaboration between the Government of Aruba, FCCA, Utilities NV, ELMAR, WEB ARUBA NV, SETAR and TNO Caribbean.

Registration already started to own one of these smart homes. However, strict rules apply for signing up –  you have to be a resident in order to qualify.

And you have to be willing to take part in the experiment by monitoring and reporting information about your energy and water consumption.

Extra Flights To Aruba During Winter

Aruba Airport Authority recently announced two new flights to Aruba for the entire winter season.

Both flights are departing once a week, on Saturday, from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport.

Sun Country is one of the airlines providing these extra flights – the promo is available until April 2018.

The second option is by Delta Airlines, with their promo ending at the end of March 2018.

Windsor Jet Wins General Aviation Bid

Windsor jet management will be taking over the entire operation at the private general aviation terminal.

The concession agreement from the current owners (Universal Aviation Aruba) will terminate on December 31, 2017.

According to the director of UAA, they don’t want to extend the concession, because the business isn’t lucrative anymore. Their primary market was Venezuela, but due to the situation over there, it affected their revenue.

The new owners and staff will start managing the private terminal officially as of January 1, 2018.

They are specialized in chartering jets everywhere in the world with a fleet of 100+ airplanes.

Prohibited Fishing List To Be Revised

A few months ago the department of nature and environment announced a new legislation that prohibits fishermen from catching certain fish species.

The local fishermen didn’t approve of the new list, because it contained fishes that make their bread and butter.

So they protested against the government, asking them not approve of the list.

This happened before elections – now there’s a new government and they have other ideas in regards to this fishing list.

During a press conference the new minister of justice announced that he will revise and amend the list created by the department of nature and environment.

He also shared his plans of creating an electronic permit for people who want to fish with harpoons.

Saving Mangroves in Santo Largo

A few months ago the director of Aruba Bird life Conservation grabbed everyone’s attention by posting a picture of mangroves in a lagoon nearby the area of Savaneta, Santo Largo that were slowly dying off.

The department of public works quickly took notice of this and consulted the University of Wageningen on how to salvage the mangroves.

Research showed that the mangroves were slowly dying, because the salinity in the lagoon was too high.

According to the director of public works, the underground inlet and outlet pipe that supplies fresh sea water to the lagoon was damaged by contractors during a previous roadside construction.

This compromised the circulation of fresh water to the lagoon, causing the salinity to increase and slowly kill the mangroves.

Public works fixed the broken pipe and installed an extra pump to supply fresh sea water in the lagoon.

The department of nature and environment is monitoring the mangroves carefully to save them.

However it will take a few more months before the mangroves are fully restored.

Here’s the picture of the mangroves shared by ABC.

Finding a Solution For Parkietenbos

One of the important tasks of the new minister of environment is to find a solution for Aruba’s landfill known as parkietenbos.

It was created years ago for depositing waste and garbage. However, the place wasn’t managed correctly and is unhealthy for the residents that live close to the landfill.

Historically, landfills have been the most common method of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places around the world. But the minister wants to close down parkietenbos within the next 90 days and find another solution or place to deposit waste.

The minister was handed a report by a research institute in Aruba (TNO) with possible solutions for the rehabilitation of parkietenbos.

A program manager of TNO explained the results of their experiment in the report to the minister and handed the document to him personally during a meeting.

They didn’t explain in details what exactly was in the report.

Hopefully it contains a solution to end the landfill for once and for all or at least make a move into the right direction.

New Changes For Labor in Aruba

The minister of labor wants to implement a few changes in the labor market, which according to him will improve the quality of life, health and security for employees.

For these changes to take effect, the minster has to adapt certain laws in the “Arbo Wet”, which has been unreviewed for over 10 years.

One of his goals is to put an end to employment agencies, known as uitzendbureaus in Aruba.

According to him, these agencies are misusing the labor law that doesn’t benefit the employees.

A person working through an employment agency is only guaranteed a temporary job. If they are lucky, they can land a full time job.

However, these conditions don’t provide a real future for people who look for work at employment agencies. Because they can’t go to the bank to get a loan for a car or a house with a temporary job.

This is unfair for the employees.

Employees have to be granted more possibilities, according to the minister.

“We’re going to finalize this soon, and also introduce a new structure in the salary” said the minister during a press conference.

New Changes For Labor Laws

The department of labor announced a new change in the “ordenanza laboral” as of January 1, 2017.

Ordenanza laboral is a document which stipulates all the laws and protection for employees. For example, the maximum working hours, off days, agreements on overtime, working hours during holidays, vacation days and sick leave to name a few things covered by this document.

The change made in the ordenanza laboral is the factor used to calculate the salaries and the limit of salary that falls under laws of the ordinance.

In 2018, everyone who earns less than $2.346,72 per month or $28.160,64 per year will fall under the protection of the labor ordinance and its laws.

Christmas at Fort Zoutman

The museum of Aruba located at fort zoutman (in the downtown area) will be opening its doors for the first time during Christmas season.

Fort Zoutman is a military fortification built in 1798 by the Dutch army, it is one of the oldest structure on the island.

On December 26, 2017 they will be open from 10 AM until 6 PM.

You are invited to pass by fort zoutman to learn about the history of the island.

There’s also going to be live music by groups singing Christmas carols.

Local artists will be displaying their art to the public – a one of a kind chance to buy an unique art piece made by a local artisan.

And most importantly there’s going to be traditional Christmas snacks and drinks like ayaca, ham di pasco, coecoei, and chuculati pinda.

There’s a lot of events to attend during the holidays on the island.

For example, ice skating at Renaissance marketplace, dining at restaurants with a festive theme, watch decorated houses and so much more exciting events.

So if you’re in Aruba this Christmas, have fun and enjoy the season.

I want to wish you and your family a merry, merry Christmas!

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