Meetings took place in The Hague last week, talks continue in Bonaire Monday and a mini-summit is planned for next month.

Commissioners of Constitutional Affairs Will Johnson of Saba and Roy Hooker of Eustatius said they hoped to come to concrete agreements during bilateral talks with the Dutch Government in Bonaire next week Tuesday and Wednesday.

Those talks will serve as preparation for the mini-summit in the Netherlands October 10-11 to sort out the agenda and discuss draft resolutions. It is there that the signatures should be affixed to a document defining the contours of the new direct ties.

The Netherlands has agreed to pay the travel expenses of a three-person delegation for each island and Antillean Minister of Constitutional Affairs Roland Duncan will be invited as an observer.

Dutch Minister of Administrative Reform and Kingdom Relations Atzo Nicolaï will be in Bonaire for the preparatory talks with the three islands. Nicolaï arrives in Curaçao Sunday and returns to the Netherlands Wednesday. He will not visit the Windward Islands this time.

Johnson said he looked forward to the bilateral talks in Bonaire, but stressed that his island wasn't on a "begging mission." "We are looking for our rights, our human rights. It is not about the money," Johnson said on Monday.

Johnson will update members of the Island Council today, Tuesday, during a Central Committee meeting, about the recent visit of the three smaller islands Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius to the Netherlands last week. Xavier Blackman represented Saba at the meetings in The Hague.

The islands met in the Netherlands with Chairman of Parliament's Permanent Committee for Antillean and Aruban Affairs Willibrord van Beek, top officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK, the Council of State, Minister Nicolaï and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

Hooker explained that the islands had had the opportunity to lobby and go over the agenda for the mini-summit that they had drawn up in their last meeting in St. Eustatius. He said the work group Direct Ties with the Netherlands DBN together with the advisors would work on a document for subsequent talks.

"The process is gathering more momentum," said Hooker, who was happy to note an increased willingness by the Dutch Government to find solutions for the smaller islands. He said the Netherlands was starting to understand the problems of the smaller islands and their desires.

Hooker said interim solutions were direly needed because the mere fact that the Netherlands Antilles still existed "weighs heavy," especially on the smaller islands. He gave as an example the Saba financial/public health situation and the lack of decisions to solve this issue. He also mentioned Statia students in the Netherlands whose insurance had not been properly arranged by the Central Government.

The void created by the Central Government where it comes to taking up its responsibility for the three islands was discussed during the meetings in the Netherlands. The delegation explained why it wasn't an option to let the Central Government remain responsible for the three islands, as Willemstad had been showing less willingness to take care of the islands' needs.

Hooker said he expected a final draft agreement to be concluded in Bonaire next week that could then be detailed and formalised during the mini-summit in October. He said the three islands had been pushing for the mini-summit. They were also instrumental is setting the agenda for that meeting.

Johnson stressed that for Saba, direct ties with the Netherlands was not about the money. To the contrary, Dutch social benefits that are too luxurious could even harm Saba. He called it a "poison pill."

Johnson said Saba just wanted the Netherlands to help with issues like safety and security, public health, human rights. He said the three islands were no "newcomers" in the Kingdom. "We have been Dutch for a long time," he said. (Suzanne Koelega)