Philipsburg---30 Sept. 2006---HILIPSBURG--Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will be visiting the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba from November 6 to 16. She will be in St. Maarten November 10 and 11, in Saba November 15 and in St. Eustatius November 16.

Highlights from the programme as released by the Dutch Government Information Service during the visit to the Windward Islands include, in St. Maarten, visits to Milton Peters College (MPC), St. Maarten Archaeological Centre Simarc, the children’s home of I Can Foundation, the new airport terminal building and Coast Guard station.

Highlights in Saba, include visits to Saba Comprehensive School (SCS), Laura Linzey Day Care Centre, the cultural building, Henry Every Home for the aged and Child Focus Foundation. The Queen will also watch members of Saba Sea Scouts canoe at Fort Bay harbour.

In St. Eustatius, the Queen will be present at ceremony of Statia-America Day. She will unveil a scale model of the US ship Andrew Doria at St. Eustatius Historical Museum. She will attend a service at Bethel Methodist Church. She will also visit the project Zagen en Schaven (Sawing and Planing), social housing in Lodi and attend part of the Street Fair.

St. Eustatius will be the last island the Queen visits before returning to the Netherlands September 17. She starts her visit November 6 in Aruba, where she will be until November 7. She will be in Bonaire November 8-9.

She arrives in St. Maarten on November 10, where she will be met on arrival by Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards. After that she meets with the Executive Council and Island Council. Then it is on to MPC, Simarc and the home of I Can. Also on Friday she will officially open the new terminal building of Princess Juliana International Airport.

The Queen will attend the St. Maarten/St. Martin Day festivities on November 11, starting with a church service. She will be at the opening of the new Coast Guard station in Simpson Bay and attend the Cultural Youth Festival at Raoul Illidge Sports Complex.

She then goes to Curaçao where she will spend Sunday, the first of three days on the island, in privacy. Monday and Tuesday are filled with meetings and visits.

The previous visit of the Queen to the islands was in January 2001.

 Source: thedailyherald.com