A new day, a new beginning.
The MinPres arrived from the Netherlands, back from a whirlwind of meetings with the Dutch Prime Minister. She was tested at the airport and sent home to quarantine for 24 hours, until her test results return. She is hopefully resting. She deserves a break.
She represented Aruba well in the Netherlands, and will continue the dialog to reach an agreement for the 3rd liquidity loan, and investment in education, health and security on Monday. Our amplified financial supervision will kick in, and in general the future outlook is bright.
The famous 280-page document we were all kicking and screaming about was made public. It is a mystery why GOA didn’t tell Parliament and the public that all would be made public AFTER the meeting of the Prime Ministers in the Netherlands. Apparently it is standard procedure to keep papers to be discussed by the cabinet confidential, and released to the press AFTER discussion.
All drama and accusations about secrecy could have been avoided.
Congratulations, Aruba. The MinTour expressed his sense of satisfaction over the handling of arrivals, more than 4,000 visitors from the USA, Europe and regional destinations who landed here over the weekend on 40 different flights, with a total of 215 tests performed on island, all negative.
Halleluiah.
One rant by a Debbie-downer circulated widely on social media, but I quizzed a number of visitors and they all had complimentary comments about the arrival process.
Some of my friends who own a home in Aruba and enjoy excellent Dutch health insurance reported they had no option but to pay Euro 27 per day, per person x 30 days, in order to come here, and were made to pay for an extra test, thought they arrived with a negative result from Amsterdam, and were not offered a refund. The EDCARDARUBA website isn’t set up for a customized customer experience, because it only offers a cookie-cutter option.
The Mintour also reported the PCR swab test upon arrival takes 2 minutes, and that in total passengers spent 1 hour and fifteen from landing to exiting the terminal, more or less, I say, but still impressive.
When driving back from SN Friday night past 11pm, we noticed increased Police presence at night clubs along the way, enforcing the 11pm closing. Apparently a Task Force consisting of Police, DOW, DVG and Fire Department enforced physical distancing rules at all night events/venues over the weekend.
The tradition Spula Krijt, Washing Chalk Off, the wild party night were teachers let their hair down at the end of the school year was gratefully not as exciting as previous pre covid19, editions
