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Starting December 1st, 2022, STRICTER MEASURES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE BAN ON DISPOSABLE PLASTIC

Disposable plastic shopping bags, stirrers, straws, cutlery, and Styrofoam meal trays may not be sold or given away on Bonaire. You will receive a warning and/or fine for violating this ban. Inspectors from the Directorate of Supervision and Enforcement have inspected 50 catering establishments, 5 peddlers, several supermarkets, and wholesalers in recent months.

During the inspections, several companies were made aware of the ban on single-use plastic. A large part of companies adheres to the ban. Unfortunately, there are still companies that violate the single-use/disposable plastic ban. Companies that do not comply with the ban will receive a formal warning letter from December 1st 2022. This warning has a period of one week. The company then has a week to comply with the ban. If the company does not keep to the agreements, they will be charged a fine for each day they were in default. This is called a ‘compulsory order’. The company will receive the fine after a week. The amount of the fine depends on the size of the company. For example, a small business (1-5 employees) may receive up to a total of $2,000 in fines. A company can get a total of 4 “fines”. The first violation is $200, the second violation is $400, the third violation is $600, and the fourth violation is $800.

BONHATA urges all members to abide by this to avoid unnecessary fines.

For more information, please contact plasticvrij@bonairegov.com.

On behalf of the private sector, the Bonaire Chamber of Commerce and BONHATA attended the Flinx Recruitment Expo Dutch Caribbean (FRED expo) on October 29th in Rotterdam.

The purpose of this expo was to get in touch with candidates interested in transferring to Bonaire. The Bonaire Chamber of Commerce and BONHATA saw a need within the private sector for filling positions and thus had taken the step together to be present at this fair to -in addition to the government sector- also represent the private sector on Bonaire as an interesting option for candidates. Both organizations presented concrete vacancies from various local companies at the fair. These vacancies were also posted on the FRED expo website www.fredexpo.com. 

BONHATA also gave a presentation on working in the ‘hospitality’ sector on Bonaire at the fair and noted that there was a lot of interest from participants for management positions in the tourism sector. 

The Bonaire Chamber of Commerce made a presentation on the opportunities offered by entrepreneurship in Bonaire. 

Both organizations had a lot of interest from visitors at the eye-catching “It’s in our nature” stand.

The Chamber of Commerce also made many contacts with entrepreneurs from the islands who are active in the Netherlands and also motivated them to use their knowledge and experience for the further development of Bonaire by carrying out business activities here as well.

The Chamber of Commerce and BONHATA looks back on a successful participation in this fair as the visitors’ interest was definitely piqued to consider Bonaire as an option. 

Please send an email to bis@kvkbonaire.com if you would like more information or have any questions about the visit of KvK Bonaire or the FRED expo.