Rental Truck Vandalized

[t4e]

Just confirmed why I too this location off my list.

just confirmed you are biased or.....nm

the only thing that would make me take it off my list would be the hassle to get there from Canada, and even that didn't really make us take it off the list, we just returned and are researching better ways to get there
InsailAir should change their name to InFailAir...never that route again

 

[Mike]

Please share those secrets to raising money where there is none and reducing crime where there's plenty of it. Specifically.

You know those medalions divers pay for.... hmm.....

It's $25.00 for a diver to go to protecting the marine park...I wonder... could it be possible to apply this to raising money for police enforcement... hmmm... wonder if we could invent tourist police on Bonaire...wait, don't have to invent them, they exist already in many tourist destinations... hmmm..... wonder if could charge divers $2.00 each to fund tourist police..... hmm...... wait... those departure taxes that all tourists pay at the airport or as part of their tickets to fly there... hmmm wonder if you could add .50 cents to each to fund police... hmmm......

Probably not. Much too difficult.

Another possibility would be just to actually enforce the existing laws with the existing police force instead of buying into the total BS that's it's impossible to do, due to no budget.

To say you can't positively reduce petty crime on Bonaire is ridiculous, if they wanted to do it, they could, we walked on the moon for God's sake. How do they have running water on Bonaire or electricity? Seems like a far too difficult thing to ever accomplish. Paved roads, schools for their children? Impossible!

 

[wwguy]

You know those medalions divers pay for.... hmm.....

It's $25.00 for a diver to go to protecting the marine park...I wonder... could it be possible to apply this to raising money for police enforcement... hmmm... wonder if we could invent tourist police on Bonaire...wait, don't have to invent them, they exist already in many tourist destinations... hmmm..... wonder if could charge divers $2.00 each to fund tourist police..... hmm...... wait... those departure taxes that all tourists pay at the airport or as part of their tickets to fly there... hmmm wonder if you could add .50 cents to each to fund police... hmmm......

Probably not. Much too difficult.

As I wrote previously, STINAPA and the BNMP are non-government non-profit entities. Probably much too difficult.

The "airport tax" is a combination use fee and passenger facility charge. Both are used to fund airport terminal operations and neither otherwise support island infrastructure. Probably much too difficult.

Your arguments would be more insightful, and thus more credible, if you spent some time learning how the island operates and then included that context in your Big Ideas. Probably not. Much too difficult.

Another possibility would be just to actually enforce the existing laws with the existing police force instead of buying into the total BS that's it's impossible to do, due to no budget.

To say you can't positively reduce petty crime on Bonaire is ridiculous, if they wanted to do it, they could, we walked on the moon for God's sake. How do they have running water on Bonaire or electricity? Seems like a far too difficult thing to ever accomplish. Paved roads, schools for their children? Impossible!

I didn't say it was impossible. I said that funds and other resources like prison space are obstacles to change. I agree that tourists will have to start paying more at some point. (See my previous post below.) I just think you're oversimplifying the action and resources required to implement sustainable change.

Personally I think more of the burden will have to be borne by the tourism industry at some point. Right now not much of the money we spend during a week on the island gets back into the government tax base. The more that the tourism industry and patrons clamor for change, the more we'll be expected to fund it.

 

[T.C.]

Let's be honest. Crime is not that bad on Bonaire. Everyone makes it sound like the middle of the ghetto where if you don't have a .50 caliber and body armor you're going to get robbed.

The he one time something happened to me, and the first I'd ever heard about first hand, was because I was not willing to take a delay to make some new Bonaire divers take stuff back to their room. That said, they ignored the expensive glasses and room keys that my friends left without my knowledge, even though we know they saw them.

General common sense and the odds that you will have a problem are negligible. They don't need special police, the don't need truck guards; they need people to exercise common sense and not take valuables and leave them in the truck.

If you think it's so bad you don't want to go, don't. I like the reefs uncrowded and being the only diver around.

 

[gypsyjim]

If you think it's so bad you don't want to go, don't. I like the reefs uncrowded and being the only diver around.

 

[wwguy]

Let's be honest. Crime is not that bad on Bonaire. Everyone makes it sound like the middle of the ghetto where if you don't have a .50 caliber and body armor you're going to get robbed.

I love Bonaire dearly and am looking forward to the 5 weeks we'll be spending there between now and the end of the year. I consider myself a realist, rather than an alarmist (although I suppose alarmists never perceive themselves as such.) Bonaire is what it is, and it certainly isn't a ghetto, but I don't think it's fair to claim that "crime is not that bad on Bonaire" based on whether or not something has happened to you. Plenty has happened to others within the past year, including armed robberies at Lover's Ice Cream and Pasa Bon Pizza... both tourist favorites.

The April 7th edition of the Bonaire Reporter newspaper reports that "The Dutch Caribbean is second only to the US in the number of prisoners per 100,000 people. The US imprisons 716 per 100,000, the Dutch Caribbean 700 per 100,00, the Netherlands 87 per 100,000."

Below is a recent summary of just 4 days of very recent Bonaire police crime reports, copied as translated and posted on Forum Bonaire's FaceBook page. You can view the steady stream of reports there, or the original reports written in Dutch, on the police website.

I've shared similar information and links in previous posts here, including threads that you've participated in. How bad does the crime need to be on Bonaire before you recognize it as a legitimate issue? It's apparent from your previous posts that you've got real-world experience dealing with real bad guys in the Middle East. (Thank you sincerely for your service and sacrifice to that end.) I can't help but wonder if your interpretation of danger, risk, and your ability to respond are a little different than that of the average tourist scuba diver?

*********************************

Burglary:
On Thursday April 10th, thieves broke into a house on Kaya Mgr. Nieuwindt. The thieves stole a 42" LG Plasma TV and a grey Asus laptop.

Theft:
Between Thursday April 10th at around 16:15 & Friday April 11th at around 12:30, thieves stole the tax stickers from a car parked on the Bulevar Gobernador Nicolaas Debrot .

On Saturday April 12th at around 9.20pm, police received a report of the theft of a bag and its contents from a hotel on the Bulevar Julio A. Abraham.

Burglary:
On Saturday April 12th at around 8:10am, police received a report of theft from business premises on Bulevar Gobernador Nicolaas Debrot. Thieves stole car parts and car engine.

Theft from Vehicle:
On Saturday April 12th, thieves stole a wheel from a Toyota Yaris. The car was parked in front of an apartment complex on the Bulevar Gobernador Nicolaas Debrot .

Burglary:
Between Friday April 11th at around 22:30hrs & Saturday, April 12th at around 7:00pm, thieves broke into a property on Kaya Kanari. The stolen items include a LG television, a black radio & cash.

Stolen car recovered:
On Sunday April 13th, in the Mondi near Seru Grandi, a white Toyota Starlet with licence plate number B -2545 was found by police.

Burglary:
On Monday April 14th at 8.30am, police received a report of a burglary at a tourist accommodation on Kaya Carlos A. Nicholas. Two backpacks, including a Samsung telephone, headphones, surf gloves and cash were stolen.

Thefts:
Between Tuesday April 8th at 10.30pm and Wednesday, April 9th at 7:30pm, thieves stole two diving regulators from a storage facility at a hotel on Bulevar Gobernador Nicolaas Debrot. The dive storage shed is also used by other tourists.

On Monday April 14th, thieves stole a wheel from a Suzuki Ignis that was parked at a property on the EEC Bulevar

TOP TIP!
To stop thieves stealing your licence sticker, cut it with a craft knife in a criss-cross fashion then dab it with some clear nail varnish...

 

[Lorenzoid]

I've read these police blotter reports after discussions in previous threads. It sounds like a lot of typical theft and burglary to me. Sure, there have been a few armed robberies of businesses--and that's disturbing--but people breaking into homes and businesses to steal TVs, car parts, and diving gear seems to me like par for the course. I wish I was able to confine my life to the idyllic parts of the world where that sort of thing does not happen, but there are too many good things drawing me to the rest of the world. As I've said before, when the crime reaches a tipping point in that it seriously dampens tourism, Bonaire will inevitably make changes and grow into the sort of tourist destination that has Tourist Police and all that.

By the way, how do people even make getaways from armed robberies on Bonaire? There are a handful of little roads leading out of town. There are only, what, 16000 people on the whole island, so I would think a victim's description of the perps would go a long way toward catching them. I can envision Andy and Barney in hot pursuit.

I know some people reading this thread hate comparisons, but within two weeks of moving to Atlanta I had a gun pointed at my face by someone demanding my wallet. Bonaire crime does not scare me ... yet.

 

[Mike]

As I wrote previously, STINAPA and the BNMP are non-government non-profit entities. Probably much too difficult.

The "airport tax" is a combination use fee and passenger facility charge. Both are used to fund airport terminal operations and neither otherwise support island infrastructure. Probably much too difficult.

Your arguments would be more insightful, and thus more credible, if you spent some time learning how the island operates and then included that context in your Big Ideas. Probably not. Much too difficult.



I didn't say it was impossible. I said that funds and other resources like prison space are obstacles to change. I agree that tourists will have to start paying more at some point. (See my previous post below.) I just think you're oversimplifying the action and resources required to implement sustainable change.

The issue doesn't require oversimplification, reducing crime isn't a magic trick or like curing cancer. The more people buy into failure and lower the bar the more you'll meet those pitiful goals of failure.

How low does it take to make a circuit up and down the west coast of Bonaire in a security vehicle, an hour or so? How much is the salary and maintenace of two security guards and a vehicle? Less than $100,000 a year I'd figure, they'd probably be five hundred applicants.

70,000 tourists visit Bonaire each year. $1 tax/fee whatever per person and the problem disappears.

There that's done. Wasn't so hard after all.

Let's face it if Bonaire cared or felt it was impacting THEM negatively they'd solve the problem in 2 months. They don't care about it.

 

[gypsyjim]

The issue doesn't require oversimplification, reducing crime isn't a magic trick or like curing cancer. The more people buy into failure and lower the bar the more you'll meet those pitiful goals of failure.

That would explain how we have so effectively have eliminated crime here at home, eh?

Let's face it if Bonaire cared or felt it was impacting THEM negatively they'd solve the problem in 2 months. They don't care about it.

A whole lot of assuming going on in that one short paragraph.

 

[Shasta_man]

Crime is never a non-issue because you never know when it's your lucky day and they up their game. Whether the crime rate is better or worse than back home is irrelevant because back home I'm not sitting in your bathing suit on a beach with a couple of grand in equipment with me. They must be making their money somewhere because they can't be living off flipflops and sunglasses. With that said you still have to decide the likelihood of it affecting you. However, if I compare place X where I never hear about crime or here where I hear about some crime, I wouldn't choose crime. Yes, you've said that's OK but it's not the non-decision being suggested by some.